Monthly Archives: December 2014

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Raspberry-flavored Butter

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This really shouldn’t taste as good as it does.

Raspberry Butter
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup raspberry puree (from unsweetened fresh or frozen berries sieved for seeds)
1-2 tablespoons honey

When making most flavored butters, you start with soft, room-temperature butter, and just mash it up in a bowl with the other ingredients.
For making Raspberry
Butter, I use a food processor, because there was no way the puree goes willingly into the butter. It made a real mess whether I
used a spoon or a wire whisk.

 I’m here to tell you, the effort is well worth it, because the results taste sort of like raspberry
whipped cream.

You can put the butter into a decorative crock for serving, or make it into a log as is shown in the above photo. Simply take a length of waxed paper, carefully place the butter along the length to form into a roll, and use the paper to help form the log. Roll it fairly tight, tape it closed, then place on a rimmed baking sheet and into the chill-box to firm up for slicing later.

Raspberry butter tastes good on warm rolls, on crisp almond crackers, in your oatmeal, on your pinky finger.

I would wear this butter as a dress if i thought I could get away with it.

For Llewellyn’s 2015 Herbal Almanac:

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Home-made Honey Almond Granola

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Look what’s cooking in The Wild & Weedy Kitchen…

Sometimes, all the bells and whistles in the world can’t entice us away from making our old favorite, Honey Almond Granola. I have adapted my recipe from one I found in another old favorite, the book SNACKERS by Maureen and Jim Wallace. I have had this book since 1984, purchasing it from the place I worked at and loved, Sunrise Natural Foods in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I learned so much working for Audrey, not only about our products, and about what I could do given the task, but about how to treat people. She was generous, friendly, down-to-earth (she used to own a bar in Montana and “could drink any man under the table”!), and a very good listener. Qualities anyone could learn to hone.

I have adapted the recipe so it makes about a gallon jar’s worth. My hubby doesn’t care for coconut, so I use more seeds and nuts, but I do use coconut oil. I don’t add raisins or dried fruit until the end, otherwise they burn.

This batch got a little on the toasty side, but it still tastes great… what’s left of it! Do you think I need to replace the foil on my stove-top? 

Honey Almond Granola – makes 1 gallon
10 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole-grain flour, or gluten-free blend
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
2 cups coarsely chopped almonds
1 big pinch salt
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup water
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit, if desired
vanilla or cinnamon, if desired

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
In a small pan, soften the honey and coconut oil in the water until just melted.  
Add the vanilla or cinnamon if using.
Stir to mix well, then pour over the oat mixture in the large bowl. 
Stir to distribute well.
Line 3 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, 
then spread granola equally amongst them, pressing to make as even as possible.
Bake at 300-degrees for 20 minutes, then rotate pans, 
doing this 2 more times.
Turn off oven and let granola cool to crisp up. 
Store in a glass gallon jar. 
 

You can see from the cover that this book is not only 30 years old, it is also well used! And it appears to be out of print, but apparently there are some used copies you can find on Amazon. There are some dated recipes using soy grits and wheat-germ and stuff like that, but mostly they are easy-peasy and family-friendly (and easily adaptable). I think any child would love to hand-shape their own Frootsie Rolls (from the section Candy Snacks – worth the price of the book alone)!

I don’t think I need to tell you how to eat granola, but I like it best with yogurt. Yum!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0888941935/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used