Strawberry Picking 2013

Our beautiful bounty!

This past weekend, my husband and I went strawberry picking at a farm about 40 minutes away. I had been wanting to do this since last year but we missed the season when it was cut short by too much rain. 

Saturday was really rainy off and on so we waited and went on Sunday. Most farms don't have Sunday pick-your-own hours but this one does! We went to Scott's Strawberry Farm in Moneta, Virginia and it was wonderful! We did have to endure a little drizzle but it wasn't too bad. 

I would definitely recommend going before the season is over! It is $10 for a 5 quart bucket, they're open 7 days a week, and they're very friendly and helpful! They're also going to have raspberries and blueberries in the summer. I'll definitely be back for those!

They have a bunch of fields that are huge! 

Rows and rows of ripe, delicious strawberries!

I even found a short and squat one that looked like a pumpkin! He was de-lish!

We also bought 3 plants too. I told you my wee little strawberry plant needed friends! Now he has some. He? She? Oh who knows. 

My other strawberry plant is the all-star variety and the new ones are Chandler Berries. They're lower and fuller and seem to produce more too. Scott's Strawberry Farm recommends Earliglow for the flavor so I'll be keeping an eye out for those! 

The little blossoms are so pretty!

Can one really have "too many" strawberries? 

Nah...I didn't think so either.

What's your favorite place to go strawberry picking? What do you do with your bounty when you get home?

Till next time,

Catherine

My Wee Strawberry Plant

Around early April we bought 4 roma tomato plants and one strawberry plant from a local greenhouse. I picked the best strawberry plant I could find and it already had 3 little strawberries growing! 

This is what they looked like the week we bought the plant. 

And after maybe 5-6 weeks they were getting huge! 

Then after close to 7 weeks out, I managed to pluck this beauty at the perfect time! I was like a little kid I was so excited! Way too excited about one measly strawberry! 

 This little guy was delicious! I must have waited till the right time because it was so good!

But alas, just one strawberry at a time is not very filling. I've decided I need about 99 more strawberry plants.

Since that's not very practical, I'm thinking just 3-5 more plants would be a good deal. At least with that many we can have a handful now and then.

Looking at these pictures reminds me that there's one more that's just about ready to eat! Yum!

What fruit are you growing in your garden? What's your favorite fruit? 

Till next time,
Catherine

Bake: Whole Wheat Banana Bread {King Arthur Flour Recipe}

Banana bread is such a delicious and classic comfort food. Plus it really helps enforce the "waste not" mindset. Did your family recently go on a banana kick then everyone gave up andw left you with a bunch of browning bananas? No problem! Wait until they're just right and make banana bread!

I petitioned Facebook for a good banana bread recipe and one friend suggested using the recipe on the side of King Arthur brand flour. That's the brand I use so I figured I should give it a try! It turned out perfectly! I altered the recipe a little but not too much. I think just less sugar and whole wheat flour were my changes. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups (about 4 or 5) very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping for extra flavor:

• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Optional: 

• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Directions:

Gather your ingredients. 

Ultra ripe bananas. The more brown they are, the sweeter they are! 

Oh and don't drop an egg like I did. Oops. 

Preheat your oven to 350�F then grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. 

Peel your bananas and put them into a large mixing bowl. 

Mash them well. 

Add the oil, sugar, milk and vanilla and mix them together well. 

Now mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Thoroughly mix them together. Be sure to scrape the sides so nothing is left unmixed. This is where a stand mixer would come in handy!

Pour the batter into your greased and floured loaf pan and spread evenly. 

Stir the cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle on top of the batter. 

Put it in the oven for about an hour or until a toothpick or knife comes out of the center clean. 

In an hour it should look something like this! Crumbly and delicious. (Sorry for the blurry photos!)

Let it cool for about 10 minutes then remove the loaf from the pan and let it finish cooling on a cooling rack.

If you can wait that long to dig in!

We actually don't have any cooling racks in the house which is odd, but then again I don't do a ton of sweets baking. So as you can see, my trusty cutting board did the job just fine. 

Baked to perfection.

My husband LOVES banana bread so when it was cool enough to handle, we cut that sucker open!

The directions on the flour bag say you get 16 slices but I think we managed 18. It just depends how thick or thin you want them. 

Spread a little butter on there and you're good to go! No wait, I take that back. Cold, hot, toasted, buttered...any way is a good way to eat this banana bread! Pouring the batter into a muffin tin is also a delicious alternative!

Mmm. 

I've actually decided that from now on it should be called banana cake because "bread" is such a deceiving word. It's cake...come on now, people. Bread doesn't have that much sugar in it! Well, it shouldn't anyways. 

What's your favorite banana bread recipe? Do you buy bananas specifically for making banana bread or is it just a happy accident when a bunch gets brown in the house?

Till next time,

Catherine

Bake: Herbed Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

One of my favorite food bloggers is Rachel Cooks. If you've never seen any of her recipes, you need to check her out now! You can find the original recipe HERE. She posted this recipe recently and her biscuits looked so good I knew I had to try it! I used whole wheat flour in my recipe to make it a little healthier. They're so yummy! Fortunately I had the willpower to put them into the freezer before my husband and I ate them all fresh from the oven!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-5 Tablespoons dried parsley and chives, whatever combo you want
• 12 Tablespoons softened butter
• 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons of melted butter (for brushing biscuits with)

Directions: 

Preheat your oven to 450� F. 

Add all of the dry ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl. 

Mix them up.

Add in the wet ingredients. 

Mix well.

Roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. It should be about 1/2"-3/4" thick.

Use your cookie cutter...or in my case, jar lid, and cut out biscuits.

Form extras into dough and roll out again, messing with it as little as possible so you don't warm it up. 

Depending on how thick you make the dough, you can get anywhere from 10-24 biscuits. The original recipe got 8-9 3" biscuits but I made mine thinner and got 24.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the tops and edges. If you have two sheets worth, be sure to rotate them halfway through so they both bake evenly. (Sorry for the blurry photos.)

Take them out of the oven and brush butter on the tops of each biscuit. As you can see, they all have character! 

And somehow I managed to get a few monster biscuits in there!

Drool.

These biscuits go well with everything! You could make them into breakfast biscuits, use Italian seasoning for a pasta dinner, add cheddar cheese....oh yum. I think I'll be adding the cheese next time! These biscuits are guaranteed to please either way!

What do you make with buttermilk? Do you have a family recipe passed down for the best biscuits or rolls?

Till next time,
Catherine

Adding Ground Flax to Bulk Your Bread!

About 6 months ago I attempted making healthy whole wheat bread by hand. My first try didn't go so well but after that I must have gotten the hang of it because ever since I feel like each new loaf is an improvement on the last! You can find my original recipe and bread endeavors HERE.  

One of the things that I find essential is adding honey. It gives the bread a little sweetness that goes perfectly with a sandwich or toast or anything! Lately I've also been adding a bunch of ground flax seeds.

The dough is brown because I always use whole wheat flour. If you look close you can see some of the ground flax. 

Here's a better view. I didn't add all that much the first time because I was afraid it would be too noticeable but it's not at all! 

My first loaves with added ground flax were so perfect and delicious! 

Baked to perfection! Golden brown in all the right places! These loaves don't look all that big but I think the flax actually makes them larger too!

Now I dump a lot of flax into the dough. Probably 1/2 a cup? Not sure. I just pour. 

If you make your own bread, I would recommend adding ground flax because it's so healthy for you but your family probably won't even notice it's there! Flax seeds are rich in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids and they're low in carbs! You can't go wrong adding them! You can find ground flax just about anywhere these days. I actually got mine from Big Lots believe it or not! It was Bob's Red Mill ground flax and it was about half of what it normally costs. What a score! Plus it was a huge bag that is lasting me forever! 

I have whole flax seeds as well but I feel like ground flax is easier to add into foods without people being like, "Eww what's this???" I like to be sneaky when I add in healthy foods. Hehe. What they don't know, helps them! I think next time I'll use ground flax and then a small handful of whole flax seeds as well. Ooh maybe I'll buy some oats and make my own honey oat nut bread! Mmm!

How do you use flax seeds? Do you prefer whole or ground? Also, did you catch my two accidental rhymes? I should be a poet! Not. 

Till next time,

Catherine