An Update- and for the locals - Paradise Organics!

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."

 ~James Dent

Wow! Summer is really in full swing around here! A gorgeous 83 degrees is the temperature here and I'm loving it. I've taken some pictures that I thought I'd share. So here's an update in pictures.

 And if you live local to Yelm, Washington I have a great tip for you, which is my favorite place to shop for food, Paradise Organics. They are having a sale this week, so I thought it was a perfect time to mention it. Scroll down for that.

A picture of Mount Rainier I took. It was such a clear and sunny day today so the mountain could be seen well. Sometimes when it's rainy or foggy you can't even see it. So when it's really clear, it's like it pops up out of nowhere.

We've become bird watchers. Meaning we put out bird food and see who comes to dinner. This was a particularly beautiful visitor, I thought.

A blue Jay! I wish it was a better picture, but this was taken through the window screen.

I have lettuce growing in hanging planters. They are looking great I'm happy to report. Lettuce is easy to grow from seeds.

My rose garden in bloom

These are my favorite roses, they are called Blue Girl. They are especially fragrant. I've used them to make rose petal jelly. I plan to make it again this year.

This is one of my new chickens. I had purchased some chicks to add to my flock. They are about 2 months old now. Isn't she cute?

This is one of my chickens catching a break in the shade

I have lots of strawberry plants, and some are just starting to ripen.

 Paradise Organics

First I would like to point out that this is totally from me, absolutely unsolicited. I am not getting paid anything for this whatsoever. I told Bob I would like to write about his place, and he agreed.

Paradise Organics is a farm located in the Bald Hills area of Yelm Washington. Bob, the owner, sells vegetable starts, fresh veggies, and garden soil amendments/fertilizers along with many other items. (Get on his email list and he'll send you a full list of what's available weekly.) Here is his page on Local Harvest.              

They have a huge selection of plant starts

I'm a great shopper. Period. I know where the best place is to shop for almost everything. Of course there are different reasons to shop at different places, convenience, price, excellent product, etc. Paradise Organics has many great reasons to shop there.

1. Quality - Everything is organic and the best quality produce I've ever seen. Since I love food and love to cook, this is the most important for me. Check out the pictures of the butter lettuce below. His produce rocks. In a few weeks he'll have tomatoes. Imagine big bright red homegrown tomatoes that you didn't have to grow yourself! You can't buy those at any grocery store.

2, Customer Service- His plant starts are guaranteed. (ask him for the details.) He also has a no questions asked guarantee policy, meaning let him know if something isn't right and he'll work to make it right.


3. It's local. (I mean if you live near here.) But yeah, if you live a mile away, your lettuce is being grown a mile away. If you buy your lettuce at Safeway, who knows how far away it's being shipped from. Also you're helping the local economy and a small business.

4. Price- The prices here are amazingly low. They are about the same as the prices at Safeway.

5. Freshness- Since everything is grown there, it's super fresh. He picks lettuce and other items just for you in the upper garden. Imagine that!

(I have nothing against Safeway, I shop there myself, it's just where is a better place to buy produce than from the farm it's grown on?)

These are gorgeous starts. They even have a guarantee on them.

The lower garden where there is green houses and the chicken coop. They have ducks and chickens so they sell both species of eggs. The chickens have plenty of roaming space and are totally organic just like everything else here.

Have you ever seen a head of romaine so big and beautiful?

More delicious lettuce

Big tomato starts, some already have tomatoes growing on them, it's not too late to grow some.

Parsley starts here, they sell all kinds of herb starts

This is a head of butter lettuce I purchased there about a month ago. It was so gorgeous I had to take a picture!

Beautiful beets purchased at Paradise

They are having a sale right now, through July 13th, 2011. Below is an example of some of the great deals going on right now.

Vegetable Starts
* Large Tomato, Eggplant and Pepper Plants 6” - $2 ea.
* Large Tomatillo Plants 6” - $2 ea.
* All Herb Starts 4” – $1.50 ea.
* All Pony Pack and 4” Veggie Starts - $1 ea.
* Artichoke Plants 6” - $2 ea.
* Parsley Curled and Italian 6” - $2 ea.


Fresh Vegetables (while supplies last):

 * Zucchini - $1 per pound
* Cucumber - $1 per pound
* Beets - $1 per pound
* Lettuce - $1.50 per head
* Red Cabbage - $1.50 per pound


So if you live in Yelm, Washington or the surrounding area, I highly recommend Paradise Organics. I live a bit of a drive away, but I feel it's worth the extra distance for the high quality products I receive there. Now is a great time to experience them with the sale going on till July 13th.

And if you don't live in this area, go check out Local Harvest. Where you can find a farm near you. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a farm that is equally great!

Paradise Organics


Location
18819 Sorenson Road SE
Yelm, WA 98597


Contact Information

Bob Foster

360.894.1328

paradise@inetsupermall dot com

Farm Stand Schedule

Open 10 AM til 7 PM - 7 days a week (April 15 - Dec 15) Other times by appointment.

Fresh Peach Pie with a Shortbread Crust

"Do not regard the critics as questionable patriots. What were Washington and Jefferson and Adams but profound critics of the colonial status quo"?

 ~ Adlai Stevenson

Happy Fourth Of July!  Here in the U.S. this means fireworks, BBQ's and picnics. A celebration of  Independence. I wish you all a wonderful and enjoyable holiday.

A measuring cup is a good tool for getting the crust into the corners and up the sides of your pie plate.

This time of year reminds me of fresh peach pie. Growing up one of our favorite places to eat out, was a pie shop, such as Polly's or Marie Callenders. I remember always asking the waitress, "are peaches in season"? "Do you have fresh peach pie?" During dinner that piece of pie would be all I could think about. I would always ask for extra whipped cream. They would tell me, "it comes with whipped cream." I would say, "can you just make sure there is a lot of it?" My love of freshly whipped cream started at an early age.

This pie is made only to highlight the fresh peaches. I can't think of anything much more delicious than a fresh, ripe peach in the peak of it's season. The glaze over the peaches exists only to intensify the sweetness of the fresh fruit. The shortbread crust acts as a buttery, sweet delivery device for each bite. And what would peaches be without softly whipped fresh cream?

I use these dried beans over and over again as my pie weights.

This means that fresh, ripe, juicy peaches at the height of the season is the only peaches to use in this recipe. It relies on it in fact, since the really ripe ones have all that juice that is needed in the filling.

Most fresh peach pie recipes out there involve using peach gelatin as a binding device. I don't want something artificially flavored in my pie. Instead, my filling is thickened with cornstarch, with fresh peach juice and crushed peaches used instead of water, as the liquid, to get as much fresh peach flavor as possible.

To peel the peaches submerge them in boiling water for 30-45 seconds then place in a bowl of ice water. The peels will slip off easily.

The filling is a cinch, so I wouldn't hold it against you if you wanted to use a store bought crust, a nilla wafer one would be particularly good, I believe.

 

"Equal rights for all, special privileges for none".

 ~ Thomas Jefferson

Want something else to do with fresh peaches?

My Any Fruit Crisp is easy and delicious!

Fresh Peach Pie
 
FYI- The crust needs to firm up in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight before making the pie.
 
Ingredients for crust
 
1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 g.) butter- softened
1/3 cup (68 g.) sugar
1 egg
1  cup (150 g.) flour
1/4 cup (28 g.) cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
 
Ingredients for pie filling
 
5 cups sliced fresh, very ripe, peeled peaches (about 8 peaches) (I forgot to weight them, sorry)
1/2 cup (100 g.)  sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
 
2 cups, (1 pint) or (500 ml)  heavy whipped cream, whipped-sweetened with 1/4 cup (44 g.) sugar (this will give you enough for topping pie as well as extra for serving.)
 
Directions
 
Start by making the crust.
 
 Blend the butter, sugar and egg using a stand mixer, or an electric mixer until well mixed. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix until it just comes together, don't overmix.
 
Pat into a 9 inch pie plate and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, 200 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 6. While oven is preheating, prick the bottom of crust with a fork. Then place either a piece of parchment or a piece heavy duty foil  into the crust, with pie weights or dried beans inside of the foil or parchment.
 
Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Then remove the foil or parchment and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
 
Let the crust cool while you prepare the filling.
 
To make the filling.
 
Take 1 cup of your peaches in a bowl and mash them with a fork to release their juice. In a large pan, add the sugar and cornstarch, and whisk them together. Add the crushed peaches, stir and cook over medium high heat. As it starts to thicken and boil, add about half of your sliced peaches so that the mixture doesn't get too firm. Remove from the heat immediately and add the remaining peaches and lemon juice. Toss together to distribute the glaze to all of the peaches. Pour into your pie shell.
 
Refrigerate the pie till it's chilled. Then garnish the pie with dollops of whipped cream using a pastry bag with a large star tip, such as Wilton's 1M.
 

Serve the pie cold, it is best eaten the same day. Garnish with extra whipped cream.

Fresh Ginger Limeade

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

 ~Erma Bombeck

I feel fortunate to live near the cheapest thrift store on the planet. That's not the name of the store, but it should be. I couldn't believe my eyes (or ears) when I found out the prices. Want a shirt? 59 cents please. How about some pants? Better check your wallet, they raised the price to .79 cents. (It used to be .59)

 One of my favorite things in that little store to shop for, is cookbooks. All hardcover books are .79 cents (I think?) Well, if it's not, it's not much more than that, it might even be .59. Soft cover books are .39 cents. Unbelievable, I know. I keep expecting to show up and they announce to everyone how it's all been a prank. Or maybe I'll go one day and in it's place will be a cement lot and it had all been a mirage.

It's actually a great place that helps the community. I like to offer my support by donating items, mostly clothing. They have a pretty fast turnover, (as you can imagine) so this doesn't happen often, but it's always a trip to check out a shirt, really look at it, try it on even, then realize I'm the one who donated it a week before. Facepalm.

One of my latest finds, is a book named, From Bengal to Punjab, The Cuisines of India. and I am loving this book.

This fresh ginger limeade is the first recipe I've made from it. It's simple. Limeade with some fresh grated ginger in it. Simple yes, but something I wouldn't otherwise thought of, and is a great idea. I love it when a book takes me in a new direction.

This limeade has a bright ginger flavor. I am really enjoying it. First you taste the sweet and tart limeade, then you get the warm ginger. This is so refreshing on a warm day. If you like ginger I think you are in for a treat.

These blue flowers are growing wild on our property, and happen to be ready for picking right now. With the 4th of July in a few days, I couldn't have timed it better if I tried.

I'm incredibly excited to try many recipes from this book. I'm a lover of Indian food. Samosas are one of my faves. The recipe included in the book uses puff pastry. I have some in my freezer so these may be in my near future.  The recipe is straightforward, and uses ingredients I have on hand. I've never ventured into making my own Indian food, and this book whispers to me, "it's o.k. don't be intimidated, you can do it!"

A great message for a cookbook from a different culture. I think this recipe is one of many I will be loving from this wonderful book.

More refreshing drinks

Orange Juli-ish

Mexican Horchata

Watermelon Cocktail







Fresh Ginger Limeade

adapted from the book, From Bengal to Punjab, the Cuisines of India

makes a pitcher full

Ingredients

8 cups (a tad under 2 liters) cold water
2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger
juice of 5 limes ( a little more than 1 cup, or about 10 oz. or 296 ml)
3/4- 1 cup (150-200 g.) sugar (depending on your taste)

Directions

In a pitcher, stir all of the ingredients together. Adjust the sugar to taste. Refrigerate. This is best when it has had a chance to sit for 30 minutes or more, for the flavors to meld. Strain it through a fine sieve before serving if you wish. (I didn't because I don't mind the small bits of fresh ginger in my drink, I liked it even.) Serve cold over ice.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies With Salted Caramel Buttercream

"Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats."

- Woody Allen

Hey everybody! It's summer!  I enjoy the sun so much more when it isn't around all the time. When I lived in Southern California where it's sunny everyday, I took it for granted. I was always longing for a climate that had different seasons. Now I've got that here in Washington, and I do enjoy that difference. Summer is a season I particularly enjoy.

I've been spending my days out in the garden. I grow vegetables and herbs. We also have roses and fruit trees. I'm growing nasturtiums as well since they are easy to grow and edible. Heck we have so many things growing it's hard to keep track. We live on 10 acres, which is great, but also, work.

The pies call for buttermilk, I like to use this Bulgarian Buttermilk in mine. It's higher in fat than most buttermilk, so it makes for a rich end result.

Yes, I've been busy, but never too busy for baking. These whoopie pies are one of my favorite things in the world. A sure thing. A dessert I bring to parties when I want to please everyone. They are fun and tasty enough for children, but with a slight sophistication from the hint of salt in the buttercream, for the adults. I just love them. The cakes are soft and full of rich chocolate flavor, and the salted caramel buttercream is absolutely divine. A go to frosting of mine.

They are simple to make as well. The cake portion is quite straight forward.

The caramel buttercream also simple. A standard American buttercream essentially, with caramel mixed in.  I know, I know, most people don't consider making caramel of any kind, simple. But trust me. I've taken pictures of all the steps the caramel goes through, to make it as easy as well, pie. It doesn't even require a thermometer.

The secret to making caramel is the secret to most everything in life.

 Which is really paying attention and being present.

Some Dont's when making the caramel.

Don't walk away while it's on the stove.
Don't try to rush it.
Don't do other things while making it. (It only takes 10 minutes or so.)

If you follow these simple steps when making this recipe, you will be richly rewarded, my friend.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream

makes 24 pies

Recipe for pies inspired by this recipe on Epicurious

Salted Caramel Buttercream recipe is my own.


Start the buttercream first. (Recipe for pies is after the buttercream recipe, below.)


Salted Caramel Buttercream

makes enough to fill 24 pies, or frost about 24 cupcakes


Ingredients

1 cup (200 g.) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 sticks (339 g.) unsalted butter- or if you use salted, just cut back on the salt, (below)
1-2 tsp. fine sea salt
2 cups (230 g.) powdered sugar

Instructions

First, get your mise en place ready for the caramel, it will go fast. Measure the cream in a slightly larger vessel than needed. Add the vanilla to it, and place it next to the stove.

In a saucepan where you can see the bottom, like stainless steel, (I used an off white color Le Cruset pan.)
This is important because you will make decisions based on it's color. So if you use a black pan for example, it will be harder to see the color. (I've done it, it is possible, but I don't recommend it.)

Over medium high heat, stir together the granulated sugar and the water. Stop stirring after the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

This is just the sugar and the water boiling at the start. It's clear now.

Pull up a chair, you're going to sit and watch this for about 6-8 minutes, till it turns light golden, (below.)

During this time, don't stir it. Right when it gets to this point, remove it from the heat. You can swirl the pan a little if you feel like you can't see the color well. You must, I repeat, you must catch it right at this point. If you let it go any longer, it will turn to black in what feels like an instant.

This is the color you want. Remove it from the heat now.

I took this picture about 5 seconds after the picture above, after I removed it from the heat, to illustrate how much darker it turned in such a short time.

As soon as you remove it from the heat, add the cream/vanilla mixture and stir. It will boil and sputter up. (is that a word?) The sugar will turn to a hard rock, basically. You will feel like you have done something wrong. You haven't.

After adding the cream and vanilla, the sugar turns into a hard ball. It's o.k. it will dissolve.

Continue stirring until the sugar dissolves and becomes homogeneous with the cream. If you feel like it's not happening fast enough, go ahead and put the pan on low heat to help it along.

After stirring for a few moments, it's on it's way to becoming homogeneous.

Here it is when it's finished, it just need to cool.

But wait, it's not quite done. Strain it first to make sure you don't have any bits of sugar that didn't dissolve.

Using a fine mesh strainer placed over a heat proof bowl, pour in the caramel to remove any bits of sugar remaining.

Set it aside to cool while you start on the pies.

Set the caramel aside until it's cool to the touch. About 1 1/2- 2 hours. You can also make this part the night before, and let it cool overnight.

While it's cooling, start making the pies. (recipe below.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, (or a large bowl with a handheld) mix the butter and salt (start with 1 tsp., add more later when finished to taste) on medium high speed until very light and fluffy. About 4 minutes.

Add the caramel. Beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then mix again. Add the powdered sugar and mix very well, until very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Taste it and see if it needs more salt for your taste. 

At this point it should be a good consistency for the whoopie pies. If you are piping the buttercream onto cupcakes, you may want it a bit firmer. If you do, just refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour and proceed.

For The Pies

Ingredients

4 cups (601 g.) all-purpose flour
1 cup (114 g.) Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder (my favorite cocoa is natural high fat cocoa from Penzeys, it gives these cakes a rich chocolate flavor)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (480 ml) well-shaken buttermilk
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 sticks (1 cup) (227 g.) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (300 g.) packed brown sugar
2 large eggs

Directions

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 4.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add eggs, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

With a 2 Tablespoon size disher, scoop batter onto parchment lined or Silpat lined baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie. Put your clean hand under the faucet and get it wet. Gently pat the mounds down a little to prevent them from being too round on top.


Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, for about 10 minutes. They are done when tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched. Don't overbake.


Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

When cool add about a Tablespoon of buttercream to the middle of one of the cookies, and place another on top to make a sandwich. If not serving them right away, place them in an airtight container.