- • Lettuce (Romaine is shooting up, remove outer leaves and enjoy the sweet hearts)
- • Garlic
- • Sweet Onions (“Walla Walla” type, as they are not grown in Walla Walla they must be called sweet onions. They are sweet, great on the grill or raw in salad)
- • Basil
- • Cucumbers (ah, we might have gone a little over board, try Becca’s favorite thai cucumber salad it is a real treat, “this is the year of the cucumber” Diane Jacobs)
- • Zucchini (OK, there are a lot, see the great recipes for bread, relish and pickles below, also a great pesto from Sue Kass)
- • Potatoes
- • Tomatoes (They are here!! Some greenhouse early varieties and some cherry tomatoes, at this point you have to choose either or, in the near future you will get both)
- • Hot peppers (this is just the start, Serrano and Jalapeno)
- • Plums (Santa Rosa, great for eating, jams, coffee cake below)
- • Broccoli (these are side shoots, still tender but the last you will see until the fall)
- • Apples (Transluscent) these bruise easily and are best baked into apple pie, the coffee cake below or made into sauce.
- • Parsley
There is just not enough time in the day to get all of this done. This note will be short as it is high time to harvest and our crew is here. Please do not despair; there are tons of cucumbers but tons of ways to use these delicious fruits of summer. We are heavy into summer crops that are time consuming to harvest. We need helpers, but it is also hard to enlist people who need quite a bit of skill to work with the different crops, enter our kids. Fortunately Jacob has come back from Alaska with us and just in the nick of time. Hopefully we can get him to help with these intense harvests.
We had a great trip to Alaska, leaving Juvencio to tend to the farm, a sick calf and the new horses! We are all back now and scrambling to catch up. This week is the Washington county fair and Luna will be showing both “Bellatrix” her Holstein cow and “Mia” her Oberhusli dairy goat. Come by on Friday to see the show or stop in anytime at the dairy goat or dairy cow barn to see our family and our animals at the fair.
Our new horses, “Venture” and “Victoria” are adjusting to life on our busy farm, you may see them, but they are still shy, so view them from a distance. “Olga” and “Snowball” her calf are here from McMinnville. Olga is one of our Galloway cows. They are recuperating from a difficult birth and infection in “Snowball’ in part due to her not being able to latch onto “Olga’s” large teats. Olga is not like Bella, she is not used to people and is protective of her new calf, so view her from a distance and enjoy seeing her calf gain strength and become friskier.
Please sign up for harvest help in the upcoming months, a new sign up is in the barn waiting for your signature. More news to come when time allows.
Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake
From The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook
Instead of apples, try using any not too juicy fruit, such as
pears, pineapple, papaya, mango, blackberries or raspberries.
Crumb Topping
½ C light brown sugar
½ C unbleached all purpose flour
½ tsp cinnamon
4 Tbles chilled butter
¼ C finely chopped walnuts (optional)
Cake
1 C butter, at room temperature
2 C sugar
6 eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
4 C unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 C sour cream
2 C diced granny smith and/or Fuji apples (1 inch dice) (peeled if
desired)
To make the topping: Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in
a small bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the
texture is coarse. Stir in the walnuts, if desired. Set aside.
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10
inch angel food cake pan.
Put the butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer
until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light in color and
fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the lemon zest and beat
again.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and slat in a
mixing bowl. Stir to mix. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture,
alternately with the sour cream. Beat until smooth.
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the
apples evenly over the batter, then spoon the remaining batter over
the apples, spreading it evenly.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 1 hour
and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted
to the center of the cake. Let the cake cool on a rack for 45 minutes before removing it
from the pan.. Serves 8 to 10
ZUCCHINI RELISH
10 c. ground zucchini (skin on)
4 tbsp. salt
Dash of garlic salt
4 c. ground onion
1 chopped red pepper
5 c. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 chopped green pepper
2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. celery seed
Soak first 3 ingredients 2 –3 hours. Drain and rinse well. Add remaining ingredients. Bring all to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, then seal while very hot in jars. Tastes just like pickle relish!
CUCUMBERS WITH WASABI AND RICE VINEGAR
1 lb Japanese or Kirby cucumbers (about 5)
1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
1/2 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
Equipment: an adjustable-blade slicer
Very thinly slice cucumbers crosswise with slicer; toss with 1 teaspoon salt and drain in a colander 15 minutes. Rinse cucumbers under cold water, then squeeze handfuls to remove excess water; pat dry.
Stir together wasabi powder and water in a bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Add vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce, whisking until sugar has dissolved. Add cucumbers and toss well.
Cooks’ note: Cucumbers can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
Becca’s favorite Thai Cumber salad with Roasted Peanuts
¼ cup fresh limejuice
1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tablespoons minced seeded jalapeno chili (about 1 large)
2 garlic cloves
1 ½ English hothouse cucumbers, halved, seeded, thinly sliced
¾ cups sliced red onion
2 tablespoons fresh mint
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts
Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Place cucumbers, onion, and mint in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on peanuts and serve.
Lonnie’s chocolate Zucchini Cake
½ c soft butter
½ c cooking oil
2 eggs
1 ½ c sugar (can be cut down)
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 ½ c flour
1 tsp soda
½ t salt
½ c chocolate chips
½ c sour milk (buttermilk)
4 T cocoa
½ tsp. Cinnamon
2 c grated zucchini
¼ c chopped nuts
Mix butter,oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk together. Add cocoa, soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Add flour, mix well, add zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 13 X 9 inch pan or 2 loaf pans.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake 2
A great cake for all that zucchini at the end of the season, and the kids love it too!
Makes 1 9 x 13 inch cake
Printed from Allrecipe, submitted by Sandi
½ cup butter, softened 1 ¾ cup white sugar
½ cup vegetable oil 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup sour milk
2 ½ cups all purpose flour ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup semiweet chocolate chips
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 cups zucchini, finely diced
chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 305 degrees F, grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Cream the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and sour milk(sour milk = 1 teasopon vinager in ½ cup milk)
3. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon toger and add to creamed mixture. Beat well, stir in diced zucchini
4. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 40 – 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Zucchini with Opal Basil, Pine Nuts, and Parmigiano-Reggiano
Local Flavors, Deborah Madison
1 pound or more zucchini, 6 to 8 inches long
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ cup pine nuts
extra virgin olive oil
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
10 large opal basil leaves, or other basil, torn
1. slice the squash in half lenghwiise, then steam or simmer in salted water until tender. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden.
2. When the squash is done, arrange it on a platter, cut side up. Drizzle olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper. Grate a veil of cheese over the squash, add the pine nuts and basil and serve.
Zucchini Pesto
Lyn–this is the one that was in the Oregonian–it’s quite good! Pretty tasty straight up, but seems like it would be great on crostini or pizza, or w/chicken or fish, for instance…
1/2 c olive oil
1 large shallot chopped (I used a sweet onion)
6 garlic cloves
3 Tbs toasted blanched almond slivers
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 ” dice
1 c basil leaves
@tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.
Sauté garlic and onions in 1Tbs oil until softened, not browned. Transfer to blender or processor and blend with remaining ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Gradually add in oil with blender running until smooth and creamy. Season w/S&P to taste.
Apparently keeps several days in fridge or freezes well