Produce Box from Full Circle Farm

We got our first box of organic produce from Full Circle Farm today. Everything in the box is really beautiful produce, and I am sure looking forward to eating all of it. We chose to pick up our box of produce, but we could have had it delivered if we wanted to. One of the things I really like about FCF is that we can swap out anything on the list for something else. So, what did we get this week? Here is what was in our box:

• Celery
  
• Red potatoes
  
• Carrots
  
• Broccoli
  
• Avocados
  
• Salad mix
  
• Zucchini
  
• Red D'Anjou pears
  
• Oranges
  
• Braeburn apples
  
• Fuji apples
  
• Cameo apples
  

On My Soapbox

Okay, I have to rant. I love blogging and am all for people sharing cool stuff that they find on the Internet. But I am not happy with people stealing somebody else’s work and implying that it is their own (this is plagiarism).

Case in point is some of my apple recipes. Now, I know that recipes are in that quasi area when it comes to copyright status. But that only pertains to the ingredients list, not the words surrounding how to put those ingredients together. I do not object to people copying and posting any of my recipes as long as they attribute the recipe to me and include a link back to the original recipe (some of which have been updated along the way).

But, how do I know the recipe is mine and not theirs? Well, in the case of my apple cake recipe, I include information on what is my favorite way to eat the cake, and have seen that suggestion word-for-word in the copies. I also had a typo (recently corrected), and that typo occurs in the unattributed copies. In the case of my apple green tomato relish recipe, the title of the original recipe (handwritten by my husband’s grandmother over 50 years ago, I have the original) never had the word “apple” in the title.

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now and return you to the Internet we love so much. But don’t get me started on the plagiarism I have found of my occupied Japan content.

Valentine's Day 2010

Craig and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day today (Saturday, Feb 13) because we new we would be babysitting Colby and Brynna tomorrow. So, after a quick trip to Costco (gotta get there early before it gets too crowded), we headed downtown to the Seattle waterfront to have lunch at Elliott's Oyster House.

We got there when they first opened, at 11:00, and were seated at a very nice table near the window. Our waiter (I think his name was Jeff) soon brought us our drinks -- Elliott's Apple Slice, a non-alcoholic drink with a mix of cranberry juice and sour apple. Yum! Because of a recent discovery of a wheat allergy, we asked about the calamari. The menu version, unfortunately, is fried with a light flour coating. But Jeff checked with the chef and found out that he (the chef) could saute the calamari in olive oil and garlic (skip the flour) and serve it with diced tomatoes. Perfect!

So, with that information, we ordered

• Calamari (Sauted in garlic and olive oil, tossed with diced tomato.)
  
• Geoduck Tartar Appetizer (Fresh geoduck thinly sliced and marinated in lime juice, fresh ginger and cilantro. Served with a shaved cucumber and daikon sprout salad.)
  
• Halibut Cheeks Piccatta (Alaskan halibut cheeks sauteed with artichoke hearts, button mushrooms, capers, clam nectar, lemon juice and white wine. Finished with butter and served with black pearl barley rice and market vegetables.)
  
• Fresh Wild Columbia River Sturgeon (Sturgeon fl ash seared golden then poached in spicy coconut-lemon grass milk. Served with a forbidden rice cake and seared baby bok choy.)
  

After we finished lunch, we headed south towards Kent and Haley's Corner Bakery, a 100% gluten-free bakery that my sister, Linda, told me about. (She is friend's with Haley's mom and grandmother.) At Haley's Corner, we decided to try one of their cinnamon rolls and a slice of their cherry cheesecake. The cinnamon roll was at least four inches across, and barely fit into the take-out box. The cherry cheesecake was a sizeable piece, too, and was almost too tall for the take-out box. Both were absolutely delicious; in fact, the cinnamon roll was the best I had ever had. Who would have guessed that both the roll and the cheesecake were gluten-free!

Following the scrumptious dessert, we now headed towards the Commons At Federal Way to see the Lightning Thief at the Century Theater. We got to the theater just in time to see the start of the previews for upcoming movies. Not bad timing. We enjoyed the movie (didn't bother getting any popcorn since we were full of lots of scrumptious food).

After the movie, we decided that a perfect finish to a really fun day would be to stop at our favorite Tukwila Starbucks and have our favorite drinks: a green tea Frappuchino (extra matcha, no whip) for Craig and a caramel blended coffee Frappuchino (with protien powder, no whip) for me. Yum!

What a great Valentine's Day we had, even if it was a day early.

Cathy's Gluten-Free Apple Cake

Although any variety of apple works in this cake, I like to use a combination of varieties, particularly Golden Delicious, Criterion, and McIntosh.

After learning that my grandson is allergic to nuts and that I am gluten-intolerant, I decided to modify my original apple cake recipe and make it both nut and gluten free. Enjoy! Feel free to let me know what you think.

Bowl 1:

• 5 cups peeled and diced apples
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 1/3 cup salad oil
  
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
• 2 eggs, well beaten
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Bowl 2:

• either
  
  • 3 cups commercially prepared gluten-free flour mix (I use King Arthur Flour glutenfree multi-purpose flour)
  
  -or-
  
  • 2 cups brown rice flour
    
  • 2/3 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)
    
  • 1/3 cup tapioca starch or tapioca flour
  
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 tablespoon xanthum gum

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In Bowl 1, mix apples and sugar thoroughly. Add oil, chocolate chips,
eggs, and vanilla. In Bowl 2, mix dry ingredients together. Add Bowl 2 to Bowl 1 and mix thoroughly. Bake in a greased 13x9 inch pan for 70 minutes (but start watching the cake for doneness at 1 hour).

When done, this cake will be dry to the touch on top and just starting to pull away from the sides. It will still be moist inside.

Serve frosted or unfrosted. This cake is one of those that you can pretty much finish and serve however you like. If you want to frost it, a sour cream frosting is very nice. Whipping cream or ice cream go very well with it, too. My favorite way to eat it, though, is with no frosting at all.