Monthly Archives: August 2014

Falling Into Fall Style
August 27

I will be honest. Although autumn is to die for here in eastern Oregon (with the amazing colors, warm but not too warm weather, the smell of wood fired stoves in the air, pumpkin patch outings, etc., etc.) I am still not quite ready for summer to be over. But alas, the back-to-school shopping frenzy has gotten the best of me and I can’t seem to stop fantasizing what I want to add to my fall wardrobe. With a major wardrobe overhaul coming to my closet this season, I have found a few pieces I cannot wait get. STAT. My September and October events calendar is filling up fast and these casual pieces are gonna be there with me!

x

A. Ummm. Pretty skeletons are most awesome. Get this shirt here.

B. Ob-sessed with ponchos. I wear them lots and I think I pull them off pretty OK! If you’re a 70’s style girl, too, get yours here!

C. Leather cuffs make me feel bad ass.

D. Women my age shouldn’t wear exclusively skinny jeans, so here is a lovely pair of boot cut. And they’re on clearance!

E. MUST. HAVE. THESE. NOW.

F. God I love a leather purse that isn’t covered in rhinestones, hardware and weird embroidered cross shaped thingys. What are those anyway?

 

 

Sugarless Cherry Watermelon & Peach Pie Sorbets
August 22

In the same week that I closed my store and left my career as a bridal stylist/boutique owner, I came across a publication called Mingle by Stampington & Co.  Right after that I found another of their publications Where Women Cook.  I felt like the mothership was calling me home. Both were filled with gorgeous photos, amazing recipes and more entertaining inspiration than I my brain could handle in just a few short days, and I felt as if I might short circuit if I couldn’t throw a party for 30 immediately.  But with the farm in the full swing of harvest and abiding by my new Farm Girl life motto to not bite off more than I can chew, I refrained. Sort of.

Since it’s been about as hot as the surface of the sun here, I decided to invite just a few lady friends over for some casual conversation and cool treats. I’ve been obsessed with my new Cuisinart ice cream maker all summer so I decided whip up a few simple and healthy alternatives to the typical fattening frozen dairy treats. With all the ingredients already on hand I decided on Peach Pie and Cherry Watermelon sorbets.

I started with some cherry purée that I made and had stored in the refrigerator, thanks to a highly bountiful cherry picking adventure in July. The cherries were so sweet that it wasn’t necessary to add any kind of sweetener at all!

2014 069I added about 3 cups of the cherry purée and about 2 cups of freshly cubed watermelon to a sauce pan and cooked together about 7 minutes to soften the watermelon and blend the flavors.

2014 062

Next, I let the mixture cool a bit and then hit it with an emulsion blender until all of the watermelon was blended well into the cherry purée.

2014 078

I transferred the mixture to the refrigerator for several hours to chill.

While the Cherry Watermelon was chilling I started on the Peach Pie Sorbet. For this one I had a couple of jars of peaches that I had previously canned in a light syrup. Unfortunately, I ended up overcooking them, turning them mushy. Gross. No one in the house found them very appetizing and I hated to waste them so this was the perfect solution! You could easily use store bought canned peaches as well.

2014 109

All I did was pour them into a bowl, added a couple of hearty shakes of cinnamon for some warm pie-ish flavor, and blended with the emulsion blender, then transferred to the fridge for some chill time – about 3 hours.

Once both fruit mixtures were thoroughly chilled I put them into ice cream maker. Since I had two different flavors I borrowed an extra ice cream maker so I could do them at the same time. Helpful hint: If you are using the style of ice cream maker that has a freezer bowl, remember to place the paddle in the bowl and turn on the maker so that it is already rotating when you pour in your mixture. Otherwise, the mixture will freeze to the sides and the paddle won’t fit into the bowl. Of course, that has never happened to me. I just heard about it once…2014 081

Each batch took about 20-25 minutes to completely freeze. I then used a rubber spatula to scoop the sorbets into the adorable frozen treat containers that I picked up at my local, independently owned kitchen store.  Since I wasn’t serving immediately, they went directly into the freezer.

2014 091

I’m in love with these little single serve containers that you can get online here.  I REALLY love tiny things. All things tiny. Some day I will have a tiny animal farm, but that’s for another day.

2014 095

Peach Pie after freezing.

2014 096

Cherry Watermelon with fresh mint garnish. If you are serving immediately, the consistency is such that you could add a shot of vodka or rum and make some fab frozen cocktails. Nice!