Coconut Blueberry Granola

5 cups oats
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup almond butter
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup dried Eden blueberries
½ cup Inari toasted coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds and coconut.

In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, almond butter, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla and salt over medium low heat. Stir together until smooth and then add it to the granola. Stir well to coat and then transfer from the bowl onto a parchment lined sheet pan.

Bake the granola at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and then stir and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the granola cool before adding the toasted coconut flakes and dried blueberries. Store in an airtight container.

Grilling Onions

6 Harvest Haven grilling onions
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves Harvest Haven garlic, minced
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

Trim onions. In a shallow dish, combine olive oil, garlic, pepper, and salt. Add onions; stir to coat onions evenly. Cover dish and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

When ready to use, preheat barbecue grill. Remove onions from refrigerator, drain and discard marinade.

Cook on medium heat until they are wilted and slightly charred. Remove from grill and let cool to room temperature.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Flank Steak

1 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar, can substitute with balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dried ginger powder
6 tablespoons Harvest Haven honey
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 cup sesame oil
Approximately 2 lbs. Harvest Haven flank steak
4 chopped green onions

In a small bowl, whisk together all of the marinade ingredients until completely combined.

Place steak in a deep dish. Pour marinade over steaks, add green onions, and cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

When ready to cook, prepare your grill for high.

Remove the steak from the marinade and place steak on the hot grill. Dispose of marinade. Grill for about 4-6 minutes per side, or until done to your liking (a meat thermometer should read 125 to 130°F for rare, 140°F for medium rare, and 150°F for medium).

When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat while the steak rests for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cut the steak across the grain of the meat, at a steep diagonal, so that the slices are wide. A serrated knife works best for this.

Fresh Peach Coffee Cake

Struesel:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Cake:
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large Harvest Haven eggs, room temperature
1 cup plain yogurt, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups fresh, ripe but firm, peaches, peeled and diced (about 3 medium peaches)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round pans, or one 9×13 pan.

Prepare streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and pinch of salt.

With your hands, work the softened butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse crumble.

Prepare cake: In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs, being careful to beat after the addition of each egg.

Beat in yogurt and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir flour mixture into the wet batter until just combined – be careful not to over mix. Gently fold the peaches into the batter.

Pour into prepared pan(s) and spread evenly.

Top with streusel until batter is completely covered.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

The Farmer's Wife – A Monday Morning Conversation

It's Monday morning, so Jeannie should have some time to talk about a few things because she doesn't have to scramble to open the store.

"Good morning, Jeannie. How are you today? What's on your agenda besides laundry?"

Isn't it interesting how we discuss the work projects the guys are engaged in when we're closed on Mondays, but never the "mundane" tasks the farmer's wife needs to do to keep the family clean and fed?

"Fine, thanks," is her reply between breaths and banging.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to change lightbulbs, but I need someone taller. Unless, I put my step ladder on the top of the stove."

"Don't do it, Jeannie! You've seen those memes showing why women live longer than men."

"Yeah, I have, but…" as we knowingly laugh in unison.

"By the way, tell Konstantijn I love the flower arrangement she gave me. We need to plant a flower garden for her next year. It's obvious she enjoys putting bouquets together and has a gift for it."

"Yes, we'll look through the catalogues this winter and plan a garden that will give K flowers all summer. I planted some small sunflowers for flower arrangements, but the guys herded the sheep over them. All gone now."

"That's sad."

"I know, but that's the way things go around here," Jeannie sighs.

"How's Marseilles?" (She had been feeling a little off for a couple of days.)

"Well, she came to me this morning and asked, 'Mommy, am I better?' I asked if she felt like eating some bread. She said, 'No. I want breakfast.' So, I guess she's better. I heard her talking to Mathijs later about having been sick and all the TV she watched. I think she's ready to go running around the farm again."

Moving on to discuss the frozen blueberry inventory, we run into another "guy" issue. We don't know what's in the walk-in freezer because a man needs to move pallets of frozen strawberries for us to see what's on the shelves.

Jeannie whips out a sticky note for the freezer door – PLEASE GET AN INVENTORY ON THE FROZEN BLUEBERRIES AND A BOX OF FROZEN CORN (we've been waiting for corn for a couple of months). Here's hoping the sticky note works, because we'd really like to serve more corn. And we need to know how many blueberries to freeze before the season is over.

Jeannie tells me that she has sticky notes all over to help "others" remember to do things, like fill the Berkey when they've taken the last glass full, close the door behind them when they leave the back room, and clean the soap dish after washing muddy hands – just little things.

A farmer's wife is like glue – holding things together while going unnoticed. What would we do without her?