Beet and Peach Salad

Beet and Peach Salad

6 small beets, roasted whole then peeled, chopped
2 freestone peaches chopped into bite sized pieces.
6 ounces of fresh blackberries
4 roma tomatoes, sliced crosswise

4 ounces of pine nuts
3 ounces of feta cheese, hand crumbled
small bunch of fresh dill finely chopped
small head of savoy cabbage chopped small

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 drops of agave syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Straight from the farmers market were the beets and peaches.
Inspired me to make this salad utilizing both,
may sound strange but somehow both go together.
Place whole beets in aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil,
wrap up till complete covered and bake at 400 F for 50 minutes.
When beets are cool, remove stem ends, peel, and chop bite sized.
Chop peaches into bite sized pieces

Place bed of chopped cabbage on salad plate,
Add beets, peaches, blackberries, feta cheese,
tomatoes, dill, and pine nuts. Whisk remaining ingredients
and drizzle dressing over salad just before serving.
This is a very refreshing salad for a hot summer day.

By the way the lemon sorbet was delicious,
coming up soon I'm going to try an orange sorbet.

Lemon Sorbet

Lemon Sorbet

4 lemons, zested then juiced
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups water
1 egg white (optional)
fresh mint leaves for garnish

Heat sugar and water in small sauce pan.
Boil for 2 minutes. Set aside and elt cool completely.
Meanwhile zest then juice the 4 lemons.
Add half of the zest to the cooling sugar water (simple syrup).
Add lemon juice to sugar water and whirl in a blender till frothy.
Add egg white to mixture and blend for one more minute.
Place mixture in stainless bowl and freeze.
After 30 minutes stir freezing mixture and then continue to freeze.
When mixture becomes soft and partially solidified.
Place in individual serving dishes,
keep in freezer till ready to serve.
Garnish with remaining lemon zest and mint leaves.
What a treat to have for dessert or a palate cleanser on these hot days.

Big Fat Hornworm

Big Fat Hornworm

The moth that lays the hornworm eggs.

Parasitic wasp c0coons which will kill the hornworm.

First hornworms we've seen in 3 years.
Rainy and cool, now dry and hot.
Hornworms strip a tomato plant of leaves overnight.
Careful if you squish a hornworm, they splatter green stuff everywhere.
If you see one with those white cocoons, leave them be.
Parasitic wasps hatch from the cocoons and kill the hornworms.
Nature has it's own balance scales when we let it happen.

Fresh Fig Shortbread Bars

Fresh Fig Shortbread Bars

scant quart of fresh figs, I used Adriatic variety
10 dried black mission figs
juice and zest of one lemon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water

2 sticks un salbutter room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg room temperature

2 cups 1:1 gluten free flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine pink salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice chopped well

 I found the fresh figs at the farmers market in Blairsville and couldn't resist. Figs are very nutritious. Cut fresh figs in half. Cut dried figs in small pieces. Juice and zest one lemon. Add figs, lemon zest, juice, and water to sauce pan. Cook till softened and mash to desired consistency. I kept mine slightly lumpy. Set aside and let cool.

Cream butter, then add sugar a little at a time and continue to cream, add vanilla and then egg and blend till incorporated. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a separate bowl measure dry ingredients and whisk till blended. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, a little at a time.

Divide dough in half. Press half of dough into bottom of 9x12 or 7x12 inch baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Add nuts to remaining dough blending with a spatula. I used pecans. When bottom layer is baked. Remove from over, let cool slightly and spread fig mixture over the top. Next dollop nut flour mixture over the top. Bake in oven for 35 to 45 more minutes. Dry on a wire rack, Cut into squares when cool. Crumbly but so delicious.