Sorry for slacking... here is last week CSA goodies:
1 bag red-gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs Organics – 2 lbs
2 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics
1 bunch cippolini onions – transitional – Liberty Branch Farm
1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
2 yellow straight-neck squash – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest
2 hearts Romaine lettuce – certified organic – Riverview Organics
June 26th, Hillside Organics hosted the first of many picnics for the CSA share holders. It's a really great time to head out to the country, meet the farmers & their families, see where our food is coming from, & eat LOTS of great food. The picnics are always a potluck. All the CSA members bring something homemade and yummy. You could easily tell that delivery everyone received the week of the picnic contained generous amounts of potatoes & kale.
I took a family friend's kid with me to the farm. We had a sleep over the night before and made a batch of homemade granola bars with raisins, cashews, & almonds for the picnic. The recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Thick Chewy Granola Bars.
Picnic Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats - not instant - 1/3 cup reserved.
1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon - I am not a big cinnamon person, if you prefer more go for it.
15 ounces mixed dried fruit & nuts - rough chop nuts and larger dried fruit like apricots or dates
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup raw honey - locally produced from the farmer's market
2 tablespoons maple syrup - I have a bottle of locally made organic labeled "dark amber grade A".
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 350°F. Using parchment paper, line an 8x8 cake pan so it goes across the bottom and up on only 2 sides - leaving two sides uncovered. Leave the ends of the paper longer than the edge of the pan so you can use it to lift the finished granola out. Give the pan and the paper a quick spray of non-stick baking spray.
Put the reserved 1/3 cup of rolled oats into a food processor and process till flour-like, approximately 1 minute. Add to the remaining oats in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon, and fruit & nuts to mixing bowl.
Melt butter & raw honey slowly over low heat - do not let it bubble. Remove from heat and add maple syrup, vanilla, & water. Whisk together and then pour over oat mixture. Stir together well so that all the oats and other dry ingredients are are coated with the butter/honey mixture.
Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Using another piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top of the granola, press down firmly. Press it down evenly across the whole pan and be sure to make sure it is nice and compacted down.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges brown. Let it cool in the pan for one hour, then use the parchment paper to lift the granola bar onto a wire rack to continue to cool for at least 5-6 hours before cutting.
Because these granola bars do not use any corn syrup (I just couldn't bring myself to add something so overly processed like corn syrup into something homemade & healthy), they will be more crumbly than bars made with it. I originally made these with "regular" honey, but the raw honey seems to help the bars stick together and they are less crumbly - although both ways tasted great so if you don't have raw honey on hand, don't let that stop you from making these. They make a great nosh to keep in the house.
Yiddish lesson #2, NOSH. A nosh is a snack or something to nibble on, but not a full meal. If someone says they are noshy, it means they are hungry but just for a little (or bissell) of food.
Ess Eppis!
