COLORADO'S HIDDEN SECRETS: September 2014

Friday, September 26, 2014

Apple Season

Apple season is in full swing. There are hundreds if not thousands of apple varieties in Colorado. I always ask the farmers at the markets for advice on which apples to buy depending on what I plan to do with them. This week I knew I wanted to make tarts, so I was referred to two different varieties and it was suggested that I use a mix.

Apple Tarts

1 sheet Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed and rolled out as thin as possible and cut in half
3 baking apples, peeled and sliced
raspberries
cinnamon
sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup apricot preserves, melted

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the pastry sheets on the parchment. Crimp the edges of each pastry piece. Layer the apples on each pastry. On one pastry, I topped the apples with sugar and cinnamon. On the other pastry, I topped the apples with raspberries and sugar. Dot the tops of each with 1 tablespoon of butter.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly brown. Remove from oven and brush the crust with the melted apricot preserves. Return to oven for another 10 minutes or until nicely browned.

We couldn't agree which we liked better. They were both gone in no time!

#PepperidgeFarmPuffPastry #apples #apricotpreserves #appletart

Ready for the Oven

Hot - Right Out of the Oven

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Summer BBQ

Summer barbecue's are a favorite. I love to have large groups of people over for an afternoon/evening on the ranch. The views are most often the highlight, however we always have great food. Last weekend we had a group of 18 people that were all affiliated with the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. Most of our guests were from the local Telluride Marshal's Department or reserve officers. I didn't attend the festival in favor of staying home and cooking for the crowd. Our menu consisted of:

BBQ Chicken and Sausage
Tomato and Corn Pasta Salad (recipe follows)
Green Salad with Peaches and Pecans (recipe follows)
Bush's Baked Beans - in a can......needed a short cut!
French Bread
Lemon Bars.....OK, OK I needed another short cut and used a Krusteaz mix

Tomato and Corn Pasta

1 lb. penne pasta
2 cups of Olathe Sweet Corn cut off the cob
2 leaks cleaned and chopped, white parts only
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup basil torn into small pieces
1/2 grated Parmesan
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, cut corn off the cob and chop leaks. Add both to a skillet that has been sprinkled with olive oil. Cook together for 10-15 minutes or until the corn and leaks are cooked. Let the pasta cool slightly then add the corn & leak mixture, tomatoes, basil & Parmesan. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

This is a great pasta salad that can be kept at room temperature for quite some time.

Green Salad with Peaches and Pecans

Portions are not listed .........

Mixed salad greens
Palisade peaches cut into bite sized pieces
Chopped chives
Spicy Pecans
Toss with vinegar and oil, salt and pepper.

Spicy Pecans

1 egg white
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 1/4 cups pecan halves
3 tablespoons melted butter

Beat egg whites with salt until foamy. Add sugar, Worcestershire, paprika and cayenne. Stir in pecans and butter. Spread pecans evenly on a baking sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool and store in an air tight container.

#telluridebluesandbrewsfestival #olathesweetcorn, #palisadepeaches #worchestershire #krusteaz #pennepasta

Of course, setting the table(s) are even more fun than cooking. I like to keep it rustic. In this case I used a cool tablecloth made by my very creative friend, #LynnBowers, out of old jeans. She cut out squares and sewed them together like a quilt and lined it with a cream colored cotton lace fabric. I think she should start a business making these tablecloths......what do you think? Very cool.

Our table is huge and a custom made tablecloth is the only thing that will fit.

I used blue tin granite plates and a variety of napkins. The flowers are from my garden.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Road Block

I will take a road block like this any day over traffic in a city.

This is what living in the southwest is really like....yes people still have sheep drives right down the middle of the road. These sheep are moving from one grazing area to another on the ranch with the sheep herder and herding dogs pushing them along. There are other dogs around on the sides of the herds making sure the sheep go where directed.

It isn't uncommon to see sheep or cattle in the middle of a busy highway moving from one grazing pasture to another. I remember getting in the middle of a cattle drive in 1986 right after we moved here. I couldn't believe my eyes! I thought I was in the old west! I didn't know people still rode on horseback and moved cattle in the middle of the road. We drove through....very slowly as the cows bumped into our car.

This isn't the best picture, as I snapped it through the car windshield. I will try to do better next time.

#sheep, #sheepranching, #sheepherding

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Peach Napoleon

This is one of my favorite recipes for fresh peaches.

Peach Napoleon

1 8 oz container of Mascarpone Cheese
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons half and half
wafer thin sugar cookies
fresh slices peaches
cinnamon for garnish

Mix together Mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and half and half until smooth. Start with 1 teaspoon half and half and add more until the mixture can easily be spread.

To assemble follow the directions below:

Small amount of Mascarpone cheese mixture on a plate, top with
One cookie, top with
Mascarpone cheese mixture, top with
Sliced peaches

Repeat and repeat.
Top with chopped peaches.

Dust with cinnamon.

Then take a picture! LOL

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Colorado Wine Country

In my last post I wrote about the wonderful fruit orchards in Palisade. Also in Palisade are vineyards and wineries. The fertile land in the area is perfect for growing grapes. There are now twenty-one wineries located on the Fruit and Wine Byway. It makes a perfect and relaxing day to cruise from one winery to the next for tasting and self guided vineyard tours.
#coloradowineries, #coloradovineyards, #coloradowine, #coloradograpes

Harry enjoying a glass of wine at Wine Country Inn

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Palisade Orchards

We spent the weekend in Palisade, Colorado enjoying the fruit orchards on Colorado's picturesque Western Slope. The elevation is 4800 feet with close proximity to the Colorado River. The combination of water from the river, high elevation, high altitude sunlight and the cool nights produces lucious fruit that is shipped all over the country.

One of my favorite places is Z's Orchard. They are a family run operation that has been in business for over 40 years. They have dazzling zinnia and sunflower fields which surround their orchard with 17 varieties of peaches. They also have plum, apple, pear, cherry and apricot trees, and a raspberry patch. They have over 7,500 peach trees alone. Z's also makes, homemade preserves and pickles in their commercial kitchen.

Kendra and Ken of the Z's family drive from Palisade to Telluride every Saturday during the summer months to set up a farmers market…about a 2 ½ hour drive. We are so thankful for them as gardening is a chore when you live at our elevation of 8750’. Take a look at Z's website www.zsorchard.com.

I mostly grow my own herbs. I planted two tomato plants in pots this summer, both with a short maturity time. I also planted one jalapeno plant. Early on I had a few red tomatoes and a few peppers that were well on their way to a normal size. Then along came chipmunks and squirrels and they stole all of my tomatoes and peppers. It has taken another 45 days for the tomatoes and peppers to regrow. Now I have the 3 pots clustered together and covered with netting to keep the pests away…..so far so good, but we had our first frost last week on August 28^th! Our growing season was so short this year. We had the last frost June 15^th – that is only a 74 day growing season. With the weather changing, I suspect I will be making something out of green tomatoes.