I love rainy days, (they bring out the in cook in me). There is nothing better than the smell of baking bread on a day where its cool and overcast. So to start you will need to make your butter.

• Whipping cream
• a pint mason jar with lid
• a strong arm

you can measure out the cream if you want to or be spontaneous and guess. Note; (1 cup of cream makes about 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup butter milk) I filled my mason jar about 1/2 full, put the lid on, and shook it for about 10 minutes roughly. shake until the butter and butter milk separate. For the first 5 minutes or so it will just be like shaking a jar of milk, then it will get hard to shake because it now has turned to whipped cream, keep shaking and all of a sudden it will get sloshy sounding again. this is your butter forming into a ball with the buttermilk being left over. save the buttermilk for baking. gently rinse your butter under cold water to rinse the rest of the butter milk out. This will help your butter keep longer and keep it from turning rancid fast. store in the fridge for up to  5 days. (you can add salt or other flavoring to your butter after you rinse it.( ex: garlic, cinnamon, honey, ect.)

Dinner Rolls

• 3 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• pinch of sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 cup of tepid buttermilk (use the byproduct from your butter)
• 1/4 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 -5 cups flour, plus extra as needed
• canola oil for greasing

In a glass measuring cup, sprinkle the yeast and pinch of sugar of the warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Beat on medium-low speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the yeast mixture and another cup of flour, and beat for another minute. Beat in remaining flour, 1/2 cup of flour at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides. Switch to the dough hook. Knead the dough on low speed, adding flour 1 Tbsp at a time if the dough sticks, until a very soft dough forms, about 1 minute. The dough should be softer than typical bread dough, yet smooth and springy.

Transfer the dough to a deep oiled bowl and turn the dough once to coat it with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Grease two 8 inch round cake pans. turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. divide the dough in half and roll each half between your palms into a 18 inch rope. Cut each rope in to eighteen 1 inch pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, and place the balls, sides just touching, in the prepared pans.  Cover loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until puffy, 30-45 minutes.

preheat oven 375 degrees. Bake the rolls until light golden brown. 18-23 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pans or transfer to a rack. serve warm.

side note: I made another small batch of butter to eat with my rolls, but this one I added a pinch of salt too. also these rolls are really good with a peach raspberry jam.

This is for all you apple pie lovers. Every so often I get a craving for a home-made apple pie. But being only two of us that eat pie at my house, the third being to little too. the pie does not get eaten in one setting. It will either sit in the fridge till it goes bad or I will attack it with a fork and sneak a bite every time I open the fridge door. So to save myself from eating the rest of it then regretting it later, I found this awesome recipe. Where I can have my pie and eat it too.

What you will need:

• 2 large apples (honeycrisp or another sweet variety)
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 Werthers Original soft Carmel chews ( 2 per hole)
• vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

To get the blooming apple look, you need to cut the apples. Slice off the top ¼ to ⅓ of the apples. Scoop out the core. I don’t have an apple corer so I used my metal ½ teaspoon measuring spoon. Then, use a thin knife to make two, deep circular cuts around the center of the apple. Next, turn the apple over and make narrow cuts all the way around the apple. Flip it back over and you can see all of the cuts.

Place the apples in an oven safe dish and put two caramel into the center of each apple.

Heat butter and brown sugar in the microwave for 30 second, stir and continue heating for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir in flour and cinnamon. Divide the mixture over the top of the two sliced apples.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. (Check apples after 25 minutes and continue cooking until tender. Some apples can take 45 min to 1 hour to soften.)

Remove from the oven and use a large spoon to move the apples into bowls.

Top with a scoop of ice cream, drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with cinnamon. The ice cream will cause the caramel in the center to harden so eat quickly or put the ice cream scoop on the side.

ENJOY!

P.S. this recipe will make your house smell so good, you will leave just long enough to walk back in and take a deep breath.

Desert Sage CSA Week Eight Share

What a busy week we have had once again.  Lettuce galore for fall shares have been going in the ground. Yes in July!  Cabbage, cauliflower, napa cabbage, kale, turnips, beets, carrots, savoy cabbage and so many other things are getting set in the ground this week as well.  It’s hard to believe in just a few days it’s August with four shares left to go.

We have been putting shares in stack-able boxes lately.  These make it much easier for use and seems to help with not squishing our fruit.  Please return these..  Yes, they are just a cardboard box, but it does take more time to gather them if we run out.  Thanks for you help with this!

So what’s in this weeks shares?  Asian Pears.  Let these get a slight yellow hue for best flavor.  A few apples, cucumbers, walla walla onions, peppers – both bell and hot, tomatoes, grapes, garlic, napa cabbage OR Asian greens, pea shoots, rosemary and  other mix of veggies.

If you are wondering what to do with pea shoots, just add them sandwiches, top a salad or steamed vegetables.  If you don’t know how good rosemary is for you we’ll share some information!  Rosemary improves digestion, enhances memory and concentration (could use that!), is a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, neurological protection, helps prevent brain aging, good for eye health and protection against macular degeneration.  Now!  If that doesn’t motivate you to use your rosemary, I don’t know what would!!  So you don’t use it all…Dry it.  Just leave it out hanging or on a clean paper towel until dry, then strip the leaves off and store for winter use.

Next week we will have microgreens again.  We grow extras for those who would like more than what’s in their share.  We are hoping for green beans, but honestly, we are having a hard time guessing what plants and crops want to do this year!  Also, okra is just around the corner (a week or two), so find some delicious recipes.  It really isn’t just a nasty slimy vegetable if prepared correctly.

Update on fall shares.  We have a few left, but our Thanksgiving baskets are fulfilled.  Fall shares include many winter squash varieties, pumpkins, greens, root crops and other savory veggies.  Fall is our favorite time of the year.  Perhaps it’s because it cooler, but the vegetables are totally amazing to cook with!

See ya’ll later today!

I don’t know about all of you, but with the humidity and heat of summer its hard to figure out what to make for dinner. Something that’s not to heavy but still satisfying. So while I was putting together the CSA baskets this morning I got to looking at all that fabulous fresh produce and it just clicked. Why not a fresh salad with something sweet like peaches or even pears on it.

• 1/4 cup honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 firm but ripe peaches, halved and pitted
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup of toasted pecans
• Feta cheese
• Arugala salad mix

Prepare a grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-high heat ( or use a stove top grill pan) oil the grill grates to prevent sticking.                                                   In a small bowl, combine the honey, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp pepper. Brush the peach halves with olive oil and place on grill, cut side down. Cover the grill and cook until the peaches just begin to soften, 3-4 minutes. Turn the peaches and brush with honey mixture. Cook until tender but not falling apart, 2-3 minutes longer. (Serve either cooled or hot off the grill) on a bed of Arugala, sprinkle with feta cheese. And enjoy

The week (and weeks to come) of the Japanese Beetles!  NOT a nice bug!  I’m certainly not bug squeamish, but these buggers hang out on what looks like the best peach (and more than likely is) on the tree and when you go to grab it, buzzing and flying beetles everywhere.  I do squeal a little!  Anyway, as you may have figured out we have peaches in this weeks shares.  While these are my favorite peaches for eating, they are great grilled or made into a cobbler or crisp.  Also Asian Pears.  Wait for these round fruits to become a bit yellow for best flavor.   Most pears drop before ripe and have to picked in a green stage.  You’ll also find Glenora grapes, fingerling potatoes, cucumbers, basil, garlic chives, microgreens, arugula, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, bell pepper shallots and some other finds.  This week we have put the produce in boxed flats so the peaches don’t get bumped and bruised.  If you take a box, please, please, please return as soon as possible.  We use these all the time!

Bread… Oh how I LOVE bread. If I had the option, I would probably eat an entire loaf everyday by myself. It is such a comfort food, just to grab a slice here and there, make a sandwich, a piece of toast, grilled cheese.  talk about carb overload. So while I was browsing through my fridge for a quick snack of somekind before dinner. I happened to look in my veggie drawer, there was a cucumber just waiting to be used. my hungry brain monster (that sounds a lot like cookie monster thanks to my little boy) was like “Mmmm crunchy…but me no want plain crunchy, me want other things with it.” and yes your mind did just read that in a cookie monster voice. So I give you the guilt free before dinner snack.

• 1 cucumber
• your choice of cheese
• your choice of lunch meat
• match stick carrots (optional)
• avocado (optional)
• thick ranch dressing (optional)
• anthing else you like on a sandwich (optional)

take the cucumber, and using a vegetable peeler shave off thin layers that you can roll all your goodies up into. Lay out your cucumber shavings on a piece of parchment paper side by side. layer a piece of lunch meat, a little bit of homemade ranch dip, a thin slice of cheese, some avacado finely diiced, and three carrot sticks. plus anything else you might want. (just remember you still have to roll it up so dont go overboard). now comes the tricky part, roll everything as tightly as you can. stick toothpicks into the ends of each cucumber and all the way through to the other side to hold together. using a sharp knife slice apart each cucumber into individual roll ups. enjoy your guilt free snack.

We are now halfway through our summer share season.  This week we have cucumbers, squash, basil, green onions (scallions), garlic, bagel peaches, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, kale, bell peppers, strawberries and carrots.

If you aren’t sure what to do with kale, we will post a few ideas this week.  Remember!   Kale is a super-food!  You can always juice it, or kale chips can be made very quickly and easily with great diversity.

Our beans are slow coming, but we think in just a few more weeks they will be ready for pickin’.  Saturn peaches next week.  Think peach crisp, peaches and cream, peach ice cream or whatever floats you peach!  There will be peaches for weeks to come, so we really hope you LOVE peaches.  White peaches will ripen after the yellow hued Saturn peach.  Also we are seeing Asian pears in the near future!

Extra eggs again this week if anyone wants them.

See ya’ll later today!

I just tried this recipe last night and really really liked it. I may even replace my traditional lasagna recipe with this. Not to mention, I get to use more of my fresh garden tomatoes in another fun kitchen experiment. I loved that it was more portion controlled and easier to serve up too.

Alright to start off you will need

• 8 lasagna noodles
• 14 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese finely shredded
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
• 1 large egg white
• 1/3 cup of fresh parmesan cheese
• fresh ground pepper
• 3-4 paste tomatoes thinly sliced (1/16 inch)
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
• 1 cup of marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese and egg white until well blended. Stir in parmesan cheese, then mix in 12 oz of mozzarella cheese. Season with freshly ground pepper to taste. Set a side. Cook noodles according to package until al denta. drain but DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER! lay out on a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper when cool enough to handle. Spread about 1/4 of cheese mixture evenly over the entire length of noodle. layer with 4-5 slices of tomato and sprinkle with chopped basil. roll tightly and place seam side down in 11×7 baking dish with 1/4 cup of marinara sauce spread in the bottom. cover roll ups with remaining marinara sauce so noodles dont dry out during baking. sprinkle with remaining 2 oz of mozzarella cheese and bake for 30 minutes. garnish with basil ribbons and serve hot.

note ; you can also make this a more traditional lasagna by adding a meat.