Blueberry-Banana Baked Oatmeal (dairy/nut/soy/egg/wheat-free)

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted.  Do any of my old followers still even read my blog?  I've just been so busy with keeping up with my family, my day-job, and my photography business that I just do not have time to blog about recipes I try anymore.  I'm making a quick exception today because I don't want to lose this recipe.  :)

I've made many different baked oatmeals in the past, but this one is probably our favorite.  And it something we all can eat safely.  For those that don't know, my daughter was diagnosed with several food allergies a couple of months ago - peanuts, dairy, soy, eggs, and wheat.  Breakfasts have been our biggest challenge for her.  She used to love having eggs for breakfast, but that's not an option anymore, unfortunately.  We usually all eat different things for breakfast, so its a treat (for me) to just make one thing that we all eat (and like).  Everyone loved this baked oatmeal.  Even my husband, who generally refuses to even try any type of oatmeal.

I had pinned a recipe from So How's It Taste awhile back, which served as the base recipe for my version.  Being that her recipe contains walnuts, eggs, milk and butter, you wouldn't think we could even think about eating it.  But I made some substitutions to make it safe for all of us.  I've not tried the original version, but I do not think taste suffered at all with my substitutions.  I think it may have made it even better, to be honest.  ;)

Blueberry-Banana Baked Oatmeal 

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas, peeled & sliced
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease a glass 2-quart baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients (oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt).  Stir to combine.

In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the maple syrup, coconut milk, and vanilla.  Heat the coconut oil to melt it.  Set aside (if you add it to the cold ingredients now, it will solidify again).

Spread the sliced bananas over the bottom of the baking dish in a single layer.  Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the bananas.

Next, pour the dry oat mixture over the bananas and blueberries.

Now, add the coconut oil to the liquid ingredients and immediately pour over the oats.  The coconut oil will start to solidify with the cold ingredients, but its ok, it will melt again as you bake it.

Sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top.

Bake for 35 minutes, until slightly browned and the oats have set.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Canned Pear Slices

Our pear trees are producing a fair amount of decent fruit this year.  I'm still trying to figure out all the varieties that we have.  We definitely have a couple bartlett trees, and I believe we have a green anjou,  a comice tree, and an asian pear tree.  We also have two trees that I believe are bosc.  And I'm trying to figure out if another tree is one of the old school pear varieties with apple-shaped pears.  The bosc trees are loaded with fruit.  The others, which all ripen earlier than the bosc, have produced a fair amount.  I didn't make as many changes in the orchard this year as I had hoped to, especially with the pear trees, so I was quite impressed with the fruit that they have produced.  Some are very pretty fruit - like the bartlett pear on one of my trees pictured at left - and some are not so pretty, but it still tastes great!  That's what's important.  :) 

I've done a small amount of canning with them.  I did a test run last week, with just 3 pints.  And I'll be doing some more this week (probably tonight).  And I'll be doing more once the bosc trees are ready.  This was the first time I've canned pears.  It was fairly simple.  The most time consuming part is peeling and slicing them.  I did some research before I started and discovered that when canning pears, you shouldn't let them ripen to the point of being good to eat.  You want them to be firm.  The best way to tell if they're ready to can is to press on the top of the neck, by the stem.  If it has a slight give, they're ready.  You don't want to wait for them to ripen all the way, or you'll end up with really mushy canned pears.  I also read that you'll get a much better texture/outcome if you raw pack them.  So that's what I did.  I used a very light syrup and just followed the instructions in my Ball canning book. 

Canned Pears

Very light syrup:
1/2 cup sugar or sucanat
4 cups water

Heat sugar and water until boiling. Let simmer while you prep your pears.
Meanwhile, wash, pare, core and slice pears. Pack fruit in hot jars. Pour hot syrup over pears, leaving about an inch of head space. Process pints in boiling water bath for 25 minutes.


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Vanilla Rum Plums

Week #4 of Nourished Kitchen's Preserving Summer's Bounty Challenge focused on preserving in alcohol. Alcohol is naturally antimicrobial and is well-suited to preserving fruits. I've heard of this being done from many blogs and people that I know (usually cherries in brandy with the folks I know that do it). I've wanted to give it a try for a couple of years now, but just never had. So, I decided to give it a try at the end of August, during week #4 of the challenge. I just used the recipe sent in our Week #4 email from Jenny at Nourished Kitchen. I picked up some dark rum and then some plums at our local farmers' market. I did two different pints, one with dark purple Stanley plums and one with a lighter purple-pink sweet plum (I can't remember the variety now). I made them both the same way and I'm excited to pop them open this winter to taste them... and see which one we like best.

Fruit Rolls

I have been on a fruit roll making spree this summer. Making fruit rolls is seriously so easy and they're quite good for you (unlike the store-bought fruit roll-ups). All you need is a blender or food processor, your fruit of choice, some optional sweetener or applesauce, a dehydrator or your oven, and fruit roll sheets or parchment paper. This makes a healthy snack for kids and adults alike. I've made several kinds so far this year... strawberry, strawberry-banana, strawberry yogurt (yes, you can dehydrate yogurt, too, and its delicious!), watermelon-apple, blueberry, blueberry-cherry. All of them have been delicious! They also store very well. Just cut them into adequate pieces and roll up. Then store in a glass jar or freeze them. And if you over-dry them, they make great fruit "chips." This happened to one of my trays of strawberry fruit rolls - it was a thinner layer than the other trays. I was pretty bummed at first, but then just broke them up into chips and tried them. Yum! Carson absolutely loves them as chips, too! Probably equally as much as he likes them as the soft, chewy fruit rolls.

Fruit Rolls

- fruit of your choice in a quantity of your choice
- optional sweetener if your fruit isn't already sweet enough... sugar will make them crisp, so you may want to avoid it... honey makes them sticky and pliable
- optional applesauce... if your fruit puree is really thin

Puree your fruit in a blender or food processor. Add sweetener to taste if you need it. I haven't added it to any of mine yet this year because I've been using fruit in peak season and its been plenty sweet already. Add applesauce if your puree is really thin/watery... especially if you're using fruit that has been frozen.

Pour the puree on fruit roll sheets (or dehydrator trays lined with parchment paper, or a cookie sheet if you're using the oven). Place in dehydrator and dehydrate at about 135 degrees until done. Depending on the fruits I used and the thickness, mine have taken anywhere from 6 to 9 hours. You could also dry them in the oven on your lowest heat setting.

Jello Poke Cake

I made a jello poke cake back in May. I think it must have been for the Mother's Day family party with Kevin's family or maybe when we got together for Memorial Day. I can't remember now, but I know I made it in May for some family party with Kevin's family. :) This is a very simple and easy dessert to make and most people love it. I haven't made one in years. Due to time constraints, I actually ended up going to the store and picking up a cake mix. I had planned to make my own, using the recipe I used for the strawberry cake a few months ago. I used strawberry jello and covered the top with fresh strawberries. It was a hit at the party. Everyone loved it and some had seconds. Its a very moist cake and the jello gives it a good flavor. You can use any kind of jello and fruit that you want. I've made it many different ways in the past. Its very versatile.

Sorry, no picture. I must have forgotten to take one.

Jello Poke Cake

1 package white cake mix
Water, oil, and eggs (as specified on cake mix package)
12 oz Cool Whip (I used the organic and natural stuff from Whole Foods)
3 oz package jello (I used strawberry)
1 cup boiling water
fresh berries (optional)

Prepare the cake with the water, oil, and eggs, following the directions on the packet. Bake at 350 degrees in a 13 by 9 inch pan for 40 to 45 minutes and then cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork.

Dissolve the jello in a cup of boiling water and pour the mixture carefully all over the cake. Chill for 4 hours or until the jello has completely set over the cake.

Decorate the cake with Cool Whip, add the fresh berries if you are using them, and store the cake in the refrigerator

Fruit Salad

I made this quite a few weeks ago now... I'm just still very behind on posting. Hopefully I'll actually catch up one day. :) Anyway, I had some mini marshmallows and some canned fruit to use up, so I decided to make this quick and simple fruit salad to take over to my grandpa's house a few weeks ago. Its definitely not healthy, but it used up some stuff in my pantry and it tastes good, so oh well. This is just a simple, common fruit salad recipe that everyone seems to make. I pulled this from AllRecipes.

Fruit Salad

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, halved
1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream (I used half sour cream and half vanilla yogurt b/c I only had half a container of sour cream left)

In a large bowl, combine the pineapple, oranges, cherries, marshmallows and sour cream together. Chill and serve.

Heavenly Pink Salad

I made this fruit dessert salad for Carson's birthday party today. This is another AllRecipes recipe. This is more like a dessert with the marshmallows in it. Its not really the most healthy of recipes, but its a nice treat. :) Very tasty, very quick to prepare.

Heavenly Pink Salad

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

Mix together the cherry pie filling, condensed milk, oranges, pineapple, coconut, marshmallows and whipped topping. Chill for several hours and top with crushed pecans if desired.

Orange Cream Fruit Salad

I found this recipe for fruit salad on AllRecipes awhile back and decided to try it out for Carson's birthday party with my in-laws and friends yesterday. If you like creamy, pudding style fruit salads, you'll love this. I thought it was very good, Carson loved it, and Kevin liked it. Most people that like that type of salad also really liked it from what they said. It was very easy to throw together. I'll make it again and will add more fruit to it next time. Even with the extra can of mandarin oranges and extra banana, it seemed like it still had a lot of extra pudding.

I'll try to remember to take a picture and post it later.

Orange Cream Fruit Salad

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (15 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments (I added two cans)
2 bananas, sliced (I added three)
1 apple - peeled, cored and sliced

In a medium mixing bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, and orange juice concentrate. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in sour cream. In a large salad bowl, combine fruits. Gently mix in orange dressing. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Fruit Salad

I found this recipe on AllRecipes and wanted to try it out for our family party to celebrate my FIL's birthday yesterday. It was very tasty and something I'll make again, for sure. I followed the recipe as stated below this time around, but next time around I'll use my homemade home-canned apple or cherry pie filling, I think. Again, everything was actually organic, too (I don't normally buy organic bananas, but did this week since I was shopping at Whole Foods for everything).

Sunday Best Fruit Salad

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
2 apples, peeled and cored
1 (21 ounce) can peach pie filling
2 bananas, peeled and diced
3 kiwis
1 pint strawberries (I used some that I froze last summer)
(I added a can of mandarin oranges, drained)

In a small bowl, toss the chopped apples in reserved pineapple juice. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. In a large salad bowl, combine the peach pie filling and pineapple chunks. Remove apples from pineapple juice and add to pie filling and pineapple mixture. Add chopped bananas to reserved pineapple juice and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and slice kiwi and 1/2 of strawberries. Chop the other 1/2 of strawberries and set aside. Remove bananas from pineapple juice and add to pie filling mixture. Add chopped strawberries; toss together. Arrange kiwi slices around the edge of the serving bowl and alternate with strawberry slices. Chill and serve.

Orange Sherbet Salad

I made this jello salad from AllRecipes for our New Years Day dinner tomorrow night. Our friends Ben, Kati, and their dog Enzo will be coming over to join us for dinner and hang out. Kati has celiac disease, so I'm making everything gluten-free and I thought this would be an easy side dish... plus I can use up some ripe bananas that I have on my counter. :) This sure looks good - I'm sure it'll taste good, too! Its very similar to a recipe that my family makes quite often - only they use marshmallows instead of bananas... I figure the bananas make it a little healthier. :) Update: it was delicious! It filled in for our dessert since I didn't end up having time to make a flourless chocolate cake. Definitely a keeper and something I'll make again!

Orange Sherbet Salad

2 (6 ounce) packages orange flavored gelatin
4 cups boiling water
1 quart orange sherbet
2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges
3 bananas, sliced

Combine the gelatin and boiling water; stir until dissolved. Add sherbet and fruit; mix well. Pour into a 9x13 dish and chill until set. Serve cold.

Peaches

I canned peaches last year and said I'd probably never do it again until we had our own peach tree to make it a little more economical once you factor in all the time it takes to prep and can the peaches. Well, my SIL Mary received some fabulous tips from her in-laws on canning peaches that save sooooo much time and effort, so I decided to give them a try again this year afterall. I canned them about two weeks ago now and did 32 pints! Not bad at all compared to my 5 pints last year! The crazy thing is... I think I did the 32 pints in LESS time than it took me to do the 5 pints! This is definitely the way to do peaches! Mary posted the method on her blog last week, too, so I've just copied and pasted her description below.

The Easy Way to Can Peaches

Prep jars, lids and canner
Make simple syrup (I did a light syrup...2 1/2-3 cups sugar in about 11 cups water)
Prep treatment solution (I just sprinkled with some Fruit Fresh)
Wash peaches
Cut peaches in half
Remove pit
Quarter peaches if necessary
Place peaches in treatment solution
When all peaches are ready drain solution
Place peaches in hot jars, cut side down if possible
Cover with syrup
Secure lid and band
Process in boiling canner 25 min. for pints, 30 min. for quarts

Once you are ready to use the peaches, the peels will just slide right off.

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

I've got a lot of catching up to do with posts from last week. First up, a fresh peach and blueberry cobbler. I found a recipe on RecipeZaar that sounded like a good one to try. I used some fresh chopped peaches and some fresh blue crop blueberries. This was so yummy! Definitely hit the spot! My parents tried some when they stopped by and thought it was delicious, too. I think most cobbler recipes are pretty similar, so I doubt this is anything special, really, but it'll be one of my go-to cobbler recipes from now on.

Fresh Peach Cobbler

6 cups peeled sliced peaches (I just eye-balled it between peaches and blueberries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Filling: Mix peaches, sugar and flour together and pour into a 15-inch baking dish.

Batter: Combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor. Process to combine. Add the milk and melted butter. Process until smooth. Spoon batter over the peaches, making sure you spread to edge of dish.

Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon over the top.

Bake in center of oven about one hour.

Crust should be brown and crisp on the outside and cooked all the way through. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Variation: Blackberry, blueberry or raspberry cobbler--omit cinnamon and nutmeg.

Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars

I tried a recipe from RecipeZaar for Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars. I wanted to find a way to use up some more of the apple butter I canned last year and these had good ratings and sounded tasty. They are very good. Very crumbly, but very good. I love the oats in them, though Kevin didn't. Carson liked them quite a bit, too.

Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened to room temperature
1 cup apple butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and beat with electric mixer on low until mixture is crumbly. Pat half of the mixture, about 2 cups into baking pan. Spread apple butter evenly over crumb layer. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over apple butter and press down gently. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool completely. Cut into 16 bars.

Cherry Pie Filling

Guess what I found at the Grand Blanc farmers' market on Sunday?? Tart cherries!! Woohoo!! :) I washed and pitted them on Sunday night after Carson went to bed, then I made and canned a batch of cherry pie filling using a USDA recipe on Monday evening. I made a double batch of the recipe below and ended up with 6 pints and 1 half-pint of filling. I tasted it as I was filling the jars and the cherries were a little tart-tasting still, but I think they'll probably sweeten up a little as they sit in the sugar-gel and if not, I'll just add a little sugar when I break open a jar. Otherwise, they tasted great, though! I'm excited to have this in the pantry now - I'll have to make turnovers or something sometime soon... though I think I might pick up some more fresh tart cherries and try making a cherry pie with fresh cherries if I can find them still... we'll see what I find and how much time I have, though. I'll update with a picture later on after I upload it.

Cherry Pie Filling

For every 1-quart of canned filling, you will need:
3 1/3 cups fresh or thawed sour cherries (I used fresh)
1 cup Granulated sugar (I used free-trade, organic)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Clear Jel
1 1/3 cups cold water
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon bottled lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
6 drops red food coloring (optional)


Select fresh, very ripe, and firm cherries. Unsweetened frozen cherries may be used. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while the fruit is still frozen.

Rinse and pit fresh cherries, and hold in cold water. To prevent stem end browning, use ascorbic acid solution (I didn't do this, but probably should have).

For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot.

Combine sugar and Clear Jel in a large saucepan and add water. If desired, add cinnamon, almond extract, and food coloring (I added them all). Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained cherries immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Planning ahead

While it may seem a bit early to already be thinking of next year's harvest... I'm already thinking ahead. What can I say, other than I'm a planner and I have a lot of time to just think while I'm in the car on my commutes to and from work and meetings.

We inherited a home orchard in dire straights when we purchased our house two years ago. We have more than twenty apple and pear trees that are in desperate need of some TLC. I am focusing on giving this to them this year - by pruning them back (they're waaaay overgrown right now) and cleaning them up, making them healthy again. We've cut down several trees beyond repair and have several more to remove this year, but all in all, I think there's still hope for most of them - the pears especially.

Anyway, I've been talking to some of the local orchards that have stands at the farmers markets I visit and have been learning more about different varieties of fruits. So I'm thinking ahead to next year's (tree) planting season (mid-March to early-April) and want to keep track of the fruit trees I'd like to invest in. I hope to one day have a self-sufficient home orchard that will allow me to share the bounty with my friends and family! How great would it be to have access to super tasty, organically grown fruit??

This will be my running list of ideas that I'll update whenever I learn more and/or make a new decision. I know I won't be investing in all of these trees next year, but I'm going to start at least. This year I had the best intentions to plant peach trees, but our local nursery never got their stock in, for some reason. So next year, I've got to do some catching up. I'll be talking with a couple of my local nurseries in the next few months to discuss their access to and likelihood that they could/would order me certain varieties of trees. If I'm not successful on the local route, I'll be ordering them from some tree farms in neighboring states that have websites featuring online ordering systems so that I can ensure I get the varieties I really want.

First up... sweet cherries. I plan to plant sweet cherry trees next year (2010). The variety I've been most impressed with have been the Hedelfingen cherries. They are so sweet, they're like eating candy. Probably the sweetest cherries I've ever tasted! Although, the grower I know that grows this variety says that the sweetness of the cherry is dependent upon the drainage of your soil... the better drainage you have, the sweeter the cherry will be. Either way, I will definitely be getting a Hedelfingen tree. Sweet cherries need to be planted in groups of two or three different varieties that all ripen at about the same time to allow for cross-pollination. I need to do some more research into my second sweet cherry variety, but from the little research I've done so far, I'm thinking the Emperor Francis might be my next pick. And third, would be Kristin. All three of these varieties are hardy, which with my living in Michigan is a major necessity!

Next up... peaches. I'm hoping to plant peaches next year (2010), as well. Peaches are self-pollinating, so I really only need to plant one variety, so I'll probably just start with one and then add another peach tree or two in later years to allow for staggering the ripening of the fruits so I can have a longer harvest. Redhavens seem to be the most popular peaches to grow in Michigan. I like them because they're great for canning and/or eating fresh, and they're freestone. They're also bud-hardy... meaning they have a higher resistance to spring frosts (which happen often in Michigan and are usually a major factor in why many home-growers have trouble growing peaches in the area). So a Redhaven will probably be my first peach tree.

Next... tart cherries. I think I'll hold off till 2011 to plant any tart cherry trees. Tart cherries are necessary for cherry pies and while I don't make many at this point, I'm sure I would if I had the convenience of having my own fruit in my own orchard! Tart cherries are also self-fertile, so there's no need for more than one tree or variety. I think I'll start with a Montmorency, as they are very productive and very hardy.

Next... nectarines. I love, love, love nectarines! They are probably one of my favorite fruits. I'd love to plant a nectarine tree next year, but I think I will hold off until 2011. Nectarines can be difficult to grow in Michigan, so I think I need to learn and gain some more experience growing and maintaining a home orchard before I throw a nectarine tree into the mix. Fantasia nectarines seem like a great choice, as they're hardy, disease-resistant, and very productive. Nectarines are self-pollinating, so I only need one variety, but a second will be very tempting! Redgolds have all the same qualities of the Fantasias, so I think that'd be a strong runner-up. Although, it might be fun to throw a white-fleshed variety into the mix, too. Arctic Glo nectarines have a good hardiness and disease resistance rating, so maybe that would be a good pick, too.

Next... plums. While I don't have any knowledge of growing plums (other than I've heard they're difficult to grow in home gardens), I'd still like to try them at some point. I think I'll wait till 2012 or beyond before adding plums to the orchard, though. I'd like to plant some Japanese varieties, of which I'll need at least two that bloom about the same time to ensure cross-pollination. The Early Golden variety sounds like a strong candidate as it is very sweet, vigorous, and hardy. The second variety that sounds good to me is probably Methley. As for European varieties (which also need to be cross-pollinized), Stanley sounds like a winner, as well as Victory. But I'll do some chatting with the orchards to find out what varieties they've had luck with on plums before I'd try them myself.

Next... apples. Even with all of the apple trees on the property at the moment, I'd still like to plant some new ones... some new varieties. I'm not sure what varieties of apple trees we even have, though I suspect most of them to be McIntosh and Jonathan apples. I don't want to add any apple trees into the orchard until I've "healthified" the existing trees, though. There's no sense in spreading any bugs or disease to a new tree. So I won't be planting any new apple trees next year so I can see how the existing trees do after a season of TLC this year. I'm thinking 2011 will be a good apple tree planting year. I'd love to have a Crimson Gala tree... gala apples are my favorite and I just like the timing of this gala variety. I'd also love to have a Golden Delicious tree, as I love golden delicious apples, too!

And finally... pears. I really don't think I'll need to plant any pear trees at this point, as we have a good number of them already - and four or five different varieties, both asian and european. So I think I'm set there.

As far as other fruits in the garden. I planted two Darrow blackberry bushes this spring that seem to be growing moderately so far. I'll watch them to see how they do next year and I may add another bush or two to their patch. I've also started a raspberry patch with some transplants from other parts of our yard and from a colleague of mine that seem to be growing very well. With the way raspberries spread, I don't think I'll have to do any more planting for awhile. I do want to invest in some blueberry bushes next year, though. I know you need a couple different varieties with similar bloom/ripening times to cross-pollinate and ensure the best yields, but I'll have to do some more research into what varieties produce the best in this area. Initial research has me interested in North Blue an North Sky and Tophat varieties... all of which have the sweet, wild blueberry flavor - yum! And at some point, I'd like to build a strawberry patch, too. Whether we'll have the time at some point this year to buy the wood to build the patch and then get the soil going, we'll just have to see how it goes. I'm thinking it might be two more years before we get any strawberries growing, though. I think the only thing missing are grapes, really. I don't know anything about growing grapes yet, so don't really have an interest in them, but maybe that will develop over the years. We had some grapes on the property, but Kevin tore them out last year since they were pretty diseased.

So that's my list... quite a big one, yes? But it'll be so awesome to accomplish! And really, having a home orchard and berry patches don't require that much effort if you're growing organically... which I'm planning to do. I did buy some chemical pesticides last year to use, but after reading the packages was too freaked out to use them - that is some really scary stuff that commerical and non-organic home growers spray on their fruit!! Its just not for me, if I can avoid it, which I know I can. :)

Cherry Mousse

I decided to make a cherry mousse recipe I found on RecipeZaar for dessert to go along with our cherry chicken lettuce wraps. This was super simple to make - and could be simplified even more if you use a tub of Cool Whip if you're not trying to stay away from HFCS, anyway. This didn't have a ton of flavor, but its a nice, light-tasting, refreshing summer dessert. Maybe up the sugar a bit to give it a little more sweetness, or add more cherries. It was still good, as is, though.

Cherry Mousse

1 lb fresh sweet cherries, rinsed
3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2 cups heavy cream, preferably not ultra pasteurized

Set aside 6 whole cherries, with stems if still attached. Pit the remaining cherries. Combine the pitted cherries and one tablespoon of the confectioner's sugar in a food processor. Puree until coarsely chopped.

Whip the cream with the remaining confectioner's sugar until medium peaks form. Fold in the cherry puree and distribute the mouse among champagne flutes or small parfait glasses. Top with reserved cherries and serve immediately. The longer the mousse sits the darker the color.

Black Forest Jam

Well, guess what I found at the farmers market yesterday? Cherries!! And they're actually not Traverse City cherries - which I wouldn't consider local for me even though they're delicious - but they're from Romeo, which is about 50 miles away, so they're local! Yeah!! I bought 8 quarts and have made it through 6 of them already. 3 quarts were dehydrated, 2 quarts were used in making this jam, 1 quart has been frozen. I'll freeze another quart today and the last quart will be for fresh eating. I'd still like to make some cherry pie filling, but we'll have to see if I can find other local cherries this week at one of the other markets. I'd kind of like to dehydrate another few quarts, too. Since Carson eats raisins like they're going out of style right now, I'm hoping he likes dried cherries (he'll get to try them today). They're a great snack, but I'd also like to make sure I have some for baking this fall/winter, too.

Anyway, back to the jam. This recipe is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. My friend from work is borrowing my book right now, so I had to look this one up on one of the canning groups I follow, so hopefully its still the correct recipe. Its the one I used, at least. And it is soooo good! I tasted it as I was filling the jars - YUM! I wanted to make this to use as a filling for a chocolate cake and it'd be a great ice cream or cheesecake topping, too! I made a double batch, as I'm thinking this might be a good holiday gift for our mailman, hair stylist, etc.

Black Forest Jam

6 1/2 c. granulated sugar (organic, free-trade certified)
1/3 c. sifted unsweetened cocoa powder (organic, free-trade certified)
3 c. firmly packed, coarsely chopped, pitted sweet black cherries (I used Bing cherries)
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 pouches (3 oz. each) liquid pectin
4 T. amaretto liqueur or 1/2 tsp almond extract (I used the extract)

Prepare canner, jars, and lids. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder. Stir well and set aside.

In a large, deep, stainless steel saucepan, combine the cherries and lemon juice. Stir in reserved cocoa mixture. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in amaretto liqueur. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot preserves. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

Makes 7 half pints.

Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

I decided to make some strawberry rhubarb preserves after my visit to the Grand Blanc Farmers Market this morning (we were in GB, so just went there). I had marked this recipe last year in my Preserving Summer's Bounty book, but was reminded of it when I saw it on A Good Appetite a few weeks ago. So I was very happy to pick up some organic rhubarb and organically grown (but not certified) strawberries at the market this morning. I bought six quarts of berries and I'm already wishing I'd bought more as they've almost all been used up! I sliced up two quarts and threw them in the dehydrator. I sliced up another quart and have it flash-freezing on a cookie sheet right now. Two quarts were used in this recipe and we've just been munching on the remaining quart. I also picked up two pints of snow peas that have been blanched and frozen, and a large bag of spinach that I plan to dehydrate tomorrow once the strawberries are done. I must say it's been a very productive nap-time (Carson's nap-time, not mine :)). I don't remember when I've felt like I'd accomplished so much in such a short amount of time... I've even gone through a couple loads of laundry - washed, dried, folded/hung, and put away. Not bad!

Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

1 1/3 c honey (local, pretty much organic, pure)
4 c strawberries, washed, stemmed & thickly sliced (organically grown, but not certified)
4 c rhubarb, washed and sliced (organic)
3 T lemon juice

Place the strawberries in a medium enamel or stainless steel saucepan. Drizzle 1/3 cup of the honey over them & let sit at room temperature for 3 - 4 hours.

Add the rhubarb, remaining 1 cup of honey & lemon juice to the saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil stirring from time to time. Cook at a rapid boil for 15 - 20 minutes or until berries are clear & the sauce has thickened. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from heat & skim off the foam.

Ladle into four hot sterilized half-pint jars leaving about 1/4-inch headroom. Clean off the tops of the jars & cover with a lid. Close with a neckband & finger-tighten. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off heat & let sit for 5 minutes. Remove jars from the water to a heat-proof surface & let cool for 12 - 24 hours (do not dry jars). Check to make sure the top of the jar has been drawn downwards, creating a seal. If it hasn't either reprocess that jar or store it in the fridge to be eaten within 3 weeks. Remove the neckbands & store jam in a cool dark place.

Makes 4 half-pints (I just about doubled the recipe and ended up with 7 1/2 half-pints.)

Strawberry Syrup

This morning I made and canned a batch of strawberry syrup using a recipe that I found on one of the canning boards I visit. I had been looking for a strawberry syrup recipe for some time before finding this one - notice it contains no corn syrup? All of the strawberry syrup recipes I kept finding contained corn syrup and I've recently found out that light corn syrup now contains high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) (I guess it didn't used to have HFCS in it), which I did not want to use in my preservation efforts since that is something I'm really trying to limit and get away from. I tasted this syrup as I was filling the jars and it is yummy! Can't wait to have it on pancakes or waffles or some homemade vanilla ice cream! It was very easy to make and went very quickly once I got all the berries hulled and chopped.

Strawberry Syrup

Juice:
3 quarts strawberries
1 cup water

Syrup:
4 cups strawberry juice
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Juice: Mash berries and crush them one layer at a time. In 8 quart pan, mix berries with water and put on med-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and take cover off and skim foam. Let it cool for 15 minutes.

Sieve over a bowl or pan to strain out the pulp. Discard the pulp and rinse the sieve. (I did not discard the pulp, but froze it in cubes to throw into fruit smoothies.) Measure 4 cups of juice.

To make syrup: In medium saucepan, mix juice, sugar and lemon juice. Over med-low heat, stir it constantly and heat till sugar is ALL dissolved. Increase heat to med-hi and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer syrup for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Ladle hot syrup into hot jars, leave 1/4 inch space. Wipe jar rims and threads with damp clean cloth, apply lids and rings. Process half pints in boiling water bath (BWB) for 10 minutes, pints for 15 minutes.

Makes 6 half-pints or 3 pints

(I used about three and a three-quarters quarts berries and got five cups of juice and 7 half-pints of syrup.)

Double Berry Scones

I came across a recipe for double berry scones on the Eggs on Sunday blog and thought they looked and sounded so tasty. When I saw they had buttermilk in them, I figured I'd go ahead and try them out now to use up the rest of my buttermilk. I figured I can take one for my breakfast on a couple of mornings this week and I'll freeze a few, too. So I made up a batch of them tonight and snuck a taste of one a little bit ago. Yum! These are very, very good! Definitely something I'll make again!!

Double Berry Scones

1 cup all-purpose flour (organic)
1 cup white whole wheat flour (organic)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dried blueberries (home-dried)
1/2 cup dried strawberries, chopped (organic, home-dried)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk (organic)
1 egg yolk (local, organic, free-range)

To brush the scones with: 1 egg white and some granulated sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and zest in a large bowl. Whisk or toss with your fingers to combine. Drop in the chunks of butter, toss them briefly to coat them with flour, then use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until you have pieces resembling coarse meal, oatmeal flakes, and peas.

Whisk together the buttermilk and egg yolk, and all at once, add to the flour and butter mixture. Stir gently and quickly with a fork until it comes together into a loose dough. Add the dried fruit. Use your hands to gather the pieces of dough into a ball and knead it a few times against the edge of the bowl, just to gather any loose pieces - the dough will be fairly moist, so you can sprinkle a little more flour on your hands if it helps.

Pat the dough out on a floured surface into a round disk, about 1 inch high. Use a sharp knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, and place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Makes 8 scones.