Best Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars

Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars

Every year Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown, NJ hosts their popular Blueberry Festival. Members in the congregation share in baking homemade desserts to be served. Admission includes enjoying desserts, fresh blueberries, of course, vanilla ice cream, BBQ foods, tossed salad with berries and blueberry vinaigrette; lemonade and games, music and fun activities for children and families. 

This year I decided to bake off some Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake Bars. I selected a recipe from Delish.com to try. Funny thing is that I never got to taste them! It was a favorite and they went fast!

I followed the Delish recipe for the most part with only a few changes. We didn't have a 9x9 baking dish so I used a 7x11 baking dish. I omitted the extra sugar and salt in the graham cracker crust as from baking graham crusts in the past, the graham crackers have enough flavor and taste without it. Below is my take on this recipe. 

Ingredients

Crust:

• Cooking spray
• 15 graham crackers
• 1 large egg, separated
• 5 tblsp melted butter (I melt butter in small cast iron skillet on low heat. Save the skillet or whatever you use to melt the butter, for the next batch of melted butter in the streusel.)

Filling:

• 2 pkg cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and any stems removed 
• 1/4 cup of your favorite blueberry jam 

Streusel topping

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 5 tblsp melted butter
• 3 tblsp brown sugar
• zest of one lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt 

Putting it all together

Preheat oven to 325 deg F

Crust: 

1. Spray your baking dish and line it with parchment allowing for 2 inch overhang on two opposite sides.
2. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor. Add the egg white and mix until blended. 
3. Blend in the melted butter. 
4. Spread evenly in your baking dish and firmly press. I use a stainless steel measuring cup to tamp the crumbs down. Set aside.

Filling 

1. In your mixing bowl (I used our kitchen-aide mixer) using the whisk attachment; mix the cream cheese until light and fluffy; about 1-2 minutes on medium speed. 
2. Add the sugar, mix again. 
3. Add in the egg, mix again
4. Finally, add in the yolk and vanilla and blend together. You may need to stop a few times to scrape down the sides to combine everything well. 
5. Spread evenly over the top of the crust layer. I used a rubber spatula first to scoop it out of the mixing bowl then spread it out using an icing spatula. It reminded me of spreading cream cheese frosting on carrot cake!
6. Set aside. 

1. In a separate bowl add the blueberries; using a potato masher, gently mash everything leaving some visible berry chunks. 
2. Stir in the jam. 
3. Set aside and make the streusel topping.

Streusel topping

1. I washed out our mixing bowl and used it again for the streusel topping. 
2. Add the flour, brown sugar and salt. Whisk until blended. 
3. Whisk in the melted butter, lemon zest blending until desired texture. It should have somewhat of a chunky texture; don't over mix.

Final steps

1. Spread the blueberry mixture over top of the cheesecake layer. 
2. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, check it to see if the crumb top is golden, if not, bake another 5 min check again; repeat until satisfied with how it looks. Mine took about 40 minutes in our oven. The center will be slightly jiggly and will firm up when cools. 
4. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until cold at least 2 hours. 
5. Lift it all out of the baking dish onto a cutting board and cut into small square bars. 

Enjoy! 

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

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Lentils

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Lentils

Serves 2-4 

Ingredients

2-4 Bell Peppers- we used 2 red 

1 cup green lentils

bell pepper tops, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 cup cooked quinoa 

shredded cheese

olive oil

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

pinch salt & pepper

chopped parsley or cilantro - optional

This recipe was inspired by our Dome air fryer cookbook. We kept the stuffed peppers vegetarian, but you could combine lentils with cooked ground turkey or beef; we combined the lentils with cooked quinoa. It was really delicious and good enough for company. We will make this again for sure! 

This is a GardenCuizine freestyle recipe, meaning the amount of quinoa, lentils and chopped veggies and spices that you add is up to you; use whatever amount that you want or have available.

• Lentils are a sustainable food, meaning they are environment and climate-friendly.
• Lentils are affordable: only 15 to 30 cents per serving!
• Lentils are a nutritious source of protein.

Putting it all together

1. Prep the peppers: rinse the peppers and cut off the tops; remove the stem, chop the rest. Scoop out the seeds; set aside.
2. Cook the lentils: rinse them first in a handheld strainer; put in a pot with 3 cups of water add a few bay leaves. I used 4 bay leaves since we have so many dried bay leaves from our potted bay laurel tree. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until tender, but not overcooked soft; about 15 minutes. Remove cover, take off the heat and set aside.
3. Cook quinoa: you don't need much; we used leftovers since it stores well in the refrigerator. No set amount, just enough to combine with your lentils; about 1 cup.
4. Sauté the filling: add small amount of olive oil to your skillet and sauté the onion until lightly brown and transparent, stir in the garlic and seasonings of your choice. Harry used smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt and pepper. 
5. Stir in the chopped tomatoes; using a slotted spoon add a spoons of cooked lentils. Add some quinoa; combine everything together then fill your peppers.
6. Top with shredded cheese. Note if your peppers are tall they may not fit in an air fryer. We had to cut off the top third of our peppers after they were filled! Topped with cheese and it worked!
7. Cook: bake or roast at 375 deg. in preheated air fryer 12-15 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is golden brown. 
8. Serve warm with a sprinkle of fresh parsley or cilantro. 

Enjoy!

Related Links

Climate-friendly Lentils

Lentil Recipes, Health and Nutrition

Blog post and photo Copyright(C) Wind. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Aquaponics!

 

Sustainable Aquaponics!

Aquaponics and Hydroponics was first introduced to me by a guest speaker at the New Jersey Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The speaker was from Drop the Beet Farm. Over the years I have witnessed his business grow and thrive. His company designs Aquaponic units in public schools and elsewhere. In the schools it engages the students to learn about math and science. It is no surprise that it has made its way into Universities, like Rowan too. All ages can learn and participate in aquaponics and hydroponics.

It was exciting for me to host Steve Ordog, a science professor at Rowan University, to speak to my Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class. My class learned so much on how the system works to be sustainable. Rowan has Koi fish and large mouth bass. Other fish can be used too, such as tilapia or shellfish.

Aquaponic farm agriculture cultivation is soil free; it is a re-circulation ecosystem of plants and is sustainable. The fish waste turns into food for the plants to grow. In the nitrogen cycle, plants absorb nitrates and remove it from the water. 

Here is a great video to learn more about the Aquaponics system that Professor Steven Ordog leads at Rowan: 

Related links

Drop the Beet

Blog post and Aquaponics logo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Italian Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Gluten-free Pignoli (Pinoli) Holiday Cookies

Amaretti con Pignoli for Easter or Christmas

Gluten-free - Salt-free 

Italian pignoli (pinoli) cookies are enjoyed at Christmas and Easter time. They can be made anytime of year and make wonderful homemade gifts. Pignoli cookies are quick and easy to bake. The cookies feature pignoli nuts, which are nutritious and also known as pine nuts. 

Pine nut Nutrition: 3 Tablespoons contain: 0g trans fat, 10g polyunsaturated fat, 5g monounsaturated fat, 1g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 1.5 mg (8% DV) iron, 170 mg (4% DV) potassium, and several other micro-nutrients including zinc and manganese.

For this recipe, I first looked online since these cookies are a very popular Italian cookie and baked by millions of people around the world. My mother never mentioned her mother or grandmother making these cookies. Mom's family was from Sicily; these cookies originated there. My first online choice for the recipe inspiration came from a beloved and excellent Italian chef, Chef Lidia Bastianich. 

Celebrity Chefs 

At a high profile press dinner at The Supper Club in Manhattan, New York back in 2003, is where I met several celebrity chefs including, Chef Lidia. The show was designed to highlight 11 restaurants slated to open at the new Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. I was still in culinary school and will forever remember briefly meeting and greeting Chef Lidia in person.  

To be among the few students selected by the Academy of Culinary Arts was an honor. We traveled by limo to the "Borgata, the Event" in New York. It was so exciting to be among so many great chefs like Lidia, Bobby Flay, Susanna Foo, Aaron Sanchez and Wolfgang Puck. I remember bringing my culinary tool box with me and being on stage representing chefs of the future. 

Gluten-free Pignoli Cookie Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 350 deg F
• Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or foil. Apply light non-stick spray 

Yield will vary depending on your scoop size, your mixing technique, type of sugar used and the amount of egg whites used. Lidia does not use confectioners sugar, but I decided to use it to make the cookies have less spread. I probably over mixed my first batch. Over mixing warms the almond paste dough and the cookies will spread more. Also, like in Lidia's recipe, I did not add any vanilla or almond extract, or salt, as seen in some recipes; the almond paste provides plenty of good flavor.

• Sticky dough Yields: 28, 3-inch cookies
• Firmer dough Yields: 3 dozen 2-inch cookies 

Ingredients

• 1 lb (454g) container almond paste (I used California Almonds: Mandelin Premium Almond Paste)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 8 oz (227g) pignoli nuts in a pie plate or large dish (you will have some leftover)

Putting it all together

1. Add the almond paste to your food processor or mixer. I used our KitchenAid and used the whisk; pulse to break up the almond paste. It is sort of like play dough; you may need to stop the mixer and push the dough back in if it starts to work its way to the top. 
2. Gradually add in both sugars, mix and pulse off and on until well blended. At first it will look like clumps of candied ginger. Mix until it looks more like coarse sand.
3. Add the egg whites. Mix until well blended and smooth. 
4. If the dough is too sticky to hold, it can be refrigerated to slightly firm.
• If your dough is too sticky to hold, use a small scoop, spoon dough onto baking sheet; Top with pignoli nuts; gently spread them around on each cookie.
• If your dough is firm enough to hold, pinch off some and form into small 1" ball and roll in pine nuts leaving a spot for the bottom without nuts; place onto baking sheet. 
• For Easter cookies, sprinkle colorful decorator sugar atop the pine nuts - optional.
5. Bake about 17 minutes or until golden
6. Allow to cool before removing from baking sheets 
• Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar - optional 

Enjoy! Happy Easter!

Related Links

Lidia's Pine Nut Cookies recipe 

Blog post, recipe and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Harvesting Pine Nuts

 Harvesting Pine Nuts

Using Pignoli nuts, aka Pinoli, Pine Nuts, in recipes such as pesto or Italian cookies got me wondering and asking myself, "Where do pine nuts come from?" Apparently, pine nuts are truly a labor of love. The nutrient dense seeds have fed native Americans, birds and wildlife for centuries. 

Pine nuts actually do come from what you think - pine cones. The pine trees are a special variety that yields large seeds and grow in places like America, China, Korea and Russia, with most pine nut imports coming to the US from Mongolia.(1) Pine nuts have a dark brown outer shell that gets removed to yield the tender, cream color, edible seed.

People can harvest the seeds by hand, one-by-one, which is one reason why pine nuts cost so much. However, the most likely reason they cost so much is the limited supply for the growing demand. The food industry has developed pine nut farming and harvesting techniques that speeds up volume production.

Check out these videos to learn more about pine nut, piñón harvest.

Reference

1) The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Pine Nuts Shelled in US. Accessed April, 6, 2026. https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/pine-nuts-shelled/reporter/usa 

Related Links

Why Use Locally Sourced Pine Nuts? It's a Matter of a Piñón 

Pine Nut Picking in Nevada! 

Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

The Flour Required for Gluten-free Easter Bread

Easter Flowers by Diana Wind for Trinity Episcopal Church, Moorestown, NJ 

Happy Easter!

This Easter morning as we celebrate Easter at home without any company, I was going to experiment and try making my favorite Easter Bread in a gluten-free version. However, the King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour 1-1 is for baking YEAST FREE recipes and not recommended for bread. Oh well... so if you want to try making Gluten-free Easter Bread, you would need to order their King Arthur Gluten-Free BREAD Flour. Watch for GardenCuizine's recipe next year. 

Easter Bread Gluten-free Recipe to come in 2027

Ingredients

King Arthur Gluten-free BREAD flour

Putting it all together 

Recipe and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Philadelphia Flower Show Photography Second Place!

 

ROOTED at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Welcome to GardenCuizine's 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show (PHS) post. I'm proud to announce that my Bee Seated photograph tied for a second place ribbon at this years flower show! 

This year's PHS theme celebrated garden history of "Rooted Origins of American Gardening". The many designers and teams put together a stunningly beautiful "magical forest" show entrance and exhibits throughout the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  

 

Harry and I both especially loved Temple University's award winning exhibit, which featured urban landscape architecture celebrating the Delaware Valley's rich botanical and cultural heritage. 

Terracotta pots overflowed with harvests of sweet potatoes and apples that fit in perfectly with the surrounding native landscape, water streams and blooming plants.

The Temple display also showed canning jars in a cleaver way, creating a wall of glass. Some of the jars were used for dried herbs and corn.

See the link at the bottom of this post for more on the story told in their well-designed exhibit, which also featured a basket of oyster shells. We know oysters are a sustainable food. 

Helpful tips were provided on how to repurpose and recycle materials such as plants, lumber and concrete that may be already in your own backyard.

The photography exhibit is another favorite area of ours. The categories were all interesting and well represented. 

The category that I entered was Class 197, "Legacy" that featured pollinators. Several photos included bees, two featured hummingbirds, and another showed a grasshopper! 

The bee seated on the purple aster is my photo! I took it last September in our front yard with my macro lens. I said on the attached card shown, "Native asters beautify our yard year after year, providing a late season food source to visiting pollinators including bees and butterflies." 

 

As in years past, the timing of the show (March) is perfect, especially this year after the winter that we had. I think we are all ready to get our seeds started and to usher in spring with open arms!

Best wishes for a great gardening season! 

Diana Wind 

Related Links

Temple at the Philadelphia Flower Show 

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

Rowan Aquaponics Tour

 Rowan Aquaponics Tour

Happy National Nutrition Month®! Today my nutrition class celebrated NNM by learning more about sustainable agriculture for growing herbs, edible flowers and vegetables, namely hydroponic and aquaponic farming. 

Special thanks to our guest speaker, Stephen Ordog, for speaking to Rowan's Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class! We learned so much! I especially loved the greenhouse tour of Rowan's operation.

  

Aquaponics involves a self-contained system that includes fish. Rowan uses separate tanks for Large Mouth Bass and Koi fish. They have several tanks for various size fish in different stages of development. One tank has small young fish, another tank features medium size Koi, and two other big tanks hold larger sized fish. Steve said that they started with 40 fish in 2024 and now have 800 fish!

 

Automatic time-controlled feeding stations are attached to each fish tank. The fish were super excited when the food shot out from the pipe dispenser positioned over top of their tank. A few splashes of water could be felt from the splashes as the fish bolted towards their food!

This growing method is sustainable because of a scientific Nitrogen cycle. 1) Fish waste produces ammonia. 2) Ammonia gets converted to Nitrite by bacteria (Nitrosomonas) living in the water. Another bacteria turns the Nitrite to a safer Nitrate that fertilizes the plants. 3) The nitrate is absorbed and filtered by the plants before going back into the fish tank resulting in healthy fish and healthy plants.

 

Hydroponics, to quote Steve Ordog, "Is a soil-less cultivation of plants". Hydroponics requires less water than conventional growing methods and does not depend on weather since it is indoors. Steve's focus is to grow plants that can absorb nitrogen well, such as leafy greens and herbs like bok choy, chard, lettuce and basil. He is also growing some edible marigolds and is planning to grow nasturtiums.

 

Below is a video for more information about Rowan's sustainable agriculture program. The produce that grows is harvested, washed and donated to Rowan's food pantry called The Shop.

 

Related links:

Drop the Beet Farms

Why Sustainable Agriculture Matters 

Blogpost, Koi video and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. YouTube video property of Rowan University.

 

Experts divided over new US Dietary Guidelines

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

 

Really, back to a Food Pyramid?

Yes, apparently that is the case according to the latest news released today by the USDA on the new dietary guidelines for health in America. Flash back in time for Americans and especially for me to when I had my health food store and restaurant in the 80's. 

I find it interesting that Health and Human Services Secretary, RF Kennedy, Jr and the Department of Ag Secretary are back tracking and completely erasing the MyPlate graphic that has been featured in nutrition education for years. It is quite shocking and frankly, insulting to the scientists who provide so much research and study in the development of the DGA, to see the 164 pages of information rolled back to a mere 50-page scientific report and 10-page public guideline. The idea of a very simple guideline for the public is a good one.

The entire Dietary Guidelines for Americans process, public comments and committee (DGAC) were dismissed and replaced with DGA by a new board. The new report states their dislike and therefore dismissal of the former DGAC's use of considerations of health equity in the DGA. 

The new info-graphic is very confusing. For example, having butter appearing equal to grapes. Without all the specific details of the science in the report for the professionals, educators may resort to inaccurate teachings and advice. The DGA were always a strong resource for healthcare professionals and educators who take the detailed and specific information and deliver it to the public.

Personally, I do like teaching about whole foods in the five food groups and encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. The majority of the people in the world are lactose intolerant(1), so Harvard's eating plate(2) is more realistic, omitting dairy all together and showing water instead. Overall, I think it is a good idea to limit processed foods and promote eating "real foods". The food groups in the former MyPlate were all "real foods". 

It is disturbing to see red meat featured at the top of the new guidelines. Eight out of ten on the newly appointed board have ties to the meat and dairy industry.(3,4) It is no surprise then that cheese and milk and a large images of meat and poultry are at the top of this inverted pyramid. Beans are hardly identifiable, illustrated in an unappetizing glob, over rice, near the bottom with peanuts. 

Increasing plant-based foods such as beans and lentils was rejected from the DGAC's science-based recommendation. The environment related to global warming is huge concern for food production. At some point Americans must come to the table on the reality of global warming and that red meat from cattle is not the direction for sustainability of our planet and food resources. More transparency and discussion and education on the topic must be provided to the public and anyone involved in food service and nutrition education.

This will be a very timely topic of discussion in my upcoming Contemporary Issues in Nutrition class at Rowan University. 

Related Links

More info on the new Food Pyramid Policy 

Real food back at the center of health

Health Equity is out  

References

1. Catanzaro R, Sciuto M, Marotta F. Lactose intolerance: An update on its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Nutr Res. 2021;89:23–34. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2021.02.003

2) Harvard Eating Plate. Accessed Jan. 12, 2026. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/healthy-eating-plate/  

3) Should USDA and HHS withdraw the new DGA? 

4) HHS, USDA. The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Accessed Jan. 7, 2025. https://cdn.realfood.gov/Scientific%20Report_1.8.26.pdf 

Blog post Copyright Wind. All rights reserved. 

Watch for updates. Updated 1/12/2026