By Debra Knapke

July, through October is the time to make and freeze pesto so that you can savor the taste of summer in the middle of winter.  While basil pesto is a favorite, there are many types for this burst of flavor.  This past year, sage, celery, and garlic scape pestos joined the basil pesto in my freezer.  The recipes for these pestos will be presented in the summer blogs, but for now, here is a recipe where you can use the pesto that you, hopefully, made last summer.

Basil Pesto Walnut  Scuffins

• 1  c.           whole wheat flour
• 1  c.           unbleached white flour
• 2  Tbs       brown sugar
• 1½  tsp     baking powder
• ½ tsp        baking soda
• ½ tsp        salt  (scant)
• 1 Tbs        flaxseed meal (optional)
• 2 tsp         quinoa flakes (optional)
• 1 c.            yogurt or buttermilk
• ¼ c.           extra virgin olive or canola oil
• 1                egg
• ¼ c.           basil pesto (yours will always be better, but commercially prepared is fine)
• ¾ c.           walnuts, coarsely chopped (pecans, cashews or pine nuts, too)

Preheat oven to 400°F (convection: 375°F).  Lightly butter 12 muffin cups.  (If you make mini-scuffins: 2 recipes make two pans of 24 minis)

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and pesto. Mix well.  Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour wet ingredients into dry.  Add walnuts and fold the dry ingredients into the wet.*

Spoon batter into prepared pans.  Scuffins: bake for 20-25 minutes; mini-scuffins: bake 10-12 minutes.  Remove baked muffins from pan after 5 minutes and cool on wire racks.

These muffins freeze well.

* The secret with scuffins — even more than with muffins — is not to overmix them.  I use a sturdy spatula, and use a “folding” movement instead of stirring.

Another scuffin note:  yogurt or buttermilk reacts quickly with baking powder and baking soda.  You will notice a spongy texture forms as you spoon the dough into the muffin cups.  Try not to compact the forming sponge, work quickly and get the scuffins in the oven where the heat will finish the rising process.

By Debra Knapke

Pickles… the vegetable preserve that we put up in July to October.  Plunked on hamburgers, added to our potato salad or just eaten because they taste so good, cucumber pickles are reminders of the taste of high summer.  For those of you who like exact measures and exact recipes, sorry to disappoint you.  No matter how many times I make pickles, each season’s offering seems to process a little bit differently from the year before.  But, each year’s pickles taste the best ever.

So why offer this recipe to you now instead of July?  Because you are eating those pickles now, and you just might remember to look back into our archives to retrieve this recipe.  If not, we will remind you, in July, that it is here.

Many people are represented in my garden by the plants they have given me.  Many people are represented in my kitchen by the recipes they have given me.  The following recipe was given to me by a dear friend who lives not only in my heart, but in my kitchen.

Mother Elssa’s Sweet Pickles

 A family recipe handed down to my friend Jane Cooper and then handed over to me

30           6″ or so cucumbers, sliced ¼”  (Adjust thickness for desired crispness.) 

½ c          salt

2              medium onions sliced about 3/16-inch  (Can use more onions)

Cover with water; let stand for 2 hours; drain

5 c           sugar

1 qt        white vinegar

1 Tbs      mustard seed

1 Tbs      celery seed

4              black peppercorns/pint jar.

Heat thoroughly.  Add the cucumber slices and heat them through.  A shorter heating time will produce a crisper pickle; a longer heating time will produce a softer pickle.

Can the pickles while still hot:  Read the latest recommendations for canning cucumber pickles in Extension publications or in the Kerr and Ball Canning Guides.  Alternately (for crisper pickles), let the jars cool and refrigerate. Even if a hot water canning bath is not used, lids may seal, but don’t rely on that: refrigerate!!

This recipe makes between 8-10 pints; depends on the size of the cucumbers.