Girlfriend Fixers

Girlfriend, when you need us, we are there for you. We will bring our party to you and listen as you share your story.We will cry with you. We will laugh with you. And most importantly, we will help each other. So just remember girlfriend, that we, too, are willing to crawl out of Hell on that very same hot pipe in order to be there for you.

Addicted to Fruit Floes

As he bagged my grocery selections this morning while I wrote out my check, the young clerk at Trader Joe's smiled and asked if I ever thought that I might be supporting a Fruit Floes addiction. I had to laugh as I considered his question for a moment, and confessed, "Yes, I guess I am."
As I drove home, I found myself wishing that I had not placed that shopping bag on the back seat. My car was hot inside. At 232,665 miles on an old Volvo, it is not surprising that the air conditioner no longer keeps up with the heat on days like today. I could see the Fruit Floes in my rear-view mirror - sticking out from the top of the bag. They looked so refreshing. I really wanted one - needed one!The Caribbean Fruit Floes are my favorite. It's the coconut flakes that make them special to me. Combine that with strawberries, pineapple, mango and passion fruit, make it fat free and frozen, how can it not be refreshing on a near-record-setting heat kind of day? Okay, maybe I am addicted.Thankfully, they really are not that bad nutritionally. With only 80 calories each, they have only 9 grams of fat, 5 mg of sodium, and a total carbohydrate count of 21g (21g sugars), they also contain 20% of our daily requirement of Vitamin C. While I tend to eat a healthy, low calorie, low carbohydrate and low sodium diet, I can still feel good about eating Fruit Floes to help me stay cool during the hot summer days.

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As far as the addiction, I feel the problem will naturally resolve itself - cold turkey - once this heat wave subsides.

Kale Pesto

Ever had a pesto made from kale? I set aside a bunch of kale from my CSA harvest basket so that I could make some of this very special pesto.

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Ingredient List for Kale Pesto

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1 Large Bunch Fresh Kale

1 Small Bunch Fresh Basil

1/2 Cup Asiago Cheese

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Raw Pine Nuts

3 Cloves Fresh Garlic

Fresh Ground Lemon Pepper

Optional - 1 T Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

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Method for Making Kale Pesto

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Carefully wash the kale leaves.

Remove and toss the hard, stringy stems from the center of each leaf. Then tear the leaves into pieces and spin dry.
Place the torn up leaves into a food processer. Pulse until the kale leaves are evenly ground.
Dump the ground up kale into a bowl.
Next, process the basil. After washing and drying, remove the stems and pulse the basil leaves in the food processor until they are well ground. Add them to the bowl with the processed kale.
Place the pine nuts and garlic cloves into the food processor and pulse to about the same consistency as the kale and basil leaves, then add to the bowl.
Grate the cheese and add it to the mixture in the measuring bowl.

Grind a little lemon pepper over the processed ingredients in the bowl and gently fold the olive oil into the mixture.

Put it all back into the food processor and process until the entire mixture is nearly pureed.

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How to Use Kale Pesto

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Make a pizza crust and spread it with this pesto. Top with sliced vegetables - roasted garlic cloves, sliced zucchini, onion and tomato. Then, sprinkle with a little grated asiago cheese, scatter crumbled goat cheese over it all and bake. One pizza will make several meals for an individual - or, more fun yet, call up a friend and share.

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One bunch of kale makes a lot of pesto so make a batch of homemade whole wheat noodles and serve those noodles with kale pesto. Spread a tortilla with the kale pesto. Add some ham, onion and tomato slices and call it a wrap! I like to put some of it in my freezer to look forward to using later, after kale is no longer available in the markets. What a treat that is!

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Health Benefits of Kale

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The health benefits of kale in our diets are tremendous! One cup of kale provides almost twice our daily requirement of vitamin A, almost all of the vitamin C required for one day and 1,300% of our daily requirement of vitamin K. While that is a lot of vitamins, Kale offers us even more health benefits!

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Kale contains a number of compounds that have a lot to do with keeping our body strong, healthy and free from damage. Kale contains phytonutrients. These are natural compounds that help remove free radicals from our body before they cause cell damage. They send messages that prompt our genes to increase enzymes in the body to fight off potentially harmful carcinogens.

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Kale is full of fiber to help keep our digestive system running smoothly. One cup of cooked kale offers 10% of our daily requirement of fiber. If it's served fresh, a kale pesto spread on a tortilla for example, it provides even a larger percentage of our daily fiber requirement.

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Kale produces sulforaphane, a natural cancer fighter that signals the liver to produce cancer-fighting enzymes. Eating kale is said to help prevent and lower our risk of getting colon cancer, lung cancer, prostate and breast cancer.

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Kale contains lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that help protect our eyes from ultraviolet light. Kale also helps to prevent cataracts as our eyes age.

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One cup of kale per week is enough to protect our bodies against some of the diseases caused by aging. It can literally slow down the hands of time.

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Isn't kale one absolutely amazing vegetable?

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Elephant Ears

It really is the food that draws me to the fair. I love the elephant ears! They're my favorite! Drizzled with butter and sprinkled with lots of cinnamon when still warm, I think I can smell them the moment I enter the gate. I like to save them for last though, first walking through barn after barn viewing the animals, building after building full of flowers, quilts and other displays. I try to see just how long I can hold out before I must go get one. Enjoying a hamburger and fries for lunch, I stroll through the carnival and midway games, check out the vendor booths, all the while looking forward to savoring the cinnamon flavor of a chewy, sweet elephant ear.

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I saw sheep in jailbird clothing.

The cutest little babies!
Someone spinning wool.
Spooning pigs.
A little girl in a pen.

Old Glory made of vegetables.

Shelf after shelf of preserves.Hundreds of prize-winning dahlias. Racks of pretty sweaters for sale.
Chickens strutting their stuff.
Melons that seemed fun.
This one reminded me of Bud!
There was a grandmother's fan quilt.
People trying out a mattress.
Friends trying on cowboy hats.
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And so very much more.

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Make your own Elephant Ears!

1 1/4 cups milk
1/4-1/2 cup butter
1 package active dry yeast
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
5 1/2-6 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sal
1 dash freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
vegetable oil (for frying)

Powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar

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Heat milk with butter until butter melts. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. Stir yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar into warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.

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In a large bowl, combine milk and yeast mixtures with 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, and nutmeg. Stir until smooth. Cover and let stand until bubbly, 30 minutes.

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Stir in beaten eggs, then add additional flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth, supple, and elastic, about 8 minutes.

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Return dough to bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until dough is doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and divide into 4 pieces. Divide each piece into 4 or 5 pieces.

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Put several inches of oil in a large, deep pan such as a chicken fryer or heavy dutch oven. Heat to about 360 degrees F. Work each ball of dough with the hands, shaping into a large disk, about 10 inches long and 6 inches wide.

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Fry one at a time, turning once, until nicely browned. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar while hot. Serve at once.

Serving Size 1 elephant ears 88g
Recipe makes 16 elephant ears

Calories 245
Calories from Fat 44
Total Fat 5.0g
Saturated Fat 2.6g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.4g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 49mg
Sodium 189mg
Total Carbohydrate 43.3g
Dietary Fiber 1.3g
Sugars 9.6g
Protein 6.4g

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Held in Lynden each summer, the Northwest Washington Fair runs this year from August 11th through the 16th. Driving Directions and calendar of events are available on their website. If you go to the fair this summer, take a moment to see if you can smell the cinnamon on those elephant ears as you walk through the gate.

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CSA - Week 9 - Mid-Summer Harvest

A different design in the basket did not stifle my delight in discovering the different vegetables that were stowed away in my CSA harvest share this week. BioBags full of vegetables had been placed on top, concealing most of the contents until I could get home and look inside.

This week, more summer squash - zucchini and pattypan.

Strawberries - what a treat in August!

Juicy, ripe red tomatoes.

Carrots and broccoli.

Garlic. An assortment of onions.More red potatoes.
My first green beans this summer!

And a delicious mix of lots of different tender, tasty salad greens - sprinkled throughout with delicate, edible flower petals.Vegetables are so deliciously tender when they are fresh like this, so I cooked some for my dinner tonight. First, I crushed and sauteed a clove of garlic in a small amount of olive oil, just until its aroma released. Then I added a sliced onion, zucchini, pattypan squash and a handful of the green beans. They sizzled and cooked until they were tender and browned perfectly.
Remembering one of my dad's favorite dishes with zucchini, I whipped up an egg and scrambled it in the middle.
From the farm to the market to my kitchen in one afternoon, it just doesn't get much fresher. What a treat it is!