Natural Easter Egg Coloring

Now that you've gone out and bought your free range, organic, all natural eggs you certainly don't want to tarnish them with artificial colorings.  Why not use what you already have in your pantry and refrigerator?  We kept seeing articles and hearing a lot of talk about using vegetables and spices to dye Easter eggs, but we're a bit skeptical over the results. Loving the colors that others were able to produce - subtle, matted hues - I decided it would be a fun thing to try out and share with all of you.

I already had some beets, coffee grinds and turmeric in my kitchen so I went with those. I made the base from a recipe I found in Yankee Magazine: Combine 4 cups water, 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt.

To make the Red Coloring I added chopped beets to my base mixture, brought it to a boil and then reduced the heat to a simmer for 30 minutes, until the liquid had a deep red color to it. I strained the beets out and let the liquid cool down.

For the Yellow Coloring I added 5 tablespoons of turmeric spice to the base liquid, mixed it well and let it simmer for a few minutes until the spice was thoroughly dissolved. Then poured it into a bowl to let cool.

Brown Coloring required 4 tablespoons of coffee grinds mixed with the base and brought to a boil, then simmered for 10 minutes or so. Strained into a bowl and let cool.

I did not have any cabbage, but blue can be made by shredding half of a red cabbage, adding it to the base and bringing it to a boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes, strain and cool.

Once I had poured all the liquid into different containers, I let the eggs sit overnight for about 7-8 hours, though 3-4 hours would be plenty if you don't have time to leave them overnight.  Just make sure the liquid completely covers the eggs.

And that was it.  Fairly easy and simple process for nice, naturally colored eggs. Happy Easter!

Maine Maple Sugaring Time

Typical way to collect sap from the trees – metal buckets hung from tree taps

With the recent warm weather around here, it sure feels like we are in the midst of summer and not the end of winter, but we’ll take it! The calendar shyly reminds us it is, in fact, the end of March and with that, Maine Maple Sunday is this weekend.


March generally signifies the midst of maple season in New England; that naturally sugary, deep brown colored syrup with a buttery natural flavor we like to pour and cook with. Not the familiar corn syrup kind with the fake flavoring - so gently presented by an affectionate, apron clad, glass bottled grandma.


This is the real stuff, the stuff that comes seeping out of the trees once the cool nights and warmer days of the end of winter present itself. This year’s maple season started a bit earlier and will end even sooner; a normal season starts in late February and goes through mid April. It takes 60 gallons of sap to make one and half gallons of maple syrup. An average 40 year old tree will yield about 40 quarts of sap per season, enough to make one quart of pure maple syrup. (source: http://www.mainemapleproducers.com/how_maple_syrup_is_made.html)


If you are in Maine or you want to take a nice weekend drive, here is a map of all the sugar shacks open for Maine Maple Sunday. They will have samples, special events and demonstrations going on throughout the day, most will also be open on Saturday.

Once the sap is tapped it must be processed right away so it won’t spoil, this requires syrup makers to work around the clock during maple season.

The evaporator is kept constantly boiling and throws off dense clouds of steam as the sap becomes more and more concentrated.

Once clear, the syrup is packed in sterilized containers for distribution all over the world and of course, sold right at the maple shacks as well.

We love cooking with pure maple syrup, it adds a pleasant sweetness and enhances the flavor of all sorts of grilled foods, especially grilled root vegetables, pork, chicken or duck.
See Portland Press article on Maple Sugar which highlights our Stonewall Kitchen Maine Maple Glaze.
We also love creating a glaze which tastes great on seafood like the shrimp in this recipe.

Melt in Your Mouth Shrimp


ingredients

• 3/4 cup Stonewall Kitchen Maple Syrup
• 2 tablespoons Stonewall Kitchen Maine Maple Champagne Mustard
• 10 slices of bacon
• 20 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

directions

1. Mix Stonewall Kitchen Maple Syrup and Stonewall Kitchen Maine Maple Champagne Mustard in a bowl and set aside.
2. Cut each bacon slice in half. Wrap each bacon slice around a shrimp. Place shrimp on a cookie sheet and cover each with a spoonful of the syrup/mustard sauce.
3. Broil on high and cook on both sides until very crispy.
4. Remove to a platter and serve immediately.

And this great recipe for maple glazed bananas will satisfy your sweet, after dinner cravings:

Caramelized Bananas


ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 small bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 cup Stonewall Kitchen Maine Maple Syrup
• 1 Stonewall Kitchen Farmhouse Pancake and Waffle Mix

directions

1. Prepare pancakes or waffles according to instructions on package.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar has melted and the mixture begins to simmer.
4. Cook over low heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
5. Add the banana slices to the pan in a single layer and cook until the bananas begin to caramelize and the brown sugar sauce is bubbling.
6. Pour the banana sauce over hot pancakes and serve with warm maple syrup on the side.

Create a Terrarium

You can easily make a terrarium for your home, just follow these simple steps.
Pin It
Gather your materials.

Suggested supplies:

• Glass container
• Variety of small plants (2-4" pots) – compatible to your container
• Screen
• Gravel – small pea-sized stones
• Activated Charcoal Pieces – found at garden center. Charcoal helps drain your terrarium since there is no drainage hole and also prevent fungi.
• Potting soil
• Decorative Moss

For desert terrarium:

• Succulents
• Desert sand
• Brush

How-To

No.1
Clean glass terrarium container with glass cleaner.

No.2
Cut screen, using base of container as a suggested circumference.

No.3
Pour gravel into terrarium.

No.4
Pour in charcoal and place screen on top of charcoal.

No.5
Keeping plants in their containers, arrange plants until your desired look is achieved to determine how you want to plant them.

No.6
Take plants out of their containers, using your hands make holes in the soil for each plant. Place plants in holes. Cover and smooth out soil around plants.

No.7
If using decorative moss, first moisten moss, making sure to push excess moisture out. Stretch pieces of moss, without breaking apart and place around plants.

No.8
Place your new terrarium in a location suitable for the type of plants you choose and enjoy it. You can easily change them or add new items as your mood and seasons suggest.

For your desert terrarium, follow the same steps as above but you can leave plants in their containers if you prefer; hide pots under sand, gravel and rocks. For ours we just used fine desert sand. We used a paintbrush to brush off excess sand to tidy up our terrarium.

Caring for your terrarium – Terrariums are living but do not need much to be cared for. Give your terrarium plants indirect sunlight (depending on the type of plants you selected), spritz with water as needed; they thrive in a damp environment much like a greenhouse but don’t require as much water as regular plantings, occasionally fertilize if plants look withered and make sure you provide your plants with good air circulation. You will want to occasionally prune plants back, due to their close living quarters.

Let soil dry out between watering your succulent plants, they do not require much water and generally thrive in sunny locations, just be sure their leaves are not getting burnt by the sun.

Terrariums will thrive without much work, much like your outdoor plants living in their natural environment. 

You can purchase our glass terrarium on our website: Shop Now

Stonewall Kitchen's Super Bowl Playbook

With all this talk around here about the “big game” on Sunday we thought it would be fun for you to see how we go from idea to execution for our emails and website photos.

We, of course are rooting for the home team, The New England Patriots but have not confirmed our plans for Sunday night, yet. It will most likely be a game-time decision, which is easily accomplished with our quick and easy options for throwing a party together in under two hours!

The Play by Play

Before you can purchase any Stonewall Kitchen items a lot of behind the scenes work must happen.

First and foremost of course, is the idea for a new product, which comes from Jim Stott and Jonathan King, owners of Stonewall Kitchen. Our test kitchen then creates several variations of the product which our tasting team evaluates. After several evaluations, to make sure we produce the best possible product, we are ready for production. A lot more goes into this of course, but we are going to jump to the recipe development.

Kim is our recipe developer. She develops the recipes which appear on the sides of some of our product jars, like our simmering sauces and she also creates recipes for each and every product which appear on our website, on recipe cards, and recipe booklets. Kim also cooks the food for all of our photo shoots and in her spare-time she teaches class in our cooking school.

To get ready for our Super Bowl themed photo shoot, Kim set up four different stations in the kitchen, and neatly organized all the ingredients based on the four different recipes she choose: Our Guacamole Spice Mix, Buffalo Wing Sauce, Three-Bean Chili using our Sloppy Joe Sauce and our Cornbread Mix.

Kim shared some quick cooking tips with us which made preparation and clean-up so much easier.

Place parchment paper in your baking pan and spray it with cooking spray before you pour your baking mix in, this allows you to simply lift the corn bread out of the pan, no need to gauge the pan while trying to cut pieces out and it also makes for a quick clean-up.

  Use a spoon to scoop out the core of a jalapeno for effortless prep.

Cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and then cut the rest of the avocado into squares to turn an otherwise messy job into a neat and easy way for preparing guacamole.

After all the food is cooked, baked and prepared it is time to deliver it to our photo studio.

This is where Michael, our photographer, and Cynthia,our stylist, prepare the scene to be photographed. Cynthia picks the props, and positions things just right so Michael can capture the scene. Once the photos are complete, Michael sends them around for review.

Once the photo is given the “go” our web designer, Ted, creates an email using copy from our copywriter, Nina. And often Kim’s recipes are linked to the email as well.

Super Bowl email picture appearing in your in-box soon

The emails then get sent out. You can sign-up here: email sign-up if you would like to receive our bi-weekly emails.

Sometimes we use the photos for other portions of our website or for promotional materials.

Cheers!  We hope you enjoy your own Super Bowl party!

Good Day for Pizza

I love pizza, like most of you - according to the statistics out there, 94% of Americans eat pizza regularly. I am fairly certain most of us can site our favorite pizza experience down to the exact moment and location. My love for pizza came to me from being raised in New York. Weekends were spent exploring the limitless culinary boundaries of Manhattan and inevitably involved a slice of the pizza. Not any pizza, but a large slice that takes two hands to fold and requires a learned technique of maneuvering to ensure that first bite includes a taste trifecta of dripping cheese with sweet tomato sauce, finished off with a chewy, almost tangy crust – while walking.

Now I prefer my pizza sitting down and have come to accept that all pizza is not necessarily created equal, but no matter the variety or style it is still a good thing--a very good thing. And an especially good thing is when you can make a good pizza at home with very little effort. You may call me biased, since my latest attempt at home-cooked pizza came in the form of a boxed version from Stonewall Kitchen, my place of employment, but I can assure you this is one tasty pizza pie.

I used the Stonewall Kitchen Pizza Crust Mix (we have a gluten-free version too!) and Stonewall Kitchen Classic Pizza Sauce.  For toppings I used local, sausage from the winter farmers’ market, caramelized onions and fresh mozzarella cheese. The directions are right on the box and it makes a really nice sized and tasty pizza in less than 30 min., not including baking time.  The dough does not require an hour to rise, only the yeast mixture needs to sit for 10 min. A great meal to have on-hand when the weather keeps you inside.  You can purchase all of our pizza items online, at one of our company stores or at a number of food merchants across the country. http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/shop/seasonalitems/5013.html

Oh My, It's Time for Pie!

All this talk about harvest fests, apples ripe for picking, and big orange pumpkins dotting the landscape, forced me to get up super early the other morning to enjoy all this New England beauty under a rising eastern sun. Nothing says, “Fall is here,” like a morning mist rising off a local farm’s fields.

Of course there are pumpkins and apples galore around York, Maine but another fall staple of Maine is the cranberry, much like it is in Massachusetts, and what I hear, Michigan too. Maine cranberries grown on low lying vines in marshy areas near the coast. Offering a high dose of vitamin C, vitamin A and potassium, these little tart berries have gone to become lunch pail staples and  insistently represented on most Thanksgiving tables. Once known as the “craneberry” because the pilgrims thought the budding, spring flowers resembled a crane, the cranberry as become an important commercial crop for Maine.

It’s no easy feat being a cranberry harvester. In fact, two prominent Maine occupations, cranberry harvester and lobsterman were recently listed as two of the toughest jobs in the food business: http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/04/28/the-toughest-jobs-in-food/. Cranberry harvester, come on, really?  Yes, it’s true.  While you’re sitting back, feeling content after you’ve eaten a piece of freshly baked cranberry apple pie, think of the delicate cranberry crop that must endure constant monitoring during chilly fall nights. If frost comes in, someone has to notify the other farmers and activate the sprinklers to prevent the frost from destroying the crop.  I guess cranberry harvesters are not privy to automatic sprinkler systems? All the more reason to enjoy this traditional, hard working crop, and something I think about during this early frosty morning.

My hungry thoughts quickly change to visions of cranberry and apple pie, one of my favorites. And Stonewall Kitchen’s recipe developer, Kim, offers up her fabulous version below.  Oh my! Enjoy!

ingredients

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, frozen, cut into 8 pieces each

• 8-10 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

• 3 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 1/2 cup golden raisins

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Apple Cranberry Chutney

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• pinch of cloves and nutmeg

Glaze:

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon cream or milk

directions

Crust:

1. Blend flour, sugar, and salt in food processor. Add butter pieces and pulse until butter is in 1/4" pieces.

2. Add 7 tablespoons of ice water and blend until moist clumps are formed, adding more water by the tablespoon until dough just starts to form into a ball.

3. Remove from processor and carefully gather into a ball on a clean and lightly floured surface.

4. Divide ball of dough into 2 portions. Flatten into discs. Wrap one in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

5. Roll out remaining disc on a lightly floured surface and place into a 10" quiche pan. Refrigerate.

Filling:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F.

2. Combine chopped apples and all remaining filling ingredients until well mixed.

3. Spoon into prepared shell, spreading evenly.

4. Roll out second crust disc.

5. Cut into 1"-wide strips for lattice topping.

6. Using a long, narrow spatula, carefully lift strips onto pie, using 5-6 strips.

7. Rotate pie 45 degrees. Carefully place 5-6 more strips on top.

Glaze:
1. Combine egg yolk and cream/milk in a small dish. Stir with fork until well blended.

2. Brush entire crust, top and edges, with egg wash.

3. Bake pie in lower 1/3 of over for about 1 hour until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

You can view many harvest themed recipes, including this recipe on our website:


http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/recipes/desserts/pies-tarts-pastries/R100303.html

August Afternoon

Nubble Light in August

While we are hastily working to get things together for the upcoming holiday season, as in Thanksgiving and Christmas, not Labor Day, a recent after work bike ride reminded me it is still fully summer in Maine. A bright and sunny Friday afternoon lead me from the busy day at Stonewall Kitchen: around the corner, down the road and up the hill to another equally as busy place, Nubble Lighthouse http://www.nubblelight.org/  (Sohier Park) in August, where I took this picture from. I am told this is the most photographed lighthouse in the whole country and it is right around the corner from Stonewall Kitchen.  A reminder of how lucky we are to call this place home. There she sits, all content and peaceful watching over the Atlantic and leading the way for sea-faring vessels and tourists clad in plaid.

Around here lots of us stick around in the summer.  There really is no better place to be.  We are already in "Vacation Land" so our vacations usually mean enjoying being just where we are.  What about you, what fun mini-adventures did you enjoy this summer? 

It's not over yet! Be a tourist in your own backyard.  Happy Summering!

It's a Garden Party!



Here at Stonewall Kitchen horticultural has always been an integral design element for Jonathan and Jim. When laying out plans for our headquarters in York, Maine the gardens were integrated front and center on the property. And now we all get to enjoy the benefits of such beautiful gardens each year!



A section of the front gardens

   

Art in the Garden



Flower Garden

Each year a new summer garden is planned out with gardening mastermind, Jacquelyn Nooney of Jacquelyn Nooney Landscape, Inc. This year is an especially special horticultural presentation, in celebration of our

20^th Anniversary, the Stonewall Kitchen garden theme: From the Garden to the Kitchen represents a collaboration between Jonathan and Jim, Jacquelyn Nooney and art curator, Mary Harding of the George Marshall Store Gallery in York.  



Colors and texture variety. Do you see the beets?

Mary worked with various, New England based artists who presented work ranging from photography pieces, to large abstract murals, detailed oils and sculptures, all representing the theme: From the Garden to the Kitchen. Each piece was photographed and transformed to an outdoor tolerant canvas, and then hung on custom designed wrought-iron picture hangers which were placed throughout Stonewall Kitchen's headquarters' gardens. The gardens were then planted to reflect and compliment the various pieces of artwork.

The George Marshall Store Gallery exhibit of From the Garden to the Kitchen original artwork will be on view July 16-August 21 at:

George Marshall Store Gallery
140 Lindsay Road, York, ME
phone: 207.351.1083 www.georgemarshallstoregallery.com
hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10am–5pm & Sunday 1–5pm

Jackie took time yesterday to walk around the gardens with me.  I learned a  lot about choosing plants and utilizing the different colors and textures available not only from your standard annuals, but how to mix in vegetables as well for effect. Jackie planted beets and leeks in the gardens for color and height and added parsley  for texture. I’ll pass along information on the various varieties of plants and some of her ideas for beautiful plantings you can replicate at home in the  next garden post.

A Dahlia for the Bees

But for now, everyone is invited to our Garden Party tomorrow evening, July 14,  from 4 pm - 7 pm at our headquarters in York, Maine.  So if you happen to be in the area come by!  We’ll have live music, refreshments, and we will be giving away sample sized jams and coupons too!  Come enjoy this amazing exhibit of art and garden!

You can view the exhibit brochure here: Stonewallkitchen.com



Add Leeks to the Mix



Salvia - perfect for flower arrangements



Time to Feed the Birds

Caring for the Birds

The birds are back in town.  They packed their bags and started to head up north about a month ago and it appears they have just arrived on the northeast seacoast, chirping and showing off their colorful feathery adornments as if they were attending some sort of royal wedding. 

There is something so relaxing and enjoyable watching them fly about, swooping down for seeds and catching the next wind powered thrill ride. It’s engaging noticing all the different species and colors and realizing the bird seed packaging was right after all; different seed varieties attract different types of birds.  And, all along I thought all bird food was the same.  In investigating the whole bird feeding and nesting thing I learned a few things.  I can’t wait to get some more bird feeders and welcome these new additions to my backyard.

Why you want to attract birds to your yard

Beyond the obvious aesthetic and musical reasons, birds offer many interesting advantages:

Birds help keep insects away and that’s good news for anyone who likes to spend time outside

If you have a garden, birds are great at picking off interlopers that disturb gardens, this means less hours weeding for you and no nasty insecticides.

Don’t take the feeder down come winter, a well positioned feeder helps them survive when food sources are scarce in more urban areas.

 Lets talk about birdhouses

There are two dozen species of cavity-nesting birds birds in North America, these birds prefer to find a hollowed out tree or a birdhouse to settle into. Natural nesting cavities are often harder to find in urban and suburban areas so birds hope for bird houses in order to survive. Though birds can be picky, they won’t just take any hand-out. Orientation, internal size and entry-hole all play an important role in their choosing a place to nest. 

Posting poles are the best place to attach a birdhouse to. This discourages rodents or cats from getting to it.  Post wrapped with sheet metal or a length of stovepipe will provide extra protection.

Make sure to face the entrance hole away from prevailing wind to protect young birds from rain and cold winds.

And once nesting season is over, usually towards the middle of summer, though you can wait till fall to be sure, clean out your birdhouse to prevent mites and rodents from moving in and prepare for next season’s birds.

Different Styles of Bird Feeders

Hummingbird Feeder Comes in glass or plastic with small holes in which the hummingbirds stick their beaks into to reach the liquid nectar. (Red dye is not necessary, we use it in our photo to show off the detail of the glass bottle.)

Tube Feeder  A long hollow tube easily filled with bird food. This style comes in different sizes for various different types of birds. Seed stays protected in tube and only comes out on bottom so squirrels can’t get to the seed.

Platform Feeder    A flat and open feeder which makes it really easy to fill with seed or other larger foods such as nuts and fruits. These feeders are sometimes offered with a cover to protect seed from light rain. Though several birds at once can enjoy this feeder it also makes it easy for non-birds to get at.


Suet Feeder  A wire cage which holds suet blocks. These are great when the weather is cooler as suet is made from fat and will melt in warmer weather.  Melted lard will go rancid and also attach to the under bellies of birds and potentially transfer to the nesting eggs, this prevents oxygen from reaching the baby chicks. The same goes for serving birds peanut butter.  Suet can be store bought or easily made at home as can peanut butter pinecones, though both are best as a winter project.


Mesh Feeders   Also make for a fun at home craft. Wire, plastic or fabric mesh holds the seed which the birds pull through the mesh holes.

Where to Hang your Bird Feeder

Hang your feeder on the south side of your house if possible.  Protected from wind and usually the sunny side of the house which is what the birds like best.

Protected areas like a bush or hedgerow are good spots to place your birdfeeder, especially the ones on poles. Birds are attracted to brush piles so make a pile of fallen branches if a bush is not possible.

Hang your feeder high enough to deter animals like cats from getting at it but make it easy enough for you to reach for filling and cleaning.

Hang your bird feeder where you can see it to enjoy the birds, as well as know when it is time to fill.

Audobon picture

Hang or place your feeder no closer than 3 feet to the closest window.  Also, be careful of windows without panes because birds may fly directly into the window.  It is best to hang something like a decal or other ornament to prevent this.

A little - bird feeder- house cleaning

It is best to clean once a month, remove any contents and wash it with mild dish soap mixture. Dry thoroughly before refilling.

Toss out any wet or moldy seed, this can cause bacterial growth and make the birds sick.

Remove seed hulls and other debris under feeder to keep other animals away.

Feeding the birds

Seed Blends – all seed blends with no fillers (like Milo and wheat, which bird-feeder-birds won’t eat) are the best for attracting a wide range of birds.

Suet Dough is best in warmer weather since it won’t melt like other suet.  Perfect for bluebirds, mockingbirds, nuthatches, peckers, chickadees, and wrens.

Hummingbird and Oriole Nectar – Buy high calorie nectar that active hummingbirds need to sustain their energy.  Stay away from dyes and additives.

Nectar Directions:

Mix  1 part sugar with 4 parts water and bring to a boil to kill any bacteria

Cool mixture and fill feeder

Store extra sugar water in refrigerator for later use

Red dye should not be added

Peanut Butter and Jelly for the birds

Peanut butter is a nutritious offering for the birds but best when given to them in the colder months. Soft peanut butter can stick to bird’s mouths but adding a bit of cornmeal will make it grittier. Make sure to clean out your feeder to prevent bacteria from growing. Stay away from suet and peanut butter that will become soft and oily in warmer weather.  Oils attach to the birds underbelly feathers, and when nesting will clog the pores of their nesting eggs.

Cape May Warblers, Orioles and catbirds have a sweet tooth and can be enticed by a little jelly. Just offer a small amount because it gets sticky especially in warmer weather and little birds can get mired in it.  Adult birds enjoy snacking on the jelly while looking for insects, but keep an eye that they are not bringing their young by for a taste too often.  A tiny, tiny amount is sufficient.

 Other good bird resources:
Happy birding!

Bird Source 

Audubon