I thought I’d do a little follow up fruit picking post from a few weeks ago when my whole family headed down for a wonderful day out in Maclaren Vale. We spent a few hours picking a couple of HUGE buckets of delicious, fresh apricots, plums and nectarines.
In the weeks that have followed we have become hooked on fresh stone fruit, and eaten our way through about 30kg now! The original 15kg or so were eaten fresh or stewed into delicious stewed apricots (no added sugar – just halved the apricots and put them in a suacepan with a few tablespoons of water for 1 & 1/2 hours until soft!). We had plenty of takers to help us get rid of those as well – with people making them into apricot pie, apricot slice and having them with greek yoghurt for an awesome snack.
In the weeks since we polished off the first hand picked batch, we have been back to pick more once and then picked up a few extra kilos at the central markets too. There aren’t too many apricots left around now, but you can still pick up some perfectly fine (some have tiny scratches or marks) apricots for only $4/kilo which is great for cooking with I think! Peaches and nectarines are even cheaper and still make awesome muffins, stewed fruit and other snacks! We have also had a great, fresh apricot chicken meal with brown rice, plus I tried my hand at this great Apricot and Almond Slice.
Today I heard that blackberry season is in full swing in the Adelaide Hills too so I know what I’ll be doing in the next week or so… (just a reminder to be careful as many blackberries are sprayed with poison so only pick the fruit you know hasn’t been sprayed!). Anyway, I’m off now as I’ve got another pan of apricots stewing away… hope you’re enjoying all the fresh local fruit too! 🙂
3-ingredient fruit cake from The Colourful Housewife An easy, delicious cake. This one would be a nice one for the holidays when you don't really want to spend too long in the kitchen! Ingredients: 1 kilo of dried fruit 2 Cups of self raising flour 2 1/2 cups of fruit juice (or orange, peach, tropical...) Method: Place fruit and juice in a container with a lid on it and let sit over night Preheat oven to 160 degrees Add the flour into the fruit and juice bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon Place all of the cake mix into an oiled 20cm tin Place it on lowest shelf in the oven and bake for 2 hours Once it's cooked, remove it from tin and let it cool completely Next, place it in an air tight container Then slice it up and enjoy! Yummy!
Follow these easy steps to make your own homemade rollups from 100% fruit! The recipe is super simple and a great way to use up extra fruit you have leftover, or if you've been fruit picking and need ideas for your haul. What you need. 3 cups of fruit. I used frozen mango I had in the freezer but you could experiment with mixed berries, apricots, necatrines, pears, apples or anything really. Let us know which combos work best. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, it helps the fruit keep its bright colour If you want, add a bit of honey, if not leave it out. We added just one tablespoon as a test and it's YUMMY but you could definitely leave it out if you wanted. We've heard a touch of coconut oil is also delicious. Blend baby blend until it's as smooth as possible. I used my Magimix, but you could use Thermomix, a blender or your Nutribullet. Try and get all those lumps out for a nice smooth roll up. Spread the smooth mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper, or a reuseable silicone baking mats (I got mine from Seed & Sprout) It needs…
As if cherries at Christmas time weren't delicious enough as it is, imagine being able to go cherry picking at beautiful Plummers Border Valley Orchards at Forest Range. Plummers have owned the land at Forest Range for 120 years and owners Ian Plummer and son Gavin are 4th descendant growers. The property is 200 acres of apples and 10 acres of delicious cherries. Plummers have 3 cherry orchards along Plummers Rd, named after their family. Follow the Plummers Orchards signs to where they are picking on the day. Park where you pick your own beautiful large delicious cherries. This year they have a large crop, with loaded trees which makes picking easy, as you don't have to scrounge to find the cherries. The buckets fill easily. The orchards are well maintained and easily accessible for families and elderly. What a great (and delicious) day out for everyone. Entry fee is $5 per adult and $2 per child under 12. This covers the cost of the beautiful cherries you're welcome to consume while picking. The cherries cost less than last year, $7/kg. You pay for what you pick. Plummers Border Valley Orchards are open every weekend till Christmas. You're welcome to…