Drying berries outside in the sun is very simple, these berries are drying in Seattle Wa.
You can dry fruit by just setting it out in the summer sun to dry (bring it in at night so it doesn't mold), or you can dry it in a 200 degree oven, on a rack over a cookie sheet in the oven. The
following are approximate drying times for different fruits:
Apricots, halved, peeled and pitted, 5 hours * Grapes, 5-6 hours * Kiwis, peeled and sliced, 3-4 hours * Mangoes, peeled and cut into wedges, 3-4 hours * Peaches, peeled, pitted, and halved, cut into
wedges, 5 hours * Pineapples, peeled, cored, in slices or rings, 4 hours.
VEGETARIAN CORNDOGS 3/4 c cornmeal * 3/4 c flour * 1 t baking powder * 1/4 t salt * 1 egg * 2/3 c milk, soymilk or water * 10 wooden sticks * 10 Soy/Vegetarian "Hotdogs" * Oil for Frying
Combine the cornmeal, flour, powder, salt, and egg. Mix well, then add the milk/water and mix well. Let stand a few minutes. Then insert sticks in the hotdogs and dip in batter, then fry in oil...
Cook until browned...
1/16 c soy sauce/tamari * 1 1/16 c water * 1/2 onion, cut in quarters * 1 clove garlic, peeled * 1/2 bay leaf * 4 ounces tempeh, sliced * 1/8 c mayonnaise
(use vegan mayo if desired) * 1 1/2 T relish * 1 T ketchup * 4 slices of rye bread * 2 1/5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese (can use vegan cheese if desired) * 1 c sauerkraut
Combine the soy sauce, water, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and 1 1/16 cup water in a pan and heat over medium heat. Add tempeh, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Then cover the pan and let it all cool off the burner. Make the Thousand Island Dressing while the pan cools. Mix together the mayo, relish and ketchup in a small bowl and set aside. Once the tempeh is a bit cooled, drain the liquids off and throw everything in the pan away except the tempeh. To make the sandwiches, toast the bread. Then place tempeh on two of the slices, and cover with cheese, then toast or broil until cheese melts. Take tempeh sandwich pieces out of the oven and place sauerkraut on top of the melted cheese, then spread the dressing on the other two pieces of toast and put them on top of the sandwich! Slice in half and eat! Yum!!
Lay out a few small flour or corn tortillas either directly on your oven racks or on a cookie sheet. Spread brie cheese in a thin layer on the tortillas. Then you can either use thinly sliced raw onions or you can carmelize the onions. Saute the onions in butter until they turn brown and sticky then use, if you want the cooked version. Sprinkle the onions on the tortillas then sprinkle some dried cranberries on top. Cook the tortillas open faced until cheese melts, then take out of the oven, fold in half and eat!
LOW-FAT SANDWICH SUBSTITUTES If you are looking for fewer calories, you can use hummus or low/non-fat bean dips instead of mayonnaise to give some moisture to your sandwiches.
In June, we see Buttercrunch Lettuce, Strawberries, Spinach, Scallions, Sugarsnap Peas, Swiss Chard, Artichokes, Asparagus and Rhubarb in local farmer's markets in the Seattle area!
In July, we see Raspberries, Cherries, Bok Choy, Summer Squash, Carrots, Lettuce, Snow peas, and Cucumbers!
In August, we see Nectarines, Blueberries, Radishes, Brocolli, Fennel, Onions, Herbs, and Blackberries!
OPEN-FACE SPINACH MUSHROOM FINGER SANDWICHES 2 portobello mushrooms, with the stem trimmed * 1 T pine nuts * 1-2 T olive oil * 2 green onions, sliced * 1 clove garlic * ¼ pound fresh, cleaned spinach * 2 slices crusty white bread or small little slices of bread* 1/3 - ½ c shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
Toast pine nuts in a frying pan over medium heat until they smell nutty and are golden, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside in a bowl. Clean mushroom tops, then spoon out the inside gills underneath the cap and throw out, then cut the mushrooms into quarters, slice. Heat ½ T oil in frying pan, add the mushrooms and green onions, and cook about 5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add some more oil to a skillet and cook the minced garlic, about 1-2 minutes. Then add spinach and cook another 2 minutes, then add to the mushroom mixture. Stir pine nuts into the mushroom mix too. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet and then top the bread/s with the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top of all the open-faced sandwiches and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts in a 400 degree oven.
GRILLED GOAT CHEESE AND FIG SANDWICHES4 oz. chevre (soft goat cheese) * 1 T honey * 8 slices raisin bread * 2 t chopped fresh basil (optional) * 2 T fig preserves (you can often find this in the cheese depts of upscale grocery stores)
Combine the cheese and honey, then spread some of this on 4 pieces of bread. Place basil on top of this cheese spread if using it. Then spread the other 4 pieces of bread with fig preserves. Put the pieces of bread together to make 4 sandwiches. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add 2 sandwiches to the pan, press down with a heavy skillet bottom to flatten and cook with pan on top of them if possible, for about 3-5 minutes until browned, then flip it and cook the other side as well. Cut in half and serve warm!
BLACKBERRY JAM 3 lbs. Blackberries ** 1 lb cooking apples, diced ** 4 lbs. Sugar ** 1/2 pt water
Cook berries and apples slowly until soft. Add sugar, boil until set, then can properly or use within few weeks refrigerated.
BLACKBERRY SYRUP Stew blackberries, 3 lb fruit to 1/4 pt. water, until juice is drawn...strain, add for every pint of juice, 6 oz sugar. Boil 15 min, then bottle after cooling.
JAPANESE VEGETABLE PATTIES (These pancakes can be eaten cold or warm, and are great for picnics!)
1/2 cabbage (green, red, or Chinese), grated * 1 carrot, grated * 1/2 onion (yellow or red), diced * 3 celery stalks, chopped * approximately 2 c flour (white or whole
wheat) * 1 egg, beaten * 2 T brown sugar * 1 t salt * 1 can evaporated milk * water
Mix the flour, egg, sugar, salt and milk in a bowl, adding enough water to make it a batter. Fold the vegetables into the batter, and spoon the batter like pancakes onto a hot oiled skillet. Cook until they are solid and browned.
Collect and Process Blackberries for the Homeless This Summer Blackberries grow like weeds all over the Pacific Northwest, where I live, and the berries are finally getting ripe. Could you spend a few hours berry picking, and then processing and donating them to food banks? Berries rot on vines all over, but if you spend the time to pick them, and freeze, dry or can them, you can use that abundant wild food source for months to come. My kid laughed at me when I packed the freezer with blackberries last summer. But he was really thankful later, and said so, when we had berry smoothies, berry pies, etc. all winter long. You can pick blackberries daily, and do all kinds of things with them. Make jam, wine, tea, ink, dyes, fruit leather, medicine...
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GAZPACHO 1 onion ** 2 cloves garlic ** 1 green pepper ** 1 cucumber ** 3 tomatoes ** 3 stalks celery ** 3 green onions **
46 ounces homemade/fresh tomato juice or blended tomatoes ** 1/4 c. olive oil ** 1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs ** 4 T. line juice
2 t. salt ** pepper to taste **
In a blender or food processor, mix all ingredients except celery, green onions and tomatoes. Once blended, add
diced celery and sliced green onions and juice. Chill and serve cold.
LEMON BALM AND BORAGE PUNCH AND ICE CUBES Make strongish tea from lemon balm or lemon verbena. Add a few mint springs for undertone, and add honey or sugar. Now float borage flowers on top. Freeze half of the tea into ice cubes (or ring mold if for a party punch bowl). Serve tea, with ginger ale or lemonade, chilled, with the lemony ice cubes.
NATURAL SUNBURN CARE FROM YOUR KITCHEN As a fair-skinned, red-headed kid growing up in Los Angeles and Baja, sunburn was a regular part of my childhood. Chemical sprays were not effective and mainstream America was ignorant of aloe's properties. Once back in L.A., after a week in San Felipe, I had bright red burning skin and a sun blister on my eye which made it hard to close. A family friend suggested I smear pickle juice on my skin and hold a pickle on the blister. Desperate, I did it. Immediately, my skin stopped stinging and the blister went down. I stank but I was no longer hurting.
I later found out that vinegar is a home remedy for sunburn. People soak paper bags in vinegar and apply them onto burned skin to soothe. There are many folk remedies for sunburn that work quite well. Cold yogurt is silky on tender skin and is nutritious too. Cold fizzy mineral water helps relieve the pain. A cool bath with a handful of baking soda in it can help stop the stinging. The insides of cool cucumber skins rubbed on the skin feels good too. For severe burns, make a paste of slippery elm bark or baking soda, mixed with water, and spread onto burned area. And there is also aloe vera. Slit the leaf open and use gel.
To prevent peeling once sunburned, one folk remedy is to mix equal amounts of tomatoes and buttermilk. Mash and cover burn. Another peeling preventer is to mix 1/4 cup witch hazel extract, 3/4 cup rosewater, and 1 t. vegetable glycerin. Put this in a spray bottle and spray skin all over to moisturize and restore oils. This is good for dry skin whether burned or not. Just spray during the day, and dry skin goes away!
Grapefruit helps with weight loss: A CA study (Scripps Clinic 2004) showed that people who ate either ½ a grapefruit with each meal, or who drank 8 ounces of grapefruit juice 3 times a day for 12 weeks lost approximately 3 ½ pounds, without changing anything else in their lives, such as exercise or diets.
COCONUT: How to use fresh coconut - Pound a nail into the end of a coconut and then drain the milk from it. Then put the coconut into a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until the outer shell breaks. Remove coconut from oven and separate the meat from the shell, then you can grate it, etc.
STRAWBERRY AND PINEAPPLE SALADSlice a pineapple in half, then hollow out the insides. Cut the pineapple you took out into small pieces, then slice a bunch of strawberries. Mix the berries and pineapple in a bowl with some honey drizzled over the fruit. Then spoon the fruit into the hollowed out pineapple boat. This is a colorful sweet and sour summer treat!
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.