Sue's Kitchen: July 2010

Monday, July 26, 2010

Enough of the Heat, Already!!!

This summer has been such a scorcher! I want to shout out a big THANK YOU for everyone who has braved the heat and humidity to come to the markets. Even Granville was steamy this past weekend-whew!
Come see us this week-I'm rejuvenated (needed a little attitude adjustment for the hot and weary) and will have garden fresh Zucchini Walnut Bread and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread; and fresh Apple, Blueberry, Cherry and Peach pies; Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies.
I posted the recipe for the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread on the Westerville Farmers' Market blog recipe section last year. Its quite easy and so delicious-Enjoy!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Oh to be Sweet 16 Again..........

Those of you who know me know I am a PIE baker and a COOKIE baker and several other kinds of baker. BUT one thing I don't normally bake is CAKE.......that is until today :)
Here is a cake I made for my friend Tammy's daughter, Terra and her friend Bryce who were having a big Sweet 16 Celebration tonight. Their theme is Candyland so here is a girlie cake complete with Spree candies, suckers, Mike n Ike candies, fondant cut outs, candles spelling their names, spaghetti neon candles and a purple feather to top it off. The cake is vanilla with the base being pink, the middle purple and the topper chartreuse. Buttercream tops it all off.
For all the true cake bakers out there please forgive my imperfections and know that I had fun making it and I hope Terra and Bryce and their friends had fun celebrating their 16th!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Sue's Kitchen was all Red, White & Blue!!

Sue's Kitchen was all Patriotic for the 4th! We had Stars-n-Stripes Apple Pie, Star Spangled Cherry Pie, All American Chocolate Chip Cookie Stacks, Red White & Blue Sugar Cookies, and everything was decorated for Independence Day. Happy Birthday USA!!!!!

About Me

I grew up in the country in Ohio on the family farm baking alongside my Mom and Gramma…back when we grew huge vegetable gardens, foraged the fields and woods for summer’s blackberries, and picked tart cherries until the juice ran down our arms. We spent many a hot afternoon “putting up” gallons of transparent applesauce for our enjoyment later in the winter. Those hot summer afternoons were also just right for raising bread dough on Gramma’s dining room table, later to be hand-rolled into buns and slathered with butter when they emerged from the oven for us to eat. Now that I think about it, it seems only natural to me that one day, many years later I would decide to share my love of baking with others.

After leaving Ohio, moving around, going off to college and working as a nurse, my husband Jim and I came back to our family farm and built our home. We raised our two daughters, Sara and Caitlin, and have been fortunate to have our parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and extended family close by. How blessed we are to have such wonderful family! Then about seven years ago I decided I wanted to do something to make extra money. Sara was going off to college and I thought this would help with expenses. Farmers’ Markets were just starting to become a popular Saturday morning venue for socializing, buying fresh produce and sampling all kinds of delectable goodies artisans, like myself, baked and brought to sell at the market. I visited our town’s market one day with my Mom and I thought to myself. “I can do this!” And so, our local farmers’ market is where I took a leap of faith and “Sue’s Kitchen” was born.

Each week as I set up my table and put out my pies and cookies I was amazed by how many people do not bake anymore. Is it our fast paced lives that prevent us from throwing flour and butter together to produce yummy cookies? Are fewer people being taught this art as they grow up? Or is it just too easy to hit the local supermarket and pick up a pre-packaged sweet to take home? Whatever the reason, I quickly found how much that lost art of baking is truly missed.

Baking with heirloom recipes has brought smiles to the faces of my customers over the years, especially my homemade pies with flakey crusts and fresh juicy fruit fillings. When I use the leftover pie dough for cinnamon sticks I find my customers have their own family story and nickname for these treats: “roley poley” “cinnamon rolls”,etc..Whatever the name, they say when they were kids they waited in anticipation for them to be done baking then devoured them while still warm. I remembered the cookies Mom baked for us kids and she gave me her Oatmeal Raisin cookie recipe, which I make every week. I always loved Gramma Rose’s Molasses Sugar cookies, which are a fall favorite. I am lucky to have her old wooden recipe box complete with all her handwritten recipes, tips and even some letters. Some interpretation is needed here and there to replace her “butter the size of an egg” with actual measurement.

Another summer farmer’s market season is just beginning along with the growing anticipation of what new to bake, how to reach out to more people and how to design my new logo and website with the help of my friend Linda and my daughter Sara. I hope you all enjoy the ongoing happenings from Sue’s Kitchen.

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