Apple Picking.

I went apple picking today.  It was quite lovely too. Despite Toronto's grandeur and concrete-ness, it is situated surprisingly close to orchards and farms.  Within a mere thirty minute drive north we were suddenly in apple county! It was a gorgeous sunny day to stomp around an orchard, munching on apples while we harvested.  I brought home 20 pounds of apples: a good mix of Cortands, Macs, Northern Spys, and Spartans. I foresee lots of late night apple snacking and apple crisps in the near future...

Summer Scenes 7.

Last one in the Summer Scenes series.  Hope you enjoyed looking at snapshots of my Summer! 

Edible Jewels.

Mmm, Summer. It's the time of year when markets are bountiful and fruit is at its finest. While I am sad to leave behind the fruits of Summer (peaches, berries, cherries, melons... so much goodness!), I welcome Fall fruits with open arms too. It is good to embrace the edible treasures of each seasons for health, taste, and environmental reasons.

Other related topics: I talked about my love of Farm Markets in this post and I rambled about the berries in this one. Here is a post about the craziness involved when we don't eat seasonal fruits.

Zucchini > Banana

Love the speckles of green throughout.

As much as I really try hard to be an environmentally conscious cook and eater (I buy local, do not waste, source ethically, choose organic if possible, eat with seasons, cook often at home, buy in bulk, eat a mostly vegan diet, only buy sustainable seafood and eggs, etc), I must admit that avocados, mangoes, and bananas still find their ways into in my kitchen from time-to-time.  Yep, these foods are not at all environmentally-friendly choices when you live in cold-climated Canada. 

I was thinking the other day about how much I love banana bread (proof: I have three banana bread recipes on this blog, click on the words to find them), but then I got thinking about zucchini bread and how it is very similar.  What's cool about zucchini, however, is that it is actually able to be grown in Canada. Another bonus: it is IN SEASON right now! I decided rather than making banana bread last week when I was craving it, to make zucchini bread using the zucchini I already had in the fridge from the farmers' market. And you know what? It was soooo good.  In fact, Ioved it so much that I am making it again today.  Hearty, cinnamon-y, and lightly sweet. Yum! Hmm, can zucchini bread be my new banana bread? Maybe, just maybe...

Zucchini Bread aka Banana-less Banana Bread

2 cups shredded or diced zucchini*

2 tablespoons oil (I used coconut)

1/4 cup apple sauce (I used unsweetened)

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup water

Pinch of sea salt 

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup sugar (I used coconut sugar)

2 cups flour** (I used half sorghum and half all-purpose gfree)

1/2 cup walnuts, optional

Mix the drained and patted dry zucchini shreds with the oil, apple sauce, eggs, and water. Stir gently to mix.  Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl.  Add the wet/zucchini mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Place in a bread loaf pan, greased well or lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven at 200*F for 30 minutes to rise, then increase the heat to 350*F for another 30 minutes. Poke with a toothpick to test doneness (might not come out completely clean, however, especially if you poke into a strand of zucchinin!). Let cool completely on a wire rack, then slice using a sharp knife. Makes one loaf of zucchini bread or 14 thick slices. Store in the fridge to preserve the zucchini. Unfortunately, this bread doesn't freeze the best; the zucchini bits freeze and then thaw, leaving the bread soggy.

*Tossed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and placed in a colander overnight to drain; pat dry before using
**If making gluten-free: add 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (only if using gluten-free flour).

It rose quite high! Quite the feat for a gluten-free bread.

Beautiful Berries.

This bowl of berry beauties was a delicious snack after spending a sunny afternoon outdoors.

Every week I've been stocking up on fresh, Summer-time fruits, from my local Farmers' Market. They are truly nature's candy. Fruit evolved to satisfy our palate, with the hope that if the sweet, fleshy fruit was eaten, then the inner seeds will be too, transporting the plant to some new location to grow and flourish.

After my market visit each week, I keep thinking that I have bought enough to freeze some for the winter or have enough on hand to bake some into a berry crisp or tart...but no.  Even though I've been buying between $20-30 worth of berries alone each week, they somehow end-up completely devoured without any adornment whatsoever.  Yep, plain and simple berries in a bowl; there's no treat like it.

Nutrition and esthetic-wise, berries are gems.  Their deep red/blue/purple pigments are full of antioxidants. Their peak season is Summer, which is perfect because we need more antioxidants in our diet during this bright season due to all the free-radical-producing sun rays we are exposed to daily.  Don't forget that you can apply sunscreen internally too by eating lots of antioxidant-rich berries post-sunshine.

Soak up the berry goodness while you still can: black berries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, red currants, and strawberries. They are all beautiful and bountiful right now.