Green Options

As the colder November winds start to blow here on our Wisconsin farm and B&B, Inn Serendipity, I feel a breeze of bittersweet. As I look at the pumpkins, potatoes and other root crops stacked up for the winter, I crave something else:  One last taste of crunchy, flavorful garden fresh.

That’s when these Fall Finale Muffins show up on our breakfast table.  Grab the last of the apples and pair them with shredded carrots for a hearty, healthy muffin packed with a nutritional boost.  Because of the high amounts of fresh carrots and apples, along with dried cranberries and nuts, these muffins take on more of a crunchy produce feel than a typical bread-like muffin.  Fall bounty you can hold in your hand.

Make an extra batch as these freeze surprisingly well.  Here’s the recipe:

Pear pie. Pear ginger muffins. Pear cordials made from fruit, sugar and vodka. Pears canned in sugar syrup. Pear jam.

When my senior neighbor Mary calls me every year at the end of August with her annual message of “The tree is ripe – come pick,” I turn into the Bubba Gump of pears, gratefully using the four bushels of pears I harvest off her abundant backyard tree.

As the country whines about escalating food prices, there’s often rotten apples falling from some tree near you. Or pears, plums – name your fruit. You know the tree I’m talking about – the one you pass by every day in someone’s yard that is practically falling over with ripe fruit and you think to yourself, “Someone needs to do something with that.” How true – and that “someone” is you.

Talk about an organic homerun: By connecting with and harvesting a local fruit tree, you not only garner more organic, fresh, local fruit booty than you know what to do with – and put something to use that would otherwise have gone to waste. You build community by connecting with others. We’re talking community at its core, most sustainable essence, sharing abundance with others, relishing the gifts of the land.

Step up to the plate – or bushel – and tap into these unwanted fruit on trees in backyards across the nation that could be making the world a better place through more pie – or jam or cobblers or muffins – you get the picture. Here are three tips for foraging a fruit tree near you:

My kids love to make muffins, and one of their favorite vegan recipes is for chocolate chip muffins. We like to put a special dash of bran on the bottom and a dash of coconut on top for an extra treat.  If you’ve never tried chocolate chips in a muffin, you will be pleasantly surprised!  These muffins are quick and easy to make, but be warned:  they will be eaten up quickly!

My children dearly love muffins, especially making them. They like to pour the ingredients into the bowl and put the unbleached muffin cups into to our stoneware muffin pans.When it comes to putting the batter into the cups, I have to admit that I am a bit of a control freak and don’t let my children help, but then the aroma of baking muffins fills the kitchen, and soon we are rewarded for our cooking efforts.This recipe is super simple, vegan, and best when made with organic ingredients. It is adapted from the cookbook The Garden of Vegan.Organic, Vegan Blueberry Oat Muffins Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine:

• 1 cup soymilk
• 1 cup rolled oats