Monthly Archives: December 2009

Any Jam and Nut Bars

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Annette Cottrell| 3 Comments

any-jam-nut-bars

You may curse me for this recipe in the end because they are so addicting. But since they are such a great way to use up plum, cherry, apricot, rhubarb or any other not too sweet jam or fruit butter I’m giving you the recipe anyway. I grabbed this recipe at a Pasta & Co. store probably at least ten years ago and just found it the other day.

Perfect timing. I had bought a bag of peeled and sliced Holmquist hazelnuts at the farmer’s market in preparation for Linzer cookies which I haven’t yet found the time to make. I also have many jars of apricot jam from Rama farm apricots made the old fashioned way – without pectin so the flavor really shines. It was a hard decision though since I have quite a bit of low sugar plum jam and some crabapple raspberry jam (thanks Cindy!) and a lot of pear butter too. Any of those would be phenomenal as well.

These some together so quickly and only have a few ingredients that I just may never make the Linzer cookies! Although these are nowhere near as pretty, they ship well and stay fresh for about a week which is pretty remarkable for a cookie.

In fact I need to go eat one before starting.

Yup, still fresh and melt in your mouth good.

Any Jam and Nut Bars

  • 1 cup organic sugar
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature (8 ounces)
  • 2 egg yolks (make meringue cookies with the whites)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry or spelt flour, sifted or freshly grinding it accomplishes that for you
  • 1 cup hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, etc in pieces
  • 8 – 10 ounces of fruit butter or jam, preferably low sugar or from a tart fruit variety like rhubarb

    • Preheat the oven to 350 f.

    In a food processor or mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light, blend in egg yolks and salt and mix thoroughly, scraping down sides as needed.

    Blend in the flour and the nuts until the dough is well-mixed.

    Pat 1/2 the dough into the bottom of an 8″ square baking dish. Wrap and chill the remaining dough. Bake the dough in the pan for 20 minutes until it’s lightly tanning around the edges.

    Spread the jam or fruit butter evenly over the crust, then crumble the chilled dough over the top evenly. Return the pan to the oven and bake about 35 minutes until the top is golden brown. Let them cool before cutting into squares.

    So if you find you made way too much jam or fruit butter and it’s time to clear some pantry space give these a go. I can’t think of a better use for homemade jam!

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    Posted in Apricot, Christmas presents, Cookies, Local Grains - Where to Get Them and What to do with Them, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods

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    Dark Days Week 5

    Posted on December 21, 2009 by Annette Cottrell| 5 Comments

    Much like you I’ve been all a-flurry making preparations for Christmas – some online shopping, making as many gifts as possible and baking.  While singing Christmas songs, of course.

    caramel-popcorn

    Caramel popcorn teacher gifts made from this recipe with popcorn from Oregon.

    Bath fizzy gifts made from this recipe. We scented them with peppermint essential oil in the spirit of the season.
    bath-fizzies-in-trays

    bath-fizzies

    The first time we must have added too much spray because they activated in the trays and were all bubbled out by the time they hardened so be forewarned! But what a sweet gift – peppermint fizzies and peppermint lotion for pedicures along with a candy cane. You can find inexpensive citric acid and baking soda in bulk at Zenith Supplies in Roosevelt area or bulk at PCC.

    last-turkey-sandwich

    The last turkey sandwich from my bread made with Bluebird wheat and Lentz spelt, Pastured Sensations turkey and Mt. Rainier cranberries. The tomato is actually from the farmer’s market on Saturday – the last day of the hothouse tomatoes this year!

    rockridge-cider-turkey-kale-soup

    Smoky turkey kale soup made special with Rockridge Orchards hard cider. The cider totally made the soup despite the yummy smoked turkey broth we had left from our smoked turkey. The bread is a slice of Fremont Sour by Essential Baking Company, the carrots and kale are ours and the potatoes are from Methow Valley.

    pizza-rolls-done

    Pizza rolls made with white whole wheat from Azure Standard in Oregon, Tillamook mozzarella and Skagit River Ranch Italian sausage (although Mondo Brothers make the Italian sausage for PCC locally or Thundering Hooves would also be great.)

    any-jam-nut-bars

    Any Jam and Nut Bars. Bluebird soft wheat, Golden Glen Creamery butter, homemade Rama apricot jam and Holmquist Hazelnut bars that would be equally good with homemade plum, sour cherry or raspberry jam. I wish I could have a lickable image of these for you because this picture just does not do them justice. They are crazy good and simple to make.

    chocolate-nut-biscotti

    Chocolate nut emmer biscotti made with Theo cocoa nibs, pistachios from the freezer (long forgotten about…) and Lentz emmer. These came out a little crumbly and were impossible to slice thinly but tasted great. I didn’t want to gift them in that condition so darn if I didn’t have to eat them all myself.

    And last but not least, homemade thin mint cookies which I forgot somehow to photograph before leaving the entire container of them at a party. I used Bluebird soft whole wheat and our backyard eggs to make them.

    And lots of Wardeh’s chai latte mix and homemade eggnog from our fine feathered friends in the backyard and Dungeness Creamer milk.

    That’s it for me – what have you been up to this week?

    This post is part of Wardeh’s Tuesday Twister.

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    Posted in Christmas presents, Dark Days Challenge

    Enjoying December – and Dark Days Week 4

    Posted on December 16, 2009 by Annette Cottrell| 2 Comments

    santa-lucia-buns

    December is my favorite month – I love thinking about the holidays, planning the holidays and enjoying the holidays.  When I was young I spent time in Sweden and was struck with the beauty, simplicity and meaning of Christmas over there.  This was back in the mid 80′s so I’m sure things have changed drastically now, although I’ve since been back for Christmas in the mid to late 90′s and things were pretty much as magical as I had remembered them. 

    I did my Christmas shopping at outdoor, open markets or country markets held in large barns by local people who brought handmade and beautifully crafted treasures – leather workings, ornaments, home baked breads, knitted sweaters and hats, and hand made cheeses, sausages and soaps.

    Decorations consisted mainly of natural elements that had been brought in from the forests or simple red and white hearts.  Any lights were white to celebrate the sun during the darkest part of the year.  Imagine seeing daylight for maybe 2-4 hours per day and you get the idea of how much a celebration of light the solstice is.

    That period of time from mid December to Christmas is marked by musical pageants put on by children clothed in white robes with simple crowns of candles and a vast array of baked goods.  The Christmas table (Julbard if you can imagine a tiny circle over the a, similar to a smorgasbord which literally means sandwich table) is piled high with culinary delights.  3-4 types of pickled herring, root vegetable salads, ham, meatballs, roast beef, potatoes several ways, several types of cooked cabbage or kale dishes, a bread basket and cheese platter, along with many types of sauces.  It puts our Thanksgiving to shame.

    It’s a time to celebrate what you have and include as many others in your riches as possible.  It was decidedly and refreshingly not at all commercial.

    Grandma has been here recently so we’ve been busy spending as much time as possible with cousins and other family, visiting Santa and enjoying each other.  And baking.  Mostly not dark day friendly so I am only including a few things.  I actually went to the store to get things to make it easy for Grandma to feed the kids and give me more time to enjoy her while she was here.

    My dark day entry for week 4 is Santa Lucia buns, the blue hubbard squash scones from a few posts back, and an amazingly healthy snack of crispy garbanzo beans. I wish I could remember whose blog I saw two weeks ago that had these bean snacks on them because they are brilliant!

    crispy-garbanzo-beans

    I made these from cooked garbanzo beans from Azure Standard but I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you could use any type of bean. I frequently make bean dip and I know you can use ANY bean for that. You just add olive oil, roasted garlic, salt & lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. In fact I made some black eyed pea dip this week but I didn’t photograph it and am not entirely sure where the beans were from.

    To make the crispy beans I simply poured a few tablespoons of olive oil on a cookie sheet, added my cooked garbanzo beans and sprinkled on coarse sea salt, cumin and chili powder then mixed it all up and baked it at 325 until they were crispy. It took about an hour if I remember correctly.

    It’s so nice to have something like this around for the kids to snack on whenever they want, especially given that we have nut allergies in the house. Just think how much better for you these are than potato chips! I’m wondering too if you could even crisp them then make a nut brittle with them in place of peanuts. I’ll give it a shot if I find the time. If you try it let me know how they come out!

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    Posted in Beans, Dark Days Challenge, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods, Snacks

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    Body Lotion

    Posted on December 12, 2009 by Annette Cottrell| 16 Comments

    lotion

    I’ve been out of lotion since last summer and this cold stretch has all but done me in.  It’s amazing in our damp Seattle climate how far simply drinking enough drinking water will get you. With this dry, cold weather and the heater constantly running though, I dried up.

    Last June I infused some olive oil with chamomile flowers, calendula and comfrey. I made a small batch of lotion with it just to test and it was great. Then I ran out of time to make more. The chamomile, calendula and comfrey are all very soothing with strong anti-inflammatory properties so they make great lotion additives for someone who spends a lot of time in the garden. You could certainly make lotion without using this oil and it will be a nicer, whiter shade.

    The great thing about making your own lotion is that you likely have most of the ingredients already and you know exactly what is in it. I’ve made a few rounds of lotion in the last few weeks. One was more of a salve and cuticle cream that I made entirely from things I wouldn’t mind eating. The main ingredient was cocoa butter and I added a few drops of vanilla to it. I have a hard time not eating it because it smells so heavenly.

    The body lotion is almost entirely edible but I added some shea butter to it to make it really moisturizing.

    To make lotion you need a double boiler or a large glass measuring cup, or a smaller pan that can fit into a larger pan.

    You will want to start with some solid oils, some liquid oils, beeswax and essential oil.  You literally just need 3 things but I had all these so I used them.  I also added about 6 drops of grapefruit seed extract to my lotion to extend it’s life.  Once you add herb infused oils or plant extracts you shorten the life of your lotion so I figured that was good insurance.

    lotion-ingredients

    You need 6 ounces of liquid oil (like olive oil, almond oil or jojoba oil), 3 ounces of solid oil (like coconut oil, cocoa butter or shea butter), 1 ounce of beeswax shaved or grated, and 9 oz of distilled water (including any witch hazel, rose water, aloe vera, or glycerin).  You can use filtered water but that will also shorten the life of your lotion.

    Combine your liquid oils, solid oils and beeswax in the top of the double boiler or glass measuring cup inside a water bath. Heat the water to medium and stir until all the oils and wax melt together and form one single liquid.

    lotion-melting

    Remove the double boiler or cup and let it cool to body temperature, stirring occasionally to keep it smooth. When the oils are ready warm the water up to body temperature.

    Pour the water in a mixing bowl if using a mixer, or a tall container like a yogurt container if using an immersion blender. Add your grapefruit extract now. With the mixer on low, slowly add the oil to the water in a thin stream just as you would if making mayonnaise. You can also do this in a food processer or blender.

    This only takes a few minutes using my immersion blender.  If you don’t have one yet Christmas is coming and they make great pureed soups without having to worry about spilling hot soup everywhere getting it in the blender. I’m surprised how frequently I use my immersion blender!

    After a few minutes of mixing you will start to see the lotion begin to form. Initially it will look like milk curdling but if you continue mixing for a few more moments you will end up with a nice, smooth and creamy container of lotion.

    Once your lotion is done you can stir in as much essential oil as you like. Citrus and mint scents are uplifting whereas lavender and geranium are calming. They are all lovely. You can even divide the lotion into a few bowls and make each one a different scent.

    These make great handmade gifts when poured into 1/2 pint jelly jars. I made these for my own use so I didn’t spend any time decorating them but imagine lavender scented lotion with a few sprigs of dried lavender tucked into raffia. Even more fun (and hopefully coming soon…) a gift basket with homemade lavender soap, lavender body scrub, lavender lotion and lavender jelly. What a treat that would be for a special friend!

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    Posted in Christmas presents, Personal Care Products

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    Better Than Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

    Posted on December 9, 2009 by Annette Cottrell| 12 Comments

    I have a guest post this week written by a friend’s ultra cool daughter, A.    Love all the local ingredients sourced at UW farmer’s market as well.

    pumpkin-scones

    At 6:00 am, my taste buds are usually too sleepy to even taste my breakfast. Nor do they want to. Spelt pancakes washed down by a kefir shake? Good thing I’m not awake.

    However, one morning, my mother pleasantly surprised me! On the table was a gorgeous pumpkin scone, and when I ate it, I woke up. Delicious! And it tasted exactly like the Starbucks pumpkin scones… hmm. Was my mother trying to sneak away store-bought as homemade, breaking with the local diet? Apparently not, because when I finally saw the recipe, it looked decidedly healthy. Good thing they don’t taste that way!

    scone-ingredients

    Better than Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

    • 2 cups spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
    • 5 T Rapadura sugar
    • 2 t baking powder
    • 1/2 t salt
    • 1/2 t ground cinnamon
    • 1/2 t ground nutmeg
    • 1/4 t ground cloves
    • 1/4 t ground ginger
    • 6 T cold butter
    • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
    • 3 T cream
    • 1 large egg

    Optional Glaze:
    Combine ½ cup powdered sugar with about ½ T milk, adding milk slowly until you reach your favored consistency. Spread over scones. If you’d like, you can add some spice into the glaze with some cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

    Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

    Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Cut butter in large chunks and mix with a fork into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and no large chunks of butter remain.

    Combine the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, beating until well combined. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being sure not to overmix.

    Put dough onto baking sheet and form into large circle. Cut into 6 wedges and separate them.

    Bake scones for 15 minutes at 425.

    Let cool, then frost with optional glaze. Enjoy!

    alexandra1

    Thanks A!

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    Posted in Breakfast, Local Grains - Where to Get Them and What to do with Them, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods, Snacks, Squash

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