Field Trip! with a Snack

Remember the excitement of a school field trip?
Free from the confining classroom! Be outside!
Who are you going to sit with on the bus? Sit with me!
Same seats coming back!

I relived it all yesterday with my daughter's class.
On a day that passes as early spring in Maine, we went to Jillson's Farm in Sabbatus, to learn about maple sugaring.
You may think of maple as sort of a fall flavoring (pumpkin pie, etc.), but spring is when the sap flows. In fact, the very first sign of spring, all over northern New England, is a sap bucket hanging from a tap in a maple tree.

Did you know it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup? The sap gets boiled down in the sugarhouse for hours until all that remains is the very essence of maple. There's nothing else to it. Just time. patience, warm days and cold nights.

This is Mr. Jillson, in the sugarhouse. He's been making maple syrup and other maple treats for a long time and had lots of stories for the kids.

And this is Mrs. Wilcox, who works at the farm and cares for the animals. She's holding Mom Goose, a 19 year old blind goose, who likes to give hugs. A little freaky, in a fun kind of way.

Look at that face! I may not be posting about bacon for awhile.
But then again nothing goes better with farm fresh eggs...

Jillson's Farm bottles and sells its maple syrup. A field trip with baby animals and shopping?
 Best. Field. Trip. Ever.

So guess who's getting a taste of Maine?
You!

I put together a nice package from the farm: 1 quart of pure Maine maple syrup, a big bag of maple kettle corn, Maine wild blueberry jam and 2 maple moose pops.
Just leave a comment telling  me your favorite way to use maple syrup. I'll pick a winner at random and send  the goods your way, asap.
And let me know if you're a fan on my Facebook page. Fans will get their names put in for two chances to win.

Here's something to whet your appetite. I made mini-muffins for the kids and larger ones for the adult chaperones. Wholesome, healthy, easy and delicious. In fact, these may be the easiest muffins I've ever made.

Maple Oatmeal-Apple Muffins
adapted from Epicurious


1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup oats

2 tsps. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsps. ground cinnamon (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

2 tsps. vanilla extract

1 apple, diced

optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts and/or 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (or spray generously with baking spray).
Combine first six (flour through salt) ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend.
Whisk buttermilk, applesauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla in medium bowl until well blended. Add to dry ingredients, along with chopped apple and any other optional ingredients. Stir just to incorporate - do not over mix!

Divide batter equally among muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are golden brown and tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 28-30 minutes.
Transfer to rack and cool.

Note: I made 24 mini-muffins, which baked for about 18-20 minutes, and six regular size muffins with this recipe.

Like a Pie, But Not a Pie

My daughter has a friend who goes around saying "Hi, I like pie."
Well, who doesn't?

Pie is as all-American as it gets. It's moms in aprons, screen doors slamming and front porches. Pie is like Bruce Springsteen, baseball and the Fourth of July all mixed together then finished off with a heaping scoop of Thanksgiving.

Is there pie in France?
Tartes, oui. Pies, non.


And Italy? No pie.
But there is crostada. And I have to admit to a real fondness for crostada.
It's a little like pie in that there's a crust and a fruit filling.
But it's also a little like a dolce pizza, so it can be sliced into wedges and eaten by hand. Plus this crostada has an apple crisp-like topping.

What's not to like about that?

And aside from letting the dough chill in the fridge, it's very quick and simple to make. I think it's less of a time investment than pie, but the taste is certainly no compromise.

Apple Maple Crostada, adapted from Barefoot Contessa


Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsps. granulated or superfine sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 lb. (one stick) very cold, unsalted butter, diced

2 Tbsps. ice water

Filling:
3 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into large dice
(I use a mix of Golden Delicious, McIntosh and whatever else there is at the market. Try not to use just McIntosh, as they'll get too mushy.)

2 Tbsps. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. each ground cinnamon and allspice

4 Tbsps. (1/2 stick) butter

For the crust, place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 12-15 more times, or until the butter is pea-sized. Then with the motor running, add the ice water all at once. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop just before the dough becomes one solid ball. Remove from food processor and place on a well-floured surface. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Flour a rolling pin and either a large cutting board or your countertop. Roll dough into a large circle (or some semblance of a round shape) and transfer to a lined baking sheet.

Toss apple pieces with maple syrup and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Cover the dough with apple pieces, leaving a 1 1/2" border all around.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a small bowl. Add the butter and with your hands, rub all ingredients until they start to stick together. Sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the apples. Gently fold the the pastry border up and over the apples, enclosing them around the edges, pleating and folding as necessary.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender. Allow to cool before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

Coming later this week...the blog-iversary with giveaway. Stay tuned!

Love and Pancakes

Twenty one years ago, a Tall Boy and a Short Girl went on a date. The date was somewhat overdue, because they had met several times before, but the SG had other suitors and the TB was busy with work (do some things never change?).

So they went to dinner and drank way too much wine. Feeling very brave, TB asked SG to go skiing with him the next weekend and he didn't mean a day trip. "Here's my credit card number," said TB. "Do you mind making the plans?" Again, some things never change.

After much research (pre-internet) and discussion with girlfriends (one room, two beds? two rooms? one bed?), SG booked a room at the newly opened Inn at Round Barn Farm  in Waitsfield, Vermont.

You may use your imagination at this time. A cozy Vermont B & B, a snowy night, two twenty-somethings away from home.

 Oh stop it. What would you do?

At breakfast the next morning, TB and SG were greeted with the most delicious pancakes they had ever tasted. Thin, eggy and rich, they were served with a sweet raspberry sauce and real Vermont maple syrup. When asked about the recipe, Ann Marie was happy to share it.
The secret ingredient? Cottage cheese! Who knew you could make such delicious pancakes with cottage cheese, the stuff of diet plate specials?
That breakfast was the perfect beginning to a full day of skiing at Sugarbush. And the start of something bigger too.

Fast forward to one year later. TB and SG have arrived at the Inn at Round Barn Farm for a third visit. TB proposes marriage to SG in a room filled with roses and balloons. She happily accepts. Pancakes are served the next morning and all is right in the world.



Many, many batches of pancakes later, TB* has tweaked the recipe, making it a popular, healthy breakfast full of protein and calcium. They are served, with a side of happy memories, most Sundays at our house. And plenty of maple syrup.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups low fat cottage cheese (1% milkfat)

2 Tbsps. butter, melted

1/2 to 1 cup low fat or skim milk

 Mix flour, eggs, and cottage cheese in a food processor until well blended. Add melted butter and blend again. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and process.  Continue adding milk, until the batter is smooth, with small air bubbles.
Heat an electric or stovetop griddle until a drop of water sizzles on the surface.
You can now make your pancakes any size you'd like. Flip them when bubbles appear on the top. Continue to cook until lightly browned.
Don't forget the real maple syrup. Preferably from Vermont or Maine.

*In case you haven't guessed, that's Bob. He's quite tall by any standards but especially compared to me.