Here is my recipe for granola. I tried to get close to the stuff they have at the Cherry Street Market in Kalkaska. I didn't get close, but this is a different style from that. I don't use nuts or seeds and I use blueberry flavored syrup. I give it away as holiday gifts and everyone loves it.
A couple months ago my neighbor, Pat, brought over a plate of homemade hickory nut cookies. Sometimes plain old nut cookies are a little bland, not bad, but just not that great. Well, these cookies were awesome, with the perfect texture of crispy/moist. They were a big hit and disappeared quickly. Pat just wrote an article for the Glen Arbor Sun, How I became a hickory nut, about her quest to find hickory nuts to make cookies for a friend. And lucky for us, she includes a copy of the cookie recipe (although she made it without the frosting, and we didn't think anything was missing). She ended up ordering the nuts online, but in a pinch, you could try walnuts. Yum!
Nice article about the Cooks' House co-owner/chef Eric Patterson's venture to the farmers market. "Really meander up and down and see what looks good to you," he's quoted in the article. "But it and figure out what to do with it later." Includes recipes full of autumn flavor.
Blackberries are ready to pick and the Michigan Land Use Institute has some interesting recipes on their website. How about Blackberries with Mint Tea Syrup and Yogurt? Or Wild Greens and Chevre in a Blackberry Cider Vinaigrette?
That delicious delicate berry is ready to pick, and Janice Benson shares recipes and info about them in her Ready to Pick article.
An excellent recipe to use up some of the wonderful bounty of fresh raspberries we're blessed with this year.
Rhubarb is in season late May through June. Check out the Michigan Land Use Institute's Ready to Pick article on rhubarb for recipes, selection and storage tips, nutritional info and fun facts. You can also search for local farms that offer rhubarb. Do you have a good rhubarb recipe? Submit one by June 20 for your chance to win a great local food prize.
Young men may turn to love, but in the spring this young-ish woman's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of rhubarb.
Food for Thought just posted this recipe for Blueberry Lavender Swirled Coffee Cake on their blog from Chef Perry Harmon's Peninsula Kitchen, which airs on the fourth Monday of the month on 7&4 News Today and 7&4 News at 5pm. Chef Harmon and the station have teamed up to bring us great recipes using local products. Make sure to check out the Peninsula Kitchen website, which archives the recipes and includes video of Chef Harmon at work. The coffee cake features Food for Thought's Organic Blueberry Lavender Preserves and Shetler's milk. This one looks great for a Mother's Day Brunch!
Check out Janice Benson's Ready to Pick article on pumpkins on the Michigan Land Use Institute's Taste the Local Difference web site. You'll find a list of 37 farms in northwest Michigan that sell pumpkins, some interesting pumpkin facts, tips for preparing pumpkins, as well as recipes for Pumpkin Pancakes, Maple Roasted Pumpkin Salad, Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce.
Spinach in Blueberry Oatmeal Bars? Squash in the French Toast? The new cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, founder of the nonprofit Baby Buggy, and mother of three) takes on the challenge of getting kids to eat their vegetables. Seinfeld's main technique is to puree a wide variety of vegetables and add them to your standard fare. An added bonus is that this technique is a great way to use up the abundance of a CSA farm pickup! Just puree and freeze!
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Our latest dinner highlighted produce from local CSAs, farmers' markets and Lake Michigan.
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Farmers' markets aren't just for the warm months any more. This winter, some Up North markets are taking it inside on Saturdays!
