Sunshine Cake

Driving through my homeland last month, the trees drooped heavy with the burden of bright yellow fruit. Lemons, oranges and grapefruit decorated the green branches. The smell of orange blossoms floated through the air and the hills were green and lush from the winter rains. Never is California more beautiful! This cake tastes like the California coast, rich, moist and dreamy.

Lemon-glazed Layer Cake

Sunset April 2010

Buttermilk provides moisture in this luscious cake. For the most citrus zing, be sure to use regular (Eureka) lemons rather than the sweeter Meyer .

2 cups flour (just for kicks, I used one cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all pourpse)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tsbsp finely shredded lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Lemon icing (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 8-in round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter again. Dust pans with flour and set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to mix.
3. In a large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with a mixer at meduim speed until well blended, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half of the flour to the sugar mixture, then buttermilk, then remaining flour mixture. Beat in lemon zest and juice.
4. Pour cake batter into prepared pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool  cake in pans 10 minutes on a rack; remove from pans. Peel off waxed paper from cakes and cool completely.
5. Set 1 cake llayer on a plate; evenly spread half of lemon icing on top. Cover with remaining cake layer and spread remaining icing on top. Garnish with a loose mound of lemon zest strips.

Lemon Icing
In a large bowl, whisk 3 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 tbsp finely shredded lemon zest and 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.

Fish n' Chips

San Clemente Pier, March 5th - The perfect lunch....

Bread in 5 Minutes

There is not much else that can compare to the smell of freshly baked bread to warm the home.

Time it takes to create the hand crafted loaf.

Time saved with this simple recipe.

A winter farm tour on a hazelnut farm with friends ended with a meal shared with the farm family of soup and bread. The meal was delicious and the bread, perfection. Gladly shared was the recipe.

Some additional hints: the pizza peel is not necessary, you can use the back of a baking sheet and the baking stone is lost, but the bread came out just fine on a baking sheet, just use a clean one not the one with cornmeal on it or the cornmeal will burn up. I didn't use the water in the oven either and it was still delicious. This was truly simple and took no time at all. The first loaf was eaten before the bread even had a chance to cool and was so tasty that I baked all the rest of the dough at once. Enjoy!

The Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

Courtsey of  - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Makes Four 1-Pound Loaves

3 cups Lukewarm water (about 100 degrees)

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt or other coarse salt

6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (measure with scoop and sweep method)

Cornmeal or parchment for pizza peel

Preparing the dough:

• 
  
  In a 5 quart bow or a resealable, lidded plastic food container, add yeast and salt to lukewarm water. Dont worry about getting it all to disolve.
• 
  
  Add in all the flour at once, mix with a wooden spoon (you can use very wet hands to help if needed) or a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Don't knead the dough; just mix unitl it is uniformly moist without dry patches.
• 
  
  Cover with a lid that fits well, but is not air tight. Allow to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, about 2 hours. (you can let it go up to 5 hours) The dough is ready to use at this point, but will be easier to shape if it is refrigerated at least 3 hours first.

On baking day:

• Prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or line it with parchment)
• Sprinkle the surface of your refridgerated dough with flour
• Pull up and cut off a 1 pound grapefruit sized piece of dough, using a serrated knife
• Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go (Most of the dusting flour with fall off) The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten and adhere during resting and baking. Handle the dough as little as possible.
• Place the shaped ball on the cornmeal-covered pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest on the peel for about 40 minutes, uncovered. Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise (more will occur during baking)
• 20 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, with a baking stone place on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.
• Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour. Slash a 1/4 inch deep cross, scallop or tic-tac-toe patter into the top, using a serrated bread knife.
• With a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the preheated baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about 1 cup of hot water form the tap into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack.
• Store the remaining dough in the refridgerator in your lidded (not air tight) container. Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them anytime over the next 14 days. The flavor and texture will improve after even one day's storage.

Larabee LoRee

This is from my Tia Suzanna about my mom....how it all began, my roots....

Larabee LoRee

Her hair was shiny and dark in a braid as thick as your wrist.
It was long and straight, cool and heavy, soft as silk.

She kept her clothes in a cardboard box and wore them wrinkled
although so many of them were antique treasures with handmade lace.

She wore old jeans that were way too big and tied them up at the waist,
Birkenstock sandals with dirty white socks were always on her feet

She canned 50 quarts of sauerkraut even though nobody would eat it.
Pickled beets, green beans, tomatoes and dill pickles filled the shelves by the end of summer.

The house was old and held together with thick white paint.
The rough wood floor was slanted, the cracks packed with dirt.

There were National Geographic magazines to read, no music or TV.
The kitchen was warm and smelled like soup and homemade bread.

She grew beds of pansies, dark purple and bright yellow outside the front door and trimmed the grass with an old pair of scissors on her hands and knees.

Morning glory vines covered the wall on the sunny side of the house.
A curtain of vines, leaves and flowers covered the kitchen window.

When her little girls got something new from Grandma she'd let them drink grape juice without a bib, dark stains spoiled every pretty dress.

Blackberry picking along the narrow road all summer long, eating one for every one that got into the dented silver strainer. They somehow always got enough to make two pies.


She'd take them on walks in the rain down to where the creek met the river
to watch huge redwood logs float by, the railroad bridge high overhead.

LoRee had laughing eyes, the darkest brown and framed with thick lashes.
She sang and clowned around and knew something about everything.

Don't bother to argue with LoRee, she knew what was better, butter or margarine. A down-home hippie guru, she was only 21.

Potato-Leek Gratin

Potato-Leek Gratin

4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 2 large)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
Cooking spray
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Place milk, leek, salt, pepper, potato, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic in a Dutch oven, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Discard thyme and bay leaf.

Spoon half of the potato mixure into a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining potato mixture and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 375 for 1 hour or until golden brown. Let stand for 10 mintues before serving.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp heavy vanilla
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp bourbon liqueur or bourbon (optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

For topping:
2 cups sour cream (I would cut this in half, it was too thick)
2tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp bourbon liqueur or bourbon (optional)

Make Crust:
Invert bottom of a 9-inch springform pan (to create flat bottom, which will make it easier to remove cake from pan) then lock on side and butter pan.
Stir together crumbs, pecans, sugar and butter in a bowl until combined well. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and 1/2 inch side of pan, then chill crust, 1 hour.

Make Filling and Bake Cheesecake:
Put oven rack in middle position and Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream, vanilla, and liqueur in a bowl until combined.

Stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a large bowl. Add cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, then add pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth.

Pour filling into crust, smmoth top, then put springform pan in a shallow baking pan (in case springform leaks) Bake until center is just set 50 to 60 mintues. Transfer to rack and cook 5 minutes (leave oven on)

Make Topping:
Whisk together sour cream, sugar, and liqueur in a bowl, then spread on top of cheesecake and bake 5 minutes.

Cool Cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 3 hours.

Chill, covered, until cold at least 4 hours. Remove side of pan and bring to room temperature before serving.

My Market

I guess I owe a big "Thank you" to my parents for instilling in me this love of nature and farming, and an appreciation for things that are much larger than I am. It is funny to think back about how much I hated piling into the White Whale early in the mornings to go to the markets, and now to be able to appreciate all of that is such a gift. It is a huge part of me, it is the part of my childhood that I remember with happiness and a sense of pride. Proud that I am a farmer's daughter. Proud that I know what a real tomato tastes like, that I know what it feels like to run through the corn fields and be covered in dirt and play in mud. Remembering fingers stained green from the leaves of tomato plants, fingers stained black with the juice from berries. Dirt caked bare feet, and sunburned shoulders from long summer days running around the farm.

That is why I love farmers markets. The second that I walk into a market and smell the fresh scent of vegetables and herbs that have been harvested that morning, I feel at home. Whenever life would get too hard and crazy for me when I lived in Portland, I would run out to Sauvie Island and go find a quiet spot on the community farm out there. When I was pregnant with my son Lucas, my mom and I would walk down to the market in Ventura every Saturday morning. No matter what happened during the week, it was those few hours that could bring us together. We would shop around the market, inspirations flowing for our next few meals. Cilantro fresh and ready for a pan of enchiladas or a bowl of salsa. Frozen bottles of strawberry juice that would turn into a juicy slushy on the way home. Oranges sweetened by the Southern California sun ready to be squeezed into a glass for breakfast. We would laugh, chat with vendors, eat together, listen to music and share a happy moment away from the worries of our day to day life.
My hope is that this year my market had that feel, the love of food and farming and a sense of home for all who come.

I hope that it became an evening adventure for those who came down to the market. I hope that people were able to step into another world for a while, to experience new tastes and smells, to learn about food and farming, to escape their daily troubles and enjoy some good food, be entertained and to make new friends.

Yesterday was the last day of the market for this season. I don't know what the market was for others, but for me it was the greatest experience of my life! I have never fallen in love so many times. I am in love with the creamy blue cheeses of Willapa Creamery, the insanely addicting peanut butter sandwich cookies from Upper Crust, the juicy and sticky peaches from Tiny's, the fresh eggs from Oak Ridge, Cottage Gardens and Toboton Creek. I am in love with the tartness of the early pickings from the raspberry bush, I am in love with how their sweetness increases with the summer heat. I am in love with the smoky salmon from Rolf's, the best beef from the mini cattle of Happy Mountain Farms, the hand picked fancy salad mixes from Vittles de Vine. I am in love with the sweet corn sold out of the back of Ron Duris' 1950's Ford truck.

I am in love with the quirky nature and the individuality of each of the vendors that attended my market this year. I could go on for days about each vendor and what made them special and how many wonderful items they brought to the market each day, I wish I could share it all but I would end up with a book and not a blog. Ha!

Being a Market Manager this year has transformed me. It has challenged me to become a better person, to understand the importance of community and building relationships. It has taught me the value of working well and not so well with others, to not take everything so personally, to think a bit more before I speak (still working on that one) and to see the value of each person's contributions in creating a community farmers market. Managing a market this year has given me one of the greatest gifts of all, to be able to tap into and explore what I truly love in each day's work. I hope that I get to keep learning and growing with this market.

I am so very thankful for all who were there by my side helping me throughout the last few months. I feel like I have a new family, I have been embraced by so many wonderful people. I had many great moments with my new family and I was super happy yesterday to receive all of the wonderful hugs from so many people. It is my new friendships that make me feel that this was a successful year. This life is a gift.