Graduation Celebration

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If you’ve wondered where I disappeared to, I haven’t. It’s just been more than a little crazy around here getting ready for my seniors’ graduation party, hosting visiting family, birthdays and horse shows. 

Now that the dust seems to have settled, I have a few moments to put some thoughts to paper…or, whatever this is called. (Think about the coolness factor of just that statement, because 20 years ago, I’d have to write a book, submit an opinion piece or be hired by someone who would publish me. The freedom of the internet is truly marvelous. Moooo-ving on…)

I have a HS graduate!

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For my oldest’s party, I did all the food AND decorating, AND there was a horse show the day before, AND I had family in town. It was a bit too much. With this child, it had to be Gluten Free AND yummy food I’d be proud to put on my table, but I also needed to reduce some of the stress. This year we also had family visiting, but also a horse show and 20th birthday party for my oldest, right on the heels of the Graduation Party. Enter my dear friend Dalia. She is Puerto Rican an AMAZING cook and she also does a little catering on the side. So I asked for her help, and the food was simply amazing! We had an entire feast of delicious, gluten free food that people gobbled up. Some came back for 3rds!! 

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I was so busy that day, but it was not stressful because I knew I could count on my friend to take complete care of preparing and serving all the food, as well as keeping it stocked. I even had time to sit down and have a plate myself! Granted, I was so hungry I started to munch before I thought: “I better take a pic of this!”

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We had Arroz con Gandules, Pernil, Puerto Rican black beans, Cilantro rice, Pollo Guisado and a soft serve ice cream machine with hot fudge sundae fixings, root beer floats, along with a Tres Leche cake. It was a great party and seemed to be enjoyed by all. We even had Sangria at the ‘adult’ bar to fit with the latin theme. 

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It was a perfect day, the Good Lord gave us beautiful weather to be able to set up and sit outside on my beautiful patio. 

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The pool was used by lots of kids, then when the little ones left, the teenagers played volleyball. 

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What a blessing to be able to entertain and love on our family and friends. It is a bittersweet time, but with much joy I say: Congratulations baby girl! 

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When Life Gives You….Tart Cherries!

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My friend, who is also my landscaper (I’m giving a shout out to MeadowLark Landscaping) was instrumental in helping this novice mid-western gardener, who grew up in the lush zone 8 of the Pacific Northwest, transform this barren wasteland of a yard in to a paradise of privacy and beauty. My mandate, when she first started helping me pick out plants, was plant nothing that shed something which nature did not naturally consume or compost. Until a couple of years ago, other than my summer annual produce, it never occurred to me to have a tree or bush that produced something HUMANS would consume! She suggested a dwarf cherry.

“Too big,” I said. “I’m short, I’m not getting on a ladder to pick fruit.”

No, she convinced me, a dwarf cherry would be lovely on the corner of my house to create some privacy for the front door and as an added benefit I would have tart cherries to cook with.

Well, how can one turn that offer down?

So this is my little dwarf cherry tree. Cute, isn’t it?

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At it’s tippy top, I do have to reach up and pull the branches down for me to reach, but this is about as big as it will get. However, as it ages, it will become more productive.
[2015 update: I picked nearly 20 pounds this year. Tart Cherry Jelly will be canned soon!]

While cleaning out our garage for the up and coming graduation party, I noticed many of the berries were ripe. Having competed with (and lost) the ‘first dibs’ battle with robins before, I grabbed a tray and started picking. In the photo above, you can see there are still a lot left on the tree for a future use. Here is the fruit of my easy labor:

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For the remaining on the tree, after they have ripened, I’m thinking pickled cherries inspired from a blog I read by GlutenFree Girl and the Chef. She posted the link to the recipe by Matthew Amster-Burton on Gourmet, so when these babies ripen they are destined for pickling!

After a long hard day working in the garage and yard weeding, a sweet cherry treat is exactly what I was drooling for. Scanning the web for ideas, all but one seemed too time consuming and lengthy, dirtying too many dishes. Yes, I wanted dessert, no I didn’t want the mess after ‘cleaning’ all day. And since it was pushing 5pm, it had to be fast and easy. Reading endless critiques about tart cherry pies and that awful canned pie filling, it dawned on me….fresh cherry pie filling is not so different than macerated strawberries. What if i substituted fresh cherry filling for strawberries over a ‘shortcake’? YES! And what better to go with cherries than chocolate?

Normally I would make my famous cream scones, but I was looking for quick, easy and as little dish mess as possible. Pamela’s Pancake and Baking mix to the rescue. Since I happened to have a scone pan form (I bought it before I found Pamela’s Artisan Flour and perfected my traditional scones) it was easy to modify her simple recipe by adding chunks of chocolate, plop the blobs in and bake, turning them out to cool!  In minutes, with only a couple of dishes to do, I had dessert, fresh from my garden. Voila! A beautiful sight to behold!

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Easy Tart Cherry ‘Filling’

Approximately 2 generous cups of pitted tart cherries (be sure to pit over a bowl to catch the juices)

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of half an orange plus it’s zest

1 star anise (optional)

4 tsp GF Arrowroot starch

1/2 cup water-if needed. My cherries were extremely juicy.

Place in a 3-4 quart pan over a low heat and bring cherries to just under a boil, DO NOT BOIL. Make a slurry with the arrowroot (mix with a tablespoon of water to create an emulsion) and add to the cherries. Stir until combined, turning heat off. It should thicken quickly. (Do not boil, as this will weaken the arrowroot starch) Cool, refrigerate until needed, but you can serve it warm over ice cream too! NUM!)