Yummy Rye Happies Recipe

Rye Happies from Gerda Endemann

This recipe is credited to Gerda Endemann, a fabulous nutrition consultant and author of Fat Is Not The Enemy.  We have botched this recipe countless times but by some miracle, it always comes out perfectly!

Some people shudder at the sound of “rye” (icky dry rye bread) but believe us, this snack looks as good as the picture.  Everyone we know LOVES this treat – it’s got omega-3 ”healthy fat” from walnuts and canola oil.

It takes 20 minutes to prepare, about 25 min. to bake.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup dark brown sugar (sometimes I mix 50/50 brown and white)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt (optional)
1/2 cup old fashioned raw oats (not instant!)
1/2 cup whole rye flour
2 tablespoons flax meal (optional, gives lovely nutty taste)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven at 350F/177C.  Butter or oil bottom and sides of 8×8 inch baking pan.

Beat eggs till frothy, ~2 min.  Add vanilla and sugar, beat at medium speed for ~2 min.  Add oil and a pinch of salt, beat for another 2 min.  Stir in the oats.

In a separate small bowl, add flour to nuts.  Mix well and then stir in the nut-flour mixture to the above.

Spread in pan, then bake about 25 min. till brown and set.  The result should be about as thick (1 inch) and dense as a fudge brownie, but healthier!

Bon appetit!

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Homemade Pancake/Waffle Mix

Try adding a little flavored agave nectar mixed with maple syrup!

This recipe dates back to my college years.  The women were girly girls and I had had enough with hairspray queen jibber jabber.  Surprisingly, I did more cooking with the guys.  One year I decided to hang out with geeks at the engineering school (didn’t date any though!).  One of them, actually a brilliant pre-med student, introduced his mom’s buttermilk pancake recipe to me:

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tablespn sugar

Then add and stir with whisk till smooth, but don’t overbeat:

• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespns veg oil

Sometimes I’ll throw in about 1/2 cup of finely-chopped walnuts and mix that in with a spoon (not whisk).  Flax meal also give it a yummy nutty taste!

Highly recommend agave nectar mixed in with your maple syrup.  ENJOY!

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Picking ollalieberries at Phipps Ranch, Pescadero

Picking ollalieberries brightens up a gloomy day!

It’s one of those June-gloom days in Half Moon Bay.  We sorely needed a cheer-you-up activity and went ollalieberry picking!   Took a break from Plangarden and headed over to Pescadero, checking out Phipps Ranch to raid their berry fields.  Lucky for us, there was plenty of super sweet, ripe, almost black fruit to feast on.

Great thing about Phipps is that you get to eat and harvest at the same time.  We left with about 10 lbs – yum!  BTW, our own ollalieberries that replaced the pineapple guava bushes earlier this spring are doing well but there won’t be much of a harvest this year.

Here’s a quick ‘n easy way to make ollalieberry jam:

- Rinse ~2 lbs ollalieberries
- Throw in medium-sized pot
- Add about 1/2-1 cup sugar, mix into berries real well
- Heat up gradually for several hours, reduce to desired consistency, knowing that it will thicken when cooled.

We love putting this on everything – toast, pancakes, ice cream, yogurt, or just eating straight up!

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