Garden Opening and Cake Push-Ups

It’s already Spring.  Where did the winter go? (Did we really even have one?)  Clearly, I’ve failed in my blogging responsibilities – I’m sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the next recipe, so I will get on with it.

But first, a quick news flash from Community in the Garden.  IT’S ALIVE!!  A huge THANK YOU to Steve Henning, Dane Johnson, and Tom Tracy for spending their Saturday installing the drip system, timer, and pressure tank on the well.   With the beds, drip, and timer all installed, we are ready to plant!  We purchased numerous seedlings today that include both heirloom and “other” tomato varieties, cucumbers, watermelon, several kinds of squash, cantaloupe, and banana peppers so those of you that have already signed up for plots can contact me to get started!  You are also welcome to select a few of your own plants to add to your plot.  We still have a few plots left, so if you didn’t already sign up, it’s not too late (remember, they are free!).  Just let me know, and I will get you pointed in the right direction.  Please note these plots are available to anyone in the greater Lincoln/Newcastle/Loomis/Rocklin area – you do not need to be a member of Emmaus Church Community to take a plot.

Moving on … I was asked a few weeks ago to teach a four-week children’s cooking class as part of our children’s ministry at Emmaus.  As I thought through what we might do, I came across the blog of a woman who had done cake push-ups.  Have you heard about these?  I’m already wondering how someone didn’t come up with them sooner!  They are super cute, super easy, and oh, so many ideas for what to put in them …. I immediately decided they would be the first class in the series.  So, if your kids are signed up for the Emmaus Elective series cooking class, here is what we’re doing tomorrow!

Looking around, the push ups really only came in larger quantities.  The smallest I could find was a flat of 100 for around $50.  Considering all of my upcoming uses for them, that was fine with me; but if you don’t want 100, grab a couple friends and split the lot.  Here is what they looked like – I love that they had the caps.  Makes them so easy for transport, freezing, etc.!

 Since my class size was limited to ten kids and a 45 minute time period, I am having them make two push ups tomorrow.  The first will be a “breakfast” or snack type push up.  For that, I have raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, two kinds of yogurt (vanilla and strawberry) and honey for the kids to layer into the plastic container.  The second will be a “dessert” push-up; now we’re getting to the good stuff.  For those, I made yellow cake and buttercream icing (colored green and purple).  They will also have the choice of layering fruit pie filling (apple, cherry or blueberry), nutella, strawberry syrup, or chocolate syrup.  I’m thinking this summer, I may make them layered with cake and ice cream … kudos to my dear friend, Jackie, who also suggested crushed oreos with ice cream.  Truly, I’m not sure you can mess these up.

To give you an idea of the process for the cake, here is what I did.  I took a single cake mix, and baked it in four 8 x 8 pans, as shown below, so the cake pieces wouldn’t be too thick.

Once they were finished, I needed a way to cut the circles out.  If you had a small, round cookie cutter, that would work.  Since I didn’t, I used one of the push-up containers (also shown below).  I got roughly 13 circles from each cake pan, for a total of about 50 pieces.  Each push up takes about 3 pieces, so you can get a lot of these from one mix.

Once they were cut out, I decided to play with one to see if they were really as easy to assemble as I thought they would be.  They definitely were.  I layered mine with three pieces of cake broken up by a layer of frosting, and a layer of fruit.  Again, sooooo many directions you could go with this, but how cute are these?!

And that’s my Saturday.  Looking forward to seeing what the kids come up with tomorrow!

Butternut Squash Risotto and Risotto Stuffed Pumpkins

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday.  From the time I was a kid, I LOVED our family holidays, but Thanksgiving was always the best for me, because it always seemed like the least stressful.  You just spend the day cooking, eating, playing games and generally hanging out with the people you love the most.  What could be better?

Our family, like many, has always had some special Thanksgiving traditions.  One is what we fondly referred to as “The Pie Fest”.  When my grandmother was alive, she always made the pies.  One thing Gran always wanted to do was make everyone feel special and included.  At Thanksgiving, her way of showing this was to make everyone’s favorite pie.  I can remember years where we had upwards of sixteen pies, no joke.  She would always make a chocolate pie for my sister, pecan for my grandfather, lemon for my cousin, and so on.  As we all got married and new spouses entered the family, she would ask their favorite and add it to her list each year.  When my cousin, Wendi, married Pat it was discovered he didn’t like pie.  Undaunted, my grandmother proceeded to add chocolate chip cookies to her repertoire, just for him.  Gran had one of the warmest, most generous hearts of anyone I knew, and there is no doubt in my mind that my love for cooking has much to do with her.  I miss her more than words can express.   In a touching testimony to how much we all loved her – no one wanted to make the pies last year, our first holiday without her.  We just couldn’t do it.  Our desserts were cake, cookies, and cheesecake.

Lest you think my family has a Norman Rockwell quality, I should explain that we also have an offbeat sense of humor coupled with a lack of filters.  It’s a dangerous combination, and at times I have been outright traumatized by the conversation that crops up at the dinner table.  For example, the year my grandparents thought THIS setting was the most appropriate place to discuss the more intimate details of their private life.  Admittedly, I can’t recall much of that conversation, as I spent most of it holding my hands over my ears and rocking back and forth in my chair.  Perhaps what I’m thankful for this year is the fact that my Levitra-fueled grandfather will be spending the holiday with his new girlfriend’s family.  They recently returned from a Hawaiian cruise, and that conversation would send me to therapy, for sure.

In general, though, our holiday involves far too much brown food, an afternoon of bocce ball (weather permitting), a long walk after dinner, then some rowdy games of pinochle  (or these days, Rock Band on the Wii) when it gets dark.  We usually eat the main dinner midafternoon, then spend the rest of the evening grazing on the leftovers.  We sleep well.  We enjoy each other.  We all stay overnight at my parents’ house, then go cut their Christmas tree the next morning after a big breakfast.  We spend that evening decorating it for them with all the ornaments of our childhood.  I think we all just want to hang on to each other a little bit longer; no one is really ready for it to end.

In that same spirit of togetherness, I am going to spend the next few blog entries doling out recipes for Thanksgiving sides and desserts.   It is my fond hope that this season, you will all have tables overladen with food and be surrounded by the faces that you love.  In my family, those faces need to be fed and will get a little feisty with the wine hitting an empty stomach, so here we go.

Butternut Squash Risotto.  In itself, it can be a labor of love.  Risotto can sometimes be a difficult dish, with its many steps and tricky ingredients.  This recipe, from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa collection, is one of my favorites, both for its simplicity and the fact that you roast the squash.  Many recipes call for you to boil and puree the squash, but the flavor improvement roasting the squash cannot be overstated.  I personally roast mine with some fresh rosemary (dried rosemary is fine, as well).  The additional herb works well in this risotto, and amplifies the “Thanksgiving” taste of the dish.  Should you choose to go that route, simply add 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh rosemary (or 2T crushed, dried rosemary) to your ingredient list, and toss it together with the squash cubes before you roast it.  If you aren’t a big fan of shallots, that ingredient can be substituted with 1 cup of diced onion.  Finally, if your oven is going to be busy on Thanksgiving day, you can easily roast this squash the night before, puree it, then refrigerate to add the next day.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash (2 pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

2 ounces pancetta, diced

1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon saffron threads

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total.

Mash or puree roasted squash cubes.  Off the heat, add squash and Parmesan cheese. Mix well and serve.

Additional Decorative Idea – Risotto Stuffed Pumpkins.  For those of you with the artistic touch, serving this dish in small pumpkins or acorn squash adds a very festive touch to each plate.  While the risotto cooks, cut tops off pumpkins or squash. Using a large spoon, scoop out seeds and strings. Place pumpkins or squash upside down in a pan with 1/3 inch of water. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully turn them over so they are upright and return to oven until flesh is tender when pierced with a fork, about 5 to 10 more minutes.  Another idea is to bake a larger pumpkin and serve all of the risotto from that, as a table centerpiece.

Apple Cake with Rum Glaze

I love Fall.  More than any other season, it has always been my favorite.  I’ve never been one for really hot temperatures, so this first breath of relief from our scorching summers here is always met with unabashed delight on my part.  Much like my friends in the animal kingdom, this is where my body really starts to get into the hibernation groove, too.  I sleep longer and better at night, and my cooking gene REALLY gets to me.  With a nearly neurotic intensity, I scour my cookbooks for my favorite recipes, set out to fill my freezer with casseroles, and the baking reaches a terrifying frenzy.  My body knows there is a long winter ahead and it’s time to get moving on that body fat.

I could perhaps wish for a little less of that.

It’s also apple season.  When I was a child, this was the time of year we would visit my family’s ranch in Humboldt County and return loaded down with boxes of apples from the orchard.  Yes; we had a ranch in Humboldt County.  No, we did not grow anything other than cattle, sheep, and fruit.

Upon our return, my mom would get out the apple corer/peeler and we would get to work.  My sister and I would spend the morning working on that peeler while my mother spent the rest of the day making apple butter, apple pies, and canned apple pie filling.  Maybe this is where that baking gene comes from, as I always seem to have a similar day in the Fall where I overload on the apples and end up foisting baked apple goods onto anyone who crosses my path.

  My daughter, illustrating her genetic prowess

 with the apple corer/peeler.

These days, however, my apples are usually garnered from a trip to Apple Hill.  I always remind myself when I leave that I just need a few apples, but somehow when I get there, I get into the spirit of the whole thing, and those big boxes of apples are just so beautiful and CHEAP, that I figure I’ll get the whole thing and can my own apple pie filling with it.  All the way home, I have visions of Martha Stewart-esque jars of homemade apple pie filling, artfully decorated with bits of fabric and other flotsam.  I have grand plans to give these away as Christmas presents.

Then I get home and remember how much work canning apple pie filling is.  And that I am neither creative or artsy, and Martha Stewart is a convicted felon.  So, what to do with all these apples?

There are the usual apple pies, apple brown betties, apple dumplings, and caramel apples.  My problem with most baked apple treats is that I’m not actually a big fan of cinnamon and have yet to really find a good pie or betty recipe that doesn’t involve much cinnamon.  This year, I decided to explore apple cake.  After thumbing through endless recipes for apple cake, I congratulate the Junior League of Atlanta for having dug through their own bottomless supply of recipes to hoist this particular gem aloft for the rest of us.  

Apple Cake with Rum Glaze.   Normally, I can go either way on rum flavored baked goods. I need them to have just a subtle tease of rum, rather than being overly alcohol soaked, and this recipe doesn’t disappoint.  The glaze is a melted dream of homemade caramel with just a suggestion of the dark rum the recipe calls for.   The downside of this cake was that it quickly became a craving.  The first night I made it, I had a big slice, along with the rest of my family, many of which returned immediately for seconds.  My seconds came around midnight.  I was literally laying in bed unable to sleep for the siren call of this cake and had to get up to satisfy the craving.  I NEVER do that, so consider yourself warned.

A few final notes on substitutions – basically don’t.  I’ve made this recipe a couple of times since, and none of my substitutions worked out.  I tried going with light rum rather than dark, to see what happened.  It made the glaze so sweet my teeth ached and it lost all hint of the rum flavoring.  Walnuts, rather than pecans, gave a bitter edge to the cake itself, and substituting margarine for butter was just silly.  Southern women know all about cooking with butter, so leave it alone.

As long as you’re at it – serve this with whipped cream or ice cream.  Because really, that ship already sailed.

Apple Cake with Rum Glaze

(from the True Grits cookbook, written by the Atlanta Junior League)

Rum Glaze

½ cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 TBSP (or more) dark rum

Apple Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP vanilla extract

2 cups chopped peeled Golden Delicious apples

1 cup chopped pecans

To Prepare the Glaze

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the brown sugar and rum.  Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is headed through – do not boil.

To Prepare the Cake

Combine the sugar and oil in a bowl.  Mix well.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and salt together.  Add to the egg mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition.

Add the vanilla.  Fold in the apples and pecans.  Spoon into a greased tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove immediately to a plate.  Pierce with a fork.  Brush with the warm glaze.

Finished product -- Apple Cake with Rum Glaze

Welcome Community In The Garden!

In the very early spring of 2011, my dear friend, Angela Henning, and I volunteered to attend a grant writing workshop on behalf of our church, Emmaus Church Community, in Lincoln, California.  At the time, we were unaware that our attendance at this workshop would ultimately lead to our receiving a Wellness Grant from the Placer County Department of Mental Health to build a community garden.  As one would expect, receiving the grant meant we had to actually go build a garden. Thus, Community In The Garden was born.

Understand, I have always loved the idea of gardening a little more than the actual act of gardening.  It seems like it usually starts in February.  We’ll get an unseasonably warm day, my thoughts will immediately turn to spring, and I’ll get the gardening bug.  Off to the nursery I go to gather everything I need to start my seedlings and plant a bevy of colorful flowers around my domicile.  The flowers will be planted that same day, before I run out of steam, and the seeds will be tucked into their peat pots to be guarded anxiously by my now three year old daughter, Mia.  Because it’s February, I have inevitably started too early, and while the peat pots hold up their end of the bargain and quickly produce the desired seedlings, the weather has capriciously returned to its “winter” setting and putting them outside would be nothing short of planticide.  In my impatience, I will usually try anyway, then frown sadly as they are beaten down by the rain and freezing temperatures.

Undaunted, I will set out again in April.  This time, I return from the nursery with the seedlings someone else wisely cultivated in a greenhouse.  It’s safe to say, I have overpurchased.  Always.  My husband cocks an eyebrow at me as I plant tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, watermelon, and in a particularly ambitious year, sweet peas and green beans.  Wisely, he says nothing and good-naturedly proceeds to help me move dirt to make the necessary mounds and furrows to plant the bounty that will surely bring harmony and health to my kitchen.  All the while I have dreamy visions of wonderful summer salads, and imagine all the healthy, organic meals we will eat that have been grown by my own two hands.  I mentally congratulate myself for my environmental prowess in both reducing my carbon footprint as well as avoiding those nasty pesticides that contaminate our planet.  It all goes pretty well while the spring rains last, since the plants generally require little attention from me during this time.  Sadly, I have likely moved on to whatever sparkly thing has since crossed my path and captured my fancy.  I tend to check back in around mid-June when I notice the plants seem to be struggling.  Right; they’d probably like some water.  And what on earth caused those bean leaves to skeletonize?  *Sigh* - I guess I don’t really like green beans that much, anyway.

Somehow, my garden struggles along into July with my limited attention span.  It’s at this point that I notice I am drowning in far more cucumbers and tomatoes than I’ll ever eat, and really, who needs a whole watermelon plant for a family of three?  Unfortunately, my friends and family have usually also been a little over-ambitious with their gardening, so giving away the surplus is a difficult endeavor.  By August, I’ve given up entirely.  A family vacation has likely wiped out the plants for lack of water, and anything ambitious enough to continue exerting its will to live out there is completely on its own.

By now I’m sure you’re wondering how such an ambivalent gardener ever ended up with a Community Garden project.  Rest assured, you are not alone in this concern.

Fortunately for Community In the Garden, Angela has a green thumb and a tremendous passion for organic gardening.  I leave in her tender and competent care our seedlings and the knowledge of what to do with them. I, always the pro at learning from my mistakes, have simply planned for both a greenhouse and a state of the art dripline system in our budget.

My appreciation for gardening enters the equation when it’s time to eat.  There is nothing I love more than eating fresh fruits and veggies, and knowing that they are “clean”.  I am a professed acolyte of the farmer’s market, and can usually be found in front of the booths labeled “Certified Organic”.  Early this past summer, admitting that my gardening prowess was subject to question, I signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery service.  Every other Thursday, a box of whatever is ripe and fresh in the local farms and gardens arrives at my door.  It’s a good day.  One of my favorite things about the CSA box is that my service comes with recipes.  In some cases, I’m getting fruits and veggies that I haven’t seen or heard of and I have no idea what to do with them.  Thankfully, these good people have thought ahead and told me how to prepare them before they simply rot in my refrigerator.  Additionally, that tomato plant in the backyard refuses to give up the ghost, and I’m running out of ideas for what to do with all of them.  One can only eat so much salad.

It is in that same spirit that I am starting this blog.  While I will leave the production of our crops to Angela and those far more suited than me, I am here to help you figure out what to do with that bumper crop of tomatoes, or the winter stash of parsnips.  Each week (or so) I will offer you my unsolicited observations on life in general, an update on what is happening with our burgeoning Community In The Garden project, and a recipe or two using whatever I’ve noticed is fresh in the garden or at my local farmer’s market.

With that, I bring you to the refreshment portion of our program.  Our first recipe – Creamy Heirloom Tomato Soup.  At the first hint of Fall, I head for my stash of soup recipes.  As I browsed the farmer’s market this morning, I noticed that the heirloom tomatoes were out in abundance.  This last taste of summer is always one I long for when I reach the midwinter of root vegetables and need a break.  I suggest this recipe, as it is one that freezes beautifully for future use, reheats easily, and goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich on those cold, rainy school nights when you’re just trying to get everyone through homework and off to soccer or basketball practice. 

Really fresh, good tasting heirloom tomatoes are essential here, so go with your favorite variety. If you want my recommendation, I favor Brandywines, German Pinks, Early Cascades, and Tiger Stripes.  Feel free to mix and match for a little variety.  I don’t suggest Romas, or any other canning tomato that isn't just really super. The soup will last for a week in the fridge, it's good hot, warm or cool, and as I mentioned, freezes well.

Peel the tomatoes only if you don't want bits of skin. If the tomato is good, the skin won’t be bitter, and I like the texture it brings to the soup.  The secret to this soup is the cream; don’t cook it in.  Add it at the table. 

Welcome, Fall!

Creamy Heirloom Tomato Soup

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil

3 medium onions, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 large cloves garlic, minced

Pinch hot red pepper flakes

1 generous tablespoon tomato paste

2-1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth (homemade preferred, but low sodium canned works, too)

A big handful fresh basil leaves, torn

15 medium or 10 large, ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped (do capture their juices for the soup)

1 cup heavy cream (for serving)

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Bacon crumbles (optional)

Instructions

1. Generously film the bottom of a 12-quart pot with olive oil. Set over medium high heat. When warm, add onions and about 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to color.

2. Stir in the garlic, red pepper, and tomato paste. Cook 1 minute. Add broth, basil, and tomatoes. Bring to a lively simmer, cover the pot, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until tomatoes are softened and soup tastes fresh, but mellow. Adjust seasonings to taste.

3. Once soup has cooled, puree two-thirds in a blender, food processor, or use an immersion blender. Rewarm or serve close to room temperature, per your preference.  Just before serving, stir a generous tablespoon of cream into each bowl, then garnish with a couple tablespoons of parmesan cheese, or some crumbled bacon.