Huckleberry Buckle

There is a big huckleberry bush right outside the boys' window. As I was putting Evan down for a nap last week I noticed it was loaded with little red berries. We decided it might be fun to see what we could make with the huckleberries. Sela and I got out a few cookbooks and looked for huckleberry recipes. We settled on Huckleberry Buckle from Rustic Fruit Desserts, one of my absolute favorite cookbooks, especially when using less common fruits. The recipe called for 2 1/2 cups of berries, which is a lot. It takes a long time to pick that many berries because they are so tiny.  I sent the kids out with little measuring cups to fill. On the first day we got about 3/4 cup, the second day Nina found another tree in the very back of our property and got 1 full cup, and Rollin and Sela finished us off this weekend with the final 3/4 cup. This was truly a combined effort which made it all the sweeter when we finally got to enjoy our dessert together on Sunday evening. We worked on this thing from Tuesday-Sunday! And man was it worth it. Such a special dessert. Beautiful to look at, moist, slightly tart with just enough sweetness.





I wish I would have taken a picture of the inside...it looked like polka-dotted bread! 

This dessert was so good, we decided it might be worth going on a hike and doing a little more foraging to round up some more berries!

Mini Chocolate Torta Caprese

Oh it's been such a wonderful vacation. Snow and sun, and lots of downtime. We're all feeling relaxed and renewed and ready for a new year. I did lots of cooking, reading, and playing over the Christmas break and this is one of my new favorite dessert recipes. My holiday menus are often a mix of the tried and true plus a few new dishes. I get bored with the same thing every year so I always tweak things a bit. Plus, I read way too many cookbooks so I'm always crafting menus in my head.

These were supposed to be our Christmas dessert, but I crashed after dinner (Christmas Eve was a late one for Mrs. Claus) and postponed dessert to the following day. The kids were already plenty sugared up as they had been devouring their stocking sweets throughout the day. We ate these warm with a little whipped cream and maybe salted caramel, but they are better cool and by themselves. At least I think so. They are so light and fluffy and delicious.

p.s. Darcie, they are gluten free :)




Mini Chocolate Torta Caprese
Recipe by: Lidia Bastianich of Felidia and Del Posto

Butter and flour for muffin pans
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 cup almond flour


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour the pans. Beat the butter in a food mixer with 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time; beat well. Stir in chocolate and almond flour; combine well. Whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar until very soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Ladle about 1/3 cup of batter into each pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pans. Makes 18 individual cakes.

highlights of the week

Sela had her first cross country meet of the season. She was nervous and excited and then nervous some more. Just as school let out, the rain started to pour and I felt a cancellation was likely. We headed to the host school anyway and as we drove up, the rain quit and the meet was on. We didn't race at this school last year and I was a little surprised to find it had a HUGE hill that the kids called heartbreak hill. I was tired just watching them run up the thing! After the big hill, the kids run out of sight and then aren't really able to be seen until they round the last corner and head to the finish line. Sela was neck-n-neck with her good friend Morgan (an incredible sprinter!) on the uphill, and I thought there was a good chance Morgan might pull ahead on the downhill. But as the runners approached and the cheering started, out Sela popped in front of the pack. I was so excited for her. She ran her little heart out. All the HH girls did really well and I think the 4th grade girls took 1st through 5th place. And there was lots of hugging and laughter at the finish line.These kids really support each other!




Sela and Morgan

Jasmine, Gracie, Morgan,  Annie and Sela...such a fun group of girls!

 I played my first competitive singles match in 16 years on Friday. And let me just tell you how wierd it feels to say 16 YEARS! How is that even possible? Where has the time gone? I still feel like I'm 25. Erin and I were talking about that on the phone this week. She feels much the same way. I remember my last high school singles match like it was yesterday and now I have four kids and I life I could not have imagined back then. Never would have thought I'd be (somewhat) settled in Washington for sure. It's all strange even to think about. But anyway, back to the tennis. I kind of got thrown in at the last minute to play on a Cup team this year. But that's another story. My first match took place on Friday and it was really tough. No one warned me, but apparently this lady was a 5.0  and one of the top players. We had a close match, but I was behind at the buzzer so the win went to my opponent.  I really did not expect to lose, I don't know why, but I was way too tentative, played it safe, and she made me pay. But it was awesome to be competing again. And I'd definitely rather play hard players because that is the quickest way to get back to my game. I was dripping with sweat at the end...I could have wrung out my clothes, and to be able to get that kind of workout at something I love, well, I'm pretty stoked about that. My teammates are great women, they play hard, but they don't take it too serious. They have lives and kids and balance and are just playing for fun. They're all business on the court, but all laughs afterwards. I lucked out because at this level not all teams are like that, some take it WAY too seriously.

  Aside from playing tennis a few times this week, I stayed home a lot during the day. I tried to prepare meals in the morning so our evenings would go smoother and that was very helpful. I took some time to read. I have a huge stack of books beside my bed calling my name. I carted the kids around in the afternoon, but because I had lots of downtime in the morning, I wasn't too worn out. Here's what we had for dinner:

Monday: Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad
Tuesday: Wild Rice Cherry Soup
Wednesday: Sengalese Peanut Soup (recipe coming)
Thursday: Crisp Black Bean Tacos with feta and slaw
Friday: Goat Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce    Saturday: Tomato Goat Cheese Crostini (my favorite summer meal)  Sunday: Grilled Salmon, Greek salad, and potatoes For family night, we made Eclairs before Sela taught the lesson. Sela has been wanting to learn how to make them since she had one at a bakery this summer. Rollin and I made the dark chocolate icing during the day and the girls and I made the filling and shells and put them all together in the evening. I'm glad it takes several steps to make these things so I won't be tempted to do it too often!  

Blogger is really acting up and I'm tired of re-doing stuff so I'm going to have to cut it short tonight and prepare for the week ahead.

cookies, cookies, cookies

I love cookies! And I am a total sucker for healthy cookie recipes. I collect them. I especially love the ones you can make in 5 minutes or less, have plenty of protein to balance the sweet making them an acceptable snack for kids, and of course, taste delicious and turn out moist. That's all I ask, really. It's not so much.

A month or so ago, my friend Trisha posted an Almond Butter Cookie recipe on her blog and I almost made it like three times. Can't remember what got in the way, but this weekend when Geoff and Darcie were here, Geoff made an almost identical cookie and they were awesome! They can be made with chocolate chips, but they were super delish without. I made my own almond meal by pulverizing almonds in the food processor, and substituted it for some of the flour, as Geoff indicates in his recipe. I included Trisha's recipe below. The only real difference is the egg, and I will try that one as eggs can only enhance, right?

p.s. we did try the cookies with a couple tablespoons of mini chocolate chips today and yeah, they were really tasty.

Geoff's Nut Butter Chocolate chip cookies
1/2 C Almond butter (or half-n-half peanut butter) <---yes, do this!
1/2 C Maple syrup
3 T olive oil
1 T vanilla
1 C flour (can substitute ~25% almond meal)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
chocolate chips or shavings - optional

Mix it up. 350. 8-10 min., you know the drill.
* just go ahead and double this thing, you'll be glad you did.

Trisha's Almond Butter Cookies
1/2 cup natural almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or more)

Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, combine natural almond butter, maple syrup, oil, egg and vanilla extract until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, along with chopped almonds, and stir until just combined. Let sit for five minutes. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, flatten to about 1/3 of an inch and place onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.


350 for 8-10 min

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

For the past 8 years, we've headed to the strawberry patches each spring to pick (and eat) those incredible sun-ripened berries. There is nothing like a fresh, perfectly-ripe strawberry. One of the things I first loved about springtime in Washington was the abundance of berries! We get them all...strawberries in June, followed by raspberries (both golden and red) and blueberries in July, and blackberries in August. The kids also pick wild salmon berries along the trails when we are mountain biking or hiking.


This year, instead of traveling to a strawberry farm, we simply had to cross the yard to our garden to harvest pounds and pounds of luscious, juicy strawberries! I won't lie, it's been heaven!



















With an unusually warm winter and cooler than average spring, the rest of the garden and fruit trees are seriously confused and floundering a bit. But the berries exploded. We've canned nearly 30 jars of jam and have almost filled the freezer full of gallon sized bags of frozen strawberries. We can pick and pick and pick and still not finish. We have the ever-bearing strawberries which produce all summer, so this certainly won't be the last strawberry recipe I share, but it might be the best!

I found this recipe in the Edible Seattle Magazine May/June issue. I love that magazine! The instructions are quite detailed, and you could make the biscuits, whip the cream, slice the berries and assemble and it would be fine, but after reading the article which devoted an entire page discussing the way to turn an ordinary shortcake into a memorable one, I decided to follow the recipe exactly and slice, macerate, and smash the berries. The author pointed out that you need lots of juices to make the best shortcake, and after trying it this way, I totally agree. These were heavenly. I made them for breakfast for the kids and their friends who had spent the night. They all licked their bowls clean, surprise surprise.

Jon Rowley's Super Sumptious Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake with Drop Biscuits


Biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour (I'm sure you could use whole wheat pastry or spelt)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (one stick) butter, chilled
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons cream

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.

Put all the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Pulse. Chop a stick of butter into small cubes. Add them to the flour and pulse till the mixture resembles rough meal. Add the milk and pulse until the dough starts to pull away from the bowl. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Spoon the dough in six equal portions onto the baking sheet. Brush the tops lightly with cream. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.


Berries
3 pints of ripe strawberries (they need to be juicy!)
1-4 tablespoons of sugar

Hull and slice 1/3 of the strawberries into large, irregular chunks. Cut any small berries in half vertically. Add a tablespoon or two of sugar and let the berries macerate for an hour.

10-15 minutes before you're ready to eat the shortcakes, tear 1/3 of the berries. Hold a small handful of berries in one hand, place your other hand on top and gently apply pressure while twisting over a bowl, this motion pulls the fruit apart into soft pieces without crushing their structure. Add a small amoutn of sugar to taste.
Slice and add the remaining 1/3 of your fresh berries. Combine all berries and add sugar to taste. Reserve some smaller whole berries to garnish.

Whipped Cream
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons sugar or to taste

Using electric mixture or wire wisk, whip the cream and sugar until it forms soft, but slightly firm peaks.

Assembly
Slice a biscuit in half. Place bottom half on a plate. Top with a moderate pile of berries, a little extra juice and a big spoonful of whipping cream. Cover with the top half of the biscuit, anothe rlayer of berries and c ream in slightly smaller quantities than the first layer. For the final touch, drizzle a tablespoon of juice over the top and garnish with a small, whole strawberry.



Mmmm, mmmm, good! A big mosquito bite on the cheek and strawberry shortcake in the mouth, that's about as summer as it gets!

peanut butter + chocolate= heaven

Oh me, oh my. I was asked to bring brownies to a neighborhood party. Brownies aren't too exciting and when you're only bringing one thing, you want it to be good! At least I do. So I searched high and low and found a brownie recipe that I can only liken to a very adult version of a Reece's peanut butter cup. I had to make a late night run for some ingredients, and the whole time I kept thinking, these BETTER be worth it. I hate nothing more than going to lots of trouble for a recipe that is just okay, or worse, doesn't turn out.

But these are amazing. If you like peanut butter and dark chocolate, which I do.



There are a few steps, yet they are super simple. Not as easy as a box brownie (ick!), however, they are much easier than a glimpse of the finished product would lead you to believe.

These are not healthy by any stretch. There are no hidden beans and not a hint of a whole grain. They are a treat, an indulgence if you will. Don't make them for your family or you will not be able to stop eating them yourself. You must take them somewhere.

One great tip I learned with this recipe is to line the pan with foil and butter it. By doing this, I was able to remove all the brownies and cut them into pretty squares rather than trying to dig them out with a spatula. Plus, one less pan to wash!

So, without further adieu, here is the recipe. Oh and everywhere it gives the option of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, I used bittersweet. The darker the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Enjoy and you can thank me later!!!

Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts
Bon Appétit January 2007

Peanut-studded brownies, peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache...what better way to savor the PB-chocolate combo?

Yield: Makes 30 brownies


Brownies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Frosting and ganache
1 cup chunky peanut butter (do not use natural or old-fashioned)*
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped


For brownies:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving long overhang; butter foil.

Place 3/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan. Add both chocolates; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt, then eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in flour, then nuts. Spread in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; cool.


For frosting and ganache:

Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup butter in medium bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, salt, and nutmeg, then milk and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies.

Stir chocolate and 1/4 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Drop ganache all over frosting; spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 1/2 hours. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Using foil as aid, transfer brownie cake to work surface; cut into squares. Bring to room temperature; serve.


*When the recipe says not "natural" peanut butter, I think it means not Adams brand. I still used organic crunchy, but had to add a little bit more milk to make it the right consistency. *

sugar beast

This week Lori, Wendy, Lilian and I went to a PCC Cooking class called Taming the Sugar Beast. The teacher, Birgette, would be my personal chef in a perfect world. The class was great and it was geared towards keeping sugar cravings in check. I love anything this woman teaches, and her recipes are just so healthy and simple. I am going to post the recipes I liked the best as soon as I make them. It should be no surprise that the first recipe I tried to make at home was the Coconut Truffles. These things are delicious, insanely simple, and a very healthy treat alternative. Got the thumbs up from Sela and Nina. Not Rollin yet, but he'll come around.



Raw Coconut Truffles
1 cup raw walnuts or other nuts
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus 1/2 cup for rolling the truffles
1/4 cup raw agave syrup (she said raw agave is the best kind of agave)
1/4 cup organic virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup hemp protein powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt

Place the nuts and coconut in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. Roll into truffles and roll in coconut. Refrigerate to firm them up.

Of course you can always make substitutions for different nuts, protein powder, agave, etc. This is a good guideline though. During the class she used a lot less sweetener than the recipe called for and they were still quite good.

raspberry country cake

we decided to make a cake today. no birthday. no holiday. we just really needed some cake. the girls picked some raspberries and we threw them on. sloppy and oh so delish!

this photo just makes me laugh. and i bet you know whose little hand this is. he just could not wait to taste that whipped cream. but mommy made him eat his whole salad first. bummer. however the wait was well worth it. i snuck him some extra whipped cream just to see him practically burst with delight :)

Will definitely make again and again.....

Yesterday I tried two new recipes and they were both total keepers which shouldn't be a surprise since they are from 101cookbooks. Delicious! The only additions I made were a few dried cranberries on the salad, mainly for color, and I added coconut to the cookies. I also used pecans instead of walnuts. The cookies are awesome, and got thumbs up from the neighbor kids as well. So good and very moist. And for cookies they are quite nutritious.

Farro can be hard to find, but it has a unique flavor and texture that is unlike any other grain I've used. It is also quite a bit more expensive than say, quinoa, but a little goes a long way and it's really, really good. But I'm sure you could substitute another grain or rice.

Citrus Parmesan Farro Salad Recipe

Hot farro grains will cause the salad greens to wilt, so give yourself enough time for the farro to cool to room temperature before tossing the salad. If you want to do a warm/hot version of this salad use spinach (3 handfuls) and toss with hot farro and dressing just before serving - this will wilt the spinach in a good way.

4 to 6 big handfuls of mixed salad greens, washed and dried
2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
5 cups water (or stock)
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
1 medium orange, zest and juice
1 shallot, chopped
1/3 cup Parmesan, freshly shredded
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
a couple big pinches of salt
1/2 cup Spanish almonds, or toasted regular almonds
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Combine the farro, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour, or about half the time if you are using semi-pearled farro. Taste often as it is cooking, you want it to be toothsome and retain structure. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and set aside.

While the grains are simmering make the dressing. Whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, shallot, Parmesan cheese, white wine vinegar, and olive oil. Salt to taste and set aside.

Just before serving, in a large bowl, toss the salad greens with a bit of the dressing. Add the farro and another generous splash of the dressing - gently toss again. Taste and add more dressing and/or salt. Finish by sprinkling the goat cheese and almonds across the top. Be careful not to over mix.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
1/2 cup unrefined (fragrant) coconut oil, warmed until just melted
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Beet Valentine Cupcakes

I love beets. And chocolate. And I've always loved the idea of Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentine's, but I know I couldn't bring myself to dump that much red dye into a cake for my family or anyone else I might be feeding. So when I came across this recipe earlier in the week, I was almost giddy with excitement. And curious. Beet cupcakes. We keep getting beets in our CSA box so I had plenty on hand. And this recipe has a significant amount of beets...2 cups! Whether you love beets or not, there is no denying they are a gorgeous color! The batter was just lovely, a deep dark burgundy red.

The result? Amazing. I promise. So super moist. And beautiful to look at. I think I have a new Valentine's tradition. And no, I'm not kidding myself into thinking these are health food. There is way more sugar than I'm typically comfortable with, but it is Valentine's Day so no guilt here :)

p.s. Geoff Davis, I'm sending you a virtual beet cupcake...enjoy!



























Chocolate-Beet Valentine Cupcakes
These make for the perfect Valentine treat, something decadent, something surprising and something seasonal (you can find fresh beets at most February farmer's markets).

1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry)
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa (I used dark chocolate)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 cups beet puree*

*To make beet puree, I peeled and trimmed 5 medium-sized beets and simmered them, covered in water, for just under an hour. Once cooled, I pureed them until very smooth in the food processor (a blender or food mill would probably work as well).

Preheat oven to 325F.
Fill 24 muffin tins with liners.

Combine melted butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and water until smooth. Sift flour with cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet in small batches. Fold in beets.

Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake cupcakes for 20-30 minutes, checking for doneness with a knife. Allow to cool in tins.

For the indulgent, these would be great with frosting (cream cheese? ganache?), but we chose to simply dust them with powdered sugar. We placed paper hearts on each one for a stencil and shook the sugar through a sieve.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Souffles

I mentioned we're splurging just a wee bit this month. For our first family night this month we had a lesson about loving one another and being kind. Nina and I whipped up some chocolate souffles...it was kind of a celebration of the girls' hard work getting their egg business up and running. This week they sold 10 dozen and they delivered them all this afternoon. I had actually never made a souffle before...another one of those desserts you think is way more complicated than it actually is. It was quite simple, quick and very good! I figured with all the eggs we have, it's time I learned to make a souffle!