Carrot Chocolate Chip Loaf

Fresh carrots from the garden are one of my favourite vegetables with dinner. They are a versatile and colorful side dish when diced and added to zucchini, corn, peas or shredded into a salad with greens. This recipe incorporates carrots into healthy and tasty dessert breads. Sugar and spice and everything nice are part of this loaf; excellent with a cup of tea or to go into the children’s lunches. You can substitute raisins for the chocolate chips if you prefer to avoid chocolate.

3 cups/750 ml all-purpose flour

2 cups/500 ml brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. /5 ml ground cinnamon

1 tsp. /5 ml ground ginger

½ tsp. /2 ml ground cloves

2 tsp. /10 ml baking powder

1 tsp. /5 ml baking soda

1 tsp. /5 ml salt

3 eggs

¾ cup/180 ml orange juice

¾ cup/180 ml vegetable oil

1 tsp. /5 ml vanilla

2 cups/500 ml grated carrots

1 cup/250 ml chocolate chips (or raisins)

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease two large or four small loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, orange juice, oil and vanilla. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the grated carrots and chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. (Glaze with a thin icing is optional) Enjoy!

Blueberry Kuchen

Recently I visited Onnink’s Blueberry Farm to purchase blueberries for freezing. This farm is located in an area in the Fraser Valley where the trees surround the field and the hawks frighten away the small birds that would ordinarily feast on the blueberries. The owner also informed me that instead of spraying, they scatter beetles on to the fields to eat aphids that would destroy the fruit. Here is a farm that is environmentally friendly. The owner had some recipes to distribute and this one caught my eye – Blueberry Kuchen.

1 ½ cups/375 ml all-purpose flour

¾ cup/175 ml sugar

2 tsp/10 ml baking powder

1 ½ tsp/7 ml lemon zest

¼ tsp/2 ml salt

2/3 cup/150 ml milk

¼ cup/60 ml butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp/5 ml vanilla

2 cups/500 ml blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed & drained)

Topping:

¾ cup/175 ml sugar

½ cup/125 ml all-purpose flour

¼ cup/60 ml butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. Grease a 13” by 9” (32cm by 22cm) baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Add the milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out. Sprinkle with the blueberries.

In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour; add butter. Toss with a fork until crumbly; sprinkle over blueberries.

Bake the cake for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yields: 12 servings.

Fruit Scones - Blueberry

Scones are favorite addition to brunch or at coffee time. Very special served with Devonshire cream and your favorite strawberry or raspberry jam. Instead of raisins, you can substitute blueberries, cut-up dried apricots or even shredded cheese. This recipe is in the From Oma’s Kitchen cookbook.

2 cups/500 ml flour

3 Tbsp/45 ml sugar

2 tsp/10 ml baking powder

½ tsp/2 ml salt

1 tsp/5 ml baking soda

5 Tbsp/75 ml butter

1 cup/250 ml sour cream

1 egg (separated)

2/3 cup/150 ml blueberries

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture. In a small bowl combine sour cream and egg yolk, then add to the dry ingredients. Add dried fruit. Knead several times. Pat into an 8 inch circle on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Cut into 8 wedges - separate them slightly.

Bake @ 425F (220C) for 20 minutes. Shut oven off, open oven door and let the center cook for an extra 5 minutes (8 servings)

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

Raspberries are in season and plentiful now – they are sweet and delicious on cereal in the morning or on ice cream for a night snack. There are a variety of desserts that can be made using this wonderful fruit. One of my favorites is this chocolate raspberry mousse. For the mousse, frozen or fresh raspberries can be used. This recipe is featured in our From Oma’s Kitchen Cookbook along with many other good raspberry ideas.

You can replace raspberries with any fruit in season. Examples are: strawberries, blueberries,peaches, blackberries, or pineapple. Prepare a day ahead of your special occasion in a 9 - 10"(22 - 25cm) spring form pan.

Chocolate bottom:

½ cup/125 ml butter

3 square semi-sweet chocolate

1 ¼ cups/310 ml sugar

1 tsp/5 ml vanilla

3 eggs

2/3 cup150 ml all-purpose flour

½ tsp/2 ml baking powder

½ tsp/2 ml salt

Filling:

1 pound/450 gm crushed berries

1 Tbsp/15 ml gelatin (1 envelope)

½ cup/125 ml sugar

11/4 cups/310 ml liquid, juice drained from berries plus water

2 Tbsp/30 ml lemon juice

11/4 cups/310 ml whipping cream (whipped)

3/4 cup/150 ml whipping cream - to decorate

Fresh berries - to decorate

To make the cake - Melt the chocolate with the butter at low heat until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the chocolate mixture - blend. Spread into a greased spring form pan. Bake @ 350E F (180EC) for 25 minutes.or until set. Cool in the pan.

Gelatin filling:- Drain berries - add enough water to the juice to make 11/4 cups(310 ml) of liquid. Combine gelatin, sugar, liquid juice and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring this mixture to a boil. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and chill. Mixture should be the consistency of egg whites when ready to beat. Beat 11/4 cups (310 ml) whipping cream to form stiff peaks. Beat gelatin mixture separately, until light. Fold together and fold in crushed fruit. Line 9" (22 cm) spring form pan with strips of parchment paper. Pour filling mixture over cake base in the pan

Refrigerate 4 to 24 hours.

To decorate - Beat remaining whipping cream and use the fresh berries to enhance the appearance. A few mint leaves can be added.

Broccoli Salad

This salad is a crowd pleaser and can be made ahead, the day before the dinner party. Combine the main ingredients with the dressing just before serving time. This salad is a favourite to take to a friends place for a buffet.

3 large stems of broccoli

1 small red onion

¾ cup/175 ml raisins, soaked

1 cup/250 ml sunflower seeds

1 cup/250 ml bacon bits, fried and crumbled

Dressing:

1 cup/250 ml salad dressing

½ cup/125 ml sugar

2 Tbsp/30 ml red wine vinegar

Wash and cut the broccoli into small bite sized pieces. Cut up the red onion into small chunks and combine with the broccoli in a large bowl. Soak the raisins, toast the sunflower seeds in the oven and crumble the fried bacon. These can be prepared a day ahead. Cover combined ingredients in a bowl and place in refrigerator until serving time. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate as well. Just before serving, combine the salad with the dressing and enjoy. Serves 10 – 12.

Key Lime Cheesecake

Citrus fruits are readily available during any season. A lime dessert is a refreshing change and combines well with chocolate and strawberries to reflect elegance.

Crust:

1 cup / 250 ml graham wafer crumbs

¼ cup / 60 ml melted butter

¼ cup / 60 ml brown sugar

Filling:

1 cup / 250 ml lime juice – 3 or 4 limes

¼ cups / 60 ml water

2 Tbsp / 30 ml unflavored gelatin

1 ½ cups / 375 ml sugar

5 large eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp / 15 ml grated lime rind

½ cup / 125 ml butter

2 – 8oz / 250gm pkg cream cheese

1 cup / 250 ml whipping cream

Garnish:

½ cup / 125 ml whipping cream

½ Tbsp / 7 ml instant vanilla pudding powder

Lime slices and chocolate curls and stawberries to decorate.

Combine crust ingredients and press onto bottom of a 9” / 22cm spring form pan. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine lime juice, water and gelatin. Allow to soften for one minute. Then add sugar, beaten eggs and grated lime rind. Place on stove and heat, stirring constantly until mixture just comes to a boil. Mixture should not boil. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and the cream cheese together until creamy. Gradually beat in the hot lime mixture until blended. Refrigerate until cool. In a small bowl, beat 1cup / 250 ml whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cooled lime mixture and pour into spring form pan which has been lined with strips of parchment paper. Cover and chill overnight.

Before serving remove the cake from the pan.

To decorate: Whip the cream with the pudding. Make rosettes on the cake and use lime slices, chocolate curls or melted chocolate and sliced strawberries as a special touch. Serves 10 – 12.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

When I was a child growing up in the Fraser Valley, early summer meant strawberries. My father planted several fields of strawberries on our family's farm on Judson Lake. For us this meant strawberry picking in late June and early July. We didn't much enjoy the picking, although I was always eager to try to pick more than anyone else on our field. I was careful not to start eating any of the sweet, sun ripened berries, because once that happened it was hard to stop-and my flat wouldn't fill up nearly so quickly.

Every now and again as we picked one or the other of us would startle a garter snake. It would slither out from where it had been hiding under the leaves of a strawberry plant, and the shouting or shrieking of the unsuspecting picker could be heard throughout the field. I was always worried that this would happen to me, and I became very (and of course unnecessarily) afraid of the harmless little snakes.

The strawberries that we ate then were always locally grown. The start of the strawberry season brought a whole range of seasonal treats to our table: strawberry short cake, strawberry pie (sometimes with a mix of strawberries and early rhubarb), strawberry tarts, fresh strawberries with ice cream, and of course strawberry jam (still a popular favourite). And of course all the strawberries that we had then were organically grown, ripened on the plant, and delicious.

Now, strawberries can be found in produce stores almost any time of the year. Even if they're not quite as sweet as the ones we used to get right off the field, they are still tasty, and healthy too.

This easy but delicious recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad is a favourite at our house. I like to serve it at almost any time of the year, but it is especially good for a summertime barbeque, when I use locally grown berries, or at Christmas time, when the bright reds and greens add a festive, tasty, and healthy touch to our family dinner.

Salad:
1 - 9 oz. / 255 gm package of fresh spinach leaves
1 head of butter lettuce or
½ head iceberg lettuce, coarsely shredded or torn
1 - 8 oz. / 227 gm can sliced water chestnuts
¾ C / 175 ml cooked bacon, crumbled
2 C / 500 ml fresh strawberries

Dressing:
1 C / 250 ml salad oil
½ C / 125 ml sugar
½ C / 125 ml ketchup
¼ C / 60 ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp / 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
1 small red onion, finely chopped
½ tsp / 2 ml dry mustard
1 tsp / 5 ml salt
¼ tsp / 1 ml cayenne pepper

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a 1 qt. / 1 L jar, shake well and store in the refrigerator until serving time.

Wash the lettuce and spinach well, swirl in a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towels. Just before serving time slice the strawberries, drain the water chestnuts, and combine all of the salad ingredients in an attractive bowl. Reserve some of the crumbled bacon to sprinkle over the mixed salad as a garnish. The dressing may be poured over and mixed with the salad just before serving, or the salad and dressing may be served separately, so that your guests may put as much or little dressing over their salad as they please.

I often serve this salad on special occasions-my guests always love it and frequently compliment me on it.

This recipe appears in my second book, A Time of Wonder A Season of Joy (Judson Lake House Publishers, 2006), which also includes a DVD with a demonstration of how to put together this salad and the other elements of a festive dinner.

_________

Selma Willms Turner is co-author and food editor of two books about the cuisine and culture of Mennonites in Russia and Canada. This recipe appears in her second book, A Time of Wonder A Season of Joy (Judson Lake House Publishers, 2006), which also includes a DVD with a demonstration of how to put together this salad and the other elements of a festive dinner. Selma lives in Abbotsford, where she is working on new publishing projects.