Author: Janine Myers

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These delicious treats are perfect for family gatherings. They should be cut into small squares since they are not low calorie. An ideal accompaniment to a cup of tea (particularly if you are British like me!). With a shortbread base, a raspberry middle and a crumb topping it’s sure to be a hit.

2.5 cups flour
1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar

Put the above in a food processor or stand mix and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Set aside 1.5 cups of your crumb mixture. Put the remainder in a 9×15 brownie pan and press into the bottom. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes. While that is cooking…. Mix together the following:

1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
1 cup raspberry preserve
1 tbs lemon juice

Then to the set aside 1.5 cups of crumb mixture, add 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup almonds and 2 tbs melted butter together with 2 tsp almond extract (optional). Mix.

Once the shortbread is out of the oven, spread the berry mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top evenly and then pop it back in the oven for 25 minutes. Cut into squares once it’s cooled slightly. Wait until it’s cold to remove from the pan. Enjoy!

If you cut it into 16 pieces, each piece will be 300 calories. If you cut them into 24 smaller pieces they are just 200 calories each. Eat a small piece and enjoy!

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Step 1:  Make your starter

In order to make sourdough, you first of all need to make a starter (see pictures above). For the starter you need a glass jar, and piece of cloth and an elastic band.  Into the jar you put about 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and stir vigorously.  From here you will cover with the cloth secured to the jar with an elastic band, and leave on the counter top.  Each day you will add about 1 tbs flour and 1 tbs water and stir vigorously.  Eventually after 5-7 days you should start to see bubbles on the top (see middle picture above).  Once this happens your starter is ready for use.  When my first starter was ready, I woke up in the morning to find it bubbled over the top of the jar and onto the counter top!  A sticky mess, but I was delighted it was suddenly so active and obviously ready to be used.

Step 2:  Make your proof

In order to make your proof, you are going to take some of your starter (maybe half depending on how much you have) and put it in another jar or I use a pyrex jug for this step.  Add 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup water to the starter and stir vigorously.  Cover with a cloth and leave for 6-12 hours until it is bubbly – see picture.

Step 3:  Making the dough

Finally now you are ready to make your dough.  Plan ahead because obviously this whole thing takes a minute!  Add to a stand mixer 4-4.5 cups flour, 2 cups of water, 1 tbs salt and all of your proof mixture.  The mixture should be on the wet side as you can always add flour but once it’s mixed it’s very difficult to add moisture.  Your dough needs to be very sticky forming super soft dough.  Once you have used the dough hook to knead it for 15-25 minutes, remove it from the mixer and put into a cast iron dutch oven – preferably just plain cast iron.  Cover in a greased piece of cling wrap and leave to rise for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Step 4:  Punch it down and re-rise, then bake

Punch your dough down (it should have doubled), and re-shape.  Leave for a further hour or two until you see it has begun to rise again.  With a very sharp knife cut a cross in the top.  Put the lid of the dutch oven on, and bake in a preheated oven at 475 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce to 450 degrees and continue cooking with the lid on for 10 more minutes.  Remove the lid and bake 20-25 more minutes.  The bread will be dark brown and well risen.  The loaf pictured center and right was made with organic wheat flour with wheat germ.  The picture on the left below was made with my home ground wheat berry whole wheat flour together with the organic wheat flour, or it can be made with all whole wheat.

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Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that is packed with probiotics and great for your stomach.  It’s expensive to buy but easy to make at home.

To start you need to grow or acquire a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast).  I have a few available if anyone is interested, or you can grow one by buying a bottle of Kombucha from the store and do the following:

• Pour the raw kombucha and the cooled tea into a glass jar.
• Cover the jar with a tight-weave dish towel or a paper coffee filter. …
• Ferment the tea in a warm spot, 68-85ºF, out of direct sunlight, for about 7 days.

Once you have your SCOBY, you need a large glass jar and a few tea bags.  Brew a strong batch of tea and add about a cup of white sugar per quart jar of tea.  Once the tea has cooled, remove the tea bags and add your SCOBY with some of it’s juices.  Cover tightly with a cloth, and seal with an elastic band,  Leave in a warm dark place for about 2 weeks.  After 2 weeks  you can remove tea from jar separating SCOBY to use in the next batch, then flavor kombucha as you wish.  I use Trader Joe’s organic peach juice, but you can also use lemon juice and ginger or any number of other flavors.

Once you have flavored the batch, pour into glass bottles or jars and seal tightly.  Place your flavored kombucha jars or bottles on a window sill where it gets some sunlight, and let ferment for a second time for 3-5 days.  Be careful when you open your bottles or jars, as it will be fizzy.  I put mine in the fridge after a week on the window sill to ensure it does not explode when I open it!

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• 1 Cup chopped nuts of choice (how finely you grind them is up to you)
• 1 Cup bread crumbs
• 1 Medium onion
• 1 Cup diced celery
• 1 Cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 Large can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 Cup olive oil
• 1-2 Cups marinara sauce of your choice
• 1 egg
• 1/2-1 Cup cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in skillet and sauté onion, celery and carrot with salt and pepper until tender.   Mix with the rest of the ingredients, and taste to be sure seasoning is to your liking.  Put into a loaf tin.  Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes and serve warm or cold with or without marinara sauce.