Pear and Cherry Bread

This is a pretty hearty bread - it has more fruit than dough.

First, find yourself a pear tree.  Luckily, we have one in the back yard behind the inn.  Next - find someone tall enough (or use a ladder) to pick the harvest. In our case, that was Bruce.  Even with a tall ladder, we couldn't reach all the pears. This made the resident groundhog very happy as he beat us to the ones that fell to the ground.

Once you have your pears, peel and chop two cups full. 

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 loaf pan - or I use a mini pan (sold in restaurant supply or kitchen stores).

Combine pears, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons canola oil and 1 egg, mixing well.

Combine 1 1/2 cups sifted flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a separate bowl.  I like to just sift all my dry ingredients together.  It seems to make them get along better.  

Stir in 1 cup of dried cherries (I have used fresh cherries and think the dried look better after baking).  

Optional:  Add 1/2 cup walnuts.  I usually add these in, but leave them out if we have guests with nut allergies. 

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and pour into your pan.  Bake for about an hour for a full loaf, about 35 minutes for the smaller loaves.  I have no idea why the image below insists on standing on its head, but trust me, it went into (and came out of) the oven correctly.

Serve with pear butter.  Enjoy!

Another original recipe from The Artist's Inn and Gallery. 

Melon Mania in Lancaster County

It's been a great summer for eating.  And there's nothing sweeter than Lancaster County melons. 

 

Farms stands and the local produce auction are exploding with several kinds of watermelons, honeydew, cantaloupes, canary melons and....my favorite - honeylopes.  They are a cross between a honeydew and a cantaloupe.

 

So, whether you're ready to buy one, a dozen, or fifty, the time to enjoy the bounty of Lancaster County is now!

Here's a pretty way we serve the melons at The Artist's Inn:


Melons with Mango-Plum Sauce:

Peel and place one mango and 2 unpeeled plums into a blender.  Add two tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of your favorite juice (we use white cranberry peach).  Blend until fairly smooth and spoon over three slices of melon.  Garnish with violas.   So pretty!

Spinach and Quinoa Salad

Our friend and neighbor, Kathy, brought this salad to our annual New Year's Eve Party at The Artist's Inn.  I promised to share the recipe!  It was quite yummy and pretty healthy.  Hope you like it!

Salad

1 cup quinoa (or orzo pasta)
4 - 6 oz. baby spinach (cut up)
1/3 cup oil packed sundried tomatoes (chopped)
small cucumber peeled and diced
1/4 cup Kalamata olives - (cut in half)
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
3 oz. feta cheese

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. chopped shallots
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup canola oil

To prepare the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a jar - shake to mix.

Cook orzo or quinoa according to package directions.  While that is cooking, combine spinach with sundried tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and oregano in a large bowl.
When the pasta or quinoa is cooked, drain under cold running water until room temperature.  Toss quinoa and the other ingredients with mixed vinaigrette to taste (I don't always use the entire dressing mix).
Serve at room temperature, topped with crumbled feta.

Makes 6 - 8 servings.

 

Really Easy Apple Pie Squares

This recipe was given to me a long time ago by someone.  I can't even remember who they were - that's how long ago!!!  But it is super easy and I think you may like it. 

Really Easy Apple Pie Squares

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups thinly sliced apples

Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add oil, vanilla and dry ingredients.
Fold in apples.
Spray a 9 x 13 pan and pour mixture into pan.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Cut into squares.  Makes about 12.

Now, wasn't that easy?

You can make them yourself or enjoy them at breakfast at The Artist's Inn.  Yes, we are happy to take requests.

Enjoy!

 

Just in time for Easter – Cheesecake with Warm Spiced Plums

Last night we invited friends over for dinner.  I made an Indian dish that we love, Tikka Masala and, because it has a bit of a bite to it, I wanted a creamy but not-too-sweet dessert.  I decided on a cheesecake – and combined several recipes to come up with this one.  I hope you like it.  It would be a perfect ending to an Easter dinner……and you just might find it at our Easter celebration this weekend.

Crust:

1 ¾ cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick melted butter

Combine dry ingredients, add butter, and press down in a 9-inch pie pan.

Filling:

1 egg
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sour cream
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Put first four ingredients in blender and liquefy for 30 seconds.  With the blender running, slowly add cream cheese in chunks.  Stop now and then to scrape blender.  Add melted butter. 

Pour into crust and refrigerate for about an hour.

Bake at 325 for about 35 minutes.

Chill until set.

Warm Spiced Plums:

Just before serving, clean and slice four plums.  Sauté in a small pan with 3 tablespoons of sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ cup water.  Stir until the plums are soft and the sugar makes a nice sauce.

Spoon over cheesecake.

Serves 8 – 10.

Enjoy!

Boasting About Roasting

It was just before Thanksgiving...and I could hardly believe that beautiful red Lancaster tomatoes were still for sale at some of the farm stands. They called to me each time I drove by. I had already made my sauce (or gravy as they would say in Jersey), and bags of it were waiting in my freezer for winter meals.

I really had no plans to stop – no reason to stop. But how many November days will ever come again when I could still buy farm fresh tomatoes?  Tomatoes so red that you know the sun personally kissed each one of them.

And so I loaded the box into the back of the car.

I had planned to write this blog then, but the hustle and bustle of the holidays came...
So I’ll post it now, and as I look out my window at the fresh fallen snow, I’m so glad that I took the extra time to pick up those tomatoes. I made a lot of sauce and some soup – and froze what we couldn’t eat for cold winter days.

One of my favorite ways to make soups, vegetables and appetizers is to roast them. It fills the inn with wonderful aromas, warms up the kitchen and brings out the best in flavor.

This recipe is so solid that you can even use winter tomatoes – distant cousins of those summer beauties.

So, from one kitchen to another, I hope you enjoy this simple recipe. Add some crusty warm bread, a hearty red wine, a good cheese...ah, sounds like dinner to me!

Roasted Tomato Soup

3 lbs. of your favorite kinds of tomatoes (I have used all kinds)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
1 large sweet onion (Vidalia or Walla Walla), cut in chunks
1/4 cup olive oil – maybe a little more
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 quart chicken stock (I like to use the low-sodium powdered mix that you can buy in bulk in most smaller grocery stores and Amish bulk stores in Lancaster County)
2 bay leaves (if you’ve never tried bay leaf powder this is great because you don’t have to remember to take the leaves out – just use ¼ teaspoon
4 tablespooon butter
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450.

Wash, cut and get rid of as many seeds from the tomatoes as you can.

Place tomatoes, garlic and onion in ceramic roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour olive oil back and forth over entire pan (I’m guessing about ¼ of a cup).

Roast for about 40 minutes, until onions are browned and tips are starting to blacken a little.

Remove pan from oven. In a large stock pot, boil chicken stock and bay leaves. Add butter and tomato mixture. Turn down the heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by a third.

Add basil and puree the soup with an immersion blender. Add cream, adjust salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 7.

Chocolate for Dinner

We received a dinner invitation from friends who are local innkeepers at The Smithton Inn in Ephrata. The theme was chocolate. Well, I thought, I’ll just whip up a batch of double chocolate macadamia cookies. Would that be enough for dinner? I certainly could survive for one night on chocolate and wine, but I’m married to a salad lover.

So I thought back to a wonderful dinner I had at Carrs (a great restaurant in downtown Lancaster) – it was part of our Chocolate Tour. Tim had served a unique white chocolate dressing on the salad. I know what you’re thinking – my brain also struggled to marry the tastes, but it was delicious.

And so I set out looking for recipes on the internet. I found plenty, but several called for ingredients that I didn’t have – chocolate extract, walnut oil, raspberry vinegar......and so the search went on. I came upon Recipe Zaar’s Chocolate Balsamic Salad Dressing.


Recipe Zaar is one of my favorite sites and allows you to adjust the measurements from metric to US and increase the amounts.

Three ingredients meant that the one hour I had to dress, make a salad, greet guests at the inn, and drive to the party should be plenty of time.

I changed the salad to include the ingredients I had on hand: red leaf and romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, shaved asiago cheese, toasted almonds and vanilla poached pears. To be honest, I think greens with a little more bite would complement the dressing better, but I had to work with what was in my pantry.

It’s best to serve this dressing slightly warm – a lesson I learned on a cold night when it began to congeal! A slight reheat did the trick. You also shouldn’t refrigerate this dressing.

Everyone loved it, and the salad was a nice complement to the mole chicken and Cincinnati chili that were also on the menu. Oh, yes, I took the cookies too – just in case the other three desserts wouldn’t be enough – after all, you just can’t have too much chocolate for dinner.

So the next time you are looking for something unusual, try my newest salad and dressing combination. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the salad....we ate it!

Chocolate Balsamic Dressing (Serves 14)

1 1/3 cups Balsamic Vinegar
10 5/8 ounces sugar
3 squares dark chocolate

Melt over low heat and stir occasionally. Serve warm.