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Posts tagged ‘Sustainable’

Mar 21

9 Comments

Bruschetta In Eleven Minutes Tops!

Bruschetta landscape

A favorite in our home because we love Italian food anything, it’s healthy and a snap to make.

Bruschetta in the making

When my daughter was four she came in from munching sweet cherry tomatoes and basil in the garden and exclaimed ” We have a grocery store in our backyard!”  Then she asked…”can we grow a mozzarella plant?” She asked the proper question; can we? If only that were possible. “I wish we could.” was my answer. However, these questions did open the door to researching how mozzarella is made, and where it comes from. I’ve not yet ventured to make it myself, but I hear Mozzarella is pretty easy to produce, so I’ll have to try it and get back to you about that.

Until then, here’s our favorite bruschetta recipe:

Bruschetta

1 Local baguette sliced (I love the Mazama Store’s because it has a wee bit of salt on top)
2-3 Red, preferably heirloom, garden tomatoes (however with snow still on the ground, organic vine-ripened tomatoes have the most flavor)
15 Basil leaves or as many as you have slices of bread
Fresh mozzarella (you can find the pre-sliced kind at some stores) to top the slices of bread
salt for sprinkling
Olive oil (Italian) to drizzle
Balsamic Vinegar (aged has a sweeter flavor, but any will do) to drizzle

Bruschetta olive oil drip drop bottle

Action:

1. Toast the slices of bread, or if you have time put them over the grill or gas burner, to toast
2. Add sliced mozzarella
3. Add Basil face up to catch some of the oil and balsamic drizzle
4. Add sliced tomatoes to each
5. Sprinkle with salt
6. Drizzle with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Bruschetta Ready To Eat!

Buon Appetito!

* Thank you to Diane, Geof, Linda, Marc, Hannah and Eva for patiently waiting to devour these tasty bites while E.A did his photo dance to capture the bruschetta when freshest.

Head Shot RachelleRachelle @ Caramelize Life

“making life a little sweeter, through food, travel and community”

Dec 20

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Sweet & Spicy Venison with Root Vegetables

Deer populate our Methow Valley year round.  Whitetail and mule deer are as common as robins.  Houdini deer scale our ten foot garden fences in summer and occasionally square off with our dog in the yard.  In autumn, the deer provide a staple meat for many families, and this year we are fortunate to have ample venison from my husbands successful whitetail hunt.

This recipe is a modified creation of the first meal that my husband ever made for me.  As a deer hunter, he calls himself “religious,” and that is no exaggeration.  Since childhood in Vermont, he has tracked and hunted by long family tradition and methods.  He is also excellent at butchering the animal, ensuring fresh tasting, lean red meat without gamy flavor, essential for good venison.

Deers

The combination of sweetness in the root veggies and onions, and the spice used to sear the roast warms heart and belly in the cold of winter.  There is a large portion of butter in this recipe, but it is absolutely needed for richness of flavor, as venison has almost no fat content.  When making the meat into burger or sausage for instance, a large amount of pork fat is added.  This recipe does not work well with oil substitutes, but not to be concerned, for even with the butter, the fat added is minimal given the leanness of the meat.

Potent, large chunks of onion infuse the entire stew and sweeten nicely while baking.  The recipe is tasty if seasoned to searingly hot, but it is just as good a little milder which is my preference.  Topped with zingy feta, which browns to perfection atop the veggies and meat, this is a delectable one pot winter meal.

From the garden vegetables to the lean wild game, to the cheese topping made just down the street, this recipe is satisfyingly sustainable and harvest to table.

Cayenne peppers redden in the summer sun. I dry them and store for recipes such as these.

Cayenne peppers redden in the summer sun. I dry them and store for recipes such as these.

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Garden onions for the stew, keeping us stocked all winter~

~Spicy Venison Stew with Sweet Root Vegetables~

1 1/2 – 2 lb. Venison (roast meat works great, or a choice cut)

1/3 cup butter

1-2 Tablespoons dried hot chili flakes (such as cayenne)

1 large sweet potato

1 large yam

2 large onions

ample salt and pepper to taste

½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup crumbled feta (I use Sunnypine Farms chèvre feta)

~Begin by trimming the venison roast of any tendons and excess fat; chop into large chunks, about 1-2 inches square.

~In a large fry pan, melt butter on medium high and add dried pepper; when chilies flakes are sizzling, add venison to the pan and seer on medium high on all sides, stirring frequently, until meat is browned; note: do not cook through—venison cooks quickly and is easily over done.

~Remove from heat and combine with brown sugar, salt and pepper; place meat in a covered casserole or Dutch oven.

~Chop onions in quarters and root vegetables in 2 inch chunks; cover meat with vegetables, but do not mix; top with feta and cover.

~Cook at 250 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until root veggies are soft when stuck with a fork; for last 10 minutes of baking, remove cover from dutch oven for browning of onions and cheese.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Love from our kitchen to yours!  ~Georgina @ Caramelize Life

A cast iron dutch oven is the best way to cook this stew for consistent heating and melding of flavors.

A cast iron dutch oven is the best way to cook this stew for consistent heating and melding of flavors.

Oct 2

Smoked Kind Salmon, Chèvre and Apricot Date Chutney Crostini
2 Comments

Caramelize Life Cooking Class @ Sun Mountain Lodge

It was quite a joy teaching garden to table, Methow based cooking to visitors from around the country this month.

We were invited by Methow Arts Alliance to beautiful Sun Mountain Lodge where I taught original recipes and methods while Rachelle took fabulous photos and video while we prepped.  Our attendants asked for full recipes and photos published on our site, so this article includes methods for all that we made in class.

Luckily for us at the time, the garden was at it’s height, so most all of the ingredients we used were pulled straight from the backyard.  Heirloom tomatoes, hericot vert, fresh herbs, a chèvre selection from Sunny Pine Farm and my husband’s Columbia River King Smoked Salmon received praise all around for a delightful light-fare meal we all enjoyed.

About Sun Mountain Lodge

Honored for many years with it’s five star, four diamond status, Sun Mountain draws visitors to the Methow from around the globe.  Exquisite natural beauty as well as world class skiing and trail sports make the mountain a prime destination.  The best in fine dining is guaranteed at Sun Mountain, but what we particularly appreciate is the chef’s use of local, organic ingredients in their culinary creations.  Check out their menu for great inspiration.

~ Introduction to Gourmet, Garden to Table Methow Cooking ~

A Collaboration of Caramelize Life, Methow Arts and Sun Mountain Lodge

We are Caramelize Life: Making Life Sweeter through Cooking, Travel and Community

We are Methow Valley mothers, cooks, gardeners, photographers and writers publishing original recipes and bringing the magic of Methow foods to readers and students around the world.

We write realtime narratives, methodologies and recipes weekly in articles showcasing locally grown foods, heritage and community ~ each of them organic and self-sustaining in philosophy and heart.  In everything we write, photograph, teach and create, we’re seeking to make life a little sweeter.

MENU

~Methow Harvest Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Lemon-Pepper-Almond Pesto Dressing and Handcrafted Twisp River Feta

~Crostini with Columbia River King Smoked Salmon, Local Goat Cheese & Apricot-Date Chutney

RECIPES

~ Tomato & Baby Green Bean Salad with Lemon-Pepper-Almond Pesto & Feta Cheese ~

3 lb.s Tomatoes, seeded and diced

2-3 lb.s Hericot-Vert, flash boiled and diced

1 head Romaine or other hearty green

1 cup Crumbed Feta Cheese

Lemon-Pepper-Almond Pesto Dressing (see below)

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Heirlooms, basil and beans for the salad

~ Lemon-Pepper-Almond Pesto Dressing ~

1 Recipe Pesto Sauce

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Tablespoons E.V. Olive Oil

Fresh Basil Leaves

Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

~Chiffonade basil (stack 7-8 leaves, roll them in a tube and fine slice, 1/4- inch, at a diagonal) and set aside.

~Juice lemon into a jar or small bowl and add olive oil, pesto, salt and pepper.

~ Combine with basil and serve.

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Pesto Sauce

2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves & Flowers

3+ Cloves Garlic

1/3 cup Roasted Nuts (we recommend almonds, walnuts, pine nuts or sunflower seeds)

1/2 cup Parmasean Cheese, grated

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

~Blend nuts and garlic in a food processor until finely ground, but not sticking.

~Add cheese, salt, pepper and basil and blend until smooth.

~With machine running, slowly pour olive oil through feed tube to emulsify.

~Serve on salads and pastas, in marinaras, soups, dressings or  sandwich spreads.

Yield: about 6 servings

~ Smoked Salmon Crostini with Goat Cheese & Apricot-Date Chutney ~

1 Baguette (we used the Mazama Store‘s superb french style)

2 Tablespoons each, melted Butter & Extra Virgin Olive Oil, combined

Soft Goat Cheese, about 8 oz.

6-8 oz. Smoked Salmon

1/2 pint Apricot Date Chutney

Fresh Italian Parsley

~Slice baguette on the diagonal into 1/2 inch pieces and place on a sheet pan; drizzle olive oil and butter mixture over bread and toast in the oven at 350 F for about 7 minutes; remove from heat and set aside to cool.

~Spoon about 1 teaspoon spreadable goat cheese on each piece of bread.

~Top each crostini with 1/2 teaspoon smoked salmon.

~Garnish with a 1/4 teaspoon chutney and a sprig of parsley or serve with chutney on side.

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Georgina’s preserves, and the nectar rules. See our index of recipes on our page, Canned and Preserved 2012

~ Apricot-Date Chutney ~

6 1/2 cups Fresh, Ripe Apricots

2 1/2 cups pitted Dates

2 1/2 cups Golden Raisins

1 Tablespoon Salt

2 teaspoons ground Ginger

1 teaspoon ground Coriander

2 cups White Wine Vinegar

2 cups Water

Pint or Half-Pint Canning Jars

New Lids, Bands

~Wash, pit and chop apricots in 1/2 inch pieces.

~Combine apricots and remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer and allow mixture to thicken, stirring frequently.

~Ladle hot chutney into hot jars, leaving 1/4-1/2 inch headspace; clean rims, adjust hot lids and bands.

~Process for 10 minutes at a rolling boil in a boiling-water canner.

~Remove from canner and tighten bands; let sit for 12+ hours to seal.

~Shelve your chutney for three weeks at a minimum, 6 ideally.

Yield: 12 half-pints or six pints

~ Columbia River King Salmon ~ Smoked & Preserved ~ 

Recipe coming soon on caramelizelife.com

Love from our kitchen to yours, Georgina @ Caramelize Life

 

Jul 10

Kauai'i - Steel Grass Chocolate tour

And the Winner for the Food with the Highest antioxidant content is…(drum roll please) Part Two

If you are just joining us check out part one of our chocolate tour.

part two…

We hit the prime time to view the cacao tree, because in early to mid June, the tree is in bloom with flowers, new leaves are emerging from the top, and the cacao pods are ripening.  Michelle cut open a cacao pod so we could see the white fibrous center and the seeds nested within.

Did you know that Hawaii is the only state in the USA where chocolate trees grow?

Next on our three hour tour we are happily seated under the big top, the Steelgrass’s newest addition. Here is where we trust Michelle and taste little bits of chocolate from numbered ramekins.

This blind test allows us to banish any preconceived ideas we bring and let our taste buds tell us  what we really like, rather than great marketing. This method draws out each of our inner wine enthusiast and we write down adjectives like smoky, pungent, fruity with a gritty mouth taste with an earthy flavor. These words are the ‘terre’ (french for place) that describe the chocolate and the flavors that swim in our mouths bumping into our sweet and salty taste buds.  The flavors pop in our mouths and our taste buds jobs are made easy purely responsible for sending messages to our vacation brain, so we may conjure up visuals of the tropical landscapes the samples of chocolate originate from.

Cacao bean and chocolate covered nibs

Of course, if you didn’t have the patience for all this nonsense and preferred to just eat your chocolate pieces and doodle on paper with crayons (like I said; no rock was left unturned) then Annabelle had a small following in another tent just for you nonconformists.

Meanwhile in the big top we traveled back in time and followed Michelle through chocolate’s historical journey from start to present day. Then we were given the secret DIY knowledge of transforming these cacao nibs into rich, creamy, melt in your mouth chocolate complete with kitchen appliance recommendations for the aficionados in our group.

The last bit of information we absorbed was what brought us here in the beginning; we now know which chocolate our taste buds have decided is the best from around the world.

For me it was the 70% Kallari “Red Leaf.” Forastero/Nacional, grown in Ecuador. I was happy to hear that it is also a very socially responsible production with a great story, another bonus to all the good news I am learning about chocolate!

Armed with facts and research to support their debate I believe our family favorite smoothie will be made more often this summer. Below is our combination of Ed’s Juice and Java’s; Funky Monkey and Molly of Glover St. Market’s; Energy Boost.

Cacao Nib Smoothie

2 Peeled Bananas

1/4 cup Cacao nibs

3 cups Almond milk

1/2 cup Almond Butter

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

liquid chocolate to taste (optional for sweetness)

Blend together adding more liquid depending on desired thickness

Enjoy!

Have it cold: if you make too much or have left overs simply pour into a Popsicle mold and pop it in the freezer for a healthy summer treat.

Fact: Cacao has one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants of any food. Antioxidant levels are measured by Oxygen Radial Absorbance Capacity. Per 100 grams, cacao nibs have 95,000 compared to; broccoli 890, spinach 1,540, acai berries 5,500 and dark chocolate 13,120.

*source Steelgrass.org handout.

Aloha kakou!

Rachelle @ Caramelize Life

Related articles

Jul 7

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3 Comments

Any~Time~Any~Meal Winners: from Rhubarb Crisp to the Philly Cheese Steak

Recently Rachelle and I, partners at Caramelize Life, were happily bantering about favorite foods and recipes we adore.  We landed on a few win-all, any-time, all-purpose recipes.

I think we’re all familiar ~ those recipes that we’ll secretly devour on any occasion in a darkish corner of the kitchen.  It’s just as good first thing in the morning as late at night, whenever hunger strikes.

There is most commonly no guilt associated with these snackings, because the recipes are so delectable (and arguably healthy in our minds) that they should be enjoyed for any meal.  No excuses.

Four quick and easy Any-Meal-Any-Time Recipes for our Beloved Readers

These recipes may be made garden to table any time of year with a few tricks, but each one also uses produce and ingredients currently in season.  I’d like to highlight the Emmer Farro recipe and our friends at the Methow Valley’s own Bluebird Grain Farms because it is now prime salad season.  This recipe and those for Rhubarb Sauce and Philly Cheesesteak were also published in recent months.

But don’t miss the new recipe of Rhubarb Crisp at the end ~ it’s a universal winner!

1

~ Philly Cheese Steak Meets Methow Mama ~

The first weekend I made this recipe, I’ll admit, I ate this cheesesteak for three different meals.  And yes, one of them was breakfast.

2

~ Emmer Farro Salad with Fruit, Feta & Pecans ~ High-Protein, Hearty…. Delectable 

Emmer Farro is a unique, ancient grain cultivated in the Methow Valley. It is highly sought after in fine dining establishments in larger cities. And here is why: emmer has a full-bodied flavor, a texture and shape that holds, and contains up to 22% protein.

Photo credit: John Lok of the Seattle Times

3

~ Rhubarb Sauce & Yogurt ~

Rhubarb and yogurt is a family staple.  Check out this easy recipe for healthy any-time snacking.

4

New Recipe

~ Rhubarb Crisp ~

Fruit Mixture ~

5 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, diced in 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 cups sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

Note: if rhubarb is frozen, thaw but do not drain.

Crisp Topping ~

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or cinamon

1/4 cup cold butter, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1~ Combine rhubarb, sugar and flour in a bowl and set aside.  Let stand for at least 1/2 hour, stirring periodically.

2~ Meanwhile, prepare topping by combining all dry ingredients, then cut in butter.

3~ Place fruit in greased 2 quart square baking dish or equivalent and sprinkle topping over fruit.

4~ Bake at 375F for about 1/2 hour or until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown.

Yield: 10-12 servings (or4-5, depending)

Love from our kitchen to yours!  Georgina @ Caramelize Life

Jun 24

Cacao Trees
3 Comments

And the winner for the Food with the Highest antioxidant Content is…. (drum roll please)

~Join us for our two-part series on the food with the highest antioxidant tour

Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pure and simple, dark chocolate and cacao nibs top the charts in antioxidant levels ~ beating out acai berries, kale and broccoli on the Oxygen Radial Absorbance Capacity scale (more on this scale below). Shocked? I sure was when I recently learned this bit of information. Un-shockingly, my children were already rehearsing their “eat your broccoli” retorts.

Can it really be true? How did I stumble upon this fantastic news?

It all started when my daughter exclaimed, “chocolate grows on trees!”

Tour brochures lined up on our vacation condo’s counter top: chocolate, coffee, rice, taro etc. Eenie, Meeny, Miney, Moe…
Well, Miney and Moe are actually kids named Hannah and Eva and I guess that makes my husband Eenie and by default I’m the Meeny.

The meany who wants to add an educational aspect to our Hawaiian vacation. I’m sure you can see where this is going…

Steelgrass

Taro is island specific but no votes there; of the ag tours, rice (unfortunately), had no tours on our free days so the choice was between coffee and chocolate. I love both but would rather have the kids hyped up on vitamin B-12 goodness than buzzing on caffeine. Thankfully, they agreed.

After a little research, and a recommendation from some friends, we decided to check out the STEELGRASS family chocolate tour, which had an added bonus that included a voice over studio on site with the likes of Ben Stiller and Jack Black…read: now husband is on board too.

I spoke with Tony Lydgate, Steelgrass family owner, to confirm our Chocolate from Branch to Bar reservation and he said tours start at 9 am. I’m thinking; who doesn’t like chocolate for breakfast? The kids sure thought this was an excellent idea and that maybe the sun had gotten to my senses, but no one mentioned anything about that.

The evening prior to our tour, the children slept soundly with visions of Hawaiian chocolate dancing in their heads. Up bright and early like I’ve only seen on christmas morning they were ready to go devour their breakfast! It’s healthy right? Local, sustainable, organic, without additives; all the checks were there for our foodie family list, so why can’t we eat chocolate all the time? All you parents out there get ready because those answers we tell our kids that it is a treat are now debunked and I hear doctors are recommending a daily dose of dark chocolate.

Studies have found that eating dark chocolate daily can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes.  What? I guess the trick is on me for wanting an educational tour, now our tour guides Michelle and Annabelle have my kids full attention and I’m taking notes on this brilliant way to educate all ages.

So the tour begins, by sharing that chocolate is made from cacao and yes, cacao grows on trees. But before we learn more about cacao our guides direct us through their grove of meticulously labeled tropical fruit trees, educating our tour group through our senses about each fruit.

No crazy Wonka tour here, all children and adults munched freely on sustainably grown, Tahitian Lime and sugar cane (known as KO) a sweet and tangy lime aid in yo’ mouth combination. Longan or Dragon Eye fruits that would be perfect in a bowl on Halloween, crimson red Mountain Apple and Lilikoi (passion fruit) and more, all without incident.

Soursop (Custard Apple)

Dragon Eye

Dragon Eye

Lilikoi (Passionfruit)

Blissfully meandering through the tropical trees, learning about Egyptian paper making from papyrus trees and smelling the bark of a cinnamon tree ~ the mission of our tours guides emerges.

This fantastic way of bringing in unassuming students, thinking only of chocolate bars to impart knowledge about sustainable agriculture, is like tossing zucchini into chocolate cake without the kids knowing.

A Truffula tree right? Nope it’s Papyrus

Cacao is a tree, and in order for us chocolate lovers to fully enjoy the purest foodie dark chocolate scrumptious delights, we need to understand that our delectable bar only needs four ingredients: cacao, sugar, vanilla and an emulsifier like soy lecithin or cacao butter. But from Branch to Bar so much more goes on behind the scenes.

Cacao Trees

Cacao trees with colorful pods

It’s a meeting of the minds at the Lydgate Farm with PhD’s, Oxford alumnae, musicians, artists and others that form a team who have come together to develop a sustainable agriculture program to teach others the same.

By sharing the behind the scenes chocolate creation process, Steelgrass shows the many stages of the production, and in so doing, they also show the excellence that comes from being a steward for sustainable agriculture on the Hawaiian Islands.  We learned that it takes healthy pollinators not limited to bees for the fruit trees but it’s tiny gnats that are able to pollinate the petite cacao flowers.  They use companion planting as a natural pest control and rely on collaboration and cooperation between neighboring cacao farmers.  This is their  hypothetical insurance policy, if disaster hits in the form of bugs, weather or other, then the diversification of plants, their various locations and different cacao farms, help ensure sustainability.  This all falls under the umbrella of the Kauai Cacao Cooperative for creating a homegrown chocolate industry on the island.

It is incredible to think that all these aspects and hard work go into making that dark flavorful chocolate available and so good for us to enjoy.  Once you understand you can’t forget and now that price of the chocolate bar makes sense. But it is perfect because, unlike milk chocolate where I could keep on eating more and more, I find that a small amount of dark chocolate hits the spot and I am satisfied…better for the environment, better for me..it’s a win~win.


Honey on bamboo

Honey on bamboo sticks

Join us next week for part 2 of our chocolate tour adventure!

Aloha kakou,

Rachelle @ Caramelize Life

May 25

2012 garden spinach
13 Comments

Spring Start Salad ~ with Caramelized Balsamic Dressing, Roasted Nuts, Berries & Goat Cheese

Tough Greens Sweeten Up
!

Well, not exactly tough ~ but more hearty than the sweet lettuces of later spring.  The kale, beet greens and spinach called for in this recipe can be rather fibrous as adults, but more tender as babies.  So springs the recipe!

The spinach is currently exploding, so I’m using it in every meal.  This recipe is a favorite, loaded with the flavors of its dynamic, crowd pleasing, caramelized dressing.

Spinach, kale and beet greens, picked small as soon as you’re ready to thin, are a delectable treat. But they also hold their shape under a warm dressing very well. The slightly bitter taste of each adds to the complexity of flavors, which are plenty with the garlic, berry and honey content in the dressing.

Salt and a slight tang in the goat cheese tops the flavor combo…to the point that I’d love to have this salad as a main course regularly ~ if my family would agree.

The balsamic vinaigrette tends to wow guests. Sautéed garlic combines with honey, balsamic and dried fruit to caramelize into a thick, warm syrup.

Caramelizing honey, balsamic and olive oil requires a full boil.

I first tasted a version made by Julie Libby, former chef and now owner of our local book haven, Trail’s End Bookstore.  (Some of our favorite cookbooks from Trail’s End are featured on the righthand sidebar.)  I’ve modified the recipe with honey rather than sugar, added some dried berry options and expanded from spinach to a variety of tougher greens.

Healthy spring garlic ~ carefully roasted, the garlic in this recipe’s caramelized dressing works to enhance all other flavors.


~Caramelized Balsamic Dressing~

½ cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup dried cranberries, huckleberries or blueberries

1/2 cup honey

Salt and pepper to taste

1~ Sauté garlic in a small saucepan in 1 T olive oil until slightly browned and fragrant.

2~ Mix all other ingredients well and add to garlic on medium-high, stirring frequently.

3~Bring to a rolling boil and reduce heat to a lively simmer, stirring constantly. Do not let boiling or stirring cease.  Allow to thicken until caramelized, about 5-7 minutes.

4~ Let cool for 10 minutes or until just warm and serve. Top each salad with prudent spoons of dressing, tossing lightly with each spoonful (it is very flavorful, so be careful:)

~ Use this dressing as soon as it is cool enough to pour and save the rest to reheat later.  It can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks and reheated for additional meals.

~Spring Start Salad~

Spinach, Kale, Beet Greens  (full sized salad bowl, filled)

½+ cup roasted almonds (or substitute walnuts or peacans)

½+ cup crumbled goat cheese

1~ Roast slivered or chopped nuts for 5 minutes or until just brown. Set aside to cool.

2~ Tear greens in ratio to your liking.  This recipe can be made in one bowl, but we recommend plating individually because of the warm dressing ~ the presentation is better and it holds shape in smaller portions. To prepare individual salads: make a bed of 1 ½ cups mixed greens on each plate.

3~ Drizzle ¼ cup warm dressing over top and toss~barely; top with 2 Tablespoons each, cheese and roasted nuts and serve.

A little sprinkling of each topping is all that’s needed for this salad of full bodied flavor.

NOTE:  This salad can be made all year long with standard spinach and kale as well. Try experimenting by substituting different roasted nuts or other tough greens to fit your family’s fancy.

Love from our Kitchen to Yours ~ Georgina @ Caramelize Life

If it’s not time to grow your own greens, local producer’s in our Methow Valley are easy to find at METHOW NET’S DIRECTORY, or look for organic goodness at your local farmer’s market.

Kale, like spinach, grows  quickly in cool spring weather.  If your garden is populated with kale, it can be used solely for this salad, or check out a different take on tough spring greens on Sassy Radish.  The Tuscan Kale Salad with Pecorino looks divine.

We love to use SUNNY PINE FARM’S Chèvre.  Not only do we love the families who tend and milk the goats, but the product is out of this world! Thank you Vicki and Ed Welch for your amazing farm!

Logo

Sunny Pine Farm serves the local community with high quality, healthy, organic products.  Ph:(509) 997-4812

Up north, the Larkhaven Cheese Farm is superb as well.  Their goat and sheep combo feta is mouth watering and would go very well with this recipe.

Larkhaven Farm  (509) 486-1199.


May 23

Lucy in the Garden with Diamonds
10 Comments

Mutual Giving

Of all that I love of writing about food at Caramelize Life, topping the list is the opportunity for mutual giving.

When we began this venture of writing garden to table recipes from our heritage and kitchens, it was blissful in itself. Making life a little sweeter through cooking with family and friends is naturally full of joy.

Limoncello, made with love and sunshine by the Weymuller family

The happy bonus is sharing with all our wonderful readers and fellow writers across the world!  The very nature of cooking blogs invites us to support one and other.

In giving our ideas, feedback and support to each other, everyone benefits.  Rather than competition, it is collaboration ~ active, mutual giving that leads us all towards more knowledge and happy success.

A gift from Mama Rachelle ~ her home made vanilla extract

Sharing our knowledge and methods about food is as ancient as we people are. Rachelle and I are happy to have gleaned knowledge from our mothers, grandmothers and friends, and we’re purposefully sending out the secrets.

But in sharing with an extended network of food growers, chefs and producers, our joy and knowledge is multiplied more than we ever could have imagined.

Picking spring asparagus

Learning from Mama Gina how to make rhubarb sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our connections as people are within the food we eat, and the way we feed our bodies creates our lives.  So, as we at Caramelize Life share of heritage, food, family and community, we invite you to feel the joy.

Here’s to growing bountifully, cooking beautifully and making life sweeter together!

Love from our kitchen to yours!  Georgina @ Caramelize Life

May 14

Carrot love
8 Comments

Garden Love: Kids & Carrot Soup

Kids love to garden ~ as long as we elders help that love along:)

How can we as parents hook kids on growing their own food for life?

The main ingredient for kids of any age ~ FUN!

This spring, my daughter was given a single bean to plant inside.  She named the beloved bean–ready for this–”Beanie,” much to our great shock.  She labeled Beanie, watered her and put her in a sunny window.  She invested much in Beanie, singing to her, fanning her, telling her stories.  Now Beanie is about 5 inches tall and needed a home, so a bean teepee was built for Beanie (methods below).  Now, one of her favorite places to be is camped out, making “salad” in the bean teepee.

It’s in this–determining what is really fun for your child–that hooks them on gardening.  Here are some other ideas.

Grow What They Eat

The first vegetable my daughter wanted to eat out of the garden was a sweet pea.  Imagine that.  A sweet pea wanting to eat something as sweet as she!

She proclaimed “these pea pods are just little sacks of sugar!”

She told all her friends in case they hadn’t discovered that definition:)

The first veggie my son loved was the carrot.  We looked up different carrot varieties and he got attached to the type called “short and sweet.”  From 4 years old to the present, he is in charge of the carrot patch:)

Carrots! Easy to grow with children, wonderfully sweet to eat fresh.

Read for Inspiration

Books about families gardening self sufficiently are wonderful introductions as well.  My all time favorite is Oxcart Man.  It teaches about the cycle of the seasons and all the family does to make their own food all year.  Here is how the beautiful tale begins:

Ox-Cart Man, a beautiful description of self-sufficient living in poetry.

“In October he backed his ox into his cart

and he and his family filled it up

with everything they made or grew all year long

that was left over.”

Another great one for kids is Carrot Soup.  Not only is it a hilarious, creative story of a carrot obsessed bunny and his collective of gardener friends, it has a good carrot soup recipe for you and kids to try at the end.

A bean teepee for Beanie:)

Make a Space that Kids Love

If you set aside a corner or two for your little ones, they will love taking ownership of it.  Even a 1 x 3 ” plot is enough for a child to grow food they’ll eat through the summer.

Give them a choice of seeds, and help them decide by thinking about what they like to eat.  Consider an edible flower to enhance the experience ~ my kids are fascinated by any pretty flower to safely consume.

Consider a bean pole teepee.  It sets apart a space that can be just for kids.  They will learn to be careful of planted beds and delicate seedlings, and know that they have a sanctuary where they can also creatively play.  After all, encouraging kids to love the garden through work is not going to be the most effective ~ that comes later!

Include play space in the garden and your kids will join you:)

A bean teepee can be anything you like, but we like to use skinny lodgepole downed in the forest.  Dried river wood offers some wonderful shapes.  The teepee itself can be a work of art in your garden.

One thing I did this year that I will now do every year is to save and dry our sunflower stalks for the following year.  Those long fibrous stocks dry to rock solid by spring.  I leaned them against the garden fence so they wouldn’t rot and let them stand all winter.  In spring they were hard as can be and I cut them to make a criss-cross trellis around the teepee.  (Beans need stalks smaller than lodgepole to climb:)

We planted three varieties of beans and my daughter took up immediate residence in the teepee.  She even asked to sleep there.

Pick the Fruits of Your Labor ~ Together

No matter what, involve your kids in the harvest!  The satisfaction of eating off the vine or picking the fruits of your labor is tough to beat.

Encourage the chillins to set up a little veggie stand if your family has extra, and show them the value of home grown food–for belly and pocketbook.  Rachelle has a great post about involving kids in local farmer’s markets, FIND YOUR MARKET.

I’ve found that the single most powerful way to encourage your kids to love to garden is simple: eat what you love, and grow what you eat!

Carrot Soup

At many farmer’s markets across the country you will find carrots ~ possibly the most kid friendly veggie.

Known to granola crunching vegetarians everywhere, The Moosewood Cookbook (1977 edition by Molly Katzen) is a fabulous addition to any chef’s library.  The carrot soup here is a modification from the Moosewood.

2 lbs peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
4 c stock
1 1/2 t salt
1 medium potato, chopped (optional)
4 T butter
1 c chopped onion

Moosewood Cookbook

2 cloves crushed garlic
1/3 c toasted nuts (pumpkin seeds, cashews or almonds)

1/2 pint heavy cream, or 3/4 c sour cream or plain yogurt

Season with:
~ 2 pinches of nutmeg, a dash of cinnamon and 1 t grated ginger.

1.  Place carrots, stock, salt and potato in a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp.

2.  Saute the onion and garlic in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo you choose.

3.  Puree everything together in a food processor or blender until smooth.

4.  Whisk in cream or yogurt just before serving.

5.  Garnish with toasted seeds, nuts or toasted croutons and serve.

Happy Gardening from Georgina @ Caramelize Life

Find more carrot soup recipes on KitchenDaily.com

Read more: http://www.slashfood.com/2007/08/21/the-original-moosewood-carrot-soup-recipe/#ixzz1uOeLCI5r

May 4

Spring Aspen leaves pop
7 Comments

FIND YOUR MARKET

Spring has sprung literally in the last week, here in the Methow Valley.

We’ve enjoyed the first couple of Farmers Markets held each Saturday 9am to noon. Our early spring heat wave has been kind to all the vendors and welcomed shoppers with a warm embrace.

For years I’ve been a patron to any farmers markets I can find either at home or abroad.  The market can be a unique window into local communities health and its products.  Market atmospheres are lively and festive. They celebrate our earth and what it can produce. Markets highlight and strengthen our ties to how and where our foods are processed and originate. Not everyone can live on a farm and learn from family traditions handed down each generation but most everyone can find a farmers market and take the opportunity to meet and learn from the farmers themselves.

Markets move with the seasons from the beginning seedlings in the early spring to the mounds of apples, spices, jams and jellies in the late summer harvest times.  This seasonal reminder of what our local land provides is something that becomes forgotten in the long outer isles of the mega supermarkets. I know, I love bananas in my smoothies and pineapple too.  I am not ready for a strict change but I do appreciate the fresh reminder to clean out the cob webs in my brain and love the fact that I can challenge myself to finding Saturday night’s dinner at the market.

So tempting…but no she didn’t…really.

If you would like a little help in the area of spring cleaning of the cerebral spider webs there’s an app for that! Ok, not really but if you are tech savvy and have an iPhone, sorry Blackberry and Android, you can download an App to find out what’s in season it’s called NRDC Eat Local.
Wendy Gorden of the Huffington post described the app perfectly in her blog   New App Answers: What’s in Season Near You?  it is worth the read.

I also adore the life lessons the market imparts to our children. They learn from example and experiencing the arts and local agricultural producers at a personal level is such a gift. Taken a little further and the market is inclusive allowing children to try their hand at their own entrepreneurial endeavors. Read my post life lessons a budding entrepreneur at the farmer’s market  to learn more on this topic.

Each Market has it’s own structure and set of guidelines to help it run smoothly so check in with yours before you jump in feet first.

Market Dinner or Breakfast Challenge:

Simple Scramble with Chevre and Spring Greens

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 Tbsp oil (your choice; coconut oil gives a nice change in flavor, olive or grape seed oil or butter)
1 Tbsp chevre we used organic chevre from sunny pine farms
1 cup spring greens (washed, torn or chopped and stems removed) For a fun you could forage and use Dandelion greens! (remember to properly identify the plant, make sure it hasn’t been sprayed and pick young fresh leaves. Their bitterness will mellow and blend nicely with the eggs).
1 Tbsp chopped fresh seasonal herbs (your choice; chives, rosemary, thyme, parsley, cilantro etc)
salt and pepper to taste

A slice from a fresh baguette or rosemary bread to toast.

Each market is unique to its region and what it can offer, when in France, I love to add olives to this scramble or capers.

Directions:

~Wash, tear or chop spring greens and herbs and set aside
~Pre-warm two serving bowels
~Slice bread and put in the toaster
~Crack eggs in a medium-sized bowel and beat with a fork until mixed. Then add half of your seasonal herbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
~In a preheated nonstick or cast iron saute’ pan add oil, and then the egg and herb mix. Scramble the eggs turning from the outside in.  Right before eggs are fully cooked add the chevre  and remove from heat. Then, divide into equal portions (or as much as you are hungry for)and place in your warmed bowel.
~Next, add a tablespoon or so of water and wilt greens in your saute’ pan turning constantly until wilted and then pour over chevre and egg scramble.
~Sprinkle with the second half of the fresh herbs.
~Add salt and pepper to taste

~ enjoy!

Find your Farmers Market!

Here in the Methow we are lucky to have a few:

Methow Valley Farmers Market Saturdays 9am to noon, April through October
Winthrop Market Sundays 10am to 2pm, Memorial Day to Labor Day
Mazama Market Wednesday afternoons, during the growing season

The folks at Local Harvest. Org make it easy to do just that. Click on the link and enter your zip code or state and they will point you in the right direction. It is a great tool to use especially if you are traveling.

Here are a few more links to help you find a market near you:

The USDA Farmers Markets, Food and Wine articles on the Worlds Best Food Markets, Open Air’s market list, and the Huffington Post Photo’s of the worlds largest farmers markets.

See you at the Market!
Rachelle @ Caramelizelife

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