daphne – Page 19 – The Greener Biener

Chocolate chip Strawberry Bread

daphne on July 25, 2008

1 cup flour (I use about 1/3 cup wheat flour, the rest white)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ stick butter
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup of strawberry puree

1 cup of sliced strawberries
1 cup quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together the first three dry ingredients.

Mix together the next 5 wet ingredients, then add the dry into the wet.

Stir in the berries, the oats and the chocolate chips. Pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Jam on it

daphne on July 25, 2008

As readers of Mama Bird Diaries may have heard, our venture to the farm to pick strawberries was a roaring success. I came home not just with thirty tons of delicious fruit; but a bonus. I now held visions of my husband filtered through a dusty new light.

Just a couple of hours with the chickens and voila, Dave had morphed into the farmer of my dreams. A precious vision.

Do not be fooled though, picking is tough work. We squawked, we squatted, we picked and we tasted our little hearts out for well over an hour.

We sweated it out beneath a still-blazing setting sun, but oh the berries we picked. Late into the night strawberries covered every horizontal surface of the kitchen.

And sadly, mosquito bites covered every inch of Dave and the girls. I’ve warned them about being so darn sweet. The flying bloodsuckers took a pass on me; I just knew good things would come of my bitter skin and foul tasting blood.

While the girls and dad got down to work on the farm, I got busy with my camera. Somehow poor Bessy got it into her cud-chewing brain that I was the big agent she’d ordered up from Hollywood. You know I love the cows, but this bountiful bovine kept striking poses until I agreed to click-her. She hopes to make it to the big screen one day.

But really, enough with the gratuitous pictures of the cow. Word on green street was that these berries had to be handled, and quickly. The shelf life of a fresh, red-all-the-way-through berry is teeny tiny, which left me up way past my bedtime sorting and handling when really what I required was a soak in a whirlpool and a decent massage for oy my back was aching! Never-the-less come morning I woke with the crowing roosters. I donned my bonnet, knocked the clothes against some rocks in the stream, churned the butter, and then got down to work:

We made strawberry jam.

And strawberry puree (with visions of strawberry daiquiris dancing in our heads.)

And strawberry bread.

And strawberry ice cream with dark chocolate chips.

We froze about a gallon or so of the berries straight up, and left the rest to sit smugly on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Every minute or so I walk by and reach in to grab one. As the berry bursts on my tongue I think of Grandpa Terry. For years my wonderful grandfather bemoaned the state of the supermarket strawberry. ‘In the old days,’ he’d say, ‘berries were red through and through.’ Oh Grandpa, how I wish you could see the bright red juice dripping down the smiling faces of your great-granddaughters.

Honey I tricked the kids

daphne on July 19, 2008

Picky eaters are the worst. I should know, I used to be one.

As a kid I hated all things edible, except one. Back in the day I would have traded my baby brother for a bowl of frozen strawberries (ok, I would have traded him for a black eye, but that’s a different story.) And when I say frozen strawberries, I’m not talking about the good wholesome Whole Foods type of berries. I’m talking old school, the kind that came soaked in sugared syrup and frozen in a cardboard box with a tin roof. It was my preferred form of sustenance and I was a blissful child, until one day, while eagerly awaiting dessert, this: Imagine, the bubbling hot defrosted berries were en route to the table when suddenly, out of nowhere, my mean ole ma grinned and said:

Oh, these? Nope these are most definitely not strawberries. Sure, they look like strawberries. They smell like strawberries. They even taste exactly like strawberries. But it’s rhubarb. Yes, rhubarb. Go on, try some.

I struggled. I sniffed the bowl. I swear I wanted to taste, but I couldn’t do it. Thanks to Mom’s trickery (and a stubborn streak that multiplies with each subsequent generation) I refused to eat my favorite dessert. But hey, no hard feelings ma. You did what you had to do, right?

As a parent now myself to a couple of stubborn, non-eaters, I too have succumbed to tricking my kids. But here’s the thing: I try to trick them INTO eating; and I will do whatever it takes.

Apparently, hiding veggies from children is controversial, especially since Jessica Seinfeld released Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook for parents of picky eaters. With it, the line in the sand was drawn between parents who believe children should be forced to fork their foliage in full awareness, and those of us who rub our evil hands together as we gleefully watch the kiddies consume hidden veggies and try not to scream, “Ah-hah! Gotcha!” with each green that sneaks stealthily down an unwilling throat.

I have not seen Seinfeld’s cookbook, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

Check out these Zebra Fries my kids gobbled down. Shhhh, want to know a secret? They’re really beets. Really. Beets. Aren’t they beautiful? Sliced into fry-shapes, they’re not even scary.

Hey, while we’re at it, anyone up for a Confetti Cookie?

What’s in the world is a Confetti Cookie? Simple, it’s a chocolate chip cookie with pretty green streamers running through it. (Off the record? Those tiny green stripes are shredded zucchini, but I won’t tell if you don’t.) I borrowed the recipe from Barbara Kingsolver’s book (and my bible) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Vegetables? What vegetables? Just smile, and have another cookie my dear. You can trust me, I’m not hiding any greens up my sleeves.

Zebra Fries

daphne on July 19, 2008

These beautiful fries are made from beets (we used Chioggia beets because they came in our CSA packet, but we’ve been known to disguise any root veggie as a “pretty fry”)

Slice beets into shoestring fry shapes.
Toss with a little oil (we use canola) and some salt.
Arrange on greased cookie sheet in a single layer.
Roast in the oven at 425° until crispy, about 35 minutes.

For a grown-up version I use olive oil and garlic, and toss in some sliced sage leaves as well. They are yummy!

Know what you can do with those growth charts?

daphne on July 15, 2008

They grow so fast. Sure, that’s what they all say but then when I shlep my kids in to the pediatrician she breaks out those charts and explains to me exactly how my little spouts are not measuring up. I feed them, I nap them, I do everything short of putting them on medieval stretcher and pulling but still my kids refuse to register on the charts. Ingrates. Not that I care. I’m over it. (Did that sound convincing? If not I could tell you what I really think of the epidemic of big-mac munching toddlers that are ruining the growth curve for everybody else.)

But again, I digress. My kids are small, be that as it may. For now let’s talk about how much my actual sprouts have grown. The green ones, that is. Here, live from the garden, are results from the 3-month check-up:

The raspberries are a’ripening. So what that my octogenarian neighbor has been harvesting buckets of his dark berries for three weeks now. He’s got all that southern exposure. Besides, my berries are coming, see that one there? It’s too early to worry that there won’t be enough for berry parfaits in January. So nope, I’m not worried.

Besides, check out our baby Georgia peach tree. Yes, that’s right, those tiny nubbers are Georgia peaches. Rock hard, yes, smaller than my fist, sure, but they’re trying, and I’m supporting their valiant, trans-continental effort.

And hey, ten points for our apples. These guys are hanging heavy from every branch. Three years ago we had enough to fill every container we owned with applesauce and keep the family in pies through Thanksgiving. I heard it through the grapevine that apples fruit in spades every three years. And frankly, when it comes to growing apples, who better to trust than a grapevine?

Meanwhile, back in the garden plot, the cucumbers show signs of doing something other than playing dead, and the good-for-nothing lazy squash finally got off its duff and set out some nice dark leaves. Things are going so well that I practically ran out and bought the next size up for my impressive bloomers; that is, until I saw my friend Emily’s veggies. Sigh. I know a mother shouldn’t compare. But seeing her leggy-green bad boys reaching for the stars made my little sprouts seem positively infantile. What? My peas should be fruiting and my squash blossoms full? But it’s only July, and they’re such sweet little leafy things, and they are well adjusted and look she can write her own name and sing the ABCs, and oops, slipped off track again. Sorry.

Squishy squash and belated berries aside, you’ve got to see the tomatoes. Here’s Acadia measuring up (well, not measuring up) against the big bad tomato plants. Yes, those are their leafy limbs crawling sky-ward above her head. And no, I’m not worried that her green cousin towers above her diminutive frame. Why not? I’ll tell you a secret: I filled her bed with compost; so you see, pretty soon she’ll be jetting back up towards that 5th percentile. Besides, I’ve got two months before her five year check-up. And with her toes wiggling in richly composted soil, and all those garden-bound cousins of hers she’ll be consuming, I just know this will be the year she’ll blow those dang charts away.

Raspberry Parfaits

daphne on July 14, 2008

This is a trick, but it’s one my kids fall for and adore and best of all devour, so what’s the harm? I’ll even make them in a wine glass, which makes them feel grown-up and seems to encourage even more eating.

Ingredients:

Yogurt–Plain Greek yogurt (Faje) is my kids favorite, but tends to be pricey unless you hit a sale, but any kind will work.
Raspberries
Sliced bananas
Wheat germ or ground Flax seed – blends in well and adds nutrition without offending young taste buds
Diced nuts (optional)

Start with the yogurt and then add the fruit, nuts and seeds in alternating layers. Top with a dollop of yogurt and a berry.

Sometimes I’ll hide a single chocolate chip in one of the layers. The kids act like they’ve struck gold when they find it.

Super Easy Freezer-style Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

daphne on July 9, 2008

This jam is incredible, and incredibly easy if, like us, you weren’t raised down south steeping jars in vats of bubbling water while okra grew out back. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know good jam when we taste it.

We use the No/Low Sugar Needed Sure Jell Pectin and mostly followed the freezer jam recipe. The regular was too sweet, and you can’t just add less sugar—chemistry or something I guess.

Ingredients:

1 package No/Low Sugar Sure Jell Pectin
3 cups of diced and crushed strawberries
1 cup diced rhubarb
3 cups sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

Measure fruit into bowl.
Measure sugar into large pot.
Stir pectin into sugar until mixed well.
Stir in water and bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Once it boils, stir 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
Add fruit to pectin mixture and stir well.
Pour into containers (I use the old school wide mouth bell jars, because they are super cool)
Let stand, covered for 24 hours at room temp. Freeze until ready and thaw in the fridge.

Strawberry ice cream with dark chocolate chips

daphne on July 8, 2008

(This recipe works with a 4 quart ice cream machine)

(8 cups total are needed of milk and/or cream. Use more cream if you want it richer or if you have scrawny kids you need to bulk up.)

Ingredients:

3 cups regular milk (I use 2 %)
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups half and half
1 ¾ cups sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tbls vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry puree (+sliced berries if you want, I put in about 1 cup)
1 cup dark chocolate chips (I chop them up into fine pieces)

Directions:

Scald milk until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat.
Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved.
Stir in half and half, vanilla, and heavy cream.
Cover and refrigerate in pot for ½ hour (or longer)
Add puree, berries, and chips to mixture.
Spoon into ice cream maker and follow directions (we mixed for about 1/2 hour)
Spoon into containers for freezing. Leave an inch or so at the top for expansion.

Kohlrabi, Princess Warrior

daphne on July 8, 2008

Warning to the faint-at-heart: This post contains terrifying images of unfamiliar roughage…

Q–How are we supposed to eat local, encourage the kids to consume their veggies, and support the efforts of small organic farms?
A—Join a CSA!

A CSA? What is that? Give me a sec, I always mix up the acronym. It’s Communal Sex At last. No, that’s not it. Crazy Seventies Afro? Nope, wait, I got it: It’s Community Supported Agriculture, and here’s the gist: They grow it, good and green and healthy, and we eat it. No questions asked. No veggie-virgins allowed.

We signed up with Monroe Organic Farms in February. Then we wrung our worried hands as we read farm tales rife with predators in chicken coops and icy frost on cucumbers until at long last it was time. Eagerly the girls and I went to collect our first infusion of straight-up born-in-the-dirt vitamin goodness. While the visions in my head of lettuce, potatoes, and carrots were not exactly dancing, I’ll admit it, I’m a dork. I was pretty darn excited to gather our bounty.

Then suddenly, the sky darkened, a cold wind howled around our ankles. Horror! Yikes…this tumbled out onto my kitchen counter:

Run away! Save yourselves!

Voracious vegetable on the loose!

I took a step back–this was highly unusual. Would the aliens that hatched it be back to claim it? Surely they’d be displeased to learn we had consumed their freakish love child. Better I just coax it back into the bag.

No wait, I’m tougher than that. I, who has collected urine samples from a 2-year-old, can surely handle this. Breathe in, breathe out. Do not let the children smell my fear. I am an intrepid explorer bent on providing my family with nourishment in the wild (you haven’t seen my kitchen.) I am an explorer, determined to unearth new food sources for a struggling planet.

I bravely smiled at the, um, purple thingy, and then I consulted the paper that accompanied our order. Yes, snap peas, I recognize those. Lettuce, check. Onions, yup, I know onions.

Ah-hah, here it is: Kohlrabi. This no-eyed, many-legged flying purple people eater goes by the name Kohlrabi, Princess Warrior. Here she was, in my kitchen, ready to, gulp, be eaten. Ok then, here we go.

I scoured web sites in search of answers, while the girls enthusiastically devoured the entire bag of uber-sweet sugar snap peas. Maybe this vegetable thing would work out after all. I swear their happy munching was accompanied by song.

“Mother dear, might we have yet another snap pea, please?”

Yes, my darlings, you may. Enjoy your veggies. Just remember to save room for our new friend Kohlrabi.

(So what happened with the kohlrabi? My brave, brave eater. We ate it alright. Here is what we made.)