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Easy Cherry Brulee-Good for you too!

Posted February 3rd, 2012 in Posts, Tips and Tricks

It’s onlbruary so New Year’s Resolutions are still in play. I have a favorite dessert I eat all the time, healthy, quick, low fat, high protein. I was watching TV the other night eating my favorite dessert and it dawned on me that this could be fancy enough for company with just a few quick tweaks. So today I am just going to share this brilliant moment with you.

3 cups fat free Greek Yogurt

1 can Oregon Fruit Dark Sweet Cherries, drained syrup reserved

3 TBS slivered toasted almonds

Raw sugar

Put about 6 cherries in the bottom of 4 glass dessert dishes. Mix the yogurt with they syrup until the sweetness is to your liking, the color is a lovely shade of pink but it is still thick.

Spoon evenly over the cherries and smooth the top. Sprinkle the almonds dividing evenly amongst the four dishes. Top with Raw sugar to cover the almonds. If you have a torch, just torch the sugar until you have a crispy top, careful not to burn the sugar. It works fast. If you don’t have a torch you should get one as they are really fun. But if you don’t just put them under the broiler for a very few minutes watching carefully. DELICIOUS!!! and no guilt!

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Blueberry Crunch Donuts-A Borrowed Treasure

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Posted January 27th, 2012 in In the Kitchen, Posts

I have to admit I have been suffering from some writers block lately. I have had trouble getting inspired and then I opened my email to find Foodbuzz. Foodbuzz features 9 great photos every day and on this day last week there were BLUEBERRY DONUTS! I have never made a donut and never heard of a blueberry donut so I got intrigued. This recipe actually featured CANNED BLUEBERRIES!! So now I got really excited. I found the site where the post was featured and I really enjoyed it. Claudia from What’s Cooking Italian Style Cuisine is my kind of baker. She readily admitted to making a mistake and then coming up with a fix and the fix was delicious. This is my personal mantra with baking and cooking, THERE ARE NO MISTAKES. Actually that is my personal mantra in life as well but that topic will be another day.

Claudia gave me permission to link to her post and use her recipe for Blueberry Upside Down Donuts. My first step was to buy a donut pan which I have never owned and now I do which is always exciting. It only makes 6 donuts so I cut the recipe in half. I tried to correct Claudia’s mistake by actually putting the crumb topping the bottom so it would end up on top. It worked fine but I think Claudia got a crispier result doing it the “wrong way”. Then I didn’t have any milk or white chocolate so the Cinnamon White Chocolate Ganache glaze became a Cinnamon Almond Milk Glaze. I invite you to try my version or Claudia’s but you should really try them as they are delicious, pretty easy, pretty fast and they look like real donuts you get at a shop. I intended to give these to my neighbor to get them out of the house but, alas, there is only one left…..

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Happy New Year Celebrations and Resolutions

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Posted December 30th, 2011 in Holiday, Posts

Happy 2012! It has been an interesting year here at Oregon Fruit.

In mid October the Gehlar family, founders and owners of Oregon Fruit Products for over 75 years passed the baton to another 3^rd generation family business. Ed and Cindy Maletis, and their sons Bryan, John and Andy, have purchased the company keeping it open and operating in Salem, Oregon and continuing an American tradition. The Maletis family has owned and operated Columbia Distributing in the Northwest since 1935 as well. Ed found the dates fortuitous and the fact that Cindy has kept her pencils in Oregon Fruit cans for years seemed to be a sign.

This was good news for the employees, growers and vendors that depend on Oregon Fruit Products as well as for the consumers that have come to respect the integrity of the product we produce here in the Northwest. The long tradition of high quality fruit in a can put up just the way grandma did was illustrated well by a recent gathering of some of Ed’s friends.

Ed shared a can of our Dark Sweet Cherries with an old friend. This gentleman was struck by how closely they resembled the beloved cherries his grandma used to can was he was little. So, just to check his nostalgic memory, he took the label off of a can and shared the cherries with his siblings. They all insisted he had been holding out the last stash of grandma’s cherries for the last several years.

In the spirit of grateful goodbye to the old I would like to raise a Front Porch Mocktail to Paul Gehlar and his sister, Daphne. They operated their company in the tradition of their father and grandfather with true family values of integrity and respect for the employees, growers, customers and consumers of Oregon Fruit Products Co.

At the same time, we toast the new with a delicious OFP-tini in honor of the Maletis family. May the company grow and prosper under their leadership. Ya Sou! (That’s Greek for “cheers!”)

You can feel free to use these beverages at your house this New Year’s Eve whether sharing it with the family around the fire with a board game or hosting a posh cocktail party for friends. Our Raspberry Chipotle Appetizer is always a hit. You can even try this delightful sauce over meatballs in a chafing dish or add a dollop of whipped goat cheese to a mini fillo cup and top with a little Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and a sprinkling of cilantro. These are also great to bring to someone else’s party-easy, delicious and unique. Check out all our appetizer and beverages recipes for ideas and inspiration.

Please enjoy yourself and celebrate responsibly. Spin Class awaits on Monday. (Oh maybe that was just for me!)

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Breakfast with Santa

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Posted December 23rd, 2011 in Holiday, Posts

As a child, Christmas morning was magical. That feeling of coming into the living room and finding the presents that were left by Santa Claus can never be duplicated. We left cookies and milk and there were always just crumbs left. Stockings always had tangerines and walnuts along with lots of small gifts like socks, underwear, toys.

Every year we have traveled to my parents for Christmas. You have to be pretty tricky to pull off the Santa Claus thing when you are not at home. It was always stressful and I always had to be pretty prepared, hiding things in trash bags, using different wrapping paper. By the time I arrived I was usually exhausted and just happy to be relaxing in my childhood home.

However, one Christmas my brother threw the curve ball that I have been mad about ever since. His darling daughter, my beloved niece Jessica (8 years old at the time) informed me on Christmas Eve that Santa Mouse would be coming riding on the sleigh with Santa. Santa Mouse’s job was to bring jewelry, and not just costume jewelry either-FINE JEWELRY. Since my children would be finding their Santa gifts along with their cousin it would be pretty obvious that no jewelry had been left for them and clearly Santa favored their older cousin and she had the inside track for the good stuff. Of course I couldn’t let that happen.

This tradition, started by my brother caused me to make a last minute trip to the mall on Christmas Eve (which no one should ever have to do) and look for jewelry that would pass for fine to my 3 and 5 year olds without causing additional debt to my single mom credit card. Needless to say, this was not one of my favorite Christmas memories but we have laughed about it a lot in subsequent years.

I share this story for one reason only. If you have the chance to have a quiet little Christmas morning for two, complete with Cherry Cinnamon Rolls and Rudolph’s Nose cocktails in front of the fire, then and only then should Santa Mouse have visited. Fine Jewelry is not for children after all.

Merry Christmas!

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Christmas Dinner Tradition

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Posted December 19th, 2011 in Holiday, Posts

Almost every year of my life I have traveled to Southern California to my parent’s home for Christmas. That we celebrate with my parents and my sister’s family is the tradition. What we eat and when we have the big meal has changed over the years depending on who else is there and where else somebody has to go. For most of my life my mother has cooked numerous meals over the course of the days surrounding the holiday. When I picture my mother, I always picture her standing in the kitchen preparing food for hours, just like her mother before her. She is a GREAT cook! But she turned 85 this year and it is hard for her to stand for hours like she used to. So the last few years my sister and I have taken some of the meals on. So we don’t really have a traditional meal anymore except of course the breakfast casserole my sister makes for Christmas morning.

Dinner has been a variety of things-my niece and brother made a mushroom stuffed chicken breast one year and we have done pork roast several different ways. Once we even had a selection of appetizers each made by one of the girls.

It is challenging to cook a big dinner in someone else’s kitchen, even your mom’s. The oven is fancier than mine, and I don’t always know where she keeps various kitchen appliances and tools. But we make it work and the collaborative effort has become something of a tradition as well. My daughter, Kaitlin usually helps me plan the menu and serves as sous chef. Mom runs around getting us this and that. I don’t think it is very relaxing for her but she doesn’t complain. I think she likes spending time with us but it is hard for her to take a supporting role in the kitchen.

This year we decided on a Pork Roast with Raspberry Mustard Glaze, a Carrot Gratin, green beans almandine and a lovely winter fruit salad with arugula, grapefruit, Asian pears and pomegranate seeds. It is labor intensive because it should be individually plated but it looks beautiful and, after all, it’s Christmas! For dessert I plan to raid her Meyer Lemon tree for a Meyer Lemon Cake. If you have followed this blog you know I am all about a colorful plate and I think we hit the mark.

We will be missing some family around the table this year but we will appreciate the ones we have and send our love to the others because love is what Christmas is really all about.