Carrot Pineapple Cake

Ingredients:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
•
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and add sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple.
3. Pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Don't panic, the center will sink a little. Allow to cool.
4. To make the frosting: Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until creamy.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-pineapple-cake-i/detail.aspx

Kosher Garlic and Dill Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients:
• 3-4 pounds (1 1/2-2 kilo) young and small cucumbers (dark green, firm, warty skin)
• 2-4 sprigs of fresh dill
• 6-8 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and cut in half
• water
• kosher salt
• white vinegar

Directions:
1. In a large jar, place 2 sprigs of dill and 3-4 cloves of garlic.
2. Wash and snip off ends of cucumbers. Put cucumbers in the jar until it is full.
3. Add water to the jar, one cup at a time. Then add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar for every 3 cups of water added.
4. Top with 2 more sprigs of dill and 3-4 more cloves of garlic.
5. Once the jar is filled to the top, seal jar. Gently shake to mix.
6. Set in window or outside where it will get some sun. Allow approximately 4 days for fermenting. If you like more sour pickles, can can let them stay in the jar for an extra day or two.
7. Refrigerate.

TIPS:

1. Use cucumbers that are small, young, dark green, firm, and have warty skin.
2. The jar should be filled to the top with the cucumbers and water (see photo).
3. The vinegar ensures the pickles will be crunchy and not soft. So if you like a hard pickle, add a bit more vinegar.
4. If you want your pickles to be ready in less than 4 days, you can boil the water with the salt and vinegar. Let it stand so it gets to room temperature. And then add it to the cucumbers. This speeds the fermenting time.
Source:
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/sidedishes/r/pickles.htm

Bread and Butter Pickles

Ingredients:
• 4 pounds pickling cucumbers
• 1 large onion, quartered, sliced about 1/4-inch thickness
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds, or use half pickling spices
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Directions:
Wash cucumbers and cut off the ends. Slice crosswise into 1/8-inch slices. Toss in a large bowl with the salt and onion slices; cover with about 4 to 6 cups of ice cubes. Cover and let stand for 4 hours or refrigerate overnight.
Prepare the boiling water bath. Add water to a large canner with rack and heat to about 180°. The water should be high enough to be at least 1 inch above the filled jars. I usually fill it about halfway and I keep a kettle or saucepan of water boiling on another burner to add to the canner as needed. Wash jars thoroughly and heat water in a small saucepan; put the lids in the saucepan and bring almost to the boil; lower heat to very low to keep the lids hot.
Drain the cucumber mixture. In a large pot (nonreactive) over medium heat, combine the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add the drained cucumber mixture and bring to a boil. With a slotted spoon, loosely pack the vegetables in prepared jars. Ladle the liquid into jars, dividing evenly among the jars. With a clean damp cloth (I keep a little bowl or cup of the boiled water handy for this step), wipe away any drips around the rims of the jars then cover with 2-piece jar lids. A lid lifter comes in handy to get the flat lids out of the water, or you could use tongs. Adjust the screw on rings firmly but do not over-tighten. Place filled in the prepared boiling water bath, adding more hot water as needed to bring the water up to about 1 inch above the jars. Bring the water to a boil. Cover and continue boiling for 10 minutes. Lift the jars out of the water and place on a rack to cool.

Makes about 6 pints.

Source:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/picklesrelishes/r/r80722e.htm

Fresh Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Yield: Makes 1 cup.

Source:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fresh_basil_pesto/

Picking Techniques for Basil and Beans

Basil
When harvesting basil, I find it helpful to think about the way the plant grows, and how harvesting it can affect that directional growth. Imagine energy and nutrients coming up from the roots, into the basil stem, and out through its leaves. When you are harvesting, you always want to make a cut such that you are leaving the plant with a place for that energy and nutrients to go and be used. To do this, always cut immediately above, and as close as possible to, a set of leaves. This way, those leaves can receive the energy coming up the stem of the plant. You do not want to cut the stem half way between two sets of leaves, leaving a “stump” of a stem left. In this case, nutrients will travel up the stem, and come to a dead end, with no outlet for growth. This type of pruning or harvesting will encourage the basil to grow more bushy, with fuller branches and more leaves for you to harvest in the future!

Beans
Beans are much more easy to harvest than basil. The only thing you need to remember is that beans are fragile. I suggest harvesting with two hands, one holding the stem of the plant and one removing the actual bean. Sometimes if you just grab a bean, you’ll pull the whole branch, or even the whole plant out of the ground. Beans also really like to hide. In an effort to ease you all into camouflage bean hunting, our first planting of beans is purple! These purple beans should jump out more than the green ones that blend into the green leaves. Hopefully by the time the next planting comes in, which is green, you’ll be experts at spotting them in the jungle of bean bushes

Want to Make Pesto, But Don't Want to Pay So Much for Pine Nuts?

Shareholder and Weavers Way IT Manager, Tanya Rotenberg has a creative solution. She is interested in forming a group of shareholders who are willing to share the cost of a bulk order of pine nuts, thus reducing the cost for everyone. She can pre-order a case from Weavers Way Co-op. One case is ten pounds. If people took a pound or a half pound, we could get them for about $28.50/pound. The regular price is $36.75/pound. If she can get enough takers, she can get a case with about 2 weeks notice. For co-op members, she could even look up how many pounds you bought last year (Tanya personally bought around a pound from August to September). They refrigerate well and if you are using them for pesto you can even freeze them. Tanya has offered to bring the pine nut shares to the CSA to distribute the week they arrive.
If you are interested, please email Tanya directly (not me!) at: Tanya@weaversway.coop