Strawberry Apricot Pizza or Pizzettes

Fabulous Fruit Pizza

Recipe adapted from Rebecca Mastoris

With the ancient grain festival of Lammas (Lughnasadh) just past us on August 1, traditionalists are thinking of homemade breads. And yet, traditional breads require long preparation time and extended use of a hot oven—not really the thing for August. Enter the pizza, America’s near-favorite bread (just behind hamburger buns, go figure). And what more seasonal way to celebrate grains than pairing the pizza crust with plentiful summer fruits and young cheeses? This recipe will make two 12-inch pizzas or 6-8 small “pizzettes.” Throw an informal pizzette party by inviting family or friends to roll their own dough, then arrange the apricots, strawberries, cheeses, and garnishes on their food creation. Pop them into the oven for about 10 minutes and enjoy for a mid-afternoon treat, or for a fun lunch or dinner.

Asian Kale Salad with Strawberries and Apricots

Fiesta of Color and Flavor

Recipe by Robin

Kale is trending, plus we get some every week in our CSA share lately. I must confess it is not our favorite vegetable. We’ve tried all the usual recipes: ginger garlic kale, Portuguese soup, bean & bacon soup, Italian braised kale, and massaged kale salad.  We’ve created some more unusual dishes: shrimp braised with kale and carrot, mushroom, and kale stir-fry. With kale’s popularity these days, I asked myself, what have I never seen done with it? Kale with fruit came immediately to mind, possibly inspired by early ripe apricots on my counter. And so, I was off to explore the non-intuitive combination of tough, cruciferous kale with sweet, squishy fruits.

Mom’s Apricot Yams with Spice

Apricot Yams

Recipe by Mom and Robin

Happy Thanksgiving, All! The first thing that I do every Thanksgiving, before I’m even out of bed, is to think of 10 things for which to give thanks. Top of the list is always my husband, friends, family, home, and having plenty to eat. It’s everyday things--like a bountiful harvest that puts food on the table--that Thanksgiving celebrates.

Low Sugar Apricot Jam

Good Results of a Jam Session

Recipe adapted from Happy Girl Kitchen

As I promised in my refrigerator Apricot Jam post, here's another recipe for Apricot Jam from a class by Happy Girl Kitchen, our local food preservationists. This small family-owned business tried many combinations to get the perfect apricot flavor, color, and gel. They experimented with alternative sweeteners such as agave and honey, but did not get  good results. Even though this uses more sugar than my recipe, it looks better, keeps longer, and has a more complex flavor. The addition of lemon is key to both color and flavor. Lemon also adds acidity, the factor that makes preserved foods keep safely.

Apricot-Plum Stuffing for Apricot-Honey Glazed Hens

Apricot-Honey Glazed Hen with Apricot-Plum Stuffing

Recipe by Robin, inspired by Hawaii Kai Cookbook

Although you could choose to stuff something besides hens this, as I’d said in my Apricot Glazed Cornish Hens post, I wanted to create a stuffing for the hens with local California apricots, plums, and almonds. My first attempt was a success, largely due to some panko breadcrumbs that I happened to have on hand from a failed recipe. I’ve read that you can make your own panko crumbs by leaving a slice of white bread out overnight and crumbling it up the next day.

Preserving Fruits 1: Frozen Stone Fruits

Frosty Fresh-Frozen Apricots

Recipe by Debbie from Live Earth Farm

Next week is the middle of summer, and my thoughts turn to preserving the bounty of this time of year. I was talking with my sister Chris about the jam making class I took from Happy Girl Kitchens. She’s in the Southwest, so her local seasonal foods are quite different from ours on the central CA coast. She’s all about the chilies, and especially likes hot and sweet sauces: chilis combined with everything from bananas and mango to strawberries and rhubarb to apricots and plums.

Apricot-Honey Glazed Cornish Hens

Roasted Glazed Hens and Sauce

Recipe by Robin, inspired by Hawaii Kai Cookbook

After I made Apricot Jam, I had an inspiration to make apricot-honey-glaze to bake on some Cornish hens I'd defrosted, so I looked for a recipe similar to my idea. After a thorough online search, found one in a surprising source, the Hawaii Kai Cookbook. This is a collection of  Hawaiian-inspired recipes prepared at New York City’s Hawaii Kai Restaurant, in the 1960s. While this retro cookbook is more of historical than practical culinary value these days, it does contain some recipe gems. [Read my Goodreads review]

Apricot Jam I

Blenheim Apricot Jam

Recipe by Robin

As noted in an earlier post, an apricot tree fell on my house recently and reminded me that I had some Blenheim apricots in the freezer from last summer. As promised, I made some apricot jam in addition to the apricot chicken. Frozen fresh apricots produce a fair amount of liquid—especially if many months go by before they are thawed (not recommended!) This liquid/solid combination seems well-suited to making jam. You could also try this with reconstituted dried apricots. Use 2/3 – 1 cup dried apricots and add water to equal 2 cups. Let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Apricot Chicken

A Host of Golden Ingredients for an Uplifting Dish

Recipe Adapted from Rachael Ray

Coming home after 10 days of work cleaning out my deceased father’s house, after an unexpectedly complicated flight and night in a strange city thanks to Delta airlines, with my luggage still in transit, an ailing pet at home, a tree fallen onto my house, and no food in the fridge…well, I’m a little melancholy and introspective.