Thoughts to Eat By

My friend Ruth served this one evening and it was delightful! A perfectly nourishing dessert that helps you meet your daily fruit intake.

Choose any number of fruits you enjoy, such as:

Peaches
Nectarines
Blackberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Apples
Bananas
Figs
Plums

Drizzle with fresh orange juice, add a sprinkling of organic sugar if you like, and bake at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Test the fruit along the way. Any juice in the pan will thicken some with cooling.

You can serve the fruit with half and half, Devonshire cream, whipped cream, ice cream, or a homemade yogurt cheese. Ruth said to do this you place plain yogurt in a cheesecloth, inside a colander, and let the liquid drain out. What you have left is a deliciously smooth creamy substance.

Hope you enjoy!

Posted by Terri Fisher on May 18, 2006 at 5:47 p.m.
Permalink | Post the First Comment

This is a James Beard recipe that was originally titled Buttermilk White Bread. I dropped the “white” since I use whole wheat flour. This makes a great toast and sandwich bread! I usually double the recipe.

Makes 1 loaf

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tbl organic sugar
1/2 cp very warm water
4 cp (appx.) white whole-wheat flour (Or, you might want to combine an unbleached bread flour with whole-wheat hard red flour.)
1 tbl salt
3 tbl melted butter
1 1/2 cp buttermilk

Proof yeast with water and sugar. Heat buttermilk to just warm. Mix proofed yeast, buttermilk, flour, salt, and melted butter to form a smooth dough. Add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to sides of bowl, but don’t let the dough get dry. Knead approximately 10 minutes, or until you have a smooth, round ball. Place in a buttered bowl, smooth side down, turning up the buttered side of the dough. Cover with cloth or plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise. Check the dough in about 45 minutes by poking it gently with two fingers. If the dough feels resistent, let it rise another 10 minutes and check again. If it feels like it is ready to exhale, punch it down and knead it about 10 times to release all the air bubbles. Let rest 5-10 minutes, then form into a loaf. Place the loaf smoth side down, in a well buttered 9 x 5 loaf pan, flipping the buttered side up for baking. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.

This recipe makes great rolls also. Form and bake for 15-20 minutes, remove from the pan, and bake another 5-8 minutes for a nice crust all round.

Posted by Terri Fisher on March 9, 2006 at 9:45 a.m.
Permalink | 1 Comment — Join the Conversation

4-5 lb chicken (natural only)
Water to cover chicken
1 onion quartered
5-6 celery tops with leaves
5-6 cloves garlic
4 large carrots split length wise and cut in thirds
20 peppercorns
1 tbl sea salt
1 tbl vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 handful of fresh parsley

Bring it all to a low simmer. You will get the richest broth if you put it on early in the day and simmer it very low overnight. This allows time for the minerals to be leached out of the bones. The broth will become a beautiful deep golden to amber color. This is a very nutritious base to use in many dishes besides soup.

Posted by Terri Fisher on February 20, 2006 at 10:25 p.m.
Permalink | Post the First Comment

This is a family favorite. They’re absolutely wonderful hot from the oven and slathered with good butter!

2 cp mashed bananas
1/3 cp oil
1/3 cp cocoa
1 egg
3/4 cup sucanat
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 cp whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cp water

Mix together oil, cocoa, and bananas. Add all dry ingredients. Mix in, gently, the 1/3 cp water. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Posted by Terri Fisher on August 31, 2005 at 12:25 p.m.
Permalink | 1 Comment — Join the Conversation

Fudgey Brownies

4 tbl cocoa powder (My favorites are Lake Champlain or Droste. To make this more affordable, you can use half Hershey’s.)
2 cp Sucanat (You may use 1 cp brown sugar, 1 cp Sucanat.)
1/2 cp melted butter
2 eggs beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 cp whole wheat pastry flour
1 cp chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees Mix all ingredients well. Pour into buttered 9X13 baking dish. Cook appx. 25 minutes. The secret to a good brownie is to not overcook. Enjoy!

Posted by Terri Fisher on May 20, 2005 at 2:41 p.m.
Permalink | 4 Comments — Join the Conversation