Friday, September 12, 2008

What do farm girls do

....when they're all done outside?

Why, they bake of course.

Among the many things my blogging friend and visitor-for-the-week, Marcee-frugalmom, and I have accomplished over the last six days, we have also managed to get in some cooking and kitchen time, too.

Here's a sampling of a few of our joint kitchen events:

Using a recipe Marcee found on Farmgirl Fare, we adapted it to make fresh raspberry bars (with an oat crust and streusel topping).

Of course, first, we had to go out and pick a heap of berries off the vines:

And then we mixed a bunch of stuff together:

And, voila, raspberry bars! Simply excellent with french vanilla ice cream:

We harvested basil from the garden and made 6 batches of fresh pesto:

and pesto pasta (especially for Jim)...Mmmmm, it's best when it's still warm....

Using the pickling cucumbers obtained at a local farm the day before, we tried out Sugarcreekstuff's recipe for fresh pickles:


Here's Marcee-frugalmom going crazy because some of my spices were not alphabetized appropriately:

The end product turned out really well, despite my inability to know whether to put sweet basil under "S" or "B":

And those eight cups of blackberries we picked on Wednesday? Blackberry pie, of course! Using Angie's (Children of the Corn) "perfect pie crust" recipe, we made two amazing pies. One was needed for a big family dinner happening this evening and I stuck the other one in the freezer.

I had sworn never to make pie crust from scratch again because of some nasty experiences, but with Angie's recipe (and the food processor):

...it was a breeze. It was simple, went fast...:

...and turned out beautifully!:

I wish I had more pictures to show you of the pie preparation, but I think those middle steps wound up on Marcee's camera. :-)

We've kept busy and eaten well, she and I. It will be sad when my farm buddy and kitchen pal heads back home.

19 comments:

  1. You've been very productive! Everything looks so good. I am especially fond of raspberries. Your photos made me hungry.

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  2. OMGosh! What a wonderful week!

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  3. YAY! So glad the pie crust worked for you! And I'm so with Marcee, Danni! Proper organization is vital! :)

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  4. Oh my, that all looks so good. I love you you used recipes from other bloggers! It would be great if you had smell-o-vision. I'm using my imagination instead. Mmmm!

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  5. I'll be right over. Can I bring the ice cream? Natural vanilla bean or french vanilla?

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  6. You are going to have all kinds of blogger friends wanting to come over now....those desserts look delicious! (I'd file Sweet Basil under B)

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  7. All I can say is . . . WOW! What a cooking marathon! Each dish, the raspberry bars, the pesto (that's on my agenda today, too) the pickles, and then to top the day off with that awesome-looking pie, I'm so impressed. I hope your dinner went well, yet how could it not with food lovingly prepared like that?

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  8. Wow! All of the recipes look so good. When can you two come visit here? lol...Of course you need to bring the fresh raspberries with you.
    Pam

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  9. I think you girls are just have way tooooooooo much fun! Enjoy! Christina

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  10. We did have so much fun in the kitchen! That was great. Oh, and there really isnt a great place for your celery seed....I was having a little angst over that.

    Mmmmm..pesto pasta...warm pesto pasta...mmmmm...

    The pie crust was super easy. And the pie was really good!

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  11. Hi farmer jen - I had a lot of fun in the kitchen this week - I don't normally enjoy the solitary kitchen pursuits, but when I've got someone to talk to and share the work with, well, sign me up!
    :-)

    Hi seasonseatings - I would love to sit in your kitchen with all your incredible and fresh produce and see what you do with it all! I could learn so much!! :-)

    Hi farmmom - oh, angie, the pies turned out so beautifully - I wish you had been there with us. Thank you SO much for sharing that crust recipe...(confession time) I had actually resorted, the last couple pie-making times, to using pre-made pie crusts (gasp). But never again! :-)

    Hi pine pod farm - Everything was so tasty! :-)

    Hi mim! Smellovision! Wasn't that in Willie Wonka? I think you would've liked the smell of the pie the best - it filled the whole house with a heavenly scent!

    Hi ceecee - I am so not picky...french vanilla, vanilla bean, chocolate, maple nut, strawberry... :-) C'mon over!!

    Hi NW nature nut - yeah, I'm a dork. Marcee caught me - I had filed sweet basil under "s" :-)
    You're completely correct, of course...

    Hey californiagrammy - just to clarify, all these dishes weren't for last night's event...this was just a sampling of the things we made together over the course of the week. But that pie was YUMMY! You'll have to tell me how your pesto turns out.

    Hey ga.farmwoman - I probably have another three weeks of raspberries and my blackberries are just coming on...c'mon over...we can bake pies all day! :-)

    Hi christina - thanks for commenting. We have been having fun...:-)

    Frugalmom - Don't think I didn't see your almost-organizational meltdown over my mis-organized celery seed. You regained your composure quite nicely, though. :-)

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  12. Wow, that pie looks SO good, I swear I caught a whiff of it! Yummy.

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  13. That looks like a fun day in the kitchen!

    I've been looking for the perfect pie crust for years - I'm going to try this one.

    How about a pizza crust? Does anybody have a killer pizza crust recipe?

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  14. I made the blueberry bars today and WOW are they yummy!!! I can hardly wait to try it with red raspberries. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. I am having serious pie crust envy. I don't mind shredding cabbage by hand or chopping meat by hand or making pesto in my very abused blender, but the ONE reason I must buy a food processor is so that I can make a pie crust that doesn't look and taste like soggy cardboard. This post has sealed the deal: this week, I'm processor shopping.

    PS- Please ask Marcee to come organize my spices for me. I'll ply her with lobster and blueberries!

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  16. You and Frugalmom crack me up: what fun to wake up to a sustained wooly bear discussion on my blog!!

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  17. Hi Sarah, actually, I do! :) I'll post it for you over on my blog this week. (Although it's a bread machine recipe.)

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  18. That pie looks divine and poor frugal mom would faint if she saw the order of my spices. I alphabetize them a couple of times a year but the day after they are already out of order.

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