I love that song from Veggie Tales Madame Blueberry and it is a good thing, too. My kids love that movie. Remember George Carlin’s thing on why there wasn’t any blue food? Well he would have to take that back..Blue corn meal is blue, there is just no way around it.

It isn’t at all difficult to find around here. If you are having trouble finding it try ordering it on Amazon at least once. I think there really is a difference in flavor. I think blue cornmeal is sweeter than the yellow or the white variety.

I was paging through my Mesa Grill cookbook and happened to notice the blueberry blue cornmeal pancakes in the back. I am always looking for something a little different to make for breakfast and this seemed like a perfect solution to one more day of pancakes in all of their glory.

By the way…if you don’t have the Mesa Grill cookbook – get it. Go on over to Amazon right now. I love that cookbook and I am constantly using it for inspiration.

Don’t get me wrong, we love pancakes. You can’t beat them for filling up a couple of teen age boys with stomachs that extend  down through their legs somehow. I know that I have never seen THAT graph in health class but I am sure it is so. I have one that can eat 14 or more 8″ whole grain pancakes at one sitting. You try filling him up sometime. And, go figure, he is 5 ‘ 11″ and battling to get up over 125 lbs.

I served them with honey butter and maple syrup. I liked the honey butter on them but the kids just don’t think a pancake is quite right without syrup. The flavor of these is sweet and nutty, with the slight grittiness you would expect from good cornmeal.

I added lemon zest after I had tasted and decided it needed a little bit of something. So..no lemon in the picture. Just in the pancakes. I used goat milk because we raise dairy goats. You use whatever kind of milk you like. Probably not zebra milk though..not sure on that one…

All righty then….Here is an action shot -

One thing I got used to using when we had the tea room was the graduated scoops. It makes it so easy to make uniform cookies, pancakes, and everything. Just be sure not to get cheap ones… they break really easy. A restaurant supply shop is the best, and possibly most inexpensive place to get them.

here it is..the most crucial moment….shhhhh….the flip.

Perfect. It’s all in the wrist.

And of course…when all was said and done…These flapjacks made the cut. Look!

And….Houston….We ….Have….Lift-Off!

These were really that good.  So…I bet you are all drooly and ready for the recipe now, right?

Blueberry Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

• 3 cups of organic  flour
• 1 cup organic blue cornmeal
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 organic eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups blueberries
• Grated zest of one lemon

Instructions:

1. Preheat your griddle
2. Mix the dry ingredients
3. Whisk eggs, milk, and melted butter together until well blended
4. Add wet to dry and fold in blueberries

Serves 8 more or less

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

The cake. It wasn't so difficult.

I didn’t want just “a cake” beneath all of that cool decor, though.

I decided to do alternating layers of cake, green tea butter cream, and cherry buttercream. Since it was 100 degrees I chose to use Crisco and confectioner’s sugar to be sure the cake held. Then I forgot to get pictures of the inside. Kelly at Evil Shenanigans took pictures of the pitiful leftover cake I brought to her house after the shower.

I used Numi Mate` Lemon for the green tea flavor. It is an organic blend of Yerba Mate, Chun Mee green tea, and Lemon Myrtle. The flavor was bright and complex and added the perfect touch to the cake. It was a big hit, everyone loved it. Imagine if I had made it with real, European style buttercream?

Anyway, this is great with almond, would be incredible on a citrus cake, or even a carrot cake.

Green Tea Buttercream

• Three teabags of Numi Mate Lemon Green tea
• 1/4 cup water-brought just to the boil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon rind, grated
• 1 cup white Crisco
• 4 cups confectioners
• 1 tsp clear vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Green food coloring if desired

1. Steep tea in the water for three minutes. Remove bags.
2. Allow tea to cool completely.
3. Mix Crisco with salt and confectioner’s at low speed. Add vanilla.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of the tea and beat well. Add another tablespoon or two if necessary for the correct consistency.
5. Add green food coloring as desired.
6. That’s it! It isn’t difficult at all and it is delicious, with faint lemon flavor and bright green tea top notes.

About 2 cups

image:marye audet

image:numi tea

Post from: Baking Delights

You all know that I believe strongly in buying local, buying fresh, buying organic, buying fair trade whenever possible. I don’t see this as a new thing, it was the way I was raised.  Yep, way back in the 1960s my parents who lived through the Depression drilled into my head that the only way one could be truly free was to be as self-sustainable as possible. Rather than dependence on people you don’t know, my dad said, have relationship with neighbors and those that you will see each day.

Dad felt this was the strength of a country, neighbors taking care of neighbors not government babysitters.  My parents were middle aged when I came along and I was an only child.  They poured into me a love for the environment and a strong sense of responsibility for those around me. I have always felt very driven to protect, to do the right thing, to care for.

It is hard, these days to juggle ethics and need. Groceries are outrageous and I can’t always buy organics. But doing what I can is better than doing nothing at all.

Today’s Blogsurfing is a bit different than usual. I have come across several sites that make it easy to shop locally, shop organically and shop fairly.  Only you know what your budget will allow you to do, but if we each do something then things will change.  Rather than hoping for socialized medicine? Perhaps paying a neighbor’s doctor bill yourself would be possible.  Rather than depending on government organizations to feed the homeless? We have been known to go home, fix a lunch and take it back to a homeless person. Rather than depending on government organizations to maintain a safe food supply buy locally and see how your food is raised or better yet, raise it yourself!

Yes, it is time for a change. It is time to stop existing as wage slaves and drones and start making thoughtful decisions that put our country in a healthy place. We were discussing Feudal times and serfdom this morning at breakfast. Only us, I know, but my 16 year old mentioned and not for the first time) that the American people are little more than serfs. We own nothing.  If someone can take it away from you, well you don’t really own it do you?

Ready?

• Regional Best – What are you looking for locally? Well it is right here!
• This isn’t food, for the most part, but did you know you can shop local on Etsy?
• Pick Your Own farms make an awesome family outing. We pick blueberries in East Texas every year. Find farms near you.
• Local Harvest – the name says it all.
• Eat Well Guide- Restaurants, organic farms, more.
• USDA list of Farmer’s Markets

And while I usually stick to links this week I am going to give you a few tips because this issue is just that important.

• People like me, who raise goats for milk cannot legally sell the milk for human consumption in most places. BUT some goat dairies will be glad to rent you a percentage of the goat for a season. So, you would rent 1/3 of the goat and get 1/3 of everything it produces for a season.  Don’t laugh, should you choose to take your 1/3 of the manure you will find you have a great fertilizer for your garden. Other goat dairies will sell the milk as a nutritious drink for your pets. What you do with it after you buy it is, of course, up to you. You can check with the NDGA or the AGS for farms near you.
• Ask around at feed stores. People who run feed stores are usually chatty and know everything that is going on on the agricultural side of things. You may be able to find leads to eggs, milk, and even veggies and fruits.
• No matter how small an area you have you can raise herbs and a container of salad greens. There is nothing that beats fresh cilantro!
• Get a dehydator.  Dehydrating produce is fast and easy, and you don’t have to deal with hot jars. Buy in season, preserve, and eat all year. Dehydrated food takes a fraction of the space as frozen or canned.
• If you are growing green beans and your neighbors grows tomatoes….TRADE!

Every little thing will turn into a big thing if many people do it.

Image: Cori

Post from: Baking Delights

So, as you may have seen I have been getting a lot of cool stuff to review lately.  One of the items that I was asked to review was ProBugs Organic Whole Milk Kefir by LifeWay.

This is a whole milk product, aimed at kids.  It comes in a no spill pack and in some pretty darn amazing flavors.  Flavors that make adults go…”EWWW” and kids go..”AWESOME!”.

Flavors like:

• Goo-Berry Pie
• Orange Creamy Crawler
• Sublime Slime Lime

You know how they always say that a picture is worth a thousand words? Here are a few words for ya… Think he liked it?

It is organic, healthy, and my kids love it.  That is the best recommendation I can give. 

images: (c) marye audet 2009

Post from: Baking Delights

One thing everyone who knows me knows without a doubt..I love chocolate. I like it melted, in cakes, in brownies, cookies, ice cream, and pie..mousse, souffle, terrine, and truffles. I like it edible, drinkable, and even body creams, soaps, lotions and such…I just really like chocolate.

I burn chocolate scented candles, and I raise chickens that lay chocolate colored eggs. I want to do my kitchen in milk chocolate colors, cream and red.

See? Chocolate.

Hershey’s Nestle’s and all of the BIG chocolate people are big supporters of buying chocolate on the Ivory coast.

Every day thousands of young boys are used on the cocoa farms in Africa as slave labor. At night they are locked into small concrete rooms for a few hours sleep until they begin work again. They are beaten, abused mentally, emotionally, sexually, and physically. Often they do not survive. Their bodies don’t grow properly, the spine bends and twists under the heavy loads of cocoa beans they carry daily..many become crippled. I wrote an article on this horrible practice of trafficking children.

Everytime you or I buy a can of Hershey’s cocoa, we support what they are supporting. The economy being what it is we feel good if we save money here and there, and organic, fairly traded cocoa is expensive. But the cost of the alternative is too much. I will not eat bloodied chocolate if I can help it. It is important to put pressure on the big companies. Consumers change things!

If you choose to continue to buy the regular cocoa and chocolate, at least do so with understanding of what you are supporting.

Fair trade chocolate means that farmers are getting a fair price. It means that they cannot use slave labor, and that they must use certain eco friendly practices. It is by no means a perfect system..but it is better than anything else we have.

The bad thing is that you can not usually run into the store and grab a can of fair trade chocolate. You must get it on the internet. You may need to experiment and see what brands suit you best…the price is a little more, but the cost is much more reasonable!

Equal Exchange carries all kinds of Fair Trade and Farmer Co op products. Their cocoa is cultivated on their cacao trees with gentle, shade-grown, chemical-free farming methods. This creates the natural environment preferred by cacao trees as well as native wildlife and migratory birds. The resulting beans are then sent to Holland for dutch processing to create a rich cocoa suitable for baking and cooking of all types.

Dagoba Chocolate has a fantastic low acid, single origin cocoa. This is a luxury cocoa (read $$$)

Dean’s Beans has a very reasonably priced Fair Trade cocoa

Sweet Earth has literally tons of organic/fair trade baking supplies. Lots of different types of chocolate at very reasonable (and similar to Hershey’s) prices.

Sweetwater Market has Fair Trade Ccoa as well.

As consumers ask for Fair Trade products more then more retailers will carry them…more manufacturers will want to manufacture them, not because it is the right thing to do,but because it is the financially correct thing to do.

But you know what? Those kids who will no longer be kidnapped to be sold as slaves on the cocoa plantations? They won’t care why.

I once got into a deep argument with someone who felt that fair trade would not guarantee that kids were not kidnapped for slavery. They felt it would continue no matter what.

I will not argue that. As long as humankind is unredeemed in spirit awful things will happen. We know that. But my money does not have to be supporting those awful things.

Images:(c)Marye Audet 

Content Marye Audet for Baking Delights 

Post from: Baking Delights