The Rurban Fringe ‘Eat Local’ Challenge: Day 52
Posted on | August 9, 2009 | 2 Comments
Due to an unforeseen blog hiatus, I’ve been unable to post on my progress of late … but have been faithfully following the spirit of the challenge … with some interesting experiences along the way!
With summer in full swing, it’s been incredibly easy for me to find fresh, great tasting produce. Our local Farmer’s Market continues to encourage a wide variety of vendors, and I’ve been consistently able to purchase approximately 8% – 12% of food items locally.
I also garden.
I feel the need to qualify this statement, though, as I mostly tend to things that flower, provide shade, and look great in our dry environment … although we do grow our own strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries.
So, for the last few weeks, we’ve been enjoying our small – but bumper – crop of berries in everything from muffins to marinades. I’ve also been diligently freezing additional berries to enjoy later in the year … another challenge I’d set for myself at the outset.
What I have learned from the preservation part of the challenge, in particular, is that cookie sheets are the way to go if you’re attempting to freeze berries.
That is, it’s much easier to freeze and store berries that have frozen in a single layer … as opposed to mashing them in a bag, throwing them in the freezer, and then trying to use a solid, hideously formed clump of battered fruit for any kind of recipe.
Live and learn.
So, go … enjoy berry season. Like summer, it too will soon disappear for another year.
Easy Raspberry Smoothie
- 1 cup of raspberries
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of ice cream or plain yogurt
- sugar or honey to taste
Blend all ingredients until smooth, pour, and enjoy!
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August 10th, 2009 @ 9:49 pm
Saskatoon Juice Recipe.
Take four liters of saskatoon berries and wash them. Put them in a stainless steal pot. Boil four litres of water and pour over the berries. Cover for 12 – 15 hours (no more). Reheat the berries lightly as you mash them with a potato mashers. Strain. Add lemon juice to taste. No need for sugar… but if you must… a little.
Goes great over ice and is incredible if you use 2/3 berry juice and 1/3 Sprite.
Enjoy.
Will the Berry Farmer.
newsarepta.blog.com
August 11th, 2009 @ 10:14 am
@ Will – Yum … thanks for sharing, I’ll be trying this one out!!