Food Swap – Make and Take Gals Style

As promised, the Make and Take Gals delivered big last Thursday evening with our version of a Food Swap!   Fourteen ladies gathered at Pam’s home eager to share their homemade goodies.  All of them, except Pam and I, were new to food swapping so the excitement level was high. 

 Food Swap How To Video!

Compared to the Portland food swap Pam and I attended in June, this one was the suburban version.  Complete with an all-friends guest list, light appetizers instead of a pot-luck dinner, and no strict rules on “green” packaging, I believe the formula was just right.  We limited the time to an hour and a half which was perfect for mingling, munching, and bartering.  

Raspberry White Chocolate Squares!

What I love most about a food swap is the flexibility.  Attendees can get creative and bring whatever item they like in whatever quantity they like.  Of course, the only rule is it must be homemade or home grown.  We had a fantastic assortment of treats taking advantage of summer’s bounty; orange blossom granola, raspberry brownies, lemon tea cakes, fruit & wine jellies, freshly picked blueberries, potpourri, organic farm honey, banoffee pie, and peanut butter crunch bars.  Of course, The Make and Take Gals got completely into it and rounded out the offering list.  In fact, my watermelon salsa, Pam’s raspberry dessert sauce on pound cake, Poh’s spice rubbed chicken and potatoes, and Mary Jo’s wine jelly over cheese did double duty as appetizers and samples.  It worked out perfectly.

Festive Watermelon Salsa!

After donning name tags that served to introduce themselves and their items, guests were free to roam, sign up for goodies, and strategize on what they hoped to swap for.  At the end of ten minutes, Pam announced it was time and the bartering began.  A new energy filled the room as ladies hustled back and forth making swaps.  I reached the granola too late, but got two pints of blueberries instead.  It always seems to work out.  The twelve jars of salsa I arrived with quickly turned into a dozen new treats – an amazing haul.  What a successful evening.  Well done, Make and Take Gals!

All my best,

Jean 

Here are a few of the many amazing items that were SWAPPED!

 

 Meat and vegi rubs!

Home spun Honey with fresh basil and zucchini extras!

 

Fresh Blueberries!

Darling Potpourri!

Recipes

Basic Chicken Rub 

(Poh)  

2/3 c chili powder
1/2 c sugar
4 tbs kosher salt
4 tbs onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients
Store in airtight container indefinitely.   

From Epicurious May 2011

I used this rub on boiled baby potatoes and added some olive oil. Baked at 400F 
for about 20mins or till crispy. 

Dry Chimichurri Rub 

Makes 3/4c 

(Poh)

3 tbs dried oregano leaves
3 tbs dried basil leaves
2 tbs dried parsley
2 tbs dried thyme
2 tbs coarse kosher salt
1 tbs freshly grd black pepper
1 tbs dried savory leaves
1 tbs smoked paprika( pimenton dulce)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 to2 tsp dried crushed red pepper

Whisk all ingredients.
Store at room temperature. 
       
Serving suggestions:
Rub all over lamb or flank steak/ tri-tip steak before roasting; sprinkle over 
halibut before pan-searing, make a marinade for roast chicken by whisking 1/4 cup 
rub with 1/2cup olive oil and 3tbs red wine vinegar. It is also good sprinkled in an omelet.

From Bon Appetit Dec 2007

White Chocolate and Raspberry Spread

(Pam)

Prep: 35 min.    Process:  10 min.

6 cups raspberries

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 box powdered fruit pectin

6 cups sugar

9 oz. white baking chocolate (WITH COCOA BUTTER), finely chopped

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1.  In a 4 to 6 quart heavy pot, use a potato masher to slightly crush raspberries.  Add vanilla bean.  Heat raspberry mixture over medium heat for 5 min., stirring occasionally.  Slowly add the pectin, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar. Return to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2.  Remove from heat. Discard vanilla bean. Add white chocolate, stirring until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in vanilla extract.

3.  Ladle hot spread into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. 

Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.

4.  Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (start timing when the water 

returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks.

Makes 8 half pint jars. Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Special
Interest Publication: Canning

My family prefers seedless jam, so I ran the raspberries through a fine sieve to remove the seeds prior to cooking. 

I served this spread on small squares of pound cake , topping each square with a perfect fresh raspberry for garnish.  The recipe suggests sandwiching this beautiful spread between 2 cookies or between 2 thin slices of pound cake.

Walla Walla Sweet Onion and Watermelon Salsa

(Jean)

A colorful, refreshing change from traditional salsa, serve with corn chips, chicken, fish, or pork.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, Walla Walla onions are plentiful, but feel free to use any sweet, white onion you have.

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno chilies

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups chopped, seeded watermelon

1 cup chopped Walla Walla or other sweet white onion

1 cup chopped fresh orange sections

In large bowl, stir together orange marmalade, cilantro, chilies, vinegar, garlic, and salt.  Add watermelon, onion and orange; gently toss until combined.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

Wine Jelly

(MJ)

  

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups wine (Use your favorite drinking wine)
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 (2 ounce) package dry pectin
• 4 1/2 cups white sugar

1. Combine wine, lemon juice, and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam off top, if necessary.
2. Ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Tighten 2 piece lids. Process based on your canning instructions.

Wine Jelly is delicious served over a goat cheese or savory flavored cheese, sprinkled with hazelnuts and served with crackers. Saludos! 

Easy Sangria

(Jean)

For a quick and refreshing wine beverage, pair bottled sangria with fresh fruit.  This drink is quick and easy and only gets better as the flavors mingle with seasonal fruits.

2 bottles (750 ml each) Sangria

fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries, oranges, blueberries, cantaloupe, honey dew, etc)

Pour sangria in to large pitcher.  Add fruit, sliced if necessary, and

chill for a day or even overnight.

Vanilla Lemonade

(MJ)

1 Bottle of Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade or homemade from your own lemons

1 half vanilla bean

Split the vanilla bean with a sharp knife and scrape seed paste into the lemon aid, then put the split bean in as well. Allow vanilla and lemonade to blend over night for a mellow and refreshing flavor. Pour over ice and watch your guests come back for more!

An Empty Nest and No Plans! Woowhoo!

With a promise of sunny skies and warm temperatures, my husband and I headed out on one of our newly minted “empty nest adventures”.  The idea here is that no advance planning takes place, as opposed to our twenty plus child rearing years, when EVERYTHING had to be planned out in advance.  Ah….what a luxury….pure spontaneity! 

After breakfast, my husband pulled out his beloved convertible, I grabbed a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen and off we went.  Where were we headed?  The possibilities were endless!  We knew that we wanted a day trip…no reservation hassle, or cost of a hotel, just a day filled with fun and adventure.  We zipped through Portland and arrived at the I-5 corridor.  North or South???  Wow, what fun!  We chose North since the weather was great and going toward Seattle usually means cooler temperatures, making it not always the best option in often cool temperatures.  We conclude that we should seize the chance to enjoy sunny, warm temperatures while they were offered.  North, we headed!  How far North?  Seattle, Mt. Rainier, Gig Harbor?  Our minds were buzzing.  No planning….just go! 

We popped in Katy Perry’s CD and headed North, big smiles on our faces, our hair flying everywhere!  Along the route, about an hour and a half north of Portland, we saw a sign for Mt. Saint Helens.  That was it!  We had been your typical Mt. Saint Helen’s tourists a few times since moving to the Northwest, but this time would be different…no kids…no timeline…no educational moment.  A whole new perspective to see something familiar, would it be as fun?

In a word – YES!  A lot of fun!  It’s a beautiful route, full of mountain views, clear lakes, and waterfalls, rushing streams and one amazing vista after another.  Seeing it from a convertible for the first time was eye opening.  We actually saw an eagle gliding over our heads!  That’s one of our favorite Northwest sights.  It never stops being awe inspiring to see our national bird in its natural setting.

We grabbed some sandwiches at a small sandwich shop along the route and vowed not to eat them until the right setting presented itself.  Twenty minutes later, we saw a sign for a state park.  That was our lunch destination.  After satisfying our hungry stomachs in a fun forested setting, we headed off again for the mountain.  Along our route, we saw a sign for Coldwater Lake, a scenic picnic spot with restrooms and trails to enjoy.  A small hike sounded fun, so we turned in.  The lake wasn’t very deep, but was amazingly clear.  Dragonflies were dancing off the water everywhere.  In the background was Mt. Saint Helens.  Why did I leave my camera at home?  I did shoot off a few pictures with my phone at least.  After walking the easy loop beside the lake, we jumped back in the car headed towards the Johnson Visitor Center.  Upon arriving, we took in the beauty that the high elevation unveiled, and headed to the Visitor Center.  Then it struck us, we didn’t need to make this a learning moment.  We didn’t have to learn about the process of regrowth after a major eruption; we were empty nesters!  No learning moments required!  We giggled, turned around and didn’t even enter the visitor’s center!  That was not our plan for today….maybe next time…we’ll see.  No plans, remember?

Live life! Pam

Make and Take Gals Homemade or Homegrown Food Swap

That's right, the Make and Take Gals are hosting their very first food SWAP! 20 participants come together with home made or home harvested goodies and crafts to barter and trade. Pam has created a fun version on this new trend here in Portland. The Make and Take Gals will be providing the fresh eats and creative libations, but basically everyone is anticipating seeing each other and catching up on whats new! So stay tuned for a photo update of the fun day!

Strawberry Fields Forever

Summer has finally arrived in Portland, after an especially cold and soggy Spring.  The saying goes in the Northwest that Summer doesn’t actually begin until after the 4^th of July.  Well, here it is the 4^th of July and I am enjoying one of my favorite rites of Summer in Portland….picking strawberries at a neighboring farm.  I love picking my own produce throughout the summer.  We are blessed with the abundance of produce and accessible u-pick farms throughout the rural areas surrounding Portland.  The very first crop available to pick is strawberries.  The varieties that are grown here are amazing…juicy, red flesh throughout, fragrant, and although small…they pack a wonderful strawberry flavor. 

Containers in hand, my husband, daughter and I headed out early on the 4^th to a nearby farm about 10 minutes from our home.  Our mission was to pick enough ripe, juicy berries to yield at least 10 servings of strawberry shortcake for dessert that evening at our 4^th of July barbeque.  This was the first year that we have gone to this particular farm.  What a pleasant surprise.  Not only were the fields groomed …tidy straw placed neatly between each row of strawberry plants, but there were acres and acres of perfectly symmetrical (ah….order!) rows of strawberry plants set amid the breathtaking backdrop of green rolling hills and the coastal range mountains.  It was picture perfect.  I couldn’t ask for a prettier setting for the task at hand.  Being a non-native Oregonian, I am still in awe of the natural beauty of the landscape.  Every vista is postcard worthy.

Looking around, I noticed that we were not the only family that morning.  It seemed like picking strawberries as a family tradition was something that many families upheld.  I loved watching the parents of young children explaining the virtues of choosing red, ripe berries over the unripe green berries that their toddlers seemed to select! As my family settled in by choosing their perfect rows, we challenged each other to see who would fill their containers first.  After a little more than 30 minutes, we compared our yields.  Both my husband and I had our containers nearly full.  My daughter, on the other hand, had only 4 perfect berries in her container.  When I asked her the reason she said that she was going for perfection and those were the only berries that met her high standards!  Trying to reason with my 19 year old, who is always looking for a reason to “push my buttons”, I took the wind out of her sails by telling her that she was right, they were perfect.  I was just glad to have her along for the adventure!  We then took our heaping containers over to the farm stand and were
amazed that we had picked exactly 15 pounds at $1 per pound.  For $15 we had fresh berries for our 4^th of July barbeque with enough extras to freeze for strawberry smoothies throughout the summer.  The best result though was having made another great memory with my lovely daughter.  I’m sure we’ll be laughing about her 4 perfect berries for years to come.

Happy picking! Pam  

Field Trip:Food SWAP Comes To Portland!

I’m feeling very hip at the moment.  Hip on the food scene, that is.  I recently attended a food swap here in Portland, OR.  Jumping on the table with New York, Seattle, London, and Austin, it was the perfect event for our city – a bit weird, a bit green, very domestic.  If you can’t put up some cans of summer crops (think tomatoes or berry jams) or bake something scrumptious, you are missing some major domestic goddess qualities.  June Cleaver is a serious role model these days, haven’t you heard?

It was a beautiful June evening when I joined twenty-five other food-lovers gathered at a home in east Portland.  The mood was casual and comfortable, a bit awkward for me; being both new at food swaps and only knowing fellow Make and Take Gal, Pam, who had enthusiastically registered for the event too.   However, no worries, the excitement of wondering what my stash would yield quickly dissolved any anxieties.  So what was protocol?  Our expressions must have revealed our naivety because the hostess suddenly appeared and directed us outside to awaiting tables where we would display our wares.  We were some of the first to arrive.  As we chose a table, more and more women trickled out to the backyard laden with homemade goodies to trade.  You could clearly sense the pride as these 20 to 50 year olds lovingly displayed their items.

I had made gluten-free strawberry rhubard bars; something I thought would be enjoyed for its sweet, delicate texture and use of in-season ingredients.  I put a gluten-free spin on it for two reasons – gluten-free is in demand these days, and my gf husband wanted to nibble on the crumbs while I did the packaging.   I also brought cranberry and wine jelly from Mary Jo as she couldn’t attend the swap at the last minute.  The rich garnet color of her preserves was the perfect backdrop for my polka-dot wrapped bundles.  As I put the last of my bars out, I looked over and Pam had nicely displayed her chocolate dipped, gourmet caramel apples.  Bagged in crisp cellophane and tied with raffia, I knew her items would be a total hit.  I hoped she would save one for me.  By this time, all twenty five guests had assembled their items and we were instructed to start perusing the potential swaps.  What would I try to barter for?  There were so many choices.

Everything from canned jams and pickled onions graced the tables.  Granola and oat brittle looked amazing.  Fresh medicinal herbs, homemade kombucha tea and kefir raised my eyebrows.  Peanutella and smoked almonds were high on my trade list.  The most unusual items included line-caught Oregon tuna, homemade laundry soap, and freshly cooked garden snails.  The swapping would commence soon – what would I go for?  How could I be sure to get all my favorites?  We were instructed to write our name and trade on the sheet in front of any item we were interested in.  Everything looked so good, I chose several, scribbled my name, and crossed my fingers.  Our hostess instructed us to commence trading ‘in the spirit of friendship’ – no throwing elbows here.  Good thing we had name tags on so I could find the ladies I needed to approach.  

Deals were made easily, and I soon had only a couple items left.  My box of loot was varied and bursting.  I couldn’t wait to dig into the Peanutella – score!  Everyone seemed happy to give and receive.  The initial fervor of the exchange had calmed down and we were all admiring our stash.  It was only later I learned that Pam had actually been turned down on a trade.  Her cellophane bag had offended a fellow swapper – plastic was apparently not cool.  A bit disappointing for Pam, but understandable and certainly respectable – we all have our principles.  Who knew?  This was an organic, earthy crowd; certainly Portland at its best.

The evening ended with a nice potluck dinner.  I finally got to try kale chips; I think I will make those at home.  We mingled briefly, ate, and were on our way.  We chuckled as we crossed the bridge and headed back to the west side suburbs.  What a great, new experience.  Pam and I agreed we had to host our own swap.  This was right up our Make and Take Gals alley.

Enjoy!   ~ Jean