Sweet Potato Pancakes

These were so good with maple syrup and chopped nuts on top! The kids ate them, too! I put some cinnamon in mine, too, and didn't sift anything.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 1/4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup butter, melted

Preparation:
Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop by tablespoons onto hot greased griddle or skillet and fry, turning once, until browned on both sides.
Makes about 24 pancakes.

Bread Machine Jam

This is SO quick and easy and makes the house smell amazing! I had a ton of organic raspberries from the sale this week and made one regular and 3 double batches of this today! Our freezer is stocked!

Strawberry Jam

1 c. sugar

1 T. powdered low-sugar fruit pectin (I bought the regular kind by mistake but it turned out fine.)

1 and 1/2 c. fresh strawberries, sliced OR same amount of raspberries or other fruit mashed with potato masher)

2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Combine all ingredients into bread pan.

2. Select Basic setting.

3. Let machine run 5-6 minutes, scraping sides of the pan with rubber spatula. Stop machine to cancel.

4. Select Bake setting and re-start machine.

5. When machine is done (mine is a 1 hour cycle), turn it off. Use oven mitts to remove the pan. Pour jam into containers; cover. Refrigerate to set. Makes about 3 cups. Can be doubled. Can be frozen.

Strawberry water

This is what I'm doing with some of the berries we picked at the farm today.

--a little more than 1 cup whole strawberries, hulled and damaged sections removed
--about 1 1/2 c sugar
--about 6 cups water

Dissolve sugar in water over low heat. Once dissolved, bring to boiling, and add the berries. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for at least one hour.

Strain though cheese cloth until all liquid has been drained. Do not press the pulp; just let it drip.
The recipe says that the pulp is tasty to eat. I might mix it with yogurt.

Chill the water and enjoy!

Linsey's Green Pasta Sauce

OK, so I've sorta worked out a loose recipe for this (which Linsey had at playgroup last week). We've eaten it twice in the past week with different greens and it's a big hit even with Jim who is honestly the least likely to eat spinach of all of us!

(note: all measurements are loose so feel free to fiddle with it)
combine in blender (or my new favorite toy: Magic Bullet):
1 Tbs Tahini
2 Tbs. water
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
2 Tbs parmesan
blend til smooth

Add 2-3 c. of fresh soft greens (chard w/out the spines, spinach arugula or a combo thereof) and blend til it's a smooth sauce. You might need to add a bit more water so your blender works. This makes about 3/4 c. sauce which I toss with noodles and serve.

This makes more than enough to cover a pound of spaghetti.

Teff Peanut Butter Cookies

This is from the package of Bob's Red Mill Teff flour and I think the recipe is by Leslie Cerier. Joe has made these a handful of times for us at the farm and they are super yummy! I haven;t yet but plan to try them with buckwheat since I tend to have that on hand vs teff.

1 1/2 c. teff flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 c canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside an ungreased cookie sheet. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients, set aside. In a food prcessor, blend syrup, oil, vanilla & peanut butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and blend well. Shape dough into walnut sized balls. Place on cookie sheet and flatten gently with the tines of a fork. Bake 13-15 mintes. Cool on a wire rack. Yields 24 cookies.

Buckwheat Crepes aka Galettes

We've been enjoying these as a way of eating whatever is available for harvest that night. Tonight I made a filling of fresh asparagus, lamb's quarters, arugula, potato & onion and sprinkled some Mozarella cheese on the crepe as it was frying. It's a super quick fairly nutritious supper! There is some specific equipment involved: a griddle is awesome but a plain old frying pan will work; a long cake/icing spatula is pretty good for folding the crepe but if you have a heat resistant silicone spatula that will work too! Oh and I don't have time to rest the batter overnight so I throw in an extra egg and whick together just before serving.


2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs (or 4 if you won't be resting the batter for a long while)


In a blender, or with a whisk, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Cover and chill overnight.

To fry the crêpes, remove the batter from the refrigerator about an hour before frying. Stir it briskly; it should be the consistency of heavy cream. (If not, you can add a tablespoon of milk.)

Pour a 1/4- 1/3 cup onto the pan, lift and roll the pan to spread the batter thinly & evenly. Allow to cook til the top is no longer visibly wet. Spoon your topping into the center. Carefully scraping the spatula under the crepe, fold the crepe in half, then into a quarter. Slide off the pan and onto a plate. Make another one :)

Some toppings ideas:
traditionally, ham & mozarella or tomato & mozarella are good simple savory crepes. Also Nutella or some lemon juice and some white sugar are traditional sweet crepes. But really, the sky is the limit, use what you've got. The kids (& Jim's) current favorite is cherry jam.