Two-minute fruit snack bar

This afternoon, I wanted a cookie or something sweet to go with my cup of hibiscus tea, but the cupboard was bare!

And my hubby had already made my tea so it had to be fast!  What could I do?

I decided on some 2-minute bars. It took 2 minutes to whizz some fruits and nuts in the food processor. Then I quickly cooled them. You can use the fridge, but as I was in a hurry, I popped them in the freezer, so it only added 5 minutes. They were done and ready while my tea was still brewing! Perfect timing :=D

They are one of those flexible recipes that you can swap and change.  Here is what I planned to use and then I'll tell you how I swapped it up with what was in the cupboard:

In a food processor, combine:

1 1/2 cups ground almonds
1 cup dried (unsulfured) apricots
1 cup dried coconut
2 tablespoons lemon juice

until they come together.  If it is too dry (depends on how dry your dried fruit is) add a little more lemon juice. The "dough" should start to go in one clump around the food processor, but it takes a couple of minutes.

Press the dough into a parchment lined square baking tin or roll into small balls.  Chill to firm up either in the fridge or if you are in a hurry like me, just a few minutes in the freezer!  Cut into 12 bars or eat as fruit balls.


My adjustments:  I didn't quite have enough almonds so I used just over a cup of almond flour and made up the rest with Chestnut flour. I didn't quite have enough apricots either, so about 1/4 cup was prunes. The coconut I had was the wide sliced, flaked, not finely shredded.  The lemon juice was actually lemon juice!!!  Next time, I'm going to try hemp seeds instead of the coconut.

Its good to use unsulfured dried apricots, as although they aren't quite as pretty as they are brown instead of orange, sulfites can cause adverse reactions in 1out of 100 people.  This can be particularly serious in people with asthma. In a recipe like this, you don't even miss the orange color, so purchase organic dried apricots and they won't have any sulphites in them.

A quick sweet bite that is very satisfying and you don't need too much.

Health Benefits of Passion Fruit

I am excited to say we have tasted our first home-grown passionfruit this week - just in time before heading back to England for a couple of weeks.

I was very fortunate in that one of my Food as Medicine classes gave me a gift voucher at the end of their season of classes and so I bought some edible plants for our garden - including our passion fruit vine.

The vine has thrived and the fruits are just ripening now.  They fall off the plant, all round and solid looking but then you have to leave them at room temperature to wrinkle and ripen further.  They are larger than any passion fruit I have ever seen for sale.

Freshly picked on the left, and two day wrinkles on the right!

It was tricky waiting for the first one to wrinkle....but we did! Then I cut it in half one morning and put the seeds on my homemade granola.  So sweet and full of flavor.

We are just eating them 'as is'. No need to do anything at all with them - just enjoy them, full of exotic flavors.

However the biggest fan in our house has to be Harold, our parrot.  He just adores passion fruit.  I put the nearly empty half in his cage after I'd eaten most of it and left just a couple of seeds - oh, he was ecstatic!!! All you could hear were little crunches and happy noises from him!   We've left strict instructions with his pet sitters to give him treats of his passionfruit while we are away!

Unripe passionfruit

Passionfruit are basically just seeds with a gelatinous pulp coating.  This means that they are are great source of fiber - so don't strain them just for the juice - enjoy the crunch too.  Passion fruit also contain high levels of carotenoids - at least 13 different carotenoids - which are particularly good for our vision and skin.

They are also rich in vitamin C - an antioxidant - especially when freshly picked and the nutrients are at their peak level.   Surprisingly, they are also a good source of iron and have a somniferous properly, so if eaten before going to bed, help us relax and get a restful night's sleep.

No wonder Harold had a nap after breakfast!!!



I also love that its a winter/late fall fruit when most other things are all done with fruiting!  So get out there and grown a passion fruit - or buy some now from the farmers market or supermarket , while they are in season.

Everything is tickety-boo

Here is this week's list of things that make me realize that everything is tickety-boo.  Feeling tickety-boo doesn't mean everything is perfect, but is more that you focus on the good things in life and they keep you going and then you see more good things.

Photos by Dean Johnson

• my nephews birthday yesterday - and have a lovely chat with him on Facetime
• eating quince puree on my oatmeal for breakfast, from the quinces on our trees
• having friends around for dinner
• the vase of red roses picked from our garden.  So pretty. They look like they should be a painting
• the smell of cloves and ginger cooking and filling the house
• watching two acorn woodpeckers in the olive trees
• starting a new role at Ceres and enjoying it
• hearing my friend is doing well
• hearing good news about another friend's diagnosis
• finally figuring something out after my voice lesson, and enjoying practicing
• admiring the work in the photo attached.  They are glass beads, made by Elizabeth Johnson. Doesn't that fruit look incredible.  I've never seen her work before but came across it on Daily Art Muse.  I want to eat those gooseberries!  
• finishing and thoroughly enjoying the first season of the Danish program Borgen.  We both loved it.  And then I found out there were two more seasons :-D
• planning Christmas pressies!

I hope you are feeling tickety-boo too!

Harvest Breakfast

When our friends came to help us pick one ton of our Merlot grapes a couple of weeks ago, I made a harvest breakfast for us all.  You have to look after the workers!  I love using everything we grow in our garden for these breakfasts and in a previous post, I'd listed the menu.

We started with all-day-long oat bites - one of my staples and then had a parfait with berries, homemade marmalade granola (no sugar added) and homemade soy yoghurt.  I have to tell you that the highlight in my kitchen in the last few months has been my homemade soy yoghurt.  I'll share my recipe for it in the next day or two, but it has changed my life! I love it so much and its only 4 ingredients!  But, I digress.... the parfait was a blackberry base layer, then yoghurt, then granola, then raspberry, then yoghurt then granola.  Topped with fresh mint.

Then there was a a fig frittata, and also a roasted vegetable flat bread, with homemade sun-dried tomato hummus as its base - on a gluten free flax base:

Then came the an apple banana bread with an almond drizzle, and a discussion on whether sweet and savory dishes should be served on the same plate - or even on the same plate at the same time!!!   It is obvious that there is a big difference between Americans and British!!!

To finish -  the lemon cheesecake - dairy free, sugar free, gluten free ( and served on clean plates!!) Topped with citrus caviar!  Made with cashew nuts for the "cheese" and dates and almonds for the base.

And of course, it was our 10th harvest, so we did have to get out our ten year old Birdland Merlot wine to see how it was doing - and by the time we ate, it was lunch time!!  Every year we change the color of our wine label - our first year was yellow, as you can see below.  I wonder what color we'll choose for our 10th year?

Everyone seemed to enjoy the ending of our harvest

Shrub drinks - Strawberry and pink peppercorn shrub

I've only recently heard about shrubs.  And we aren't talking plants in the garden - but shrubs that are vinegar drinks used in cocktails or just added to sparkling water.  Have you heard of them or tried them?


I was intrigued when I read about them so decided to try making my own.

I bought some super delicious fresh organic strawberries and decided to add my favorite combo spice to them - pink peppercorns.  You may recall I've made a few strawberry and pink peppercorn things in the past - my favorite being shortbread (gluten free, dairy free).

So what are shrubs? They are basically fruit  syrup sweetened vinegars that you add to sparkling water or soda water, or use as mixers in cocktails.  It's normally a fruit syrup, added to a vinegar and left for a couple of days and then strained.

The early English version of the shrub arose from medicinal cordials in the 15th century.  The drink then gained popularity in the 1680s among smugglers who were trying to avoid paying taxes.  The smugglers would sink barrels of spirits off-shore to be retrieved when no one was looking, but the sea water ruined the taste of the alcohol somewhat, so the smugglers added fruit syrups to improve the taste.

The American version started from the preservation of berries and other fruits using vinegar, as an alternative to using citrus juice.   The fruit preserves were known as shrubs and it became popular to pour vinegar over fruit and let it infuse overnight or several days, then strain off the fruit, add a little sweetener and you have a syrup for cocktails.

Shrubs seem to have fallen out of favor with the advent of refrigeration, but came back in 2011 in some American bars and restaurants.  They now seem to be spreading to Canada and London.  The acidity of the vinegar makes for a good aperitif or as an alternative to bitters in cocktails.

I made it as something to just add interest to sparkling water. We have "cocktail" hour at home at 5pm. This is the time that my parrot Harold starts getting noisy and wants his "cocktail" which is a cashew nut.  Just like Harold's cocktail isn't a real cocktail, so ours frequently aren't either - but its a time for us to stop for the day.  I like having my shrub in water at that time.  It is an interesting taste and tastes like a "special" drink, rather than water.  My own virgin cocktail.

When I came to make my own shrub, as  most shrubs use fruit syrups which are high in sugar, I decided I'd make a sugar free version instead.

Here's my recipe
3/4 cup chopped ripe strawberries
1 tablespoon coconut nectar or sweet freedom
1 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns (I ground them in a coffee grinder)
1 cup white balsamic vinegar

In a small mixing bowl, add the chopped strawberries, sweetener and peppercorns.  Toss/mash to combine and let sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Add the vinegar and transfer the mixture to a sterilized glass jar
Allow the mixture to rest in the fridge for 2 days, then strain through a fine mesh sieve or cloth. Discard the fruit
The shrub will keep for 1 month in the fridge.
I just put a little amount in the bottom of my glass before adding sparkling water or soda water.  Its very refreshing.


Since making my own, a friend just bought me some flavored balsamic vinegars by Amphora. I got a Blenheim Apricot white balsamic vinegar and a Pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  Because they are such lovely strong fruit flavors, I'm sat here now just enjoying a dash of the apricot vinegar with my water. If you don't have a particularly sweet tooth,  I guess its the quickest, easiest shrub you can have, as long as you have good quality flavored balsamic vinegar. There are a couple of commercial shrubs available too if you want to give them a go:

The Boston Shake

Shrub and Co.

Liber and Co.

Let me know what you think if you give one a go, or try making one yourself.  Try serving them at your next dinner party.

July Harvest continues

The yum continues!  This has been a fabulous month for our home grown fruit and vegetables.

Delicious juicy nectarines!

Top of the list this month has to be our nectarines.  They are large and juicy and picking one perfectly ripe from the tree and enjoying its flavor is like a slice of heaven.  It feels like such a luxury to eat perfection twice a day!

But that doesn't take anything away from all our other goodies.

This month - in fact this evening- we've polished off the apricots.  We've enjoyed them most of all cooked with a little water and a single cardamom pod (removed before eating) and some cinnamon and cloves. The spices complement the fruit so nicely.  I was amazed at how the cardamom brought all the flavors together.

Apricots

The tomatoes are coming along well now.  Here they are prepared with some fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and Kite Hill Cassucio cheese which is a non dairy, vegan cheese made using traditional cheese making techniques, but using almonds and macadamia nuts.

Yes, our new collapsible bucket came out again for the harvest and was quickly filled up!

But I'm sad to say that our one failing this month was the padrone peppers. We had been enjoying them so much but couldn't keep up and have now learned our lesson. If you let them grow large, their heat grows exponentially!  I prepared one each for us to top a yummy mushroom risotto when my friend was here for  the weekend. I was the first to taste it - and gosh - was it powerful! To think that when they are small, they are quite delicate and you can eat them whole, seeds included.  Be warned - at 3 inches long - don't try eating them at all! Phew!

Yes, the red cabbage, purple potatoes and cucumber also continue. How many rainbows can two people eat????

Roll on August and lets see what yummies that brings. What's been your favorite this month?

Mindful eating

We've had such a great crop of Santa Rosa plums on our tree this year - the most ever.  And yet, I don't like plums.  It seems odd to me - as I love fruits.

So I decided I would try one - freshly picked off the tree and see if I just didn't like it much or really didn't like it.

To my surprise, when I took a bite into it - I had a flashback to eating plums probably about 30 years ago - and I absolutely hated the texture and had to spit it out!

Now I get my dislike of plums - its the texture or rather what the texture makes me think of. The flashback I had was of me sitting on the lawn at Longleat house in Wiltshire. I used to work there at the weekends and school holidays.   I was sat on the lawn near the boat trip, watching the sea-lions, eating my lunch which included 2 or 3 plums.  My friends used to drive the boats so I was busy watching them and not really thinking about what I was eating.

Then something didn't taste right and I looked down and saw that the half plum that was in my hand looked vile - with crawly things in it and horrid creatures....and that the other half was already in my mouth!  Ugh.  Lots of horrid - bitten in half - bugs!!!! Yuck.

And this was the image that came flashing back to me as I tried a plum off our tree.  I had forgotten why I didn't like plums - but it was still in my subconscious!

All those years ago, I had been aimlessly eating - and ever since, it has changed my appreciation of a fruit.  I guess I should have been watching and thinking and being mindful of my eating then.  Yet I often follow that same pattern today ..........my hand keeps reaching for something as I'm busy doing something else, and I'm not mindful of what I am eating.

My plums episode this week has reminded me to be more aware and eat consciously.  There are many reason to eat mindfully - and avoiding a mouthful of bugs is up there on the list!!

Have you ever had any nasty eating experiences that put you off a certain food from then onwards.

Dehydrating fruit

So here is the dehydrated fruit I made - what is left of it, and before its all gone!

Don't the oranges look nice and glossy!

And I love the waviness of the apples - like they have been gently pleated as they dried.

What is your favorite dried fruit?  I don't like pears - they turn a little gritty, and last year I did some of our green table grapes that we grew - making yummy sultanas.....Maybe I'll have to do persimmons this year... Now if only you could dry quince without cooking them.....

I wonder what my next dehydrator project will be????  Oh, if only there were more hours in the day. I love having so many ideas in my head!

Dehydrating fruit

I had an idea to try dehydrating some citrus fruit.  We are finally coming to the end of all our citrus fruit from the garden but have a few oranges left.  I've never dehydrated citrus before but thought it sounded a nice idea.

And so I sliced them thinly, and added some apples and a couple of strawberries at the same time - might as well fill the dehydrator.

I dried them until they were crispy - and all of them are delicious.

It's great to eat the whole orange - peel as well and because its sliced so thinly, it doesn't taste too bitter.

I had great plans for these crispy snacks - creating something more than just dried fruit - but we ate them before I could finish the plan! I'll have to do some more and not leave them out to be eaten!!

This really is the easiest way to
preserve apples and when our harvest starts later in the year, I know I'll be doing plenty more. You don't have to peel and core the apples - just slice using a mandolin, no need to add anything to them (so unlike bought dried apples, no sulphur or citric acid) - and then just put them in a dehydrator and forget about them for a few hours.

Easy Peasy!  Roll on apple harvest!

A Strawberry Birthday cake

Strawberries are just perfect right now. And so they were my inspiration for a birthday cake for my hubby.

There are a few strawberry fields nearby and their fruit is just heavenly.  But these fresh, unpreserved strawberries go off really quickly, so I decided to use some for the birthday cake and then dehydrate the rest for later, and for decoration.  I already had the dehydrator on for something else, so it was easy to add a couple of thinly sliced strawberries.

The recipe for the cake was a new one for me.  It came from La Tartine Gourmande - but I made a few changes.  For example I halved the recipe, didn't use butter, didn't use buttermilk, didn't use cane sugar, nor eggs.... but you get the general idea!!

Having fresh strawberries in the cake itself made it a very moist cake - you didn't need anything to go with it.  The dehydrating concentrated the strawberry flavor in the strawberry slices and gave a nice crunchy texture to the cake topping.  I'll do that again - and next time, with more than just a couple of strawberries, as they'd make a lovely snack.

The strawberry cake finished off a birthday dinner just nicely.

Eating a variety of fruit

One of the four food groups in a plant based whole foods diet is fruit (the others are vegetables, legumes and grains).  Fruit was the focus for our first meeting today with a new Food as Medicine group.

We spoke about the different phytonutrients in different fruits - from flavonoids, bioflavenoids, antioxidant activity, lycopene, carotenoids, anthocyanins etc and fiber, minerals, vitamins etc.   Then we cooked together to create a fruit based lunch. Here was the menu:

• kiwi guacomole - adding two kiwi to one avocado gives a good boost in Vitamin C to the mix and also reduces the fat density
• goldenberry chutney - this is a great tart chutney that you can use as a dip or spread or condiment.  Dried goldenberries are mixed with onion, jalapeno pepper, ginger etc to make a vibrant chutney
• pear soup - made with sweet potatoes and pears, this is a great source of pectin fiber and carotenoids
• rainbow salad with strawberry dressing - red lettuce with blueberries, cherries, blood oranges and the dressing of strawberries and vinegar
• quinoa and goji berry salad - with spices of cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, cilantro....
• raspberry crunch to go - a layered dessert (or breakfast) in a small pot with lid, made from buckwheat, raspberries, raspberry cream (made from raspberry flour and cashew nuts) and then a crunchy nut topping.

My favorites are the goldenberry chutney and the raspberry crunch.

We definitely all ate a rainbow in one meal!  Did you eat a rainbow today - ie fruits and vegetables from all colors of the rainbow? As I drove to the class, I even saw a rainbow. How fitting!