Applesauce Spice Bread

Applesauce Spice Bread

This simple sweet bread is lovely at breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea, easy to send a slice with each kid as they run out the door for school, and makes a special treat in anyone's lunch bag.

My inspiration here was an easy banana bread recipe that is always well received. I wanted to change it up, using the same basic recipe, by adding a different flavor for fall, when apples are sweet and fresh. We have a bowl of home made applesauce in the fridge so I was able to use it in this recipe, but a jar of applesauce would work as well.

Applesauce Spice Bread

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup applesauce

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment to cover the two long sides and bottom of a loaf pan.

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients together. Once well blended, add dry ingredient mix to wet ingredient mix and stir until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 65-75 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Allow this loaf to cool. Slice and enjoy!

Just fruit pops!

Here is a fast, easy recipe for some cool treats! It takes a couple minutes and then 

a couple hours to freeze but if you can't wait to make pops just eat it like sherbet.

Your fruit assortment is up to you. We loved our mix of frozen pineapple chunks, mango, strawberries, and a banana. Everything but the banana was frozen. 

Throw a few pieces of each fruit and 2/3 of a banana, plus about 1/3 cup water into the blender pitcher. Blend a couple minutes until everything is super smooth. If it is too thick, add a bit of water and blend again.

Then pour into ice pop moulds or enjoy right away.

homemade, homegrown

Ah, summer. The hope of big, red tomatoes and juicy cucumbers was the inspiration for what I put into the garden this year. Very late, I might add. It was mid-May before I finally picked out some starts at the nursery. Last year I found a pickle cucumber that made many, many cucumbers at a time so I was hunting for it again but did not find it. Those I found have been big producers as well, but I don't remember what the variety is called of course. Something like Lotsa Pickles or Super Pickling or some silly name. I planted the Persian variety as well, which has been a hit; super tasty, juicy, and there is one ready at least every other day. Next year, more of those for sure.

Tomatoes on the other hand have been rather sorry altogether. Between the cloudy days and late start, they have been struggling to grow while flowering at the same time. Next year they will be in the ground by March/April so they have time to grow before the heat sets in and makes them flower. Powdery mildew is also working its yucky magic on the vines. Oh well. Every year is different than the last and each year I learn new things as well as figure out what I did right in previous years.

Other things in the garden right now: catnip, lemon balm, lavender, potatoes, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme, kale, arugula, Anaheim chilies, goat weed chili, beets, banana squash, and artichoke.

These are garlic pickles  made from cucumbers we grew.  The recipe is simple and you can find it here.

Corn relish is a hit as well. Super simple recipe from this book by Jan Berry:

from the garden

Our olive tree is flowering and fruiting! I'm so excited! Mission is the variety I planted. The tree is still quite very small. I knew I needed a olive tree after learning they can fruit for 1000 years. Wow. A tree  that can live that long should be respected. 

from the garden :: saturday

It was a work party day in the garden. Not too many showed up, but I worked for quite some time pulling out grass in the pathways and mowing down weeds outside the fence around my plot.

The herb plot is in good shape! It needs a little tidying up so some new seeds and starts can be planted for the summer season.

The vegetable plot is ready to be cleared and turned over, needing amendments before tomatoes!, cucumbers! and some other good summer starts are planted. I am looking forward to tomatoes and cucumbers! I try to buy in season as much as possible, of course we have a few slip ups here and there, but tomatoes have been missed for sure. The store variety never compare, especially during the winter months when they are hot house grown or come from Mexico. So my goal is to really add A LOT of compost and amendment to help the tomatoes fight through the powdery mildew that always arrives about the end of June.

Here is what I came home with on Saturday:

sweet peas, cilantro and lavender

bay leaves, dried and ready to use

fresh oregano, hung up to dry

carrots

two cabbages, there is one more to harvest 

another four artichokes, this year has given us many, close to 20

and they are wonderfully sweet and tender

snap peas, a favorite of the kids and mine

they don't usually make it home 

Food for listening to the banjo

Trader Joes 10 minute barley with

Sautéed kale, spring onion, roast sweet potatoes and walnuts seasoned with Pele's seasoning.

kale sauté

An easy base recipe that can support all sorts of changes, I go this strategy often with kale.

Sauté ribboned kale with olive oil and onion or garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Left over roasted veggies go great as an add in. Today I used carrots and sweet potatoes. Once the kale begins to wilt, add in roasted veg to reheat. Once everything is warmed through, serve over brown rice with walnuts and your favorite grated cheese.(If you are using left over rice that is cold, you can just add it to the kale mix when you add the veggies.) We tend to have Romano on hand at all times. 

This is a satisfying meal on its own but works well as a side as well.

Items from the CSA box:

Spring onion 1

Curly kale 3 stems

Dinosaur kale 3 stems

Carrots 1