Zucchini “carrot” cake

Posted on September 7, 2012 by

Isn’t everyone looking for zucchini recipes this time of year? I am, for a change. For the first time ever–tada!–I am successfully growing zucchini. So now you know my claim of being a barely-competent gardener is true. I always have felt like the only person alive who can’t seem to get the hang of zucchini growing. But this year I have three beautiful plants, worthy of landscaping and also quite productive.

zucchini success

So what is the key to my success? Want some gardening tips? I wish I knew. Maybe it’s in a sunnier spot, maybe I am watering more consistently, maybe it’s because they are planted right next to pollinator-attracting flowers. Random gardeners like me seldom have any definitive answers.

We like the very small zucchini, sliced raw in our green salads. Of course I have discovered that you don’t always catch these squash in the small stage. You experienced growers know that somehow a huge zucchini can be very sneaky and hide in plain sight.

easily missed and growing fast…..

Here’s a good use for a giant zucchini. This is just a carrot cake recipe with one key ingredient substitution. I made this for a family birthday party a couple of weeks ago, and those who were not in the know (I won’t mention any names) just assumed it was carrot cake. This is really a delicious cake, and I don’t even really like cake.

Zucchini “carrot” cake

Combine in large bowl and mix thoroughly with whisk:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (you can use regular whole wheat, but whole wheat pastry flour is finer grain, and better for cakes and cookies)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat with whisk until light and fluffy:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar

Gradually beat in until thoroughly combined:
1 cup oil

Add dry ingredients, stirring until well blended.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (peel and remove seeds before grating)

Bake at 375 in well-greased tube or Bundt pan for about an hour, or in a 13×9 pan for about 40 – 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.

Make your own frosting; it really only takes a few minutes. Canned ones have tons of additives and are packaged in plastic–not sustainable. It’s easy to make homemade:

Blend 1/2 of a 8-oz package of softened low-fat cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in a 1-pound box of powdered sugar and a little more milk. I am not exact about amounts; I just add powdered sugar and milk till it’s the consistency I want. See…wasn’t that simple?

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Gardening as entertainment

Posted on September 3, 2012 by

I don’t have much of a gardening history. I didn’t grow up gardening. And now that I am an enthusiastic–if not entirely competent–gardener, I am pleasantly surprised at just how entertaining gardening can be. Things just don’t always turn out like you expect, and that is fun. All right, I admit that I am easily entertained. But you just have to smile at my sunflowers, don’t you?

How did these sunflowers get so tall?

A friend gave me some sunflower seeds, and I planted them around the peach tree, thinking that they would pollinate the squash plants below. I got back from vacation and they had grown about 4 feet in 3 weeks, and haven’t stopped yet. My second-grade neighbor asked me if I had planted magic seeds. I don’t know what kind of sunflowers they are….a local bank give-a-way, not much label info. One problem….no flowers. A bit of yellow FINALLY appeared on August 28, and now on September 3 I have two flowers, with a third one about to bloom. Truly, they look ridiculous, but they are entertaining. How did they get so tall? Will they every bloom? Are those bees just too far away to pollinate the squash? And what about those magic seeds?

I have had fun with the nasturtiums, too. I’ve made a lot of green salads this summer, with nasturtiums included (yes, they are edible and tasty), and everyone always comments on how pretty the salads are. Easy, pretty, simple to grow, and they are good at filling in gaps in the garden. Why is this the first year I have grown them? Cheap entertainment.

Front-yard blueberries

And what could be more fun than walking out the front door to pick blueberries for your breakfast cereal?

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Local foods across the U.S.

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

August–the sun is out in the Pacific Northwest. Such a rarity, I have to spend all my time outside. But now it’s time to get back to blogging.

We recently returned from a three-week road trip covering a lot of the United States. Pacific Northwest to Colorado, to the midwest, to part of the south (well, I think of Tennessee and Arkansas as the south anyway….), and back across. I LOVE traveling through the U.S., wonderful people everywhere, and geography covering everything from mountains to plains. And I was so encouraged to see that the local foods movement is prevalent everywhere we went.

My first surprise was the fantastic farmer’s market in Lincoln, Nebraska. And there were farmer’s markets everywhere, small towns, large cities, filled with friendly farmers and much more interesting produce that you can find in the grocery store. I wasn’t even really searching for farmer’s markets, but they were advertised and obvious.

Farmer’s market in Little Rock, Arkansas

And here’s a unique roadside vegetable stand in Wisconsin. Total trust with this unmanned stand; just put your money in the pay slot. Love the midwest.

Vegetable stand near Baldwin, Wisconsin

And there was even a community garden in Baldwin, Wisconsin, my husband’s very small hometown.

Love these community gardens showing up everywhere

I saw lots of restaurants featuring local foods, and I already wrote about local foods at the ballpark in Little Rock, Arkansas.

But I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture here. In spite of all of these hopeful signs, the industrial food system is still alive and well. Every large town freeway exit has several fast food restaurants. As I pondered this depressing fact, I realized that really a once-or-twice weekly farmer’s market, even if it is very crowded, can’t really compete with all-day every-day fast food. Sigh. And yet….we are making progress. In 2012, there were 7864 farmer’s markets in the U.S., a 9.6 % increase from 2011 when there were 7175. And that year was a 17% increase from 2010. Thank you, farmers, market organizers, community gardeners, and everyone else helping us build a healthy food community.

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Ballpark food…beyond peanuts and crackerjack

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

I love baseball. Especially minor-league baseball. And that love is shared by all members of my family. So when my daughter and I were in Little Rock, Arkansas, on a road trip, she pulled out her smart phone to see if there was a local baseball team. Yes! The Arkansas Travelers, and they were in town. And Dickey-Stephens Park was conveniently located about 5 minutes from our downtown hotel. Beautiful ballpark, beautiful evening, friendly staff, and a good game.

Healthy and sustainable food is not the first thing you think of when going a ball game. But I found it in Little Rock.  Laurie Harrison has a Le Pops stand at the ballpark. These “gourmet ice lollies” are frozen fruit bars in various flavors, made from local fruit. Delicious, and perfect for a hot summer evening. And only $3 a bar. Local, relatively healthy, and inexpensive. The friendly owner Laurie, who is selling at the ballpark for the first time this year, also has a shop in downtown Little Rock.

Dickey-Stephens Park also had a stand with lemonade that came with a sugar-free option. Not precisely healthy, but lemonade is ideal for a hot night–did I mention that the temperature in Little Rock hit over 100 that day? I’ve never seen fresh sugar-free lemonade at a ballpark before, so much better than getting a few hundred unnecessary sugar calories.

Minor league team owners, take note! I rarely buy food at the ballpark, but I was enticed with local and healthy vendors. I go to a lot of baseball games, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants healthy food that’s still fun.

Now back to Little Rock……. we got into town in the early afternoon and headed for the Little Rock Nine museum, which was SO interesting that we spent twice as much time as we had planned. I highly recommend the museum, small but packed with interesting information and insights, and it’s free. We were lucky enough to start talking to a couple (there with their grandchildren) who lived in Little Rock at the time, and heard their perspectives. The next morning we went to the Clinton presidential library–also interesting–and then to the farmer’s market. Another nice farmer’s market. Not often you can find a farmer’s market on a Tuesday morning, but this one is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 7 – 3, with a nice variety of produce. Hmmm……guess this post wandered a bit beyond ballpark food. But Little Rock is a great town–yet another place that exceeded my expectations.

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Farmer’s markets on the road–city style

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

What’s the first food thought that comes to mind when you think of Nebraska? Could it be this?

I admit–this was what came to my mind.  And yes, there are plenty of corn fields in Nebraska. But there is more to the story.  On a road trip, we checked into a motel in Lincoln, Nebraska, and asked about places to eat. We were directed to the Haymarket area as a fun place–it was–and also advised about the Haymarket farmer’s market the next morning. It’s awesome, both motel clerks assured us.

Haymarket Farmer’s Market. Lincoln, Nebraska

And it was. A few streets worth of booths. Very reasonably priced vegetables. Very few fruits, though–my husband had to remind me that fruit trees don’t grow well in Nebraska. Oh, yeah, they are known for corn, not peach trees. There were the usual crafts, bakery items, and musical performances. Even a young juggler was entertaining the crowds. This was one popular market–throngs of people were carrying out huge bags of beautiful produce.

I loved knowing that the local foods movement is popular in many areas of the country. And what a great community event. I had envisioned Lincoln, Nebraska, as kind of a boring city–sorry, sorry. But Haymarket is not only lively on market morning; there is a thriving nightlife as well. I would definitely recommend a stop here if you are driving across the U.S.

In the Haymarket district

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Farmer’s markets on the road–small town

Posted on July 27, 2012 by

Baker City Farmer’s Market

“Stop……!! Farmer’s Market!” On a road trip. Got off the road in Baker City, Oregon, one of my favorite small towns. We were here last summer on the way home from Arizona, and we enjoyed our evening there eating at the lovely Geiser Grand Hotel and walking on the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway along the Powder River. So it seemed like a logical spot to get off the road and get an ice cream cone. As we drove by the park, I spotted the Wednesday afternoon farmer’s market, and my husband pulled off across the street.

It was a lovely small town farmer’s market. Not a lot of vendors, but a nice variety of friendly farmers with good produce. And it seemed to be a popular hangout–everyone was having fun.  Here is a copy of their mission statement: To enhance the quality of our lives by promoting and encouraging the development of high quality local produce and provide an outlet for farmers, artisans and other producers to sell directly to the public. To foster our sense of community and sustain small-scale agriculture.

I love every part of that mission. And from what I saw, they are accomplishing it. We bought some marionberries and cherries from friendly vendors–yum. I would have bought more, but that was all we had room for in the cooler. It always seems like it’s hard to eat healthfully and sustainably on the road–look for farmer’s markets to help solve that problem.

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Fresh cherry pie–from the backyard

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

No, I don’t have a cherry pie tree. But I do have the next best thing. If you have ever eaten a cherry pie made from fresh cherries, you will never go back to the canned cherry variety. I have seen pie cherries occasionally at farmer’s markets, but really, the only reliable source is a backyard (or frontyard) tree. Even in a less-than-ideal fairly shady spot, my cherry tree usually provides a few pies a year. And I can also get some cherries from my neighbor’s tree. I freeze these pies unbaked, and then pull them out and bake them as needed for Thanksgiving dinner and for dinner guests. Somehow I even had one last pie from last year for Father’s Day this year, and my husband was oh-so-happy.

Our trees are Montmorencies–and not only are the cherries great for pies, but they are pretty trees. We finally gave up on our Bing cherry tree, because the birds ate them all. Except the year we tamed and adopted a feral cat–she spent the whole summer in the crook of the tree scaring off birds. But then she decided “I’m in” and retired from useful work to a life of being waited on by her humans. So out with the Bing cherry and in with another pie cherry tree. Birds don’t bother these–except the ones I can’t reach that get overripe and ferment; then they will eat them.

Unbaked frozen pie

Fresh Cherry Pie

Combine in bowl:
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt.

Add:
4 cups pitted pie cherries (will probably take about 6 – 7 cups unpitted)
1/8 tsp almond cherries
Toss with sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly.

Make pastry for a 2-crust pie. Roll out 1/2 of dough pie and fit in 9″ pan. Add cherry mixture. Cut remaining dough into strips and make a lattice on top of pie. (I have always wondered why this seems to be essential for cherry pies, and not others, but I am an obediant type and always put lattice crusts on my cherry pies). Flute edges of pie crust, and cover edges with foil so they don’t burn. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy! If you don’t want to eat it right away, I freeze these unbaked and bake them frozen–it just takes a little extra time.

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