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Last night I made a batch of fresh roasted almond butter. I started by blanching and roasted four pounds of top quality California almonds to a uniform golden-brown. Once the almonds cooled, I placed them in the bowl of my food processor and processed the almonds in to a thick ball of almond paste. I continued processing, adding one tablespoon at a time of high oleic, GMO free, expeller pressed safflower oil until the paste became smooth. Safflower, a heart healthy oil, is high in antioxidants and low in saturated fat. In fact it has a very similar chemical composition to olive oil but with a completely nuetral flavor. In the end, I only added about 3 tablespoons of safflower oil to bring about a nice creamy consistency. I also added a pinch of sea salt to balance the natural sweetness of the almonds.
Roasted almond butter is absolutely heaven! It beats the pants out of peanut butter both in health properties and in flavor. Almond butter at the store can cost as much as a dollar an ounce... ouch! My almond butter cost me $9.00 for four pounds AND my kids prefer it in their sandwiches and to dunk their vegetables in as well. I have replaced peanut butter with roasted almond butter in many of my recipes with great results.
In The Garden
Tomatoes, nectarine, swallowtail caterpillar on fennel, artichokes, canterbury bells in lavender and dark purple beside rosemary, more canterbury bells, pink flowers, and lettuce.
In The Kitchen
From top to bottom: Hungarian Sausages, Michael honing his knife skills by cutting strawberries for the strawberry rhubarb pie, a picture of my all natural 3C Granola which contains cranberries, coconut and cashews, Michael pretending to nosh on freshly made papardelle pasta, braised short rib ragu to sauce the fresh papardelle, home made calzones fresh out of the oven, the strawberry rhubarb pie before and after
More Garden Pics.
The raised beds are really bursting forth. Each week there is significant growth and fruit development. I have baby tomatoes on each tomato plant and lots of berries popping up everywhere. I will continue successive planting of greens and lettuce until and through June. I've decided that the new raised beds which are in the works will have Fall plantings. If they're done in time, I might even do some serious pumpkins in at least one. These beds will add another 72 square feet of vegetable growing space which will be designated as Fall and Winter crops. I figure that the addition of colorful kale, swiss chard, cabbages, lettuces and Asian greens will be cheerful Winter focal point when everything else has lost it's Spring/Summer luster.
Sweltering Heat = Happy Tomatoes
It was 83 degrees yesterday and the first real heat we've had here in Sunset Zone 14. I looked at my beds this morning and could swear the tomato and pepper plants grew 12 inches overnight! It's remarkable how much these plants thrive on heat. The squash fared well although I'm slightly concerned about how they will weather today's blistering 90+ degrees. Immature plants, regardless of their innate predilection, cannot handle heat above a certain point so I put out floating row covers today to shield the most delicate participants in the raised beds.
Buff Orpingtons & Sweet Peas
This month we will be setting up our chicken coop and run under the shade of a giant plum tree in the backyard. The coop and run, 4'x6' and 8' respectively are pictured here.
This set up can house around 5-7 chickens. We're planning to get Buff Orpingtons. These beautiful, large, golden chickens are docile, super friendly, heavy brown egg producers and very broody. They are fantastic back yard chickens in my opinion. I won't be hatching these myself as I normally do but rather buying pullets from a local source.
In the garden, the sweet pea vines are fragrant and beautiful! By the time we set up the chicken coop, we'll have a lot of foraging work for them to do in the vegetable gardens. The lettuce, peas, carrots, chard and greens should all be quite a bit more mature, harboring vermin in undergrowth such as snails and slugs. It will be a veritable smorgasbord for the chickens who make fantastic, organic pest control. With five chickens, we can expect to collect at least 18 to two dozen large brown eggs per week. We intend to mix their old straw bedding and manure directly in to the compost pile on a regular basis, for the most dreamy compost imaginable. Organic chicken manure is A+ for composting.