Gluten free apple fritters, oh yea...

My plans for this weekend got derailed by a major allergy attack (and those new GF crackers went in the trash, pronto) so after using up 3 boxes of tissues and taking double doses of anti-histamines, I fell back on cooking to let me feel productive.

Last of 10 fritters only 3 hours old

Someone posted a link to a recipe on line for Amish Apple Fritters.  I love apple fritters more than any other fried pastry thing so I printed it out and put it on the make list.  First, we bought some apples.  The organic Gala's were on sale at the co+op so I grabbed a bag of them even though the recipe calls for Granny Smith or Gravenstein. Jeff reports they're meh as hand fruit but they worked just fine in the fritters.  

And I subbed some things out:  the Namaste brand of GF all-purpose baking flour from Costco, and 2 duck eggs from my daughter's flock of ducks instead of the chicken eggs I am allergic to.  More notes about how it all went below with my current version of the recipe (the original can be found at 1krecipes.com/amish-apple-fritter-recipe.)

Ingredients:

For fritters:  

3-4 cored, peeled and chopped apples to give a heaping 2 C of apples in my pyrex measuring cup

2 tsp lemon juice, drizzed over apple pieces after chopping (I used the bottled frozen lemon juice)

Vegetable oil for deep frying, enough to come halfway up the pan ( I used a cast iron skillet with about a pint of  organic sunflower and canola which was strained and stored after frying to be used for the next time).  Put on high on the stove top to reach at least 375F by the time you mix up the batter.  If you have an electric skillet or deep fryer, of course use that.

Cream in stand mixer for 1-2 minutes: 

2 eggs
2 TB sugar (organic granulated from TJ's)

In a small bowl, combine:
1 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I buy organic cinnamon sticks and grind them myself.)
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to the mixer along with 1/4 C milk.

Mix well.    Take the paddle off the mixer and watch the rock, paper, scissors match for who gets to lick the beater.  Add the apple chunks and stir them into the batter with a spoon.

Set up a paper towel lined tray (I used 3 layers) to put them on as they come out.  Set up a good way to sprinkle powdered sugar on them when they're hot.

Now you are ready to fry.  Check the oil temp.  Once it hits 375F, scoop out a full spoonful of batter, flatten it slightly with a small scraper and scrape it into the oil gently.  My skillet took 3 or 4 at a time but I did them a little too big to start.  When they get to a true golden brown color, flip using 2 spoons and brown well on the other side.  You might need to flip them again to be sure they cook all the way through.  The whole process should take about 5-6 minutes.  (I should have done a test one to be sure my size wasn't so large that they wouldn't cook thoroughly.  I'll do this next time and maybe increase the oil level.  This is why I say to flatten them slightly so they aren't a big mound.)  Remove from oil to paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar unless you plan to glaze them later (see original recipe.)  Repeat until all the batter is fried.  Share and enjoy!

Scudder Pond: appreciating the common birds

I did my approximately weekly trip to Scudder Pond yesterday, early in the damp & chilly morning.  Unfortunately for me, the birds aren't used to fall yet, so they took the chill and cloudy skies to mean it wasn't daytime yet so they slept in.  Fortunately for me, one of the birds there was a female mallard who was taking her time doing her morning bath and breakfast quite close to the trail.  She was so close that I had trouble not cropping off her beak or tail when I zoomed in to get lots of detail.

That much zoom made the patterns in her feathers very clear.  At a distance, through the binocs, she would normally look like a brown duck with some shading.  Here, her patterning is clear and now I understand why the female gadwall is described as looking like a female mallard only smaller and with white secondaries instead of blue.

Next up was a loud red-wing blackbird perched most of the way across the pond.  I'm  still figuring out the camera and I'm not sure why the back of the blackbird is purple but the camera was very consistent about this as I saw later with other shots of the mallard.  He's black, like a crow not purple.  

On the way back out,  I got to focus on practicing with my camera and appreciating the textural beauty of the mallard's feathers especially against the log and leaves in the water.

Other local birders are reporting warblers and shorebirds migrating through so I'm hoping next week's trip will give me some more camera practice with more birds.  For now, it was nice to have the artistic exercise of seeing all the textures in play in an ordinary scene.

Scudder Pond birding delights me!

Since it's been sunny and warm here in Bellingham, I decided to try out some other birding spots for my morning walk.  And last week, I went to Scudder Pond (connected to Whatcom Falls park by a lovely trail) not once but twice with fabulous birding experiences both time.  And I added 3 birds to my 2017 list bringing me to a total of 85.  New birds for the year:  Wood Duck, Pileated Woodpecker, and Black-throated Grey Warbler.

Scudder Pond is a wonderful birding experience.  The trail starts with the pond to the right and a wooded area to the left that sits between the trail and the water flow from Lake Whatcom to the falls.  So there's lots of habitat for birds and lots of water.  It's also a great place to see wildlife other than birds as I know from previous encounters with a beaver and a couple of deer this time.

The Wood Duck was my first bird of the trip as he was at the end of the pond hanging out on a log and doing his morning bath routine.  His breeding plumage is not grown in yet so I had to identify him mostly by the partial white outlining of the non-breeding plumage plus I got a really good look at his lovely red eye.  Checking my field guide just now, I am happy to realize that the breeding plumage comes back in September so the fabulous wood duck markings will be seen soon.

Least blurry shot of preening wood duck

Next up was the wonderful time spent watching the Pileated Woodpecker work his way up a snag.  The photos I took of him on the trunk of the snag are too blurry to show the bird because I'm still learning how to work with my new camera.  It insisted on focusing on the branches in front of the bird.  Once he got up to the top, I got some great shots but the sun was so bright that much of the brilliant red crest was washed out.

Pileated on his way up to the top of the snag

Here's one with some of his crest.  

I had Pileateds as regular visitors to our backyard in Bellevue and this is one of the birds I've missed seeing regularly so it was nice to watch him for a while.

Other birds seen at Scudder Pond last week (2 trips total):

• 3 hummingbirds
• goldfinches
• Stellar's Jay
• American Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee, many
• Cedar Waxwings
• Spotted Towhee
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Red-winged Blackbird, many
• Bushtit
• Robin
• Orange-crowned warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• Black-throated Gray Warbler
• Junco
• Song Sparrow

Unsurprisingly, I got no photos of the warblers.  I was lucky to id them all and to have a 3 warbler day on my second day at the pond.  All in all, it was a great week of birding and I look forward to more as we head into the fall migration.