"Field" Trip

Our family visited a local farm last week for a quick little "field" trip. This family lives in a beautiful house on about 15 acres of land. They grow all sorts of fruits and veggies, but what they're known for is their rows and rows of delicious sweet corn.

People used to be able to pick their own corn, but apparently this caused too much damage to their stalks, so the corn is pre-picked and just waiting for you to pick it up. Jeepers was just going crazy over the collection of tractors though.

We brought our corn home and boiled some, grilled some, froze some for later. Did you know that corn has lots of starches (duh, corn starch), but because of this you should eat it or preserve it quickly after picking or it will start molding? Did you also know you can't make popcorn out of regular eating corn? Popcorn has a different shape, moisture content, and more that make it specific to popping. Bummer, that would have been fun.

So, in an effort of learning how to preserve our harvest, we decided to try drying. We boiled the corn for 5 minutes, then dipped in straight into icy cold water. Once it was cool enough to handle, I cute off the corn and it all went in the oven.

After 3-4 hours at 170 degrees, the corn was dry and a little chewy. Four ears of corn only filled half of my quart size jar. We'll have to go to the farm next week to get some more. Next time I make soup or chili with corn, I'm going to use this dried stuff and see how it works. (Of course, I'll let you know!)

Of course, nothing beats fresh picked corn, but it's not always in season. I think next time I'll try a bottling recipe that I just found.

Dehydration

Here in the scorching Arizona summer sun, one thing is most important to avoid- Dehydration. At suburbia farm, however, we are all for the idea! We have been doing some trial and error with dehydrating fruits- strawberries, grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and apples. Here's Jeepers with the Dehydrator layered full of our goodies.

On the left we have strawberries and apples. The apples have been dipped in lemon water to preserve their color. On the right we have bananas dipped in diluted honey and lemon to preserve color and add sweetness. The honey made the bananas oober sticky, but very tasty. These dried beauties are nature's best fruit snacks- it's like a dried fruit salad. They also make a great addition to oatmeal, making a bland breakfast staple full of variety and flavor. I think next time I'll put the bananas in a low temp oven to make them crispy.

Now, the grape/raisins gave us some difficulty. Of course, Jeepers wouldn't stop eating the grapes before I could even get them in the dehydrator. Then, they were taking a long time in the dehydrator, so I put them outside to use up the sun's free energy. The first batch blew away, then the chickens ate the second batch (stinkin' chickens). But we finally got some sun made raisins and let me tell you, they are the most delicious, juicy raisins we've ever had!

We've been growing delicious cherry tomatoes, more than we can eat at once, so I thought we'd try sun dried tomatoes. They also took a long time in the dehydrator and ended up drying outside. I haven't tried them in a recipe yet, but I'm imagining pasta, chicken, and feta with a drizzle of EVOO...?

Yummy fruit snacks!
I tried to dry corn to mimic this amazing salad from Wildflower Bread Company, but it didn't turn out at all. Maybe it would be good in a soup though...I'll keep trying.

Scrumptious Buttermilk (and Cinnamon) Rolls

One sleepy afternoon, both my kiddos decided to take a long summer's nap. I took advantage of this opportunity by making delicious buttermilk rolls. I don't mind making rolls with them, but these rolls were going to be given to people, so I wanted to make sure they were perfect.
This is the recipe my mom taught me growing up, and making it has become second nature. I always make a double batch and store some in the freezer. It makes dinner time easier-we just cook up some fish or chicken with a veggie, fruit, and a homemade roll- easy peasy lemon squeezy.
The recipe is at the end of this post, but this picture is what the dough should look like after it has "glutenized." It should just pull like taffy. I had a video of how to make the perfect roll, but it wouldn't load. sniff. However, I made rolls a few days later with the kids and they just kinda plopped the rolls on the pan...they looked and tasted practically the same!
Here the pretty ladies are, all ready to rise under a dish towel (to keep them from drying out).

As mentioned, a few days later the children wanted to help me make cinnamon rolls. I used the same recipe, but I divided it into three big balls. One of the thirds I made into buttermilk rolls again and the other two balls turned into cinnamon rolls. So, very patiently, I let JoJo and Jeepers take turns rolling out the dough into a large rectangle. Then, JoJo brushed on 1/2 a cube of melted butter (making sure not to get butter on the far right edge). Jeepers sprinkled the white sugar and cinnamon all over the dough (ideally this would be an even layer, but he's learning).

We rolled the dough and pinched the end closed (which why it has to be butter-free).

I was always taught that the simplest way to cut cinnamon rolls was with a string, and I have to say, if my kids can do it, then it's pretty fool proof. Just shimmy the string under the roll- about an inch from the end- then overlap the string at the top, keep pulling, and the string will just cut right through...success!

Here are the rolls, almost risen and ready to bake...

The end result is just so amazingly delicious. You will never find anything at the store- or even a bakery- that compares to these savory little morsels. What's better than this?...

Well, a cinnamon roll version of it, covered in cream cheese frosting, of course!

I wonder why I wasn't hungry this whole day? Oh yeah, because I ate myself silly with cinnamon rolls!

Buttermilk Rolls

• 1 cube butter


• 2 cups buttermilk


• 3/4 c. sugar


• 1/2 c. ice water


• 2 eggs


• 2 T. instant yeast


• 7 cups flour


• 1 T. baking powder


• 1 t. salt


• 1 t. baking soda


• Bring butter, buttermilk, and sugar to boil. Put in mixer, add water, mix. Mix in eggs. Gradually mix in flour (start with 3 cups flour with 2 wells for yeast). Mix in remaining ingredients. Knead for 5 minutes or so until stretchy- do the gluten test. Let rise in mixer for 15 min. Form rolls. Rise on greased pan for 30 min or until ready to bake. Bake for 12 min @375.

Peachy Keen!

Two weeks ago, our family visited Schnepf farm, an actual farm, for their Peach Festival. Like many farms, they have tractor rides, a petting zoo, and play area. We took a little train ride to tour the entire farm. But the highlight of this farm was the pick-your-own area. A large field full of onions, lettuce, and other veggies, as well as acres of fruit orchards, await the public to pick as much as they please (for a price, of course).

We just stuck to the peaches today since they're in season- apricots are also in season, but we have a bunch coming off of our tree at home. Look at those beauties! Nature never ceases to amaze and impress me. It's just so beautiful and tasty and so good for you too! Brings a tear to my eye.

Here's Hubbies, the self-proclaimed Peach Picking Expert.
This may be Jeepers first time biting into an actual peach right off the tree. There's just nothing like it. Look at his eyes popping out of his head like, "Whoa, that's intense yumminess!"

We filled up a box of peaches for a little over $20 ( I think?). The unrelenting sun cut our trip a little short, but we were happy to bring our juicy treasures home.

I fully intended on bottling our jewels, but we began eating them so quickly that there just weren't enough left. When the Utah peaches get shipped to Arizona, I'll do some major peach bottling sessions with my mom (usually in August).

We did manage to make a delicious peach crisp/peach cobbler- not sure the difference...

Using fresh peaches was a little more work, but was worth it!
I tried teaching the kiddos how to peel the peaches. In a perfect world, the skin of the peach will just peel right off. This process was taking too long for their impatient tummies and they were gobbling up the peaches faster than I could cut them!

So, I just started leaving the skins on and it ended up tasted just fine. We filled up a 9X13 with a nice thick layer of fresh peaches.

I sprinkled the peaches with brown sugar and Jeepers lightly dusted them with cinnamon (a little uneven, but we are the only ones eating it).

We made the crumbly top (recipe below). JoJo helped cutting in the butter, but after a little while, we just needed to get in there with our fingers. So, Jeepers helped me mash all that butter and flour together. It was almost as fun as Play-Dough!

And the verdict...Sorry Mom, can't smile now. Too busy eating Fresh Peach Crisp...

Peach Crisp Recipe- Suburbia Farm version

Preheat oven to 350

5 large peaches sliced (peels optional)- layer in a 9X13 pan

Sprinkle the top with brown sugar and cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, 1 cup oats, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1 pinch of salt. Cut in 1 cup of chilled butter (finger mashing might be required).

Sprinkle crumb mixture over the peaches.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Enjoy!