Photos from the Farm to Fork Dinner!
August 5th, 2010
Everyone assembled at the dinner table
Erin & Emily skinning the peaches for crisp
The dessert line-up: blueberry peach crisp, lime blueberry tart, and lemon, blueberry & gingerbread trifle
Blueberry crumb bars
Where did this lunch come from?
August 5th, 2010
Thanks for your comments, everyone! It’s encouraging to know there are readers in the vast cyber-land beyond our own monitors. Luckily, your selections are harmonious with our own tastes; with your help, we collectively decided on the Lemon, Blueberry and Gingerbread Trifles, Lime Tart with Blackberries and Blueberries, Blueberry Crumb Bars, and the Peach Blueberry Crisp for the upcoming Farm to Fork dinner this Tuesday.
Erin, our farm manager, has been exceptionally thoughtful in connecting us with other farmers, gardeners, and sustainably minded folk in the area. On Monday, it was an enriching visit to Granny’s Farm in Raymond, Washington, where we had an unforgettable day (especially for two of us!). When we arrived, the owners and now friends, Sandy Bradley and Larry Warnberg, had arranged for us to 1. line a pond with sealer and 2. slaughter 16 chickens. The latter activity was decidedly designated to the two chicken eaters. Fear not: we knew all was well when Maggie and Erin came out of the guillotine ring still poultry eaters and grinning! We think our rising 8th grade friend and participant, Aiden, summed up the experience well in exclaiming “well that was one wet, slimy, remarkable, educational experience!”
After a morning of work, we gathered round a table to feast on the bounty of Sandy and Larry’s farm. The kale, goat cheese, beef kebobs and bean salad made us proud of our slight contribution to such a vibrant place of activity and self-sufficiency. We left the farm with satisfied bellies and minds.
Cranguyma news from the July WWOOFers
July 27th, 2010
Hi! We’re Erin, Maggie, Emily, and Amelia, and have landed at Cranguyma from respective home states of Texas, Virginia, and Michigan. We’re halfway through our month-long stay here at the farm, and thought it was high time to post some new farm stories and updates for the Cranguyma readers.
Our projects over the last two weeks have been diverse, so we’ll fill you in via bulleted list:
- deep cleaning, painting, mending, and decorating the blueberry shed (now, with flowers!)
- laying a brick path in the garden
- replanting parts of the garden, labeling the vegetables, and improving soil chemistry
- pruning and weeding in the blueberry patch, and as the berries begin to ripen, stocking the blueberry shed with pints of freshly picked berries
- power washing and organizing the garage, especially setting up a new base for wreath making
- getting to know Erin & the fabulously cute Diego
- benefitting from the patience and mechanical knowledge of Rafael, Keith & Terri
- absorbing pearls of farming wisdom from Cranguyma neighbor and sustainable living guru Larkin Stentz of Green Angel Gardens
- fraternizing with the peacocks (did you know that 80 (!!) live on the farm?)
So clearly we’ve been engaged with a medley of tasks, and at present we’re starting to think about recipes for the up-coming Farm to Fork dinner! We’ve had such a nice time preparing and devouring dinner each night that we thought it would be great to expand our circle. So we’re inviting friends and community members over on August 3 for a potluck, where all can enjoy Cranguyma’s bounty while sharing some of their own. The idea is that everyone will incorporate locally grown produce into their dishes- for those of you who aren’t yet growing your own, we recommend investigating the Green Angel Garden farm store or the Port of Ilwaco Farmers Market on Saturdays from 10-4.
At Cranguyma, our superstar ingredient these days is the blueberry, so we’ve been paging through truckloads of tantalizing recipes that ooze with antioxidants. After much deliberation, we have narrowed the list of finalists to ten. Thus we would like to nominate the following recipes- readers, send us your votes in the comment section! We shall prepare five, and post our favorites onto the Cranguyma site. Thanks for reading- check back with us soon!
Lemon, Blueberry and Gingerbread Trifles
Lime Tart with Blackberries and Blueberries
Lemon and Blueberry Upside-Down Cake
Balsamic Blueberries and Peaches
Cranguyma Blueberry Sauce (served over vanilla ice cream)
Emily’s Peach Blueberry Crisp (see recipe below):
For the fruit
1 1/2 (about 4 cups) pounds peaches, pitted and cut into slices*
1 pint (about 2 cups) blueberries, rinsed and dried
1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
small pinch of salt
For the crumble:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 oats
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold salted butter, diced
Preheat oven to 350°F (218°C).
Toss peaches with blueberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt in the bottom of a 2-quart ovenproof dish.
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon and butter. Mix until crumbly. Cover fruit with topping. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly.