It’s late May and field grown strawberries are plentiful. One of my favorite summer desserts is a Danish fruit pudding (with cream) that truly celebrates berries and uses them at their peak flavor. I shared a recipe for Rødgrød Med Fløde last summer here.
Ceramic peace plate by Ariel Clute.
Citrus is so amazing this time of year, we eat so many satsumas, I can never seem to keep enough around. Bowls of citrus or scattered along the table are so simple and decorative while they last.
Roast chicken with lemon and satsuma squeezed on top with a generous amount of cumin, salt and pepper was a perfect Saturday dinner.
All photos and styling by Silvanie Farmar Bowers
Full of harvest - enjoying the bounty of every delightful color under the sun. Tomatoes! Mix and match a simple caprese salad.
As a child, we had a large garden (read 80 varieties of tomatoes). I hated shucking corn, but one of my favorite things about that garden was taking the salt shaker out there with my sister. We would lie down in the rows, pick tomatoes, dust them off and shake a bit of salt on them. The simplest way to enjoy and fully encapsulates the feeling of summer.
All photos and styling by Silvanie Farmar Bowers
Stone fruit is still in abundance. Here is a quick, delicous and beautiful cake I absolutely loved as a kid when my mom would bake it. I relish the sweet and tart combination of plums. They had beautiful Italian prunes at the local farm stand so I used those, but you can use any kind of medium plum or pluots too (never tried apricots but might be great as well). You're looking for flavor over water content, you want then to get jammy when baked not watery.
A beautiful assortment of Italian prunes and pluots.
Plum Picture Cake - oldie from Sunset magazine
preheat oven to 375
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs (at room temperature)
1/2 rsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
6-8 plums (or other stone fruit - pitted & sliced in half)
Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well between each addition. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour until well mixed. Spread in an 11 inch buttered and floured pan. Gently push halved plums into cake batter, just enough to stay in place. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Once cooled, place on serving dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream.
Enjoying the start to summer and strawberry season. When going to the strawberry stand on the edge of town I can't help buying three baskets at a time. Field grown and so soft and ripe, they have to be eaten that day. Danes love to ask everyone who isn't Danish to say "rød grød med fløde" because its the hardest thing to say. It also happens to be a delicious dessert and a nice way to eat fruit at peak season.
The recipe below is my interpretation of the way my own Danish mother makes it. So delicious and a welcome to summer.
rødgrød med fløde (red fruit pudding with cream)
2 baskets berries (I used strawberries & raspberries) traditionally its red currants, raspberries, strawberries, cherries or plums (any combination)
3 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
2 tablespoons potato starch flour (or arrowroot powder or cornstarch)
1/4 cup cold water
splash of vanilla extract
lightly whipped cream (its nice barely whipped for this or soft peaks)
Rinse fruit and slice (you can also blend in blender). Place sliced or puréed fruit into stainless steel pan and stir in sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Dissolve potato starch flour (or other) in 1/4 cup cold water and mix in, stirring constantly. Once off burner, stir in a splash of vanilla extract. Pour into large bowl or parfait glasses. Chill thoroughly (3-4 hours). Serve with cream.
Mother's Day can feel cheesy and forced, but there are simple ways to celebrate her. As a mother of a four year old, I really am just looking forward to some coffee in bed and little extra time to sleep. Once you become a mother, sleeping-in is a thing of the past!
Coffee or tea in bed is the simplest thing in the world. But, very thoughtful!
You could even jazz it up by adding toast and a gift. Takes no time at all!
Hand-picked posies and arrangements melt every mother's heart!
Depending on your child's age - pick or let them pick flowers, foliage (whatever they like) from your garden. Give them space that can get wet (like this tray) a pitcher of water and something to arrange the flowers in. For kids (or adults) I like to use a mason jar or a tin can which are hard to break and reusable/recyclable. Let them explore the stems by themselves and choose how that want to arrange it. Nothing is better than getting a little arrangement made by your child or grandchild!
Trying to start off the new year a bit lighter. Been adding spinach to whatever I can and making smoothies in the mornings.
These were made with frozen raspberries, blueberries, mangos, coconut water, oat milk and a fat spoonful of flaxseed meal. Full fledged hippie but I like to get in any extra nutrients where I can and my toddler is happy to drink them.
I like to drink them first thing in the morning, before I make breakfast. Most days they are different, depending on what we have.
I spent yesterday at Soul Food Farm enjoying my friend, Anne Goffin's cooking workshop of winter vegetables. We had a great afternoon of watching Anne make pickled pink turnips, braised cauliflower with farro, and frisee salad with roasted Chioggia beets and blood oranges and many more winter vegetable recipes. We also got a chance to sharpen up on our knife skills and a chance to ask a chef for little tips and tricks you don't know as a home cook.
We took a nice walk around the farm to visit the chickens and pigs and drank rose in the olive orchard before feasting on a dinner that included all seven recipes along with some delicious stewed chicken thighs and pan seared pork sausage.
