After six weeks of grueling, scientific research, here is my favorite flavor and the runner-up:

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This week’s pick was a suggestion from my pal Rachael who works at the local co-op. It turns out they carry Living Harvest’s Tempt, a hemp-based ice cream. Hemp! I was pretty excited to try this one. Hemp is really excellent for you. It’s packed with essential fatty acids and all nine amino acids. On top of the superfood base, this ice cream is soy- and gluten- free, too! I felt pretty good about myself when I picked out a pint of chocolate fudge Tempt and served up a generous bowl after dinner. So what’s the scoop?

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Rhubarb must often feel like the underdog of the gardening world. While everyone lusts after things like the first greens, peas and asparagus, rhubarb tends to fall into more of a love-hate relationship with folks: Either you crave it and know exactly how to transform it from pie plant to something amazing, or you had it once and swore off it forever.

But rhubarb takes on a deeper meaning for me each spring, as it pops up ruby red and ready in my Wisconsin garden on our farm. Call rhubarb my Yoda in the garden: if I take the time to be mindful, rhubarb reminds me of all those big picture life values I always need a gentle nudge on, especially during the busy spring gardening time. Here are some wise nuggets from rhubarb (followed by my favorite rhubarb recipe: Rhubarb Custard Bars):

1. Perennials Rock (and Simplify Life)
Every spring, without any shout out from me, the rhubarb reliably pops up in the garden. Now I realize this observation isn’t anything new, but that concept of “perennial” was something totally novel to my husband, John, and I when we moved to our farm over a decade ago, leaving the Chicago urban scene behind. We grew up in the land of the suburbs where everyone planted the flats of petunias and other annuals every spring, so the idea that something regularly appears with no effort on our part ranked utterly amazing.

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So, to satisfy my need for sinful sweets sans the fat and calories, I embarked on a journey to create a healthy yet decadent delight that is as easy to make as it is on the waistline.  It’s also no accident that it has a striking similarity in texture and taste to buttery cake batter.  You’re welcome.

I also managed to resuscitate the vastly under used flavor of butterscotch in the process, which interestingly, contains neither butter nor scotch. Does anyone else find that puzzling?

You can ponder quandries like that while shoveling heaping spoonfuls of butterscotch goodness into your mouth but given the endorphin overload that will likely result from this delectable dietary dessert, you may only be able to muster mono-syllabic “Mmmm”s.

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Okay. This recipe may not be the healthiest most sustainable, seasonal, vegan dessert or even what most people would consider traditional holiday fare. However, it has become a regular christmas staple in our household and like most traditions, it has a story attached to it.

Nothing dramatic really, but about 15 years ago, I was experiencing one of those ‘blue’ christmases that Elvis sang about - all lonely and weepy and not much fun. My friends took turns trying to keep me from total despair and I found myself slumped on a stool in my dear friend Roberta’s kitchen a couple of days before christmas. I was a bit like a dry sack of flour so she put me to work as she was busily preparing her family’s favorite holiday dessert, strawberry squares.

Keep reading to get this delicious recipe . . .

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If you are allergic to wheat or you have celiac disease, or if you just plain love dessert, these chocolate chip cookies are sure to be a winner in your house.

This wheat-free cookie recipe is quick and easy to make, and by substituting the oat flour with rice or quinoa flour, it can be a gluten-free dessert. It also happens to be vegan, but you’d never know by the taste.

Wheat-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

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If your family is anything like mine, your kids will be begging for dessert every night.

The problem with desserts is that they can fill kid’s bellies with tons of sugar right before bed, and the high cost of the ingredients can break your budget.

Having a recipe for a simple, healthy dessert made from ingredients you have on hand will help meet everyone’s needs. Full of fiber and sweetened with honey, this cake recipe is nutritious, filling, and cheap to make. Kudos to my wife for creating this knock-out dessert that satisfies the sweet tooth and fits our budget.

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This cake has the texture of a quick bread and the autumn flavors of pumpkin and “pumpkin pie” spices. Pumpkin is one of those tastes that you either love or hate. This cake is designed so there is no doubt that you are eating pumpkin.

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Sweet potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving dinner, and with this fall harvest recipe, you can eat your vegetables for dessert!

When the weather gets chilly and the leaves start to fall, a home-baked pie really hits the spot. Served with some spiced cider or a cup of dark roast coffee, a piece of sweet potato pie hot out of the oven is a little slice of heaven.

Sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene (vitamin A), fiber, and complex carbohydrates, with plenty of vitamin C, manganese, and potassium. They are said to be beneficial for diabetics in stabilizing blood sugar levels and lowering insulin resistance, and have a low to medium glycemic index.

Plus, sweet potatoes taste simply phenomenal!

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Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.

Homemade old-fashioned apple dumplings were a thing of sheer indulgence during my childhood.  We didn’t have them all that often, but when we did, it meant life was good.  Truth be told though, I’d almost forgotten about them until a month or so ago, when I was eating out and saw them on the menu.  Of course I ordered a dumpling for dessert, but it just wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be.  The apple dumplings of my childhood were large - gianormous really - made with a whole apple brimming with cinnamon sugary delight and snuggly down in a flaky sugary crust.  What I had at the restaurant was a small half apple with scant cinnamon and a dark egg-washed glossy crust around it.  I knew then and there that I’d have to recreate the apple dumplings of my memory. 

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Vegan Chocolate Pecan Brownies

Mix and cook on low heat until thick.  Cool completely:

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup water

In a separate pot, melt:

• 1/2 cup margarine

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My daughter hungrily reads the recipes in Honest Pretzels, which are laid out in an illustrated, very kid (and adult) friendly way, including a section “Ask an adult for help with”. She wanted to make something immediately, but neither her father or I had the time to help her, so we let her go at it on her own. It was her first solo cooking adventure (except for using the oven), and she did well. At one point, she asked me whether she should pour the flour from the five pound bag into the measuring cup or dip the cup in the flour. Thankfully she asked and a huge mess was avoided.

The organic Button Cupcakes were delicious. I’ve modified Mollie’s recipe below, such as omitting the Hershey’s Kiss on top (not supporting Hershey) and only using organic ingredients. I’ve written it in the step format she lays out for children, but I have not included all of her specific instructions for children.

Organic Button Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 12 muffin papers in the muffin pan.
2. Sift 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (Mollie tells children to use a strainer and gently shake it over the bowl, which is a great solution if you don’t have a sifter).

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Organic Wild Berry Crisp

Melt together

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup honey

Mix together

• 2 cups raw oats
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/8 cup flax seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt

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Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.

Hurry!  It’s almost over!  Like any good thing, the blueberry season is all too short, and the smart cook embraces it for all its worth while it’s here.  The same could be said about the sour cherry season, but, frankly, I’m really only in this (“this” being the making and eating of Berry Cherry Pie) for the blueberries. 

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Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.  

I’m really putting my lavender plants to work already this summer.  First a bubbly lavender lemonade, and now lavender scented ice cream!  I’m running to catch up to the bandwagon here, flagging it down like a speeding city bus.   Many folks have long been touting how sublime the marriage of lavender and cream is.  But I hadn’t bought into it until this batch of ice cream.   

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All of a sudden, I came to the edge of a cliff, staring down into the deep canyon below. ‘Hmmm, this canyon wasn’t here yesterday,” I noted, as the tiger quickly caught up to me. As I looked down, at the bottom of the canyon stood a second tiger, ready for dinner. I saw a small branch growing out of the edge of the cliff, and I quickly jumped and grabbed the branch, dangling precipitously over the cliff drop off, but hey, I figured I’m still alive.

I look up to see not only tiger number one snarling down at me, but two voracious mice, chewing away on my branch. But as the branch started to crack and my life flashed before me, my eye catches a strawberry, dangling from its vine. Not just any strawberry, but a perfectly ruby red ripe beauty, moist with morning dew. And I reach out, picked it and ate that strawberry.

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Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes
designed to showcase produce gathered
from local farms or grown in my own garden.

I tip my hat to the plate in the picture below - without it I likely wouldn’t have made cake with sweet little Purple Haze and Kinko carrots, making the best carrot cake ever thanks to the intense natural flavors of the farm fresh carrots grated right before I tossed them in the batter. I give the plate credit because looking at it sitting empty on my counter made me think of cake. With young carrots being one of the early birds to show up in the farmers market in spring, carrot cake makes a perfect seasonal dessert that a clever eater can justify as getting his or her daily dose of vitamin C.

Carrot cake’s nothing new or exciting for me, but I’ve usually “cheated” in the past by using the bagged shredded carrots from the supermarket since I’m a little lazy and usually pressed for time. I’ll not make that mistake again. If you haven’t tried getting local carrots to put in your cake, you’d be well advised to do so. The other key, of course, is the freshness of your spices. People, if you’re aren’t grating your own nutmeg by now, get yourself a microplane and see what you’re missing!

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I have an abundance of fresh mint from my herb garden. Drinking Mojitos with every meal seemed a little impractical, so I did the next best thing and combined my mint with chocolate. While scouring the internet for a basic chocolate cake recipe. I was so excited to find this great recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen that included an unusual ingredient: beets!

Beets are admittedly not high on my list of favorite vegetables. But a co-worker brought me some from his CSA and assumed the office vegan would know what to do with them. They’ve actually been sitting in my crisper for weeks, so I was quite happy I got to use them before they went bad. Here’s the (only slightly modified) recipe for this delicious cake, published with permission.

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Chocolate Coated Butterscotch Bars Recipe

Cream together:

1 cup butter softened

1 cup brown sugar or Sucanat

Add and blend together well:

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 large egg yolk

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On the other front, cruise any supermarket aisle and you’ll be deluged with fat-free, chemical-laden attempts at guilt-free desserts. Neither option appealed to my dessert palette or what a dessert represents in my book: a sweet indulgence, a finale to a relished meal, something real.

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