May 2017 News & Updates

What a wet spring we have been having!

Oregon is home to rain but some sun every once in a while would be nice too! With a little luck the fields will start drying out and we can get on with preparing for the coming harvest. The rain has caused us some disruptions, but the berries have been doing well with all the wet weather and our blueberries are starting to bloom. 

WE HAVE NEW PRODUCTS!

What a great reception we have received from our powders! We are so happy to hear that so many of you enjoy them! For those who missed last months newsletter, we have new berry powders up in the shop.  You can now purchase:

• Red Raspberry Powder
• Blackberry Powder
• Aronia Berry Powder
• Black Raspberry Powder
• Blueberry Powder

Our berry powders are a supercharged way of getting your daily fruits into your diet. You can mix our powders into baking, oatmeal, smoothies, milk, ice cream, and more! Just like our dried berries, there are no additives or preservatives, so we're keeping the product as natural and nutritious as possible! 

*Note: Our powders are not soluble*

We've also added a new size to our powders. Now you can purchase all of our powder varieties in 2 lbs. quantities for $110.00.  

We would also like to mention that our free shipping amount has increased to $235.00 after coupons are applied. Our spreads and frozen do not qualify for free shipping. 

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Changes Are Coming:

Most of you are aware that last summer we were crazy busy during harvest. In the summer of 2016 we harvested about 2 million pounds of fruit, this year we are projecting at least 3 million. With that much fruit to be harvested we have had to make some hard choices in where to cut back so a balance can be achieved. This has resulted in our decision to not have a U-Pick this summer. We are sad that we can not continue, but our harvest is our first priority. 

We will still be offering already picked & washed blueberries in 30 pound boxes and 5 pound bags. For these you pull around to our office and we help you there. The price for those this year will be the same as in the past at $100 (30 pound box). 

We would like to thank everyone who has come out and supported us over the years. We hope you will continue to enjoy our berries. 

We will have a blog post late May/early June about all the changes we are making why we are making them. 

And did you see our delicious post this month? No-Bake, Nutrient Dense Energy Bites! YUM! 

Our normal office hours are:

Monday - Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST  

Cold Weather Shipping 

Cold Weather Shipping is still going! Since spring is here, if the temperature gets above 75 degrees where you are please call us and we will discuss if it's safe to ground ship berries to you. May is the last month we will be able to ship, and it might not even be available the whole month. It just depends on what the temperature decides to do. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken advantage of our Cold Weather Shipping! 

For those who are new to this, every year when it’s cold (nation-wide) we are able to send our frozen berries by ground rather than 2 day air, which saves a lot of money! We can only offer this while it’s cold out, usually fall through the early part of spring.

You do need to call us if you would the ground shipping though. Our online store is not set up for it. You can call us at 541-752-0460 Monday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm Pacific Standard Time.

**PLEASE NOTE: We are not responsible for shipping delays due to weather conditions**

LEMON BLUEBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Original Recipe from quartzandleisure.com

Ingredients:

BLUEBERRY FILLING INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 Cups fresh blueberries
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 oz. water

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 Cups Graham cracker crumbs (I used all 3 blocks from the package – we’ll reserve some of the leftover crumbs for topping)
• 1/3 Cup melted butter

CHEESECAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Packages cream cheese (8 oz. each)
• 1 Cup sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1 Cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)

Instructions:

BLUEBERRY FILLING DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour blueberries & sugar into a pot over medium-high heat. Simmer for about 10 mins.
2. Add the cornstarch to the water and mix well.  Pour this into the berries.
3. Continue to stir until it thickens up.
4. Remove from stove and allow to cool completely (approx 1 hour).

CRUST DIRECTIONS:

1. Place graham crackers in a Ziploc bag and smash into crumbs.
2. Measure 1.5 cups of crumbs and mix with the melted butter until evenly coated.
3. Press into the bottom of a spring form pan and set aside.

CHEESECAKE DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix cream cheese and sugar with a mixer until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix for 30 seconds before adding the next egg.
3. Blend in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest.
4. Add in the heavy cream and mix until competely smooth.
5. Scrape down the bowl and give the batter one last mix at HIGH speed for 1 minute.
6. Pour over the graham cracker crust.
7. Make a foil “nest” that the pan will sit in while cooking.
8. Cook the cheesecake for 65-80 minutes at 300° or until the surface no longer looks shiny.
9. Allow the cheesecake to cool to room temp before moving it to the fridge to cool completely.
10. Serve with fresh whipped cream and garnish with the remaining graham cracker crumbs.

Our Featured Products in the online Shop:

Red Raspberry Powder

Black Raspberry Powder

Aronia Berry Powder 

We are almost to full bloom in our blueberries. The bees have been hard at work despite the rain we've been having.

Aronia Berry Oatmeal Cookies

Aronia berries are a fun ingredient to experiment with. Our Aronia berries are unique in that they are so packed full of nutrients that the brix (sugar content) is actually a lot higher than average and this makes the tannens in the berry not so much at the forfront of the taste. Instead a sweetness starts to come through.

Typically this is a good indication of nutrition in our foods accross the board; nutrition=more flavor.

Then when you bake, or heat the aronia berries their astrengent weakens even more. So we've been baking, like A LOT! So we've developed two yummy recipes for Aronia berry oatmeal cookies. Today we will be sharing our conventional recipe, and keep an eye out for our gluten free aronia berry cookies coming next week.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 TSP Baking Soda
• 1/4 TSP Salt
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened to room temp
• 1/2 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
• 1 C Dried Aronia Berries

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.
3. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined, then mix in the oats and raisins until fully combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
4. Cover the cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. 
6. Once the dough is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and scoop out 2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough and dropped onto the prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave a little room between each ball of cookie dough as they will spread a little while they bake. 
7. Bake in separate batches at 350 F. for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the top is set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Notes: 

-Prep time includes 30 minutes of chilling time 

-Cookies may be stored on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

What Makes Our Berry Powders Different

What does it mean to be nutrient dense? 

People say things are nutrient dense all the time. 

So what makes us different? 

First of all many manufactures use the term "nutrient density" loosely, without testing, whereas we do testing, and we share the results with our customers (Check out 2016's results here). We use a third party lab for the testing to avoid bias.

Nutrient density is a direct result of how healthy the plant is, and we work hard to make sure our plants and soils are healthy, by remineralizing the soil. Generally, the agriculture industry, across the nation, does not understand the importance of remineralizing our soils. It is these lacking minerals that contribute to nutrient density, along with aerobic soil microbiology. The two working in tandem, will create nutrient dense food.

Our definition of nutrient density:A higher concentration of nutrition in a given volume of food, meaning that our products exceed the USDA standards for nutrition.

Secondly, something we do differently with all of our products is that we start with premium berries. It may surprise people, but a lot of companies do not start with a premium product. This is why sugar is added to our foods - to hide and cover the sub-par ingredients that lack, not only nutrients, but also flavor. (Minerals ALWAYS make flavor, no exceptions.) Just because something is sweet does not mean it has flavor and nutrition.

Our powders act as a super charged way of getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs every day. For example; one spoonful of blueberry powder contains approximately the same nutrition as 8-10 spoonfuls of fresh blueberries.

Double Blueberry Breakfast Scones

This month is going to be really busy for us here on the blog. Every Saturday there will be a new post plus a couple of other posts that will be published through out the month. We hope you enjoy everything we have prepared! We are still exploring and playing around with our berry powders. They are so versatile that you can really use them in anything! It's sort of like adding salt or pepper to a recipe, it's just something that comes naturally. 

So first up are these delicious double blueberry scones, we used our dried blueberries and our blueberry powder in them. They are gluten free and if you replaced the honey with maple syrup or agave nectar then it would be vegan too! 

Serves: 8-12 Scones
Time:

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Almond Flour
• 1 TSP Baking Soda
• 2 Eggs
• 2 TBSP Honey (or Agave Nectar,  or Maple Syrup)
• 4 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Cup SVO Dried Blueberries
• 2 TSP SVO Blueberry Powder
• Pinch of Salt

*Optional: Add in 1/4 C. of chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Add the almond flour, baking soda, salt, blueberry powder,  and lemon zest to a large bowl and combine.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients starting in the center, stir the dough until combined. Fold in dried blueberries (and chocolate chips if desired). 
4. Using a large ice cream scoop, drop the scones onto a prepared baking sheet. Lightly wet hands and gently flatten tops of the scones. They should be about 1 inch thick. 
5. Bake 18-20 mins until tops are golden brown.
6. Cool on wire rack.

*Store in air proof container.