Summer Homemade Desserts

I love the end of Spring/beginning of Summer fruit! Of course, I love to just snack on them, but I also enjoy making tasty desserts with them, as well. And who doesn't love a great homemade dessert?? Today I purchased a huge amount of cherries (because they came from Costco) and there is no way Andy and I were going to be able to eat them all, without them spoiling fast, so I decided to make a dessert with them - why not?! :) I found this Sour Cherry Crumb Cake recipe (from Martha Stewart, of course) and that sounded perfect for my new purchase! Oh, and they are kick ass good!


Last Thursday, I received the most beautiful strawberries in my CSA delivery and I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. Also from Martha Stewart, I think these were even better than the Crumb Cake above, but they are both really good. Imagine a strawberry cookie married a strawberry biscuit and they had babies. Delicious, delectable babies. That is what these taste like. I would have taken a picture for you, but they mysteriously disappeared before that could happen...

Here are the two recipes for you! Enjoy!! We know we did! :D

Sour Cherry Crumb Cake
for the topping
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for dish
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dish
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

for the cake
1 1/2 flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
About one cup of fresh sour cherries, pitted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish, and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Make the cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add buttermilk and flour mixture. Beat until combined. Pour into prepared dish. Dot top with cherries and sprinkle with crumb topping.
4. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes.


Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about two cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in the strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.

Mt. Olive Farm

Just a few days ago, my mom and I went to this organic food farm, that we have been meaning to see for some time now. The name of the place is Mt. Olive Farm and it is located in Paso Robles, CA. They use their own earthworm casting, use their own compost, farm everything, and have free-range chickens and cows. They also have a petting zoo, which I found slightly bizarre, considering they are into raising free-range animals, but keep some caged up for people to touch all the time. Anyways...
We originally ran into them at the Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo, where we loved their vegetables and they were exceptionally friendly. I really wanted to see the place, mostly because I love a great vegetable farm, and I was interested to see how "free-range" their animals really are. I asked to see where their animals were located, but was quickly told that the public is not allowed to go into those areas. I'm sure they thought I was a member of PETA and would set their animals free, but I only would have done that if I saw that they weren't really in good conditions, as they claim. :) I tried to go up the road as far as I was allowed, but couldn't see any roaming animals. I wish they would be willing to give monitored tours to those who are willing to see the animals. Hey - if you have nothing to hide, then let's see 'em!
We were also really surprised to see that they have a whole space where they sell products that they make from all of their produce. Really beautiful, yummy products. We purchased a few things: strawberry juice, olive oil, salad dressing, etc. I also picked up some bok choy because I have a special love of baby bok choy, and it made me very excited to see they had some. :)
We had a really nice afternoon, running around the beautiful farms and vineyards in Paso Robles, and it was especially nice to spend it with my mommy. :)
Here is the main store:

Some of their olive oil (we bought some with balsamic vinegar in it):

The beautiful area where this farm was located:

Artichoke plants! I want one SO bad, but I need a nice big backyard first :)

Here's an attempt at a picture of the produce in the tented house:

One of the pretty herb gardens:

Scallop Scampi happiness

As most of you know, I have been feeling pretty yucky the past couple of weeks. I caught some wierd cold bug about a week and a half ago, and I thought I was getting better last Saturday. Then, on Sunday, I started to feel bad all over again, except it was much worse this time. Yesterday was especially un-fun. I woke up this morning feeling marginally better, and once I showered and got going, I did actually feel much better by this afternoon. The downside to all of this sickness, is that my poor husband is stuck either fending for himself (for food) or he goes out and gets something for the both of us (which is especially sweet of him). On a side note, he got me a particularly yummy veggie sandwich from the Blizzard cafeteria last night, which was very nice of him (and Blizzard, to let him do that).
So, tonight for dinner, I decided to make something for us that I just love: scallops! They are nature's little sea gems. I could truly eat them everyday. Tonight I made scallop scampi...delicious!! There was also some broccoli and artichokes on the side, but here is the recipe for the scampi, in case you wanted to throw some together. It is really a shrimp scampi recipe, but there is a way to make it with just (or add) scallops to it, as well. Just a little extra work involved - but worth it! :) AND, this is not the healthiest meal around, but damn it's good.
And, if you were wondering, it made me feel a bit better, as well. :)

Shrimp Scampi
jumbo or extra-large shrimp, 1 1/2 lbs.
all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup
sea salt and pepper
olive oil, 2 tablespoons, plus more as needed
unsalted butter, 12 tablespoons
garlic, 3 cloves, minced
dry white wine, 1/4 cup
finely grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon
fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons
fresh flat-leaf parsely, 2 tablespoons finely chopped
Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tail segment intact. In a shallow bowl, stir together the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
In a large, nonreactive frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Toss half of the shrimp in the flour mixture to coat evenly, shaking off the excess. Add to the hot oil and cook, turning occasionally, until opaque throughout when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining shrimp, adding more oil as needed.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the garlic together in the pan, stirring frequently, until the garlic softens and is fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and the lemon zest and juice and bring to boil over high heat. Cook until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to very low. One tablespoons at a time, whiskk in the remaining 10 tablespoons butter, letting each addition soften into a creamy emulsion before adding more.
Return the shrimp to the sauce and mix to coat well. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a warm serving dish and sprinkle with the parsely.
Small bay scallops will cook in about the same amount of time as the shrimp. If you opt for large sea scallops, sear them in an ovenproof frying pan over high heat for about 1 minute on each side, then slip the browned scallops, still in the pan, into a preheated 400 degree oven and cook until barley opaque throughout, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover to keep warm, and proceed with the recipe to make the sauce.

Bunny Soup! (No bunnies harmed)

Today Andy and I had a pretty big lunch, so soup was the perfect idea for dinner. AND I had a ginormous bunch of carrots, so carrot soup it was tonight! Really super easy to make and it was quite delicious! Here is the recipe, in case you would like to enjoy for yourself - this would even make an excellent starter to a bigger meal. Ours was served with fresh baked bread, which makes sense...to a Portuguese girl! :)

Morrocan Carrot Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped white onion
1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove soup from heat. Puree in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cumin.

"It's a veggie..it's a veggie..."

Who would have thought?... No more meat for me... well, that's not because I don't like meat. Pig is a magical animal. Seriously. But, after many years of trying to figure out what makes the Crohn's Disease not be a raging beast, I believe I found the answer some months ago. Unfortunately, for me, that means no red meat, pork, or chicken. Which is somewhat okay, since I'm not a fan of birds, and I don't think anyone should live on red meat. But, the pig... what a sad day for me.
Okay, enough of my crying. Living in California, and even more so, Orange County, it is exceptionally easy to eat well as a vegetarian (or pescatarian, as I do also eat fish). I've also found that it is easier on my system to eat foods that don't have pestcides or chemicals attached, which is also fairly easy to acheive over here.
After thinking about it for a couple of months, I decided to join a Community Supported Agriculture share. I joined Fresh Farm to You and I received my first delivery today. It is fantastic! I started off with the smaller box, and we'll see how that works for us. It's nice to know that there is no way I would have been able to get all of these fruits and veggies at the grocery store for the exceptionally small amount that I payed, and everything is very fresh. Here is all of what showed up at my doorstep this morning:


A few weeks ago, the hippy bug hit me and I decided to plant a few things that I enjoy. I've got a crazy bunch of chives and a huge basil plant enjoying it's spot on my table outside. I also have a bean plant growing nicely. It's kinda cute (for a bean plant).


So, that's what I've been up to lately, in the food world. I'm excited to use all of my new weekly produce to create some delicious-ness and share it with all of you! P.S. Bacon still tastes good.