Mabey Corn and Pumpkins, from the Centennial Farm

When I first met my husband’s family 30 years ago it was in the fall. The Mabey Family Farms were bursting with all sorts of produce- tomatoes, beets, carrots, apples, beans, zucchini, and their famous sweet corn. It really is the best corn in the Salt Lake Valley, and I can vouch for the great people that produce it. The family farm is now being run by one wonderful cousin and his family. Everything grows better when you mix it up with hard work and love- and that’s what you get from this Centennial Farm.

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The corn has about run it’s season now. They have been selling it at all the local farmer’s markets in the valley, but their pumpkins are ready to be picked. Starting this week they will have pumpkins, cornstalks and straw for holiday décor. If you want to pick a pumpkin right out of the patch, Mabey Pumpkin Patch is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. Your kids or grandkids will love you for it. If you are looking for a great place in your neighborhood for a a local pumpkin patch (in the United states) check this site.

Meanwhile, enjoy the remaining corn harvest while you can! What is your favorite way to eat a fresh ear of corn?

photo credit: CML

4th of July Traditions and the Famous Grandma June Scones

Family traditions are beautiful things. This past 4th of July we were invited to attend an event that I’ve been hearing about for sometime that is a long standing family tradition. Simple and sweet, scones with honey, butter and jam mixed together with family and friends in a lovely backyard. It was just delightful to be included with the Little family. If you want to read more about this, the originator of this event, June Little was written up in a local paper 13 years ago as well as having the recipe included in the cookbook Favorites, a Make A Wish Utah chapter's fabulous collection of recipes. Since June has passed on, her children have carried the making of scones on in their own backyards. One of my daughter’s is lucky enough to marry into this tradition and we’ve been the beneficiaries. With permission I've included some pictures of the weekends event as well as Grandma June's recipe for her famous SCONES! You might want to find a way to wiggle them into one of your families traditions, you won't be sorry.

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Do you have a favorite family tradition for the July 4^th Holiday?

Aloha Cake

One night I got a call from one of my daughters asking me to come over to her house for a minute. When I got there she had a piece of cake waiting for me that was out of this world delicious. It was a coconut four-layer cake with lime curd filling and a frosting made with coconut milk. Oh it was good. Ever since then I’ve had coconut cake on the brain. I’ve made my own version now that started from Dorie Greenspan's Coconut Tea Cake. I must admit it wasn’t quite as good as the original cake with the lime curd but it has it’s own flare and those that tried it said it should be put on the blog. It was very moist and it did get better as it matured. I would hold this cake tightly wrapped a day before frosting.

This would make a lovely Mother’s Day dessert. What will you be serving for dessert on Mother's day?

Easy Bake Oven or Message in a Cookie, Anything you Call it-it's a Winner!

Another meeting of the breakfast club was held, this time it was in the evening. Strange, I know -- a Breakfast Club in the evening, but we weren't making breakfast this time, but cookies. At one point someone suggested it felt a little like an "easy bake oven" experience. I think that might be due to the bright colored cookie dough or the alphabet letters you use to make any message you can think of to imprint in your star, heart or stamp shaped cookie. I picked this kit up at Williams-Sonoma for $20 and I do think we'll get our money's worth. Envision custom cookies for birthday, graduation, baby shower, wedding shower, bake sale, the welcome wagon, the list is endless!

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What we learned:

• We used the recipe provided in the box and BRIGHT colored dough works out best
• Changing the message takes time, sticking to one message would make a quicker process
• Cold dough is a must for baking (no cheating on the chill time, 20 minutes at least)
• Small tips for decorating come in handy
• Plan on taking a longer time than usual for cutout cookies, but it's worth it

For another way to use the Message in a Cookie go here, to my friend Chris' blog. She is so creative-- scroll down to the end of the post--- it's more than worth it!!

Santa's Workshop, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day, Oatmeal Date and Cranberry Wreaths

A dear neighbor just stopped in with a Christmas gift and walked though my incredibly messy family room and kitchen. It looks like a bomb went off or a tornado whirled through my house. She graciously called it "Santa's Workshop". What a true friend. I love her even more than I did before she came. As I shut the door and took a closer look at my house I realized that the word workshop did describe my space. No less than five projects were going on, all unfinished- but moving along with the hope to be done before the big day, Christmas.

I made some great bread from a book that is quickly becoming a favorite, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Oatmeal Date Bread on page 191-193. I added some cranberries to make it festive and formed the loaves into wreaths and of course like the other recipes in the book changed it to allow for the high altitude issues (and made a few other tweeks). A fellow HBin5 lover suggested putting a ramikin of something yummy in the middle which I did- cherry butter. This project is now complete and delivered to neighbors and friends.

Yippie! One less project cluttering up the house, one thing on the list checked off, and hopefully a few friends enjoying this delicious bread and butter to remind them of how much we love them. If you haven't completed your shopping think about giving this book or getting one for yourself.

Merry, Merry Christmas!! See you in a week!

Christmas Eve Pie Tradition with Grandma & the Best Pastry Dough

Christmas traditions! I love to keep the old while making new ones. Growing up as a child and into adulthood my family without fail gathered together in a beautiful farming community, at my grandparents home to celebrate Christmas Eve. Part of the celebration always included the most delectable pies made by my dear Grandma, Iola.

Pie makers aren’t born, it takes practice-- and practice is what Grandma got at Cafe 91 found along the old Highway 91 in Spanish Fork, Utah. During the mid 1940’s she was famous for having pies ready for lunch or dinner depending on when her shift fell. Retired men from surrounding towns would gather for a cup of coffee and a 35 cent piece of Iola’s flaky pie. She made apple, cherry, peach, lemon meringue, pumpkin and cream pies- oh, they were something else, banana and coconut.

Grandma has left us now, but her tradition lives on. She has daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters and at least one great grandson that can make pies that would win blue ribbons at the state fair and put on more pounds than we care to think about right now. My extended family can count on a few pies being made this holiday season from the desendants of Grandma Iola.

If a pie is in your future, you might want to try this fabulous pastry crust. It has proven it’s value to me over the years. Sometimes it’s nice to have a variation in pies, so think about a crumbly top pie with a twist of cinnamon and nutmeg in the topping. It’s especially nice for beginners to pie making because you don’t have to worry about how the top is going to look.

Wishing you happy baking and many wonderful

Christmas traditions.

What are your Christmas Eve traditions?

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day & Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest AND a New Coffee Cake for the Holidays!

Today I got to make challah for Hanukkah! It wasn't a regular challah loaf, but a unique one for two reasons-- 1st, it's made from the technique taught in the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and 2nd it has some special additions to the regular challah loaf as you can glean from the title- Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest. This is the second bonus recipe for the Google group HBinFive. It has been a delightful dough to work with. You can go here to see the original recipe by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. I made some modifications after reading several emails from the HBinFive Google group. I only used white whole wheat flour, replaced wheat bran flakes for wheat germ and increased the salt and vital wheat gluten to rounded portions ( I do live at a high altitude). I loved how this bread has turned out!

Challah is no ordinary bread, and I knew that I needed to treat it with a measure of respect. I was happy to see this explanation on

Kosher Foods For Body and Soul:

The dough is made with an especially large number of eggs, and sweetened with honey. The dough is traditionally cut into three rope-shaped pieces and then braided together before baking. An egg wash is applied to the dough to give a golden color after being baked. Poppy or sesame seeds are sprinkled on the bread before baking; the seeds represent manna that God gave to the Israelites to eat while they wandered in the desert.

After making my challah, I took my finished loaf to my neighbors for a picture with their beautiful menorah. They explained to me the Hebrew letters running down the middle represent the Ten Commandments - I love that. Getting the right picture took longer than it should have, I have the most gracious neighbors!

Next recipe: Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake filled with an Almond Cranberry Relish

Same dough, Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest, just put together in a different manor for a different audience. This is something you could serve at breakfast or brunch- it's both sweet and tart with a great crunch. I used a simple technique of rolling the dough as you would for making cinnamon rolls, then changed it up a bit. Check out the pictures to see how it is made.

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This dough, Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest will become a standard at my house during the holidays. It works like magic, try some and let me know how it goes at your house.

You may also like my version PUMMPKIN PIE BRIOCHE AND EBELSKIVERS

And don't forget to get online and get your self or someone you love one

of the best gifts for the kitchen,

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day & Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day!

Live Nativity, Feeling the Spirit of Christmas

Around the corner from our house is a beautiful glen or ravine with a running stream, trees, an amphitheater where summer concerts are held on a monthly basis with local musicians. It's been wisely preserved for a gathering place, a place to walk children and dogs and a place to enjoy nature in the middle of the city. It's peaceful there, especially one night every year.

The Live Nativity is sponsored by local multi denominations in the Salt Lake area. Living animals -- sheep, goats and camels are brought to the hillsides of the Harvard-Yale area and transform Miller Park into the city of Bethlehem for this special night.

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As you enter the park, a Centurion greets you, or the Mayor of Bethlehem. Other neighbors are dressed in costume and greet you as you descend the path lit by torches and luminaries. The town center is set up with mock businesses like there may have been at the time of Christ's birth. One being a hot chocolate stand, where everyone is given a cup to warm heart and soul. Various children’s choirs, high school and local singing groups sing praises throughout the evening. The spirit of Christmas can be felt all around. As you walk through the park you are led to the hillsides of Bethlehem where there are animals that children can pet. The camel this year was a baby camel. There are real Sheppard’s watching their sheep. One has to think about REAL sheep, and REAL Sheppard’s when they are right there.

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And then, the reason that everyone comes, the manger scene. Right out under the stars in the great outdoors is this young couple and their adorable baby wrapped tightly sitting in a manger. It's hard not to catch the real meaning of Christmas, regardless of your age. I wish you all could come with me to my neighborhood's Live Nativity, but a few pictures will have to do.

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Wishing you all the time to feel the Spirit of Christmas!

Photo credits Gretchen Lund

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies with CONNIE

Some days are just made for making cookies and today was one of those days for me and my niece. Connie and I made the Pioneer Woman's holiday Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies in between telling a few stories and getting caught up on each others lives. The cookies are beautiful and ever so tasty, a wonderful chocolate shortbread! We both recommend them to you. I suggest spending a delightful day in the kitchen as soon as you can with someone you love as much as I love Connie. Somehow creating together in a kitchen bonds you just like white chocolate sticks to chocolate cookies and candy canes!

We did make our cookies a little different from the original recipe. To cut the time down, we put the dough in the freezer for 1/2 of an hour and it made quick work of chilling the dough. Instead of rolling the cookies into balls, we chose to roll the dough out and cut it with a cute cutter. Our version of the recipe is below.

Where's your turkey from?

Where is your turkey coming from this Thanksgiving? It's very likely from a small town you've never heard of . . . This past Friday my sister and I took the day in discovering this quaint town in the center of Utah, Moroni- a main capital of Norbest turkey manufacturing in the USA, Moroni Feed Company (raises over 5 million turkeys a year!).

On the drive into town along Highway 130 we passed several turkey farms nestled along the sides of the mountains and a few that were a closer to the road. There are white feathers blowing everywhere lining the sides of the highway waving you into town. We went straight to the Cooperative Retail outlet store where shoppers can pick up turkeys in anyway that you can imagine- roasted, cured, smoked, seasoned, flash frozen, from small to extra large and all at bargain prices.

The draw for me, a specialty product that usually sells only to caterers, the Sweetheart turkey breast ($2.90 @ lb.) and the thigh roast($1.60@ lb.) that are both packaged in a cooking bag for convenience and perfect performance. A dear friend introduced me to this and I'll never go back to a regular bird when I have the option of using a Sweetheart Roast- it's that good. They might seem pricy, but there is absolutely no waste- no bones, no mess, just beautiful breast meat that slices to perfection. It's what I'll be serving my 30 guests this Thursday at Thanksgiving along with the thigh roast. I'm a supporter of the Norbest Co-op Moroni Feed Company because they have a policy that no birds receive hormones or antibiotics. We saw with our own eyes the open spaces where these birds live. If you want to see a virtual tour go here.

We stopped for a late lunch at what we were told was the hot spot in town, the Silver Eagle (one of two eateries in town). "Just drive down Main Street to the end of town, you can't miss it", were our simple instructions. The Silver Eagle turned out to be the a gas station, food market and city center. The Silver Eagle is known for their BBQ turkey sandwich. It is served on a homemade bun with tomatoes, mayo, and all the trimmings and is fantastic. But trust me here, it is nothing like what you are envisioning as a BBQ sandwich at all. The meat is marinated in a mixture of lemon-lime soda, soy sauce, and garlic. They have a high enough demand for the BBQ turkey that the Norbest plant down the street produces it and sells it under the label "Sanpete BBQ Turkey".

The next time you are in Sanpete County, Utah stop in at the Silver Eagle and have lunch or at the Norbest Retail Outlet store for an entire box so you can make your own at home. You won't be sorry. While you're there pick up some great bargains on turkey products. Did you know that the average consumer eats 17.5 pounds of turkey a year? Gobble, Gobble!

Corned Beef with Potatoes and Carrots- It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without It

St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated at my house, with names like McDowell and LaMont we have some serious GREEN running through our veins and we're proud of it! Over the years I've made corned beef a variety of ways but this recipe is one that is easy to prepare because you use a slow cooker-- and the meal always seems to get eaten up just fine! Don't hesitate to cook two briskets by adding a little more apple juice and equal proportions of the other ingredients. Is it possible to have too much corned beef for Rubens the week after St. Patrick's Day? Wishing you the luck of the Irish!