Saving Summer

While the unofficial end of summer may occur this Labor Day weekend, it still tastes like summer at your local farmers' markets. This is great because it means there's still time to save some for later. This is also a great time to think of holiday gifts. I hate to say it, and I hate seeing Christmas in stores already, but raspberry jam is always welcome on dark December mornings. 

Parsley Pesto - vegan & gluten free

Happy Monday! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. I had a rare Saturday off, so obviously I checked out a new farmers' market. I didn't get too much, since I stocked up at my usual spot on Thursday, but it was fun to see a new one.

Hi, my name is Kate, and I'm a farmers' market addict.

Please tell me I'm not alone.

Raspberry Chocolate Almond Spread - vegan, gluten free, & free of just about everything else

I wanted to get this recipe up earlier this week so that you would set forth and make it immediately. But I had to make a second batch, which totally got in the way of posting about it. On the plus side, it's now Friday evening - ok, night -which means you can hit up the farmers' markets this weekend, stock up on raspberries and make this with the ones you don't eat immediately.

Peach Crisp - vegan & gluten free

Every summer since sometime in high school, I've made this fruit crisp. When I've been asked for my favorite dessert, I've responded with this one. Now, not to knock chocolate cake, but this is so, so, so good partly because there's only a small window each year during peach heyday when it's doable.

Peach Butter - vegan, gluten free, & free of just about everything else

Last year at this time, I bought 20 pounds of peaches and then discovered that Mr Official Taster didn't like them. Well, I learned my lesson, and last week at the farmers market I only bought 10 pounds. This week I switched it up and got 10 pounds of nectarines instead.

Peach Streusel Muffins - vegan

When I was mixing these muffins yesterday, I was positive I wouldn't be sharing the results here with you fine people. The batter was not as wet as I was expecting, and the buckwheat I used gave it an unusual coloring. I double and triple checked the recipe I was using, but when I went down the list of ingredients, I could put a mental check next to each one. I pressed on, popped my tray in the oven, and crossed my fingers that the diced peaches would ooze while they baked and give the muffins the moisture they needed.

The Bakery Chronicles

Work has been going well, and I'm slowly but surely learning more and getting better at dealing in large quantities. Today's installment about life in a bakery is really just three little vignettes. Enjoy!

~~~

A couple of weeks ago, I came to the end of my shift and discovered that I was missing one earring. I looked all around my work station, the floor, and I checked the jacket I wore when I was working in the freezer. No dice.

Sugared Raspberries - vegan, gluten free, and free of just about everything else

Happy Friday! Are you tired of me talking about raspberries yet? If you need a recap, over the last week there've been Oatmeal Raspberry Cookies, Raspberry Jam, and Raspberry Vinegar. Besides the raspberry commonality, what I love especially about the vinegar and today's Sugared Raspberries is the sheer simplicity of the recipes. These two each have only one other ingredient, and just about as few instructions.

Raspberry Vinegar - vegan, gluten free, & free of just about everything else

Are you sensing a theme yet? Yes, I bought a lot of raspberries. Yes, Mr Official Taster and I have eaten a lot. Yes, we still have 1 little basket left. No, none have gotten any mold yet. Thank you fresh-picked-from-the-farmers'-market-berries. You're the best. 

Technically, maybe I shouldn't be posting this recipe quite yet, as my vinegar isn't quite finished doing it's thing. curing? pickling? Mom? However, I wanted to get it up now, at the height of summer, so that hopefully you too can make some. The most obvious (to me) use for it is in salad dressing; a burst of raspberry can only help everything a humdrum winter salad. But as I'm typing this, I remembering I have a cookie recipe saved in my giant binder that uses raspberry vinegar. I've always been too cheap to buy it at the store. Good thing I made this. And remembered about the recipe. I'll let you know when I get my act together and make it. 

Raspberry Jam - vegan, gluten free, & free of just about everything else

I mentioned on Friday that I spent much of the day engaged in Domestic Goddess type of chores. One of those accomplishments was making and canning some raspberry jam. (Does anyone know why it's called "canning"? It goes in jars). Since I had a whole flat of raspberries, I figured it was the time. I've made it before, and it's always well-reviewed; I've given mini (4oz) jars as party favors and Christmas presents. This year I made all half-pint (8oz) size jars, and I'm planning on gifting most of them.

Oatmeal Raspberry Cookies - vegan

Today I'm having a Domesic Goddess kind of day. There's been laundry and dishes and cleaning (well, really just pushing the button on the magic that is our roomba. no, not that Roomba), but there has also been freezing and preserving and whatnot. I hope to share some of those accomplishments in more detail next week. I will tell you I've made a couple batches of pea pesto to freeze, and I've got raspberries on their way to being preserved in a few different ways. 

Double Chocolate Muffins - vegan

Today is my Saturday, and I am so glad of it! (In my line of work, no one has Saturday & Sunday off. But I do usually get two days off in a row, and this week it's today and tomorrow.)

Obviously, that means yesterday was my Friday and, let me tell you, my Friday morning was rough. It was early. It was dark. I was tired. I did not want to leave the warm bed. I was grumpy. I didn't want to spend my day being cheerful to either customers or coworkers. I found messiness and annoying projects awaiting me at work. I dropped my lunch (and it was soup, so it wasn't really salvageable). Roomba is back to her throwing up ways (3 or 4 times in the last week and a half). AND I accidentally got her leash in gross stuff (read: poop) on our walk. sigh.

On the plus side, I did get to frost some cupcakes, and I had some of these muffins stashed in the freezer. Out they came to defrost. In the meantime, I watched some tv online and cuddled with the (momentarily healthy) puppy.