In Season Recipe: Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula

WHAT?
A recipe?
What does that have to do with crafting, or business owning, or the New York Etsy Team?

Veggies, Fruit and More! Community Supported Agriculture Is In Season!

I am oh, so excited friends!

Today is the first day of my 22-week summer vegetable share from my local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and I've been waiting excitably for this day.

Tomatoes from last year's CSA share

Around the Corner: Stone Barns Center

Just 25 miles north of Manhattan you will find a slice of farm heaven --  Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.  Stone Barns is not only a beautiful 80-acre non-profit four-season farm/educational gateway to farming and sustainability, it also happens to have a fresher than fresh farmers market, a lovely gift shop, a cafe, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant.  Worth to check out?  You betchya!  This amazing place is open to the public all year Wednesday - Sunday, and what a treat it is!

An upcoming event sure to be fun for the whole family is Stone Barns Center's 7th Annual Harvest Fest -- filled with live music, hayrides, a pie bake-off, workshops on food and farming, and more!  

When: October 2nd, 10AM-3PM, for more info click here.

Thanks so much for stopping on by!  If there's something neat to do in your neck of the woods, please leave a suggestion in the comment section (it must be located somewhere in the NY Tri-State area).

Until next time,

Virginia Kraljevic

Fresh Berry Crumble

The best part about Summer is the fantastic fresh fruit available. Sure, you can pretty much get anything all year round in your typical supermarket, but nothing beats fresh fruit that is in season, and even better, that is local.

A couple of months ago, I was visiting a farmer's market and came across a nice gentleman selling some raspberry/apple crumble. It was simply delicious, and left me wanting more. I went back to the same market a couple of weeks later, and could not find the same vendor.

I was crushed, and still craving this delicious dessert. Frustrated and seriously upset, I went to my fave recipe spot: allrecipes.com and found a great recipe so I could make my own fruit crumble!

I settled on a recipe that called for 3 berries, but I decided to use blueberries and strawberries. I also loved this particular recipe because it was made with crumble on the top and bottom....yum!

So without further ado, here is the recipe (w/a few tweaks.)

Ingredients:

2 pints of strawberries (sliced)
2 pints of blueberries
1 cup of flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1 stick of butter

Directions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. melt butter in a saucepan, remove from the stove & mix in the rest of the ingredients except for the fruit
3. press 1/2 the oat mixture into the bottom of a small cakepan (8" or 9" square,) top with the fruit, then cover with the remaining crumble
4. bake in the oven for 30-40 mins, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
5. spoon into small bowls and enjoy (also tastes great w/ice cream!)


ok, a few notes/variations....

1. you can add a few tbsp of regular sugar (or splenda) to the fruit depending on the tartness
2. you can sub peaches, apples, raspberries, or whatever fruit you like best (keep in mind, apples may need a bit longer in the oven)
3. this recipe is really easy to double...just make sure to use a larger pan.
4. be careful, this crumble is a bit addictive. I have bags of fruit in my freezer just waiting for the next opportunity to make some more!

-Nordea
Nordea's Soaperie
Nordea's Soaperie (on etsy)