Knockoff Peperoncini Dip Recipe

My friend recently introduced me to a nummy Peperoncini dip that I thought I may be able to reproduce without all of the weird ingredients on the lable. Out of over 18 ingredients I used half.

15 Peperoncini

3/4 cup  Cottage Cheese

3/4 cup Sour Cream

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp pepper 

1 T parsley

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

First de-stem all of the peppers. If seeds get into your dip, it's fine. Just adds more flavor. I mince them with these handy-dandy scissors I found found in a thrift store for only 99cents. They are for cutting up herbs but they evidently thought they were just for paper and so put them in the craft section.

Mincing and chopping takes a quarter of the time it used to. You can find them HERE on amazon for only $6 so treat yourselves!

Next I just dump in all the ingredients. None of them are set in stone. You can change how much pepper and garlic you include according to your personal taste.

Next; plate it up and serve with your favorite crackers. Mine are the gluten free sea salt crackers from Costco. We have two bags on hand at all times and I don't know what I'll do if they discontinue them.

or put in the food processor for a smooth, whipped consistency. The flavor only gets better with time so refrigerate for a few hours before serving if you can.  After a day in the fridge it will be super spicy.

Because this doesn't have any of the fancy preservatives on the original label, it is best you consume it within a few days.  Enjoy!

Part #2: Preserving Through Pie

Pie is perfection. You can take anything and make it into a pie. 

Before breaking my finger (I will spare you the photographs) I was busily making pies for our upcoming family camping trips. Hopefully I will be all healed before apple season…

So, though belated, here is my absolutely favorite recipe for a fresh summer cherry pie:

In my arsenal I have (from top to bottom of the photo):

My really cool all purpose scale for measuring the weight of the cherries

Metal bowls galore

My trusty kitchenaid mixer

The Martha Stewart Pie Wheel

Click HERE to download and enjoy

The classic Betty Crocker Cookbook

The Betty Crocker recipe for pie crust is a wonderful, quick all purpose recipe that can be used for ANY type of pie. A lot of people prefer crusts with butter but this calls for shortening making it a bit more affordable and you don't have the wait time to refrigerate it before using it.

8-9" one-crust

1 Cup Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/3 Cup + 1 T Shortening

2-3 T cold water

I usually double this if I am treating a 10" lattice top.

Mix the dry ingredients, blend in the shortening until it is pea sized and sprinkle in the water and mix. 

Cook Pie at 425 degrees for 35-45 min

Now we are talking PIE cherries. Not table cherries like Queen Ann or Bing. Those are a different creature all together. I have tried a few different recipes for cherry pie and have made an alteration or two . Very sweet but tart. Perfect with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

2 1/4 lb pitted cherries. She says halved but I do whole

1/4 c sugar

2 T instant tapioca powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp of almond extract. 

Let sit while you prep your crust and turn occasionally.

In the tradition of the all american cherry pie, I only do a lattice top but add a bit of my own flare. 

Pies are also an excellent way to preserve your fruit and pull out of the freezer when company is coming. I have canned pie filling but it just isn't the same. Plus, freezing the pie ahead of time seems to make it flakier. 

Another summer favorite growing up was the pitted cherries my mom froze for us to snack on, on those super hot summer days. Far healthier then frozen fruit pops and just as refreshing. 

Remember too that all cherries can be frozen in baggies (measure them out first for the recipe) and used later. Bing Cherries are also lovely in rustic pies. 

So now that I have gallons of these babies put away we can add them to smoothies, pies and create sauces with them in the winter. It is always worth taking a little time every evening during harvest time to put something away. Now that Blueberries are done my vegetable garden is brimming with cabbage I plan on making into sauerkraut for the first time ever. It could be a great success or a stinky mess. Wish me luck!

Part #1: My Almost Sustainable Lifestyle

My absolute favorite book growing up was by Steven Cosgrove called Little Mouse on the Prairie. Do you remember his books? It was the ones about horses turned unicorn that caught my attention but in the end I couldn't put down the Little Mouse book.

 Collecting moss, berries and wood for the winter was so...simple and soothing to me. Sure I had no idea the work it entailed but boy did I admire that industrious mouse!

I was raised to consume wisely and spend thriftily. We heated with a wood stove, ate mostly from the garden and the majority of our meat was raised right in our back field. The work of raking and watering was spent as a family and my older sisters always made it into a game. 

Fast forward to today.

Being raised this way,  it is second nature to do many of the things we do around here like canning, gardening, recycling (we dont' use a service) and even hunting for our own meat.

I don't regret this life but living simply and sustainably is an art I have not yet mastered.  Probably because I have way too many interests beyond the farm. I have done my best to avoid the projects I would love to do (oh pinterest how I love/hate you) and eliminate the temptations in and around my home that call to me like designing fancy raised beds and repainting EVERY room just because it's fun. 

Soooo many people say when seeing our house and land say that it is a dream of theirs to live like us. They survey the lush green yard and breath in the fresh air with a dreamy look in their eyes while I ponder how on earth I am going to get the cherry juice stains off of my hands and notice yet another huge scratch on my leg from weeding near the roses last night…wait is that infected? Oh well.

So here is a list for those people:

THE CONS

(mainly for those who are dreaming of leaving your lifetime of living in the city or burbs for this)

Now that I am actually collecting, canning, chopping and gardening in my almost sustainable lifestyle I don't think it's all that romantic at times. It's hard. You have to make choices with your time and energy most do not make:
      Should we go to the lake or can peaches today? Uhm, peaches.
      Should I curl up with some tea this Sunday afternoon or deworm the sheep? Uhg, the sheep.

Sheering day and a big ol' pile of wool

You will never, I repeat, never have presentable hands again. You will forever be scrubbing and moisturizing. I count five slivers in my hands just now. Just thought you might find that interesting…

I am a 9 hour of sleep a night girl….That does not happen too often. If there is nothing urgent to do in the morning, chickens or sheep will inevitably use the wind to carry their  obnoxious cries to your window at 5:30am  for no apparent reason.

THE PROS

Living off the land slows you down in a way. Makes you appreciate those things you would have missed if you were just running from errand to errand. Summer is filled with gardening and harvesting. When the strawberrys are done it is already time for the cherries, blueberries and so on. But picking the warm-from-the-sun pie cherries while talking and laughing with my daughter or discovering tiny birds eggs tucked among the strawberry patch while picking are those sweet moments that keep me looking forward to the next harvest season. Not to mention the abundance of fruit in my freezer year round!

We know what we are consuming and where it has come from. I can't say that for most.

Hard work is a confidence builder for you and your kids. I am so glad I had the experience of pushing myself physically and getting to see a beautiful end result. This is something many kids don't get. The memories of roasting our food over the burn pile of branches we spent the better part of the day cutting and gathering from the orchard is one of my favorites.

I should also mention that Mark is an early riser and one of his hobbies is to garden making the lovely landscape a possibility. To embark on an adventure such as this you must have a partner with compatible skills and the same beliefs. I couldn't imagine doing all of this on my own and Mark has bitten off more then just he can chew sometimes.

And at the end of the day I get to drink tea filled with my own nummy honey or toast with a cocktail made with my own lavender infused vodka.

If after reading my very brief list you don't necessarily want this life, keep following my blog to live vicariously through us!

It's not for everyone but it's a pretty good life.

Next Post: Preserving and Baking!

Free Recipe Card Download

Mark and I have an ongoing competition as to who makes the best blueberry muffins. I for one, am of the mind that streusel topping makes everything better. 

Many Saturday mornings we will quickly distract the other while we start preparing "our" muffins before they can get to the mixer. What we do agree on is that our home grown blueberries and farm fresh eggs make them better than anything we could possibly have from a bakery. 

Click the link below to download these little gifts from my kitchen to yours, whether you like agree with my stance on streusel topping or not.

Recipe Cards #1
Recipe Cards #2

A Buzz In The Air

Last month Mark took a look in our one remaining bee box- we used to have five and found no queen and very few bees.
Last week he found the hive alive and well! With any luck we can split this hive in the next few weeks.

 Over the years we have had some weird bees. Two years ago one hive condinually pulled wax in circular shapes making the uniform frame look like it had huge yellow tumors all over it. Last year four hives disappeared. I'm sure you have heard about our incredible bee problems and to learn more you should watch The Vanishing of The Bees. You can find it on Netflix still I'm sure.

This year they keep laying brood (baby bees) along side the honey they have stored. This calls for Mark to move the frames regularly. As the hive grows our chances of splitting them increases. To do this though we must transfer half to a new hive and bring them over a mile away. When they see there is no way to back they resign themselves to create a new queen and build up a new family.

Our harvest 2 years ago

I have loved giving everyone a small jar of this nectar at Christmas time and after a good season I am able to do all of my cooking with it. Because we are surrounded by wheat and grass fields it is also great for people with allergies to build up a resistance to it.

Look closely, you can see where I poked my finger in the comb to taste the warm honey. I couldn't resist!

There has been a rise in people raising bees which is fantastic but it takes quite a bit of infrastructure and time so prepare yourself. One hive will get you about a gallon of honey if it is a strong one but sometimes it is less expensive to just support local keepers by purchasing your honey from them.

Right now the hive is positioned right next to our recycling station, chicken coop and the new cut flower garden so we will be relocating them soon. In the dead of night of course.

Radish Painting

This is a view of last years lush vegetable garden. Mark insisted on three rows of potatoes and for some reason I thought planting and entire row of purple beans would barely feed us. Don't even ask how many tomatoes we have in this picture!  By the end of the season I was practically throwing them away. The same goes for the radishes. No one in my family eats them so why did I plant them? The answer for every gardener is: Because I had room. 

After harvesting, washing and photographing them I decided to paint rather than consume them. The chickens liked this arrangement as well. 

If this is still available you can find it in my shop HERE

Pumpkin Brain

Though the stores are filled with tinsel and lights I still have pumpkins on the brain. The above image is of a few I painted  last month and I can't seem to stop. I have been waiting all summer to make this soup and thought I would share the recipe with you all.  I made it for a dinner I hosted a month ago (tripling the recipe) and had many requests for it. I first found it on allrecipe.com and altered it as I went along. Enjoy!

4 T butter

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed

1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed

32 oz chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Before I begin anything I put the squash in the oven on a low temp to heat. This makes it so much easier to peal and cut up. Then I go to work chopping up the celery, potato and carrot. It doesn't have to be pretty because it is all getting blended in the end. Now prep and cut up your squash. Melt butter in pot and toss in all your handy work to brown for about 5 minutes. Pour in enough broth to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until veg is tender. Transfer to a blender to puree or use a hand blender in the pot. add salt and pepper. 

I usually double this but if you have never done a soup like this before just make a single batch up to try it. It freezes quite well and for added richness I like a dollop of sour cream on top. Serve with a white wine and a hardy bread. Afterwords curl up on the couch with a good movie and warm blanket.  Well, at least those are my plans tonight.

Happy Autumn and Warm Tummies to you all,

Elizabeth

Fall Harvest

This is our favorite season by far. It has been filled with parties, dinners and the harvesting of our bountiful garden. Not a lot of canning happened so I am hoping our fruit from this summer will tied us over. 

This year was our first really successful apple harvest. I made pies, crisps and squeezed apple cider with Mark's press. In college he wanted a small version of his dad's larger press. Using hand tools, regular framing lumber and scrap materials he fit it all together.  5 gal of apples = 1 gal of cider. 

My tomatoes come with a sadder story. After carefully washing, cutting and boiling down I ran out of time and set them in the fridge till I was able to can them the next day. And that is where I found them days later.... The corn is a happier story. Another creation of Mark's helped us quickly collect the corn and into the freezer they went. Instead of bags I used the large plastic containers our ice cream comes! This will make it easier to get it our a cup or two at a time for soups and sides. I'm sure this has been done before but I am basking in my cleverness all the same.

Here is to happy harvesting friends and a bountiful autumn!
-Elizabeth

What a Weekend

The other weekend was quite big and I must preface this post by saying that not every weekend is like this for us.  Let us start with Saturday morning. My mother-in-law drove all the way from Mt Hood to see us this weekend and what better way to begin the day than to do a little shopping at the Saturday Market. As a gardener I prefer the Farmers Market side of the street and picked up a few loaves of fresh baked bread from Marche's, some delectible cheese from Fern's Edge Farms which is just around the corner from where we live. Their chevre is out of this world and I always grab some when I'm here. 

It was an interesting exercise; trying to take pictures of the sights, but every time I held up my camera it seemed people wanted to be in the picture! I gave up and gave them their own collage. 

Besides the women in tutus and prairie-like garb you could find a man dressed in all plastic bags looking like a fluffy white yeti, street performers and a  gentleman turning hot peppers over a fire pit. When I turned to my mom-in-law and ask her what she thinks she shrugs and says "it is exactly the same as when I was here 30 years ago"

Next we were joined by Mark at Koho Bistro for a fabulous dinner. Every bite is amazing. This time I had the pork chops with brandy glazed carrots. Num. I am salivating as I type this. The price is incredibly reasonable and the service is incredible. Seriously, if you are in town, GO! But be warned: Do not be fooled by the outside appearance. It's a book/cover sort of situation.

The following morning we hauled it over to Coburg for the annual Antique Fair. I am always late to it but leave with a steal. I practiced great reserve and left with only a few items: A narrow trough of sorts which I plan to float in the middle of the dining room table with candles for $10, a few wobbly frames that have since been tightened and fitted with glass for $1 each and an original oil painting marked $30 but I got for $10!

And since we had been gorging ourselves all weekend we decided to stop in at one of our favorite spots Chief's (another glorious little hole in the wall) owned by Rochelle and Matt Hogan.  It is quite a departure from our whole foods dinner from the night before but oh so worth the calories. Might I recommend the Coburger? Save room for dessert though or get it to go. You will thank me.

Yes, the second weekend in September is always a good one here in the valley. If you try out any of these places let us know. We'll meet you there!