Just Peachy!

If you love local food and buying farm-fresh produce, meat and cheese, you know where to go every Saturday - the local Farmers' Market. This past Saturday was no exception and there was so much to choose from.

Fresh melons, garlic, potatoes, bacon, cookies all beckoned me but this week, the peaches looked so tasty and I knew they would be finished soon so I picked up a few thinking I would make a pie or maybe some jam.  I was also out of honey for my tea so picked some up at Armstrong Apiaries.

Then I headed straight to Bella Stella Cheese. The last couple of times Igor has been sold out of yogurt and ricotta by the time I got there – and I wasn’t going home empty handed this week! Thankfully, he still had both – what a treat to be able to buy yogurt made right here with no additives and milk from local dairy cows.

So what to make with peaches, ricotta and yogurt? I like fresh peaches cut into my yogurt but though maybe I should try something new.

So what did I make that turned out to be pretty tasty? A quick and easy recipe to fill my craving for something sweet (but healthy!) and 2 treats to help beat the heat during that heatwave we had.  And good thing I picked up the honey – turned out two recipes called for honey!

Grilled Peaches and Ricotta

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

4 peaches, halved and pits removed

1/4 c. honey

1 c. ricotta

Cracked black pepper

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high. Spread the butter over each of the peach halves.  Grill the peaches, flat sides down, until warmed through, about 4 minutes. Serve the peach halves with generous spoonfuls of the ricotta in the centers drizzled with the honey and sprinkled with cracked black pepper. How easy was that!

Peach Frozen Yogurt

4 c. peeled, sliced fresh peaches, frozen solid
3 tbsp. honey (or more to taste)
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Add the frozen peaches, honey, yogurt and lemon juice to the bowl of a food processor. Process until creamy (about 5 minutes). Serve the frozen yogurt immediately or transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Frozen Yogurt Peach Popsicles

3 c. ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and roughly chopped

1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 c. milk (cow, coconut, almond – whatever you have in the fridge)

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp vanilla, optional

Reserve 1/4 c. of the peaches. Place remaining peaches, lemon juice, milk, yogurt and honey (vanilla if you are using it) into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Return the reserved peach bits to the puree and mix in evenly with a spoon. Pour mixture into popsicle molds leaving 1/2 inch at the top of the mold. Cover and add popsicle sticks. Place in freezer and freeze for at least 4 hours to overnight. To remove from molds just run warm water from the tap over the outside until they come loose.

Enjoy!

May and June are a busy time of year for many people - including our household!

May long weekend is when we put the finishing touches on the garden, set out our planters and enjoy the first fresh garden produce. June is known for many things – the longest day of the year, the last day of school and of course, strawberries! 

For our family, May and June are very busy – Mother’s Day, birthdays and this year not one but two weddings! Katie and Nick were married last Saturday will be married; Megan and Will are counting down the days to June!

My birthday also happens in May and over the years, either Barry has made my cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting covered with strawberry marshmallow candies lol) or my mom does.

If mom makes the cake, I always know it will be one of two favorites – Pineapple Dream Squares or Strawberry Angel Food. Either one is great for company - perfect for sitting out on the deck and visiting. 

Right now strawberries are at the Farmers’ Market and available at local farms. Pick some up and enjoy them while they are fresh and enjoy them as a garnish for the Pineapple Dream Squares or as the feature ingredient in the cake. Don’t forget to freeze some berries to make the angel food cake anytime!

Pineapple Dream Squares

(recipe from the Women’s Institute of BC cookbook celebrating BC’s Centennial Year)

½ c. butter melted

2 ½  c. graham wafer crumbs

½ c. butter, softened

1 ½ c. icing sugar

2 egg yolks

2 c. cream, whipped

1 ½ c. crushed pineapple, drained

Mix melted butter and crushed graham wafer crumbs together in 8x8-inch baking pan; reserve 2 tablespoons for top of dessert. Spread remaining crumb mixture evenly in pan. Bake at 350F 10-15 minutes; cool.

Mix softened butter, icing sugar and egg yolks together in bowl; mix until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly over cooled crumb base.

Mix together pineapple and whipped cream. Spread over above layer. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top of dessert.

Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour before serving.

Mom’s Strawberry Angel Food Cake

1 pkg frozen stawberries, thawed 

1pkg unflavoured gelatin (1 tbsp)

3 c. fresh strawberries (for decoration)

¼ c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream, whipped

1 prepared angel food cake (10 inch), cut horizontally in half

Cut angel food cake into 2 layers.

Drain juice from frozen strawberries into small glass dish. Sprinkle gelatin over juice, allow to stand until softened. Set dish into boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Combine warm gelatin mixture with berries. Do not allow to congeal.

Whip cream until stiff; sweeten to taste. Fold strawberry mixture into cream carefully. Spread strawberry cream over bottom layer of cake. Put top layer on cake and frost entire cake with remaining strawberry cream.

Refrigerate for several hours. Decorate with fresh strawberries either plain or chocolate dipped.

Sweet Treats!

Summer has arrived and that means potlucks and visitors. I have some favorite 'go-to' recipes but always like to try something new, especially if I can use fresh fruit.

I was looking for a new recipe to use some of our raspberries for a potluck dessert and came upon a recipe  for 'Raspberry Pretzel Salad'.

I remember having a Raspberry Pretzel 'Salad' either when I lived in Utah or visited family in Idaho and Utah. Can't quite remember where or when - but I do remember how good it was. While I know this kind of salad is quite common among our Mormon family members, serving this as a salad seems odd in Canada!

I was excited to find the recipe and it was a big hit at our potluck supper. I took a couple of different recipes and combined them - and used whipped cream instead of cool whip - if I am splurging - it better be real whipped cream! Enjoy!

Raspberry Pretzel Dessert

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups crushed pretzels
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted

Press into 9X13 inch pan and bake at 325 for 5 -6 minutes. Cool.

 Middle Layer:

• 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
• ½ c sugar
• 3 cups whipped cream (measure after whipping about 1 500ml carton)

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Then add whipped cream. Spread on top of cooled crust.

Top layer:

• 6 oz pkg. raspberry jello
• 2 cups boiling water
• 3 cups fresh raspberries

Pour boiling water into jello and stir until dissolved. Add raspberries and mix well. Place in refrigerator until it is thickened. Then pour on top of middle layer. Refrigerate until firmly set.

Summer is finally here!

I was making supper tonight and was thinking that one of the things I like best about summer is that we can eat outside on our deck. Not to mention all the fresh vegies and the smell of the BBQ. I guess that is three things I really like about summer.

I love sitting on our deck, enjoying dinner and taking in the neighbourhood - the kids on their bikes, neighbours walking their dogs and the smell of other BBQs.

I made two new salads this week - the soba noodle salad was leftover from Tuesday and tonight I made a radish salad - thankfully Robb and Brenda had an excess of radishes they were willing to share!

Here is the recipe for the noodle salad - I found a few on the web - but they all had something Barry didn't like, so I combined a few recipes and tweaked it a bit to get a salad both Barry and I would enjoy (and he did except he said less vinegar next time )

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 12 ounces soba noodles
• 1 english cucumber, peeled and julienned
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3green onions, thinly sliced on the bias

                                     

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, ginger, soya sauce and lime juice. Slowly whisk in oils until well combined; season with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
2. Fill a medium pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and add cucumber, carrot and green onions. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.
4. Drizzle with dressing; you may not need to use all the dressing.

Radish Salad

3 bunches of large radishes, scrubbed, trimmed and very thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

2 - 3 tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil, or more to taste

a generous pinch of coarse salt

Drizzle lemon over the radishes, then add the olive oil and a pinch of the salt. Toss, taste, and adjust.

Let the salad sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. The radishes will give off some liquid, which will combine with the lemon juice and oil to make the dressing (note: the dressing is a pretty pink).

 Looking forward to trying some other new recipes - now the sun is here, we should have lots of fresh vegies to eat.