Blueberry Peach Scones

This is a short little post on some delicious scones we just had to share! This summer is so weird for where we live. Usually blueberries are in season from late June to mid July, then peaches come in to season with blackberries in August. Not this year though, all three are over lapping which is so exciting! We got to use fresh blueberries, and fresh peaches in these scones. We usually used dried blueberries, and dried fruit, so it's a bit of treat to use fresh fruit.  Work has been so busy with harvest that this is really the first time we've had a chance to bake in what feels like forever.


What You'll Need:

• 2 cups all-purpose Certified Organic flour, plus more for hands and work surface
• 6 TBSP  Certified Organic Sugar
• 2 1/2 TSPCertified Organic Baking Powder
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• 1/2 C Certified Organic unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 C Certified Organic heavy cream
• 1 Large Certified Organic Egg
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Certified Organic Fresh Blueberries
• 3/4 Cup Fresh Peaches, chopped

What You'll Do: 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, or spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Grate the frozen butter (a food processor is perfect for this). Mix in the grated butter into the flour mixture and combine it with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk cream, egg, and vanilla together. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and stir the two together with a spatula until everything looks like it's been moistened. Slowly, and carefully add in blueberries and peaches. At this point the dough will be very wet, and a bit sticky, you'll want to work the dough into a ball.
4. Transfer the dough ball onto a floured surface, press into a flat disk and cut into four quarters. Then cut each of those in half so you have a total of 8 equal wedges. Because the dough is overloaded with fruit it's ok if the dough doesn't want to stay as a wedge. When baked they will just be a bit more on the round side.
5. Place wedges onto prepared baking sheet, at least two inches apart from each other. Place in over, bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling rack.

Make A Head Tip: These scones are awesome to enjoy in the mornings all week long. They be kept at room temperature for 2-5 days. They also are awesome to freeze, and will keep for up to 3 months. Just thaw them out and heat up to your liking!

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad

Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad 

This spring has been such a treat for fresh veggies at our local farmers market. One of the tasty treats we've been enjoying this spring is a Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad. It's super simple and easy to through together with just a few ingredients. It's delicious with your favorite dressing or a poppyseed ranch.

Salad Ingredients:

• 4 oz fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh, frozen, or dried)
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2-4 TBSP dried cranberries
• 2-4 TBSP roasted pumpkin seeds (also try sunflower seeds)
• black pepper, to taste

Poppy Seed Ranch Dressing

• 1/2 Cup plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 Cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 rip avocado
• 1/4 Cup blueberries
• 1/4 Cup mayo
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp dill
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

1. Make the dressing (skip if you are using store bought dressing)- mix all the dressing ingredients together. Ranch dressing always tastes better if it's chilled, so if you are making this dressing, it's best made ahead of time. Whisk and chill for a few house before serving, or you can even make the salad and dressing the night before. 
1. Peel the garlic clove, and mash and mince into a paste.
2. Add a pinch of salt to the paste.
3. Take salted garlic paste and add to the rest of the dressing ingredients and whisk well.
4. Place in fridge to chill for a few hours.
2. Make the Salad: 
1. Wash + Dry spinach
2. Combine with broccoli, blueberries, dried cranberries, avocado, feta cheese, and pumpkin seeds.
3. Toss with dressing & serve.
4. Season with pepper to taste.

U-Pick Updates For the Summer of 2017

What is happening this Summer?

As most of you are aware, 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. The biggest change is that we will no longer have a farm stand in the summer, nor will we have the U-Pick for blueberries.This also includes any pre-orders for Raspberries, blackberries, and black raspberries. We hope our loyal customers can understand our decision. 

Please know this was not an easy decision for us to make. We spent the better part of the winter and spring trying to work out how we could make a it work. And finally, we just had to face the truth, that we've reached a point that we have to make some cuts. Last year we had to cut back our U-Pick and farm stand to being open only for 2 weeks, and during that time we felt strained in making sure everything was getting the attention it needed. We take customer service very seriously, and we just felt like we were not meeting our expectations during those two weeks. Additionally, finding workers is becoming harder and harder, and this too has played a part in our choice of closing the farm stand and u-pick. 

We will still be offering already picked & washed blueberries in 30 pound boxes and 5 pound bags. Like in past years, for these you will pull around to our office and our office staff can help you there. The price for those this year will be the same as in the past at $100 (30-pound box) and 5 pound bags for $24.00. We will post here, on facebook, instagram, and twitter when these are ready to be picked up. You can also call us and place a pre-order if you are wanting to pick up two or more boxes at a time. Our office phone number is 541-752-0460. The hours for pick up will be Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm, our normal office hours. 

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. 

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.

News for March & April From Sunset Valley Organics

Happy Spring! Is anyone else ready for Spring? We sure are! We've been busy finishing up our pruning on our blueberries. We've gotten a bit of snow and freezing rain so we are looking forward to warmer weather. WE HAVE NEW PRODUCTS! Finally! We have new berry powders up in the shop. Which is why the newsletter was delayed in going out in March. We wanted to be able to announce that 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! Like our dried berries there are no additives or preservatives in the powders so we're keeping the product as natural as possible.  *Note: None of our powders dissolve in water* 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.   Our normal office hours are: Monday - Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST  Please note: Do not respond to this email, it does not reach us.

 

 

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.  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** We are also going to have a secret Instagram sale some time this month, so be sure to be following us so you don't miss out!

 

 

No-Bake Blueberry Energy Bites

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creamy almond butter (or cashew butter)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (or chia seeds)
• 1/3 cup dried blueberries

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the almond butter and maple syrup then stir together. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir until evenly coated. If the mixture seems to wet, sprinkle in a few more oats. If it seems to dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until moist it’s enough. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Using a scooper, scoop out roughly 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time and roll into balls. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

New Products & Energy Bites!

March was crazy busy and stressful for us. But it all paid off, we are so proud to announce we now have new berry powders available in our shop! We now offer a full line of berry powders; Blueberry, Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Red Raspberry, & Aronia Berry!

Be sure to be following us on Instagram for random sales, and fun photos of what we're up to around the farm!

During the month of April when you purchase any of our powders (4oz or more) you will receive a 2oz sample of another flavor. No coupon needed, this is just something we are doing so our customers can try more of our new products!

We've gotten one common question about our powders which is "How do you use it?" So we thought we would share some of the ways we use our powders. If you receive our newsletter then you saw this months featured recipe of 'No Bake Blueberry Energy Bites' well that was just a jumping point for us. We dived in head first into Energy bites, and the results are really delicious!

Our Base Recipe:

• 1 TBSP Coconut Oil
• 1/3 C Almond Butter (or nut butter of your choice)
• 1/4 C Honey (or maple syrup)
• 1/2 C Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 TBSP Chia Seeds

The Add Ins We Love:

• Raspberry Powder
• Blueberry Powder
• Blackberry Powder
• Aronia Berry Powder
• Black Raspberry Powder
• Coconut Flakes-Unsweetened
• Chopped Almonds

Instructions:
1. Prepare baking sheet with lined parchment, set aside.
2. Melt coconut oil in a large bowl.
3. Stir in the nut butter, honey (or maple syrup) until smooth. Add the oats, chia seeds, and mix ins.
4. Roll into 1 tablespoon balls and place on prepared baking sheet, and place in freezer for up to an hour.
5. Remove from freezer and transfer balls into plastic bag.
6. Store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to 3 months.

Aronia Berry Coconut Crunch Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: 2 tsp aronia berry powder, 1/4 cup roughly chopped unsalted almonds, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Black Raspberry Coconut Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp black raspberry powder, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Blueberry Crunch Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp Blueberry powder, 1/4 cup roughly chopped unsalted almonds. (You can also add in 1/4 cup dried blueberries for even more flavor!)

Raspberry Coconut Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp raspberry powder, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Fun fact about working with the powders, they don't come off on your hands when forming the balls, so you don't have to worry about your hands getting covered in it! :) 

If you try any other combinations or with other add ins we would love to hear about! Leave us a comment here, on Instagram or on our Facebook page!

Saturday Morning Waffles

Saturday Morning Waffles

The weekend is always the right time for delicious waffles, so this morning we broke out the waffle iron and had some delicious nutrient dense blueberry waffles.

Now the rains have set in here in Oregon it really feels like fall, and waffle also tend to just fit in to a lazy rainy day feel.

We hope you enjoy the waffles as much as we do!

Ingredients

•  1 3/4 c. AP flour
• 1/4 c. corn starch
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c. frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Add the wet ingredients and mix: eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla paste.
4. Fold in the blueberries.
5. (Grease waffle iron before each use) Pour approximately 1/2 cup batter onto the hot waffle iron, and cook for 3:30 minutes, or according to your waffle iron's instructions. (It really depends on your waffle iron size, one of our fits the 1/2 cup mentioned while we have another that is 1/4 cup)
6. Enjoy!

*Store leftovers in an air tight container*

Men' Health Awareness Greek Yogurt + Honey Blueberry Muffins

Healthy Greek Yogurt + Honey Blueberry Muffins

Inspired from Baker by Nature

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup low-fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole milk (you may use another fat percentage if preferred)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup olive OR coconut oil (if using coconut oil, be sure it is at room temperature)
•     1 cup blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).
2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, vanilla, eggs, honey, and oil.
5. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture, and using a spatula, fold until combined, being sure to mix just until all the flour disappears. Fold in blueberries.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins, place pan in the oven, and bake for 18 minutes, reducing the heat to 375 degrees after 9 minutes of baking.
7. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.