Backyard Farmgals

It's peach season!  YES!  It's finally here.  There is nothing that makes me happy like a fresh, ripe peach picked from a tree just steps away.  To celebrate I whipped up this little tart.  I had one piece and my hubby finished off the rest, so it must be good... I used my favorite pie crust recipe which happens to come from Martha Stewart.  I have never had trouble with this recipe and it has become my standard.  When it comes to pie crust, I am a butter girl, the whole shortening thing rubs me wrong, plus I like the richness of butter.  If you are gonna eat pie, EAT PIE, right? The filling hardly has any sugar in it.  I wanted to taste those ripe and delicious peaches, so I added just a bit and a little flour to thicken the juices.  I topped each slice with a little drizzle of honey and a bit of whipped cream, and it was heavenly. RUSTIC HONEY AND PEACH TART backyard farmgals Pie crust: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flou...

Raspberries, creamy filling, crumble topping, and delicate pie crust.  Can you handle this?  Wow!  This is one of those fantastic recipes that I will make each year during the height of raspberry season, yep, it's that good.  I am completely in love! I have to say that the raspberries are the most important piece of this puzzle, it requires very fresh, ripe, and sweet raspberries.  A farmer friend of mine was able to get some glorious little jewels from a farmer friend of his in Oregon yesterday.  These berries are divine, ripened in the sun and carefully picked.  I know that they are not local, but really, they are from a friend of a friend and a small sustainable organic berry farm.  It doesn't get much better than that!  Make sure you get berries grown on a farm that were picked a day or two ago at their peak.  You will have an amazing tasting pie if you do! I switched the original recipe just a bit.  The crust wa...

It's raining, my house is clean, kids are napping, laundry is folded, bread is baking in the oven.  I love days like this.  The only thing missing is chocolate!!!  Sooo... I made this lovely little chocolate pie to fill the void and make the perfect Saturday. This pie recipe came from a farm magazine that I love: Hobby Farm .  The magazine has great information for small farmer's like me.  Over the course of it's publication, I have learned a lot about farm animals, composting, crops, and it has some delicious recipes.  You can find it at larger farm stores and large booksellers should have it in the periodical section. This is fairly simple to make.  The filling isn't baked, but the eggs have to be tempered.  Go slowly and stir like mad when tempering to avoid scrambled eggs in your filling.  Don't rush the process, add a little milk at a time.  The crust is what I think makes the pie.  I love the almonds.  I am a n...

I harvested our first batch of strawberries out of our own private little garden.  There is nothing in this world that ushers in summer quite like strawberries.  I will let you in on a little secret, I hoard homegrown strawberries.  They are absolutely, without a doubt, one of my most favorite things on the planet.  Store bought berries are just not the same.  They don't have the sweetness or the sunshine grown into them.  They lack the energy of the soil and the heat of the day.  Homegrown little red strawberries is where it is at! I froze some of the berries for things to make later.  Wash them, take off the caps and then spread over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Pop them in the freezer overnight.  Then place in a freezer bag.  Strawberries don't last long in the fridge, this is a great way to preserve them and their flavor. You really don't need a large space to grow them, put them in as a border, or w...

Ohhh...if I had a lime tree...or a lemon tree...I would be in heaven!  I love citrus and it is in season right now.  I crave it in the Winter.  Grapefruit, lemons, oranges, each is like a burst of sunshine when you break into it.  I love how the oil from the skin bursts into the air when you peel a citrus fruit.  It's smell lingers and permeates my memory, reminding me that there is light and joy even in the darkest Winter nights. I ran across a recipe for citrus salts from 101cookbooks .  Basically it is any kind of citrus zest mixed with salt, dried and ground to use as a finishing salt.  I see things like this and my mind starts to wander.  I dream about flavor combinations and creative ways to use ingredients like this.  This time my mind settled on lime salt sprinkled over a fresh lime pie.  A little salty-sweet flavor combination to brighten up a snowy afternoon.  Sassy...the only word capable of describing this desse...