Puff Pastry Pinwheels topped with low fat frozen yogurt and Jersey fresh blueberries #GardenCuizine

Puff Pastry Pinwheels
topped with your favorite low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream 
and Jersey Fresh Blueberries

Recipe yields 18 pinwheels

Ingredients

1 box frozen puff pastry dough 

1 egg mixed with splash water for egg wash
large chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao)

colored sugar crystals (optional)
low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream

Jersey fresh blueberries

cookie sheets lined with foil and lightly sprayed with nonstick spray

preheat oven to 375° F

Putting it all together

This recipe is a fun and easy one. I just made a large batch of puff pastry pinwheels for Trinity Episcopal Church's blueberry festival that is being held tonight. Puff pastry pinwheels are fun served at summer BBQ's and picnics too.

Simply buy puff pastry dough and thaw at room temperature until workable. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this could take 15 to 30 minutes. You could also thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Store-bought puff pastry dough is folded like a letter in 3 parts. 

• Unfold the dough and cut the dough into thirds along the fold. 
• Cut each rectangle into 3-inch squares.
• using a paring knife, make a diagonal cut from near the center to the corner. Leave an inch or slightly less in the center uncut
• fold the tips towards the center to form a pinwheel. Egg wash to hold and egg wash exposed dough
• sprinkle with colored sugar crystals if desired
• place a large chocolate chip in the center
• when your cookie sheet is full, bake until golden
• continue until all your squares are made into pinwheels.
• Serve topped with your favorite low fat frozen yogurt or ice cream and a generous portion of Jersey fresh blueberries!

Nutrition Data fresh Blueberries: based on USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference:
Excellent Source: Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese*
Good Source: dietary Fiber 
1 cup (148g) raw blueberries: 84 calories; total fat: 0.49g (0.7% DV); Sodium: 1mg (0% DV); dietary Fiber: 4g (14% DV); Carbohydrate: 21g; sugars 15g; Vitamin C: 14mg (24% DV); Vitamin K: 29mcg (36% DV); Manganese 0.50mg (25% DV).
Percent Daily Value (%DV) is based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
* Manganese aides in bone health and is part of enzymes involved in protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Manganese is considered an essential nutrient. Safe levels should not exceed 11mg/day. 

Related Links

Jersey Blues by Diana Wind, RD
Jersey Blueberry History Rutgers

Blog post copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

Propagating FIG trees from cuttings #GardenCuizine FIGS: fabulous for dietary fiber

Propagating Fig Trees

Gardeners propagate fig trees using various methods either from cuttings or air layering. I'm going to try propagating fig trees from cuttings. Our little, lone fig tree (unknown ID) is taking forever to yield figs. Over the past 5 or so years, the growth has been quite slow. It started out as literally a 3-foot stick. Now it is 5 feet with a small amount of branching at the top. The few figs that we thought we saw last year - disappeared! They probably got eaten by squirrels. After years of anticipating fresh figs, we're still waiting... The good news is that there are other varieties of figs to grow that may actually yield us a fig harvest. The same goes for you in your USDA zone. If at first you don't succeed, try another type of fig tree.

At a Dave's Garden Mid-Atlantic region plant swap yesterday, we received a generous handful of fig tree cuttings from a fellow Dave's Gardener who thinks her tree could be a common fig cultivar named 'Celeste'. 

We weren't planning on starting fig trees from cuttings, but since we received them - it's sure worth a try. I'm going to try rooting the fig cuttings as recommended by New England Gardener on his 'How to Grow a Fig Tree from a Cutting' YouTube video:

Propagating Fig tree cuttings 

from a dormant tree

Stage One

1) Get cuttings from a dormant fig tree that grows in or near your USDA zone
2) Wet newspaper; squeeze out excess water
3) Wrap each cutting in newspaper, keep the tips sticking out
4) Place cutting(s) into a plastic bag. New England Gardener uses a baggie. Our cuttings were longer than his and would only fit in a plastic shopping bag
5)  Place in a warm area out of direct sunlight for a few weeks. We put ours on our microwave next to the refrigerator, which generates some warmth
6) Open the bag daily for some air circulation; then close again. 
7) After 2-3 weeks, check for developed roots and proceed with Stage Two 

 I'll update this post regardless of the outcome. Fingers are crossed that this works. And, if it does, we may end up with a Fig Tree forest.

Happy and Healthy Gardening! 

UPDATES: week one: have been checking and airing out the cuttings daily; noticed some mold starting on the ends that had some leaf buds starting to show, therefore uncovered the ends. Plastic bag still covers the slightly moist newsprint-covered stems. Plan to continue to air out daily by opening the bag just for a moment or so and then covering again.

• 5/26/13 - as expected, the newspaper near the open end started to dry out. Took a look deeper at the covered stems and some cuttings still looked like some mold is growing. This could be because my cuttings were not completely dormant, they had some growth showing. Unwrapped all the cuttings and put in a vase w/water. New plan is to put each cutting in its own recycled water bottle w/moistened peat moss and see what happens... 
• 6/7/13- well, I decided not to put the cuttings in peat moss; instead, they all got dipped in rooting hormone and placed in potting soil. We didn't have enough clear plastic bottles to use, which would have been nice to view root (if any) development. Will have to wait and see. They were on our porch. Today, the pots are in our driveway getting a good rain soaking from tropical storm Andrea that is passing through our region. 
• 7/28/13 - they all appear dead. I'm not going to toss them yet just in case there is a chance that one will show a sign of life in the future. A member of Dave's Gardens who also received cuttings from the same source as me, reported having success wrapping her fig cuttings in moist newspaper and waiting patiently. Perhaps I should have ignored the mold and kept our fig cuttings in the newsprint longer rather than jumping the gun and planting them in soil before having any roots.
  

Related Links:
Uncommon Nutrition from the Common Fig - Ficus carica

Happy Mother's Day! #GardenCuizine

Happy Mother's Day!

Enjoyed a visit to a local garden center with Mom today. Of course, when we saw hostas named June, we had to get them! An easy sale for the garden center.
 
Happy Mother's Day to all, and a big Mother's Day greeting to some very special new mommies we love: Kristine and Kim. We wish you many blessings and can't wait to meet your beautiful baby girls: Alexandra June and Emily Ann.

Now time to get in the kitchen and bake Mom some of her favorite Sesame Regina Biscotti.

Photo collage Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

Today in our Garden #GardenCuizine #gardenchat Opening Day for local Farmers' Markets!

Click on the photo for full view

Today In Our Garden 
South Jersey
USDA Zone 7a (formerly zone 6b) 
May 4, 2013

Our South Jersey garden is busting out with blooms and seedlings everywhere. Hummingbirds have arrived too. And yes, dandelions and weeds are part of the blooming frenzy here in our neck of the woods. We're trying to weed, weed and weed. Loved a sign posted on Facebook this morning which read, "Come over - knock - if no answer, pull weeds!"

Today is opening day for many Jersey Farmers Markets who begin offering locally grown Jersey Fresh produce, making this an exciting time for better health and nutrition. Think Garden-to-Table or Farm-to-Table... your table. 

Enhance your health 

by increasing your physical activity and by growing and eating 

more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

 

Arugula

Our arugula is going to seed now. Just let it bloom and go to seed, then save the seeds and plant some again. Arugula is a must for every kitchen garden. You can never find arugula commercially with decent flavor. Once you grow your own, you can taste the difference and see for yourself. 

Indoor Seedlings

Inside we have trays of veggie seedlings growing that will eventually make their way to our gardens as well as shared with gardening friends. Our seedlings include: dill weed, tomatoes, pepperoncini; amaranth, cypress vine, zinnias, nasturtiums, salvias, Japanese morning glories, Spanish flag vine, Nierembergia and hollyhocks.

Strawberries

Strawberry plants (shown photo collage) are flowering now, which means strawberries will soon be on the way. 

Fennel

Bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is looking good -  swallowtail butterflies will surely love it and we'll love using the seeds in recipes. 

Potatoes

After all the weeding and digging, a few undug potatoes pieces must have remained down under the earth and low and behold, potato seedlings are sprouting up everywhere in areas where we had planted them last year. This is good news since we didn't buy any seed potatoes this season. 

Comphrey

Our perennial comphrey herb (Symphytum officinale), located in a part-shade corner of our veggie and herb garden, is alive and well. Hummingbirds love comphreys tubular blooms.

Oregano

Over the years perennial oregano will grow into an established healthy mound to provide you with plenty of flavorful leaves to snip for your recipes.

Money plants

Our home is surrounded by lavender purple Money plant (Lunaria annua) blooms that seem to naturalize beautifully when left alone. Other names for this beautiful flower include Honesty, Moonwort and Silver Dollar because the seed pods look round like silver dollars.

Plan a Garden

It's not to late to start a garden if you haven't already. Remember you can grow veggies and herbs in pots too if you don't have a yard. Or, you can ask to start a garden at work or join a community, neighborhood garden. 

Wherever you garden, Happy and Healthy Gardening!

Thanks Mom!!

Gardens encourage all family members to increase their physical activity. Mom has been doing just that and has become our official garden weeder this season. She has done a fantastic job of reclaiming our garden. Thanks Mom!!

Blog post and photos Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

Blooms Galore! Today in Our Spring Garden #GardenCuizine #gardenchat

Click on the photo for full view

Today In Our Garden

South Jersey
USDA Zone 7a (formerly zone 6b)

April 26, 2013

With the first round of Spring blooms behind us, we say goodbye to cheery yellow forsythia, hyacinths and daffodils and hello to the second burst of Spring here in South Jersey. April sprouts and blooms include (shown photo collage):

• Ferns
• Rosmarinus officinalis 'Arp'
• Gooseberry
• Kwanzan cherry 
• Bleeding hearts
• Dogwood
• Money plants

• Aucuba japonica (shown left)
• Helleborus
• Pansies
• Lilacs
• Tulips
• Helleborus 

Get outside and enjoy the view. And, now is a great time to sow some cool weather veggies like lettuce, mizuna and arugula. 
 Happy Spring!

Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.  Kitty in the photo collage - our sweet Snoops guarding the indoor seedlings.  

Daikon never looked so good! #GardenCuizine @EatRight

Japanese Daikon Radish

Chefs add the crisp, mild flavor of Japanese daikon radish to salads, stir-fries, sushi and recipes - often sliced thin and marinated. The salad shown above was served at Lambertville Station in Lambertville, NJ - featuring Lobster​ claw, colossal crab, baby watercress, chopped plum tomato, topped with daikon radish and scallions on a bed of boston bibb lettuce. Orange peppercorn vinaigrette complimented the salad.  

Try Daikon sliced raw or pickled. Combine daikon radish with carrots for a winning combination. Grow Daikon radish (Raphanus sativus) in your garden: direct sow; prefers full sun. The thick white roots grow 2 to 3-inches wide and up to 24-inches long. Daikon greens are edible too. Harvest in late fall or early winter. We plan to grow daikon and burdock root this year. 

• Enjoy Daikon radish as a good source of Vitamin C

Related Links
Daikon Radish Nutrition 
Photo and blog post Copyright(C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

Orchards of pink peach blooms now throughout New Jersey! #GardenCuizine

Throughout New Jersey, early April is when you start to see Peach trees beginning to show off their blooms. Fields of pink blossoms caught my attention on my way to work last week as I traveled south on Route 55 through Gloucester and Cumberland counties. Today, we decided to take a family drive through some of those areas in South Jersey to see some peach orchards and enjoy the beautiful spring day.

As we followed our self-guided tour, we managed to see several breathtaking fields of pink peach blooms with vibrant yellow forsythia scattered throughout the landscapes. We followed a tour map provided by Rutgers NJ Agriculture Experiment Station several years ago. We noticed that due to increased housing developments, sadly there was a decline in acreage dedicated to growing peaches. Farms still exist, even though they were somewhat sandwiched in between new homes and commercial businesses built on what used to be exclusive NJ farmland.

The NJ Peach Promotion Council reported in 2010 that the US census listed around 6,600 acres of New Jersey land dedicated to Peach farming. New Jersey, produces 68,000,000 pounds annually. And, of that, about 65% of the acreage is located in Gloucester County.

According to the NJ Peach Promotion Council, New Jersey ranks 4th among the top peach producers - following California, South Carolina and Georgia. I'm always amazed at the wide variety of cultivars among common fruits and vegetables. There are 40+ varieties of Jersey Peaches!

What are your favorite recipes using peaches? 

Peaches

A nutritious fruit to look forward to this summer.  

Jersey peach season starts late July through September.

GardenCuizine Peach Nutrition data: coming soon...
Related Links
NJ Peach Promotion Council 
A History of the NJ Peach 
South Jersey Self-Guided Peach blossom tour map
Peach Facts courtesy of Colorado State University Extension
Top 10 Ways to Enjoy Peaches 
Buy some Just Peachy Salsa support the Food Bank of SJ
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.