Pumpkin Pie made with Butternut Squash #GardenCuizine

Pumpkin Pie 

made with Butternut Squash
Low in saturated fat, a good source of calcium, 

and a very good source of Vitamin A

Have you ever noticed that Christmas carols sing of pumpkin pie being served during the holidays? "...when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie..."

Baking your own pie guarantees quality ingredients for you, your family and friends. Enjoy pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and at Christmas too. 

This year we had locally grown butternut squash available so I made pumpkin pie using fresh roasted butternut squash instead of canned pumpkin. It was one of the best pumpkin pies ever! Try butternut squash for a delicious substitute to canned pumpkin.

Click here for my pumpkin pie recipe published online.

Simply substitute pureed butternut squash for canned pumpkin.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin pie crust? 
Click here for my GardenCuizine pumpkin pie dough recipe.

Happy Holidays!
Blog post and photo Copyright © Wind. All rights reserved.

Better Butternut Squash Soup #wintersquash #GardenCuizine #JerseyFresh

Better Butternut Squash Soup

I've been recently testing and tasting recipes for our first outpatient dietitian hospital cooking class at Inspira Health Network. The class - "Soup's On" - featured nutritious butternut squash soup. My recipe uses soy milk so that anyone who is lactose intolerant can enjoy it too. Heavy, calorie-laden cream is not needed to make delicious cream soups.

A quick Google search will reveal a variety of ways to make butternut squash soup. I posted a recipe years ago using cinnamon and vanilla soy milk. Back then, I may have used "vanilla" soy milk because that was all we had in the house at the time. This version tasted even better with added curry, fresh ginger root and plain, versus vanilla, soy milk.

And, for those who tell me that they can't afford to eat healthy: the soup cost only about 58 cents per cup - more evidence that you can Cook Healthy on a Budget!

Yields 3 quarts - note: freezes well

Ingredients
one 2 to 3 pound butternut squash OR 2 bags (16 oz. chopped frozen butternut squash)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1/8 teaspoon (tsp.) minced dried hot peppers from your garden (or hot pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon no salt butter (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger root (or one cube of frozen ginger*)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch fresh grated black pepper
2 cups low fat chicken broth (or water)
1 quart plain soy milk (or 2% milk)

 

Putting it all together
Step 1
Decide how you want to cook the squash. 
Wash hands. 
If roasting squash: Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
Wash vegetables
Prep onions, celery and carrots: peel and chop - set aside.

Step 2

• Prep squash: cut ends off both sides. 
• If sauteing directly in the soup pot: cut in half across the middle and peel skin; cut each piece lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Cut into cubes. OR for convenience use precut, frozen butternut squash.
• If baking: Cut in half across the middle; cut again so there are 4 pieces. Rub olive oil on cut sides of squash. Place squash cut side down on foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 deg. F. until soft (about 30 minutes); remove from oven - scoop out seeds. Return to oven and continue baking until squash is full cooked and the edges show caramelizing and a little browning.

Step 3

• In stockpot saute chopped veggies in 1 T butter or oil for 10 minutes
• Stir in hot pepper flakes
• Stir in remaining seasonings
• Add 2 cups broth OR water and bay leaf. Cover, simmer and cook until veggies are soft

Step 4

• Remove bay leaf
• Stir in milk
• Puree in blender or with hand-held immersion blender
• Taste and adjust seasonings as needed

Enjoy with a few homemade whole grain herb pita chips

Buon Appetito! 

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Butternut Squash Soup: 1 cup soup
Excellent Source: Vitamin A, Vitamin C
Good Source: Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Riboflavin, Folate, B12, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium

Calories: 111; total fat: 3g; Sodium 246mg (10%DV); total Carbohydrate: 20g; dietary Fiber: 1g (4%DV); Sugars 6g; Protein 4g; Vitamin A 17250IU (345%DV wow!); Vitamin C 22.6mg (38%DV); Vitamin D: ~39.7IU (~10%DV); Vitamin E ~2mg (~10%DV); Riboflavin 0.2mg (13%DV); Folate 32mcg (11%DV); B12 1mcg (17%DV); Calcium 170mg (17%DV); Magnesium 57mg (14%DV); Potassium 593mg (17%DV)
 *thanks D.A. for introducing me to frozen ginger cubes! Ask for frozen ginger at your local supermarket.
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash #GardenCuizine #wintersquash

Cooking Spaghetti Squash

Cooked spaghetti squash resembles spaghetti strands when pulled with a fork, making it unique among winter squashes. The pulled squash can be eaten as is, or tossed with pasta sauce or garlic butter - with, or without added veggies. Spaghetti squash tastes delicious sautéed with spinach. And, make extra because leftovers can be refrigerated and easily reheated.

Note: this is another GardenCuizine "freestyle" recipe, meaning that you can use any amount of the ingredients you desire based on how many people you are cooking for. You don't need to use specific amounts. However, for those who prefer to follow a recipe I will note the amounts for serving 4 people the next time I cook it. Winter squash can be cooked many different ways: boiling, sautéing, steaming; roasting is best flavor.

I recently made it for a crowd at Inspira Health Network's Bariatric Holiday Party!

Ingredients 
Spaghetti squash 
olive oil
salt and pepper

Additional ingredients for Spaghetti Squash with Spinach
chopped onion
pinch chopped hot peppers
garlic
butter (or olive oil)
Parmesan cheese (or grated soy cheese if vegan)
chopped Spinach
broth (veggie or chicken)

Putting it all together 
Preheat oven to 350° F

• Cut a small portion off of each end. Cut the squash lengthwise. 
• Rub olive oil on the cut side.
• Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Take out of oven and scoop out seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Return to oven cut side down and continue baking until fully cooked and the flesh touching the foil is slightly browned (may take another 30 minutes or so).
• When done, flip squash halves over so that their cut side is now facing up. Using a fork, pull the squash out of the skin into a serving bowl. Set aside if planning to sauté with spinach. The empty skins can be used as serving bowls if desired.

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach: In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter (or olive oil). Add onion and hot pepper; cook until onion is translucent. Stir in garlic; stir in chopped spinach. Add cooked spaghetti squash; gently mix together with grated cheese. Add a little broth as needed to moisten. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Can be made ahead and reheated before serving. 

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Spaghetti Squash coming soon...
Buon Appetito!

Copyright ©Wind. All rights reserved.

'tis the season! Get your holiday cookie recipes ready #gingerbread #cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Last night's Calendar Party at Trinity Church launched us into the holiday spirit. My friend Audrey hosted the December table. Her theme this year was Christmas Tea with gingerbread. She served a variety of herbal teas, tea sandwiches, and scones with all the fixings. She made a gingerbread house for the centerpiece and I made and decorated large and small gingerbread cookies that she gave out at the end of the party along with a party favor of molasses. 

We all loved Audrey's gingerbread house. You would never know that she was pressed for time and cheated using graham crackers instead of gingerbread for the house. Sssshhh...no one even noticed. Her mom, Helen, helped too; they both are very creative. Helen made the door wreath and garden window boxes on the side of the house. Decorating details included red licorice Twizzler windows and Necco wafer candy roof shingles. Audrey made the chimney out of gum 'bricks', which was cleaver and must have taken patience to assemble.

The gingerbread cookies were fun to make and decorate. I used raisins for the eyes and royal icing to decorate and put the first name initial of each guest on their cookie. Watch for my Gingerbread Cookie recipe post coming soon...
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Today in Our Fall Garden #GardenCuizine

Today in Our Garden

Today in our garden you'll find: Rosemary, Parsley, Fennel seeds, Tarahumara Popping Sorghum, red Okra, heirloom Tomatoes, Turkish eggplants, sweet and several types of hot Peppers, Arugula and plenty of potatoes! 

Potatoes are easy to grow and you can dig then up as you need them. Harry just dug up another batch. I took a video and will post it soon.

Our large white moon flowers just finished showing off their blooms. Red cannas and Show n Tell (red with yellow tips) dahlias bordering the veggie garden are still going strong and look beautiful. Dahlias make great cut flowers right up until frost, so yes, we've been taking in cuttings to enjoy them while we can.

Everywhere you look in our garden you'll see chia in bloom. Most of the plants self-seeded from last year. Bees love the tiny blue salvia flowers; they bloom just a bit too late for the hummingbirds to enjoy. Although, I did see a hummer yesterday! But, most have begun their migration South.

Bright yellow daisies on tall stems of Jerusalem artichokes are blooming now too, along with the slender white trumpets of Nicotiana sylvestris. The Nicotiana self-seeded from last year, which was a pleasant surprise.

In the kitchen, we're still using up and cooking with heirloom tomatoes. Tonight, we made Chili with some of our tomatoes and a side of homemade cornbread with chia. Harry added a few chopped and sauteed Turkish eggplants to the chili - you would never know - and no bitter taste either. Little by little we are finding uses for the strange, tiny eggplants. 

Happy Fall!
Photo collage and blogpost Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.

End of harvet tomato Recipe: Heirloom Cream of Tomato Soup #GardenCuizine

 ~Low Sodium~

Heirloom 

Cream of Tomato Soup

This time of year tomatoes spoil quick and can end up in the refrigerator or worse yet, in the compost heap. Soup is a quick and easy way to cook up and use your own, or locally grown, tomatoes when the harvest just keeps on coming!

We've had so many heirloom Jersey tomatoes this year and have eaten tomatoes in every imaginable way including our 'ol standbys of canning salsa and pasta sauce. I decided to make a batch of Cream of Tomato soup to freeze for us to enjoy later in cooler weather. I used evaporated milk versus heavy cream to add flavor and nutrition without the excess calories and saturated fat. 

Cooking tips: Amazing and true - No need to add salt! There is so much flavor in heirloom tomatoes, plus using a little hot pepper and the natural sodium in the added milk and onion really makes the soup delicious without adding any salt. Of course you can add salt as desired. I didn't add any.

No need to remove the tomato skins. The skins will be removed when the soup is strained after cooking. So you could use up extra cherry tomatoes easily as well. 

Also, adding carrots and using yellow heirloom tomatoes will make the soup orange in color. To deepen color shade to more red - simply stir in a little tomato paste. I left ours orange. 

Yields: 2720g or about 12, 8-ounce servings 
Ingredients
10 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes (they don't have to be heirlooms; we just happen to grow mostly heirloom)
2 1/2 - 3 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
3 cups chopped carrots (or 2 cups chopped carrots and 1 cup chopped celery. We didn't use celery because we didn't have any at the time.)
1/2 hot pepper (we used Scotch Bonnet)
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 dried bay leaves
fresh ground black pepper
2, 12-ounce cans evaporated milk
Tomato paste - optional

Putting it all together

• Wash and chop all veggies. 
• In a large soup stock pot over medium high heat, add olive oil and saute carrots and onions until soft. 
• Stir in garlic, hot pepper and herbs. 
• Add a few twists of fresh ground black pepper. 
• Stir in tomatoes, bring to simmer. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until soft.
• Stir in milk towards end of cooking time. Simmer to blend flavors.
• Remove bay leaves.
• Puree (we use a hand held blender). Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
• Strain into storage containers leaving head space if freezing.

Buon Appetito!

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Cream of Tomato Soup
Excellent Source: Vitamin A, Vitamin C 
Good Source: Protein, Calcium, Manganese, Folate, Riboflavin

8 ounce serving: 113 calories; protein: 5.8g (12% DV); total fat: 5g; sodium: 117mg (4.8% DV); dietary fiber: 2g; total carbohydrates: 14g; protein: 5.8g (12% DV); vitamin A: 2,402 IU (48% DV); vitamin C: 30.3mg (51% DV); calcium 165mg (16% DV); iron (5% DV); manganese 0.2mg (10% DV); folate 50.4mcg (13% DV); riboflavin 0.2mg (14% DV); phytosterols: ~10.4mg
Recipe and blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved. 

Thank You @davesgardenteam members! #GardenCuizine

 

Thank You

Dave's Garden members!

Proud to be among photography winners in several categories at Dave's Gardens County Fair 2014! Winning two first places this year, which is a first for me. I've never won with my photo entries before.The voters liked our kitty - sweet Snoops - snoozing atop a tapestry pillow 'home sweet home' as first place "Domesticated Pet" 

Another first was for favorite "Arts and Crafts" for my Mosaic Watering Can, which by the way, is still in the works. I really need to finish that project.
Harry's annual Birthday Cherry Pie won second place for favorite "Homemade Sweet Treats" The charm must have been the edible garnish of shiso perilla, mint and anise hyssop.

Pictures from our bountiful harvest of organic grapes for grape jelly won second and third places for "Favorite Fresh Fruit" 

Runner up mentions were in favorite "Fresh Vegetables" for some heirloom tomato shots  And, we truly did have a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes this year and they still are still producing. 

Growing your own fruits and vegetables is truly a rewarding and fun experience. I encourage you to give it a try.

Happy and Healthy Gardening! 
Stay tuned for more GardenCuizine recipes, photos and videos

Today's Labor Day Harvest: Heirloom Veggies Galore! #GardenCuizine

Heirloom Veggies Galore
Today's Labor Day Harvest
9/1/14

Labor Day weekend is a good time to preserve fresh vegetables. Today in our garden we have dahlias almost ready to bloom, basil going to seed (already froze lots of pesto), more potatoes waiting to be dug, and kale and herbs for picking. Today's harvest included a few colanders full of Turkish eggplant, garlic chives, hot peppers, and lots of juicy, Jersey, organically grown, heirloom tomatoes. We have to use the tomatoes up asap since they spoil fairly quickly and fruit flies are hanging out. Any ideas?

So far we've enjoyed tomatoes on sandwiches, salads, in omelets and combined with chopped peaches in salsa that tastes great with grilled chicken, fish or pork. If you're like us, when you grow your own veggies, especially tomatoes, you may find that you can't eat them fast enough! Canning and preserving recipes come in handy.

Rather than pasta sauce, salsa, or preserving tomatoes whole or chopped, I'm thinking of making soup. Homemade cream of tomato soup should be delicious and freeze well. And, it will be nice to have a nutritious taste of the garden during the fall and winter.
 
Happy Labor Day!
Blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Tarahumara Popping Sorghum * Make half your grains - Whole Grains! #GardenCuizine

Tarahumara 

Popping Sorghum is blooming!

So far I'm really enjoying growing this interesting whole grain in our garden. Sorghum stalks grow tall like corn. The leaves have a distinct white stripe down the center. The plants bloom a tassle-like top, which reminds me of wheat, but it's wheat-free. 

Sorghum's white seeds can be harvested, dried and ground into gluten-free sorghum flour or popped like popcorn. Sorghum flour as an ingredient works well combined with other grains; it's especially good in recipes for pancakes or bread.

Photo Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Today in Our Garden: huge yellow heirloom tomatoes! #GardenCuizine #gardenchat

Today in Our Jersey Garden

Well, I took my eye off our ripening huge heirloom tomatoes for a day and two whoppers got over ripe. Harry sliced into our biggest one before I had a chance to weight it. It may have been 2 pounds! The other shown in the photo above, weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. - wow! This breaks our record of 1.2 lbs. from last year. 

Needless to say we've been enjoying tomatoes on everything you can think of. For lunch today, we ate tomato sandwiches while watching hummingbirds visit Coronado Hyssop* and their feeders. This morning, we enjoyed Harry's heirloom tomato and cheese omelets for breakfast. Last night, we had tomatoes in salad at dinner. Tonight, I'm sure we'll add tomatoes to something, perhaps a simple tomato basil salad or tomato peach salsa. 

Try growing your own organic fruits and veggies for quality nutrition and fresh food, all which make gardening such a worthwhile adventure. We grow all our tomatoes from collected seeds from the largest tomatoes. The huge yellow heirloom shown in the above photo is most likely Yellow Brandywine.

Photos Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.
*LINK TO MY DAVE'S GARDEN ARTICLE: HUMMINGBIRD MAGNET: CORONADO HYSSOP

Processing Grapes * Making Grape Juice for Grape Jelly #nowinediamonds #GardenCuizine

Homemade 100% Pure
Grape Juice 

for making Grape Jelly

Yesterday we harvested 5 pounds, 10 ounces of organically grown grapes for jelly. We've learned from experience that to make the best homemade grape jelly, it's best to allow two days: one day to crush and blend the grapes into grape juice and a second day to make the jelly.  

Letting grape juice rest overnight in the refrigerator allows 'wine diamonds', otherwise known as potassium bitartrate crystals, to precipitate out. The crystals are easily removed by filtering the fresh juice through cheesecloth.

Potassium bitartrate crystals 
Potassium bitartrate crystals are GRAS approved by the FDA (Generally Recognized As Safe). The first time we made our own grape juice for jelly, we didn't know about potassium bitartrate crystals and some crystals did form in our finished product. I noticed them while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The harmless crunchy texture in our homemade jelly was undesirable because the crystals resembled bits of glass. 

If your homemade grape jelly is planned for company or intended as a gift, it would be a good idea to plan ahead and allow two days to prepare it. It's worth the extra day.

Putting it all together
Homemade Grape Juice Recipe
1) pick grapes (ours are organically grown)
2) pull grapes off stems (discard stems in compost)
3) weigh grapes
4) rinse grapes to wash - then strain
5) place washed grapes in stock pot
6) mash grapes directly in stock pot using clean hands or potato masher. (note: acid in grapes can make hands itch - some wear plastic gloves)
6) add water: for 3 to 4.5 lbs. of grapes add 1/2 cup water. We had 5 lbs., 10 oz. so we added about 2/3 cup water. You only have to add a little water.
7) bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10 minutes. Mash again with potato masher to release juices.
8) collect juice by straining contents into a cheesecloth-lined pot or china cap (tip: wet and squeeze dry cheesecloth first so it doesn't absorb and waste juice).
9) squeeze out as much juice as you can as the pulp cools, then discard the used cheesecloth and pulp (pulp can be composted).
10) transfer the strained grape juice to a bowl or container, cover and refrigerate overnight. This allows natural crystals to develop and precipitate out.  

The next day, you should notice small wine diamonds about the size of silver glitter floating on the surface (see photo above). Strain the juice a final time in a double layer of cheesecloth to remove any crystals.

Enjoy your pure and natural antioxidant-rich juice. Homemade grape juice can be used in homemade wine, jam or jelly recipes.

Food science note: Potassium bitartrate crystals are a byproduct of the wine industry and are gathered from the sediment in the barrels. They are ground to make Cream of Tartar for the baking industry.

Related Links
Homemade Reduced Sugar Grape Jelly
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Today in Our Garden * Grape Jelly time! #GardenCuizine #gardenchat

Today in Our Garden

South Jersey
USDA Zone 7a (formerly zone 6b)

August 9, 2014

Harry picked a colander full of organic red grapes this morning. We plan on making grape jelly. Also, we finally spotted a few more swallowtail butterflies this morning. This year we haven't seen as many butterflies as we usually see - have you?

Hummingbirds are more active at the feeders now, and flowers are blooming all over the place, except for dahlias and goldenrod. We noticed meadows of yellow goldenrod blooming now in the Adirondacks, which is further north. Here at home, even Mom pulled out her cell phone camera to snap a few flower photos this morning.

Some of our NJ blooms include:

• Buddleia (the few we have left after die back from last winter)
• Sunflowers (from bird seed)
• Limelight hydrangea (shown next to Harry in top photo)
• Green-Headed Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata (yellow blooms shown)
  
• Coronado hyssop (my new hummingbird favorite! check out my Dave's Garden article Hummingbird favorite: Coronado Hyssop) 

greeter at the garden gate

• Four o'clocks, Zinnias, red Cannas, Cosmos
• Hostas, Hibiscus
• Apple mint, Phlox, Black-eyed Susans
• Salvias (including lady in red, Yvonne's, black and blue)

yesterday's harvest

The veggie garden is full of heirloom tomatoes, basil, potatoes, chia and both sweet and hot peppers. 

We have the BIGGEST TOMATO that I've ever grown or seen ripening on the vine now. It's a gigantic yellow heirloom tomato. An award winner for sure. All our tomatoes were grown from saved seeds from the largest tomatoes of the previous year. Guess it works!

We're looking forward to seeing the actual weight of our largest heirloom tomato ever along with large, dinner plate dahlia blooms - all coming soon.

Hope you are having a happy and healthy summer

Related Links
Homemade Reduced Sugar Grape Jelly
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Hiking with Harry in the Adirondacks #ADK #Keenevalley #wildblueberries

Blueberry Mountain
4.8 miles round trip day hike

Hiking Adirondack mountains will surely get you back in shape within a few days, assuming that you start off somewhat prepared to hike by eating right and keeping yourself as fit as possible during the year. This year I planned to be better prepared than last year and worked out weekly at a gym. It did help. You don't think of it when you're young, but can't help but notice that as you get older - the climbs get tougher!

Most trail books accurately describe Blueberry Mtn. as an easy short hike with a beautiful view of Keene Valley. Harry and I left from Marcy Airfield to Blueberry Mountain, 2.4 miles: 4.8 miles round trip. The trail also lead to the summit of Porter Mountain, but we only wanted to climb Blueberry: 2,890 feet, which was enough for us for the first hike this trip. 

The August weather was comfortable and cool; not unseasonably hot like summer of 2013. And, yes, there were lots of blueberries and shrubs on Blueberry Mtn. Wild blueberries are noticeably smaller than commercial blueberries. 

RIP Pat Quinn who passed away May 2012. Her family closed the Bed and Breakfast 'Mountain Meadows' located in Keene Valley. She always gave us advise on good hikes and was an inspiration. I loved her cottage gardening style. Harry says it was like "going home,"  which it was. We miss her and the hospitality of her family. I think of her on mornings that I refill our hummingbird feeders and especially when we visit Keene Valley.

Trail-head located center of Keene Valley

Harry taking a photo of wild blueberries

Photos and blog post (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Homemade Cherry Pie #GardenCuizine

Cherry Pie

Homemade cherry pie tastes better than anything you can buy. Cherry pie makes a great alternative to birthday "cake" too. Cherry pie is Harry's birthday favorite. In fact, today I'm decorating a pie that I made last night for his milestone birthday celebration. Happy 70th, Harry!

Why do you think store-bought fruit pies are so inexpensive? Because the fruit is stretched with lots of sugar and cheap filling goop! More like a science project than something worth eating.

In the future we hope to harvest our own cherries. We planted two new trees this spring; one appears to have died. So who knows if we'll ever get to grow our own cherries. In the meantime, I bought some at our local farmers market.
 
Preheat oven to 400 F

Pie dough
use your favorite pie dough recipe
Filling Ingredients
6 cups sweet cherries - pitted
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons (T) instant tapioca
1 T tapioca starch
1 T key lime juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup water
egg wash: 1 egg whisked with splash water

Putting it all together

• When pitting cherries be sure to account for each and every pit so your guests don't get a pit
• Combine all ingredients except the water and egg wash and toss in large bowl. Stir and after 15 minutes if the cherries do not seem juicy add the 1/4 cup water. Let sit while you roll out the pie dough.
• Roll out pie dough in two 11-inch circles for 9-inch pie plate. Fit one for bottom crust into lightly sprayed pie plate
• Fill with cherry mixture
• Use a fluted cutter and cut strips of dough out of the remaining circle for lattice top crust. Press and crimp edges using fingers
• Egg wash
• Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F and bake until golden brown and you see the cherry filling bubble - about 1 hour total. You may have to put foil around the edges during baking to prevent getting too dark
• Allow to fully cool before decorating if serving as birthday 'cake'!

Edible decorations shown in photo: red shiso perilla, chocolate mint, anise hyssop, pansy

GardenCuizine Nutrition data Sweet Cherries:
Good Source: dietary Fiber, Potassium and Vitamin C
1 cup pitted Sweet Cherries: 3g (13% DV) dietary Fiber, 342mg (10% DV) Potassium, 11mg (18% DV) Vitamin C
Photos and recipe Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.