California - Northern

[Happy Chooks]

Glad you are alright mike!

 

[tls_ranch]

Glad to read everyone is doing good.

Thanks for the update about the azure feed. I'm looking forward to some better quality feed for my birds.

I wish I could come pick olives with you Kim. I live olive oil with a passion! I'm going to Ohio for a week on Saturday to spend time with some family I.haven't seen in awhile. I'm very very anxious to get back already.

I got in a minor wreck yesterday morning up past shingletown on SR 44. 3 cars in the accident and none hit each other or was really injured. I had a little pain in the middle of my back yesterday but im more than ok. Im blessed



I also wanted to ask you bamboo gurus what kind of bamboo this is I have.





Mike

Wow, Mike!
Glad you are ok.

Trisha

 

[ronott1]

Ron, Here is my grandpa's recipe for Dutch Letters. It makes a lot of letters and the ingredients are expensive so I tweak it just a little bit as noted after the recipe. I'm also going to post a few links for some online recipes for them. It helps to actually see what they look like before you make them.

Frank VanVeen's Dutch Letters
(Makes 32 letters)

Pastry dough:

1 lb. unsalted butter
1 lb. lard
8 c. flour
2 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. salt

Filling:

3 lb. almond paste (You can find this in the grocery stores in a 7 oz. tube, brand name Odense. I ordered mine from amazon.com. I purchased it in a pack of 4 8 oz. cans brand name Solo.)
6 c. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
3 tsp. almond flavoring
8 whole eggs

Mix the butter, lard, flour and salt until it resembles coarse meal: add the water and mix quickly (don't over mix, you might need to use your hands). On a floured board roll out dough to 12 x 18 inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds. Roll out and fold twice more. This makes a flaky dough. Chill dough over night. At this point the dough can be frozen. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter to a 10 x 24 inch piece and divide into eight 3 x 10 inch pieces. Make a rope of the filling 1/2 inch thick, by rolling in flour. Place on dough and roll the dough over filling, sealing the ends and edges with water. Brush the top of the letter with egg white and roll in sugar. Shape in "S" on cookie sheet and prick several times with a fork. Bake 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Filling: Mix almond paste, sugar, vanilla and almond flavoring with your hands until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Place in refrigerator overnight before using.

My modifications:

This recipe makes too many and the almond paste is expensive so I divide the dough in half and the filling to 1/3 of the original recipe. I always have filling left over even when I only mix 1/3 of the recipe. I also usually use all butter instead of the mix of butter and lard.

Pastry dough:

1 lb. unsalted butter
4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:

1 lb. almond paste
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond
2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk (save the egg white to use to brush tops of letters before baking)

When I mix the pastry, I cut the butter into slices and then don't worry about getting it all mixed in. It will mix up as you roll it out. I roll it out and fold it into thirds 1 time. Then I wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for at least 20 min. Then I roll it out and fold it into thirds 2 more times before wrapping it in plastic wrap and chilling it for at least 2 hours or over night. Because I only mix a 1/2 batch of the pastry dough, I only end up with 16 letters. I divide the dough into 4 parts, roll the parts to approximately 10 x 16 in., and use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into four 10 x 4 in. sections. I usually use the egg white saved from the filling with a tiny bit of water added to seal all the edges and to brush the tops of the letters. I prefer to use large crystal sugar to roll them in or sprinkle on top after forming them into a "S" shape and brushing with egg white. As they cook, they might ooze out the almond filling in places. That just means that you as the cook get a little almond candy treat after removing the letters from the cookie sheet. Let the letters cool slightly before removing them. I usually cut them into 4 pieces to serve. If you have any questions about the process, just drop me a PM. They are a little bit of work but soooo worth it.

https://www.jaarsmabakery.com/history

http://www.state.ia.us/government/d...nal-arts/place_based_foods/assets/dletter.pdf

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dutch-letter-cookies/

I'm headed off to the kitchen to have a little piece of Dutch letter!

Thank You for the recipe and the links!

Sounds like fun

 

[ronott1]

I forgot that I wanted to tell people that we are picking our olive crop tomorrow, and maybe Thursday, if we don't finish. If anyone would like to come see what it's like to hand pick olives, you are welcome to join us! Everyone that helps gets a large bottle of our Italian varietal, extra virgin olive oil, fresh pressed, after we pick it up from the mill.

The ranch is at the end of County Road 56 in Guinda. We're picking from early morning until dark. Dress warm, wear boots, bring gloves and a bucket.

Picking Olives is fun?

It is worth if for the olive oil!

I have to work tomorrow and Thursday will be busy for me getting ready for Christmas or I would be there!

 

[ElitePoultry]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it a lot.

Yea the road was really bad up there yesterday morning. Black ice and slush everywhere.
I think its dumping snow up there tonight and tomorrow just incase anybody is traveling east this week.

 

[ronott1]

Glad to read everyone is doing good.

Thanks for the update about the azure feed. I'm looking forward to some better quality feed for my birds.

I wish I could come pick olives with you Kim. I live olive oil with a passion! I'm going to Ohio for a week on Saturday to spend time with some family I.haven't seen in awhile. I'm very very anxious to get back already.

I got in a minor wreck yesterday morning up past shingletown on SR 44. 3 cars in the accident and none hit each other or was really injured. I had a little pain in the middle of my back yesterday but im more than ok. Im blessed



Mike

Yikes!

Were you close to Lake McUmber Rd? If so my Mom may have heard the wreck!

Glad you are OK!

 

[tls_ranch]

I forgot that I wanted to tell people that we are picking our olive crop tomorrow, and maybe Thursday, if we don't finish. If anyone would like to come see what it's like to hand pick olives, you are welcome to join us! Everyone that helps gets a large bottle of our Italian varietal, extra virgin olive oil, fresh pressed, after we pick it up from the mill.

The ranch is at the end of County Road 56 in Guinda. We're picking from early morning until dark. Dress warm, wear boots, bring gloves and a bucket.

Fresh olive oil is the best!! I grew up on an olive ranch and both my parents still have olive orchards. My dad had a huge harvest this year for processing for table olives. He usually gets some of the old mission olive trees picked and pressed for oil. This year he might get as much as 15- 20 five gallon buckets of the liquid "green gold". The best oil I ever tasted and hopefully he'll have some extra to share with us.

Good luck with the harvest

Trisha

PS Have you ever tried to get someone to eat an olive right of the tree? That can be fun trick to pull on the unknowing "city folk". I used to be able to eat one with a straight face and talk them into trying one too. LOL

 

[Miss Molly]

Ron, enjoy your vacation... that's awesome you get some extra time off for the Holiday's. I'm jealous !

Mike, I'm so glad you are OK. Very Scary... You must have had a angel looking over your shoulder ... Hope your back feels better soon.

Everybody have a wonderful Christmas...God Bless!

 

[ElitePoultry]

Yikes!

Were you close to Lake McUmber Rd? If so my Mom may have heard the wreck!

Glad you are OK!

Umm where's that close by? Im still kind of new to the area.
I was on my way to Reno, so right before the first Right Turn to continue on SR 44, where that little gas station
is on the right hand side. If you know where that is, I was a little before that gas station.
The highway patrol trooper said there was another accident more up the road toward susanville way, and i read the news about a third accident later on. That was 3 separate accidents on 44 yesterday.

I think the one I was in was the very first accident. It happened around 8:30 am.

Fresh olive oil is the best!! I grew up on an olive ranch and both my parents still have olive orchards. My dad had a huge harvest this year for processing for table olives. He usually gets some of the old mission olive trees picked and pressed for oil. This year he might get as much as 15- 20 five gallon buckets of the liquid "green gold". The best oil I ever tasted and hopefully he'll have some extra to share with us.

Good luck with the harvest

Trisha

PS Have you ever tried to get someone to eat an olive right of the tree? That can be fun trick to pull on the unknowing "city folk". I used to be able to eat one with a straight face and talk them into trying one too. LOL

Lol that's funny because I would be the dumb one to eat one right off the tree!
iididn't know you couldn't! lol

 

[tls_ranch]

I wanted to share a neat book I found locally. It's the Sacramento Valley Feast by Wolfgang Rougle

It's a really neat little book about the North Valley and all the edible wild plants growing here. Very interesting stories and recipes on how to use them. Even a few ways on how to home cure olives and press them for oil.

The author actually lives just down the road from me. I ended up getting 2 extra copies signed to give to my friends It's fascinating to know how there can be edible plants all around...yet people don't even know it. The "second" addition is out now and it has added info too. It's availble through UCD bookstore and a few local stores in Red Bluff and Redding. Here's a link to a store in Chico:

http://lyonbook.com/scripts/search.php?page=1&search_type=asin&search_term=SACVALFEAST

Just thought it fit the Nor Cal thread and we were talking about olive oil which made me think of it

Trisha