Yummy brownies for Christmas

This was fabulous, and all the better because I made it with raspberries I picked and froze myself. A little bit of Saskatchewan summer in the depths of winter...

The recipe is by Australian chef Donna Hay and found on the Epicurious website. Click here.

Nirvana in a Jar - Raspberry Jam

This is the best thing I have ever put on toast: Raspberry Freezer Jam. I've never made freezer jam before, and why not, I ask myself? It's quick, easy, has much less sugar and way more flavour than boiled jam. The berries were the last picking from my friends Sue and Vance, who planted a vast berry orchard for their new wine venture, Living Sky Winery. If the jam is this good, I can't wait to taste the wine!

Off to a good start - BREAKFAST MUESLI

Who needs a cereal bowl? A martini glass really shows off a beautiful mix of muesli, fresh raspberries and yogurt. I got the idea from the spa in Moose Jaw and I've been making it at home ever since. At first, I was buying the muesli, but now I'm making my own with Saskatchewan ingredients (except the pumpkin and sunflower seeds).

Golden Flax - Tomtene Seed Farm, Birch Hills, 306-749-3230
Honey - Triple R Honey Ranch, Val Marie, 306-298-2204
Hemp seeds - The Good Seed, Birch Hills, organichempseed@gmail.com
Oats - Daybreak Scheresky mill, Estevan, http://www.daybreakschereskymill.com/

Muesli
3 cups rolled oats
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup hemp seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup golden flax seeds
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp canola oil

Mix together the oats and seeds. Stir together the honey and oil. If they are too stiff to stir, heat them in the microwave. Pour the honey/oil into the oats and mix thoroughly with your hands. Spread the mixture onto a big cookie sheet and bake at 200F for about two hours, stirring now and then to prevent burning at the edges. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container. I prefer to add fruit just before I eat it - fresh in summer and dried or preseved in winter. You can add your favourite dried fruit when the muesli comes out of the oven.

MERINGUE NESTS WITH FRESH BERRIES

This is a great dessert to serve after a patio barbeque.










4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Turn the mixer on high and add the icing sugar one spoonful at a time, beating for ten seconds between each addition. When the whites are stiff, sprinkle in the cornstarch and vanilla, mixing well.

Scoop the meringue into 12 small mounds on the cookie sheet, using the back of a spoon to create a depression in the centre of each meringue circle. Bake 5 min. Turn down the heat to 200F. Bake for one hour. Turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven for another hour or two, until very dry. (The amount of time needed to fully dry the meringue will vary depending on the humidity that day.)

Whip the cream with vanilla. Just before serving, spread whipped cream onto each meringue and top with fresh berries.

Berries galore - BUMBLEBERRY PIE

Last week, I spent a couple days at a Benedictine Monastery at Muenster, Saskatchewan, where the monks fill their days by keeping marvellous gardens. Brother Basil, the chief farmer, showed me around the grounds on his golf cart. Later, I walked out past the cemetery to the raspberry patch and picked a pail of amber raspberries.

I had never tasted amber raspberries before. They are sweeter and more delicate than the common red raspberry, and so delicious. Now I’m eating them every day (or twice a day!) before they go soft. This Bumbleberry Pie is a good way to use a variety of berries and fruit when you don’t have enough for one pie on its own. In addition to the amber raspberries, I used raspberries (picked at Don's house), lush strawberries from the Strawberry Ranch, my own rhubarb, my mom’s saskatoon berries and crabapples we picked over our neighbours' fence.

BUMBLEBERRY PIE
5 cups of fruit, of which 1 cup is tart apple
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
dash of salt
a bit of butter
prepared pastry crust

Peel, core and chop the apple. Chop the other large fruit like rhubarb and big strawberries. Combine all the fruit in a bowl and toss with the flour to coat. Mix in the sugar and the salt.

Roll the pastry so it will have an overhand of at least one inch when placed in the pie plate. Place it into the plate and scoop in the fruit. Dot here and there with bit of butter. Fold the loose edges of pastry over the top of the filling so that it forms a rough circle around the edge of the pie; the centre remains uncovered. (This method uses less pastry crust and allows everyone to see how pretty the fruit looks after it’s cooked.) You can sprinkle the crust with sugar, if you like. Bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes, until the crust is cooked.