{Swap Sketch} - June 2012

First, let me apologize for the tardiness of this post - it's long overdue.  I'm just getting into the swing of normalcy after a rough month.  Anyway, our second swap was 15 participants strong, and was a huge success!

Thank you to the Bellview Winery for volunteering their space and time and wine tastings too!  I had originally hoped we'd be outside amongst the vines, but it was 120 degrees that night. Go figure. Maybe next time... 

I really think each swap is going to be better than the one before it.  Again, I was blown away by the level of professionalism, effort and craft that went into each item.  I'm going to attempt to list what we had, but I know I'm missing some. I actually thought I'd be able to remember everything.  I will do a better job next time and take notes!

Key lime curd, coconut banana bread, pretzel bread, soft pretzels with honey mustard, blueberry pie filling, cherry pie filling, salsa verdi, chocolate cherry sea salt cookies, cardamom slice and bake cookies, farm-fresh eggs, zucchini bread, banana bread, blueberry lemon jam, pina colada jam, mojito marmalade, basil-watermelon liqueur, granola, homegrown zucchini/cucumbers/garlic/fresh herbs/cabbage/pickling cucumbers, peach and peach pepper jam, dried oregano, homegrown mint tea, petite blueberry pies, peach mango jam, edible flowers with mache and radish 'shrooms, organic raw cinnamon flax applesauce, coleslaw, homemade wine, kale chips, coffee body scrub, peach BBQ sauce, homemade Kahlua, lemon poppy seed loaves, strawberry lemonade concentrate, wet walnuts, homemade hot fudge sauce, blueberry sauce, and MUCH MORE!

This girl knows good food :)

Start planning for the next one!

Next Swap!
Where: Bellview Winery
When: August 7th, 7-9PM

Register here -  http://southjerseyfoodswapaugust12.eventbrite.com/

{Recipe Rewind} June: One Flew Over Farm's Kale Chips and Amy's Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

Like I've already said, I never imagined these would be so good.  These chips were addicting. Thank you, Connie for a super-cool snack I can feel good about eating. 

1.  Tear fresh, clean, spun/patted dry kale from stems and any thicker veins into small but not tiny pieces. 
2.  Drizzle good quality olive oil onto a sheet pan, then grind on (or use flaked) sea salt and/or the seasoning(s) of your choice. (Connie used Bragg's Organic Nutritional Yeast)
3.  Rub handfuls of the kale into the seasoned oil and then spread them out, flattening them a bit without overlapping, onto the pan.
4.  Set oven to 325, which should crisp the chips in about 10 minutes. Watch closely, though. If they burn, they're nasty :(
5.  Store in a brown bag and just recrisp in the oven if they soften in this humidity.

Also featured is Amy's Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate.  This was so refreshing!  Thanks for sharing!

Ingredients

6 cups strawberries, cleaned and hulled
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 cups sugar

Directions

1. In a food processor, blender or bullet, puree strawberries in batches.
2. Transfer strawberry puree to a stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat. DO NOT BOIL. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine.
3. Using a thermometer, heat to 190 degrees F, stirring occasionally. Because this recipe has sugar it will get to temperature rather quickly so keep your eye on the thermometer. Remove from heat. 4. Ladle mixture into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim, add hot lids and tighten rings just finger tight. Process in water bath canner at a boil for 15 minutes.
5. To reconstitute, mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic water or ginger ale. Adjust concentrate to suit your tastes.

Makes 6-8 pints or 3 quarts. If you do not want to process the jars, you can freeze the concentrate in 1-2 cup portions.