It's Been Too Long!

Wow. I haven't blogged in forever!

It appears the farmer's market season has sucked me into a black hole of baking and packing and loading and unloading (repeat, repeat, repeat), and I haven't taken the time to put some thoughts into cyberland.

But here's something cool: I had the privilege of being part of the First (hopefully annual) Boston Local Food Festival on Saturday, and it was awesome!!!  Boston's finest were there...from City Feed to Sportello to Prana Cafe, Canto6, Grillos Pickles, Nella Pasta, Nantucket Wild, Sherman Market, Taza, Tortured Orchard, just to name some faves.....click on the links or google them!

3LittleFigs was in such amazing food company and surrounded by thousands of enthusiastic festival-goers that it was a bit overwhelming.  People were loving our Local Honey Cake, Avocado Tea Cake, Ginger Bombs, Baklava & Nutty Fig Bar.  Let's put it this way, we arrived with A LOT to sell and left basically empty-handed :)

When we finally came up for air around 5:30, we were exhausted with pounding headaches! "Post-event" feels like a bad hangover, yet you haven't had a lick to drink. But it was so rewarding to be part of this festival.

I'm now going to bust my behind to get wholesale accounts so no one has to go without a 3LittleFigs fix!


And speaking of wholesale, 3LittleFigs is now a licensed wholesaler!
So please share any cafes/shops/markets/places you think 3LittleFigs should be sold!
Commission will be paid to anyone who "hooks it up"! ;)

Love & thanks,
Katie

3LittleFiggies Went to Market...

I am SO excited and proud to announce that 3LittleFigs "mobile bakery" will be at the following unique and fun market locations through Thanksgiving.

(Be sure to click on the links to find more info on each location. If you see a facebook page for one of these markets, maybe you could "like" or "friend" it?  Heck, you could go totally nuts and post something about "how excited you are that 3LittleFigs will be there" or "how much you like the 3LittleFigs (insert favorite treat here)"...)

TUeSDAYS
The Westford Farmers Market
2:30-6:30  (June 22- Oct 26)
Click here for WFM Facebook Page!

FRiDAYS
Cambridge Charles Square Farmers' Market
@ Charles Hotel in Harvard Square
12 noon - 6 p.m. (June 11- Nov 19)

SaTURDAYS
Cambridgeport Farmers' Market
Morse School parking lot
Magazine Street & Memorial Drive
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (June 12- Oct 30)

SUNDAYS
SOWA Open Market
500 Harrison Ave., South End, Boston
Click here for SOWA Sundays Facebook Page!
Click here for Open Market Facebook Page!

AND! Saturday June 19th, I'll be at the Westford Strawberry & Arts Festival
See you soon!

Spring-er- Rhu

I'm a produce junky. So to me, Spring = A Whole New World of Eating and Baking Opportunities!

One of my favorite Spring crops is Rhubarb!


This is some of the Rhubarb in my parents' yard:

It looks like a pile of weeds right now, but eventually it'll look like this:

But in the meantime, it looks like this:

These fibrous red stalks are still babies, but they are growing quickly.
I also have a friend from Maine who harvests his backyard o' rhubarb for me. (Thanks Sven!)

What the heck can I do with this bizarre plant?
I can make the Strawberry "Roo"Barb Streusel Cake, duh.  And you can get it from me, thank me for changing your life, and beg me for more!

The cake is a secret family recipe. So here's just an overview of what it's all about.

First, there's a sweet & tart Straw-Rhu filling....

Then, cake batter...

Add a bit o streusel topping, and she's ready for the oven...

Ta Dah! This cake's a STAR.

MMM gooey layers....

The perfect treat for any party or occasion.
(And in case you're wondering, yes, breakfast counts as an "occasion"!)

When seasonably possible, I plan to use local strawberries in this cake.
You can get it from me anytime via email, txt, cell, blog comment, or find me at an event or farmer's market near you soon!

Hunkering Down (While trying to stay "UP")

I don't want to even THINK about how nasty the weather was earlier this week, but I will just one more time on account of this posting.

I feel blue and horribly trapped when it rains.  But I'm an inherent optimist, so instead of never getting out of bed or being cranky for days, I try to be motivated and cook things that will comfort me through the icky weather.  I try to pump my body with sprouted & whole grains, intensely colored veggies & fruit (eat from the rainbow!) and complete proteins.

Research has shown that boosting your body with complete proteins can enhance your mood.  Complete proteins contain all 9 amino acids, and are represented in animal-based proteins, quinoa, and appropriate protein pairings such as rice & beans, tahini hummus, etc.

So do your part to maintain your natural mood-enhancing chemistry with food!
As if I needed an excuse?!

Rainy Day Seafood Stew

Soup just makes you feel better when it's raining.

This is an Asian-style noodle soup with shrimp, veg and organic buckwheat noodles

Rosemary Ham, Potato & Cheese Stuffed Wheat Bread

Coconut Curry Brown Rice with Vanilla Scallops

Hungry Man Breakfast for Dinner! (Brinner) a la Rooney!

Gotta have the potato, sweet potato, beet homefries medley and some sort of green veg.

Hungry Lady Brinner with a Leek/Spin/Goat Cheese Omelette

Heart-y

These are some favorite "heart-y" breakfast foods that are so fun to make and yummy to eat.  

They are packed with tons of nutrition and fiber (hence, they're hearty)...

And I heart them.  

The first is the all-mighty GRANOLA, or, as a fancy MA native would say, GRANOLER.

Let's face it, granola isn't hard to make: oats, nuts, something sticky to bind it, oven, done.

But I like to make mine in a particularly natural fashion using:

organic whole oats

raw honey

raw agave

organic/raw coconut oil

raw cashews, walnuts & almonds

organic ground flaxseed

pinch of ground sea salt

& a spice mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove to name a few.....

Throw a bit of pure organic vanilla extract in there, mix it all around, and spread it on a baking sheet.

Bake it on 350 for ten, mix it around a bit (edges brown first, so make sure to toss it up a bit to prevent what I like to call "over-browning"- it's not burned, it's "over-browned"!)

Rotate pan and bake for another 10, repeat, but keep an eye on it. Take it out when it's the desired color.

Next, while it's still warm, toss in some ground flax, unsweetened coconut and mix.

As the granoler cools/hardens, you can add chopped dried fruit to it if you'd like. I skipped the fruit this time, just wasn't feeling it. But if you'd like to use it, try un-sulfered, no-added-sugar dried fruit (TJ's, WF, etc). Try dried FIGS!!!!!!

Oh, and baking granola makes your house smell AMAZING.

I topped Andy's pink yogurt parfait with the stuff. He loves his pastel yogurts.  And he loves his wife's granola too!!! (cheek pinch)


Another hearty breakfast item in the Rooney household is the "Hockey Puck". This name was Andy's creation. You can be the judge if it's a fitting name, and by NO MEANS does the name refer to the taste.
I'm currently considering more "edible" names for this invention, so feel free to suggest-away in the comments below! But in the meantime, hockey puck it is.....

This blog is, like, 2 steps away from becoming a "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" episode (or whatever her name is, bless her underprivileged taste buds) but here goes:

1. Toast an Ezekiel sprouted-grain english muffin, break it in half
2. Slather one side with raw, crunchy almond butter
3. Lay sliced bananas over the almond butter-and squeeze as many on there as possible
4. Drizzle the bananas with a bit of honey or agave (get raw, local honey people)
5. Top it and give it a squeeze
6. Consume it, remarking on how bad of a name the "hockey puck" is for this delicious creation!

The cakes that did me in.

A "certain caterer" (who will remain nameless to protect his innocence) had a certain "dessert emergency" recently and 3LittleFigs heeded the call for a cake bailout.  Forty, four-layered cakes in less than 24 hrs?
Pssssshhhhh! Aint no thang.
(We were being optimistic!)

We know the pros on shows like Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, etc, laugh at these sorts of situations and effectively make them their bitches.  Why couldn't 3LittleFigs? (I'm now counting the reasons on two hands, but boy was I optimistic at the time!) These TV shows are also strategically edited, time-lapsed, and manipulated to show the scripted (cough), "make it look easy" tidbits that beg for glued eyeballs.
For the record, quantity cake-making in a limited time frame is NOT EASY. We were seeing stars and moving like zombies by the end of our cake "episode".

Since I mentioned the Cake Boss...

But back to the task at hand! FORTY freaking coconut key-lime cakes in 24 hrs? EEK!
Kath (The Wise Fig) called Kate (The Big Fig), and we assessed the situation in the commercial kitchen.
White cake, lime curd, buttercream & coconut shavings were the pieces to our 40 puzzles. So we went to town cooking, mixing, baking, mixing, slicing, mixing, slathering, mixing, frosting, mixing and coconut-ing.

The story ends well for the cakes, with an on-time delivery, successful plating of 500 slices, and glowing feedback about taste (most important of all!) and presentation.

But This Big Fig didn't fare so well. Her story ended with the beginnings of a two-week-long sinus infection :(
Boo Hoo, I know.

Here are those damn cakes.....

(Oh yeah, and I made some raspberry drizzle)

I'm Stuffed!

I love to play the game “Let’s see what I can throw together for dinner tonight”.  See, I never cook with recipes. In my opinion, recipes are for baking. I must just feel so confined by baking from recipes all day long, that I have a need to bust loose and create my meals off the cuff. 

This is one of my favorite of said meals- a colorful, vegetarian/vegan one - that’s easy to make, ridiculously tasty and SUPER nutritious.  May I introduce to you...

The Quinoa Pilaf-Stuffed Delicata!

Use a local, possibly organic delicata squash (or any variety of squash for that matter), half it, oven roast it until soft and stuff it with quinoa pilaf. I make my pilaf with organic black or red quinoa (the more color the better!) and any combo of the following: cumin, cinnamon, leek, shallot, sea salt, golden raisins or currants, roasted almonds or pine nuts, chopped greens, goat cheese, chopped olives, capers, sundried tomato, the kitchen sink (I have a new one, so it’s clean).....

You basically can’t go wrong here, so have fun with it.

And if you use a delicata, eat the skin too! 

Question for you...

There are so many Farmers Markets in MA!  

Being the produce junky I am, I’ve attended many, but certainly not all of them. Which ones do you think are well-attended, well-positioned, well-timed?  Where would you like to see a 3LittleFigs stand?

Thanks!

k

Gala-What?

G-A-L-A-C-T-A-B-O-U-R-E-K-O.

I know, it’s a “mouth-full”. Ha.

But who cares if you can pronounce it, as long as you can eat it, courtesy of 3LittleFigs!

These little rolls of creamy, crunchy, syrupy goodness are the nirvana of pastry.  I’ve also gone ahead and added baklava filling to one version for a nutty roll and nuts and sweet cheese to another. So there are 3LittleRolls you can check out below...

I plan to offer these at Farmers Markets as well. But if you can’t wait until then, place an order: katie@3littlefigs.com.

G-A-L-A-C-T-A-B-O-U-R-E-K-O rolls

mmm creamy farina & syrup

nutty roll

nutty roll w/ soft, sweet cheese

all in a row...

Cutesy Cakes

I have made some “cutesy” cakes recently. I’m personally not a lover of all things cake or cutesy, but these were impossible to resist sampling (someone has to make sure they’re not poisonous, right?). I plan to be selling several of these cakes (among lots of other fun treats) at local Farmers’ Markets this season and using local, farm-fresh squash, carrots, apples, corn, berries, herbs in my recipes...

cutesy maple, squash & yogurt mini bundts

(soooo good with coffee! & listed on my menu page)

eat your freakin’ veggies!!!

(esp. if they’re made of frosting!)

carrot crop

(rustic carrot cakeys w/ fromage blanc butter cream)

Truffle Shuffle

Pass up a Goonies reference? I think not!

The Truffle Shuffle should be deemed an acceptable public behavior, such as shaking hands or crossing the street. 

Who’s with me! (?)

I made 300 truffles this week for a large event.  Flavors included Baileys (the event is in March, ie, it falls under the St. Paddy’s Celebration umbrella whether it likes it or not!), espresso & traditional semi-sweet rolled with toasted pecans, almonds and pistachios for some color and texture.......I think Chunk would be proud.

7.5lbs of Callebaut. I’m trying to block it out. No pun intended.

“What’s that, arms? You’re still sore from chopping?”

Ready for the cream! Who volunteers to stir this?!

It appears I have a crazy (and vertically-challenged) volunteer:

(Just kidding, she’s stirring marinara. )

After a long cool, here comes the fun part!

300 down, 200 to go!