Naramata life

Saving the SS Naramata…Whatever floats this boat

She may be a workaday tug, but the SS Naramata has lovely lines that will only be fully admired when her hull is resting in the waters of Okanagan Lake once again.

Camera safely around my neck, I follow Adolf Steffen’s, (a director of the SS Sicamouse Heritage Park board) directions to the letter as I carefully clamber down a ladder into the pitch-black boiler room of the SS Naramata. Immediately engulfed by the smell of what I suppose is old engine oil, it’s easy to paint a picture of men stoking the massive boiler with coal, sweating in the heat with the sound of the pistons pumping madly away in the adjoining engine room.

Launched in 1914, the Naramata is the last surviving steam tug in the interior of British Columbia. Along with the coastal steam tug, Master, based at Vancouver, they are the only tugs of the steam era, not rebuilt to diesel power, surviving in the province. That makes this vessel and my not-open-to-the-public tour pretty special .

“Wouldn’t she look great out there in the lake,” says Adolf. Once the Naramata was brought back to Penticton (1991) to rest beside the SS Sicamous, it was discovered that her hull was paper thin in places and leaking. The tug was pulled onto the beach and backfilled with sand to prevent her from sinking. Even grounded, she is still shipping in some water when the lake is full at this time of the year and it’s not doing this centenarian any favours.

Adolf says about $75,000 is needed to pay a Vancouver company to “pick her up so a cradle can be built under her to fix the hull, sandblast, paint and push her back into the lake.”

It is thought that all the years of dumping spent coal to cool in an area near the boiler has corroded the hull from the sulphuric residue. The hull felt spongy beneath my feet.

Appropriately named after my village, a prosperous fruit-growing community back in the day, her main purpose was the transportation of fruit from the many packing houses along Okanagan Lake to the railway at Okanagan Landing and on to Kelowna. The ship could haul two fully loaded steel barges moving the equivalent of a 16-20 car train filled with Okanagan fruit at an average speed of seven miles an hour. A carload was 840 boxes of apples and even the early wooden barges could carry eight freight cars.

Engine room detail. The stern houses the compound jet-condensing engine that drove the single screw four-blade propeller.

To use some non-technical terms…it was cool to take photos in the dark and see what neat details preserved from the past of this hard-working vessel were illuminated by my flash.

Sadly, these piston will never likely operate again. It would have been something to see and hear everything firing with smoke pouring out the stack.

A couple more shots before we headed back topside and into the light.

Another look at the rust on her poor hull.

“If we don’t get at this restoration project soon in another 10 to 15 years she will be a rust bucket and disintegrate,” Adolf says. Once she is restored and back on the lake where she belongs a pier will be constructed to connect the Naramata to Canadian National Tug no. 6 to offer visitors the opportunity to see the SS Sicamous, the Naramata and the CN tug. This second part of the restoration project puts the total tab at about $150,000.

Canadian National Tug no. 6 is a diesel-powered tugboat launched in 1948 to transfer railway barges between Penticton and Kelowna. A pier attaching it to the Naramata is in the restoration plans.

Topside and back into the light, the Naramata’s green and buff yellow paint is accented with simple but elegant brass details like the door handles leading to the various cabins giving this workaday vessel some class.

Adolf says it’s painful to replace the old-fashioned keys needed to open these locks as it’s hard to find anyone to make them anymore.

The restored doors are a beautiful part of the vessel.

The Naramata’s hull and boat works were prefabricated in Port Arthur Ontario in 1913 with as many as 150 men working on her. She cost $40,000 and was shipped to Okanagan Landing for assembly and launched April 20th, 1914.

SS Sicamous Heritage Park board of directors member Adolf Steffen describing the workings of the winch. The tug pushed the barges rather than pulling them.

The deckhouse of the Naramata includes a small mess where a full-time cook worked in the blasting heat which was likely more welcome in the winter. Assistant manager of the SS Sicamous Heritage Park, Jessie Dunlop shared the reminiscences of a former crew member Abe, who stopped by for a tour a few years ago. Abe says the food was always fresh and delicious and a typical breakfast consisted of hash browns, bacon, eggs, pancakes and toast.

This massive coal-fired stove takes up a lot of real estate in the small galley at the bow of the ship which housed 10 to 12 at meal times.

This life ring which indicates where the vessel is registered hangs in the galley.

Crew member Abe also talked of how the cook brooked no nonsense on board and would threaten to pick up a troublemaker, clothes and all and toss him overboard.

The pilothouse at the front of the second deck features the ship’s wheel which would have had a good view of the lake. Today, it offers an unsatisfactory view of land.

The captain’s cabin is behind the pilot house on the top deck. The horsehair mattress is a long way from a comfy a memory foam.

The stairs’ brass fittings are a simple but beautiful detail.

When the Naramata began her service, she was the most modern tug on the southern lakes and rivers. Adolf also pointed out the Naramata’s double steel hull which made it capable of breaking ice on the lake. It’s been many years since the lake has iced up but it did frequently in the early 1900s. The SS Naramata would push through the ice to make a channel for the passenger steamers, including the SS Sicamous.

“The Naramata played a big part in the history of opening up the west here,” says Adolf. “Moving the fruit from the orchardists to market in the barges and onto the rails brought prosperity to the area. In the scheme of things, the $150,000 we need in total to fix her up and get her back in the water is not a lot to pay for preserving this important part of our history.”

So far $25,000 has been raised and the campaign to raise the remainder will launch soon. If all goes well everyone will soon be able see her and to paint their own pictures of what life was like on the SS Naramata during its hard working life on the lake.

SS Naramata photo from the City of Vancouver Archives showing her in all her glory on the lake.

June 24, 2016 0

Raspberry almond tarts = a whole lot of #Naramatalove

The Bench Raspberry Almond Tarts from The Butcher, the Baker, the Wine & Cheese Maker in the Okanagan by Jennifer Schell

The first recipe from the first crop of our Naramata raspberry farm berries is fittingly by our favourite Chef, Stewart Glynes, the owner of The Bench Market and it’s from my new favourite cookbook, The Butcher, the Baker, the Wine & Cheese Maker in the Okanagan and we are taking them to good Naramata pals’ place for dinner tonight. So much love packed in there that I had to use a run-on sentence…

Step one…go and pick berries in pyjamas with a coffee in one hand and colander in the other.

Step two…put on clothes and dash to the Naramata Store for butter. It’s not unusual to see horses hitched at the store but I drove. The store is a true general store and has: liquor store, bottle depot, DVD rentals, ice cream shop, deli, groceries, post office…

Pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cold unsalted butter
pinch of salt
3-5 Tbsp cold water

Mix together flour, butter and salt in a bowl with hands until it is a fine sand-like texture. Add cold water a little at a time, until dough comes together but is not sticky. Form into flat dish shape and chill for about an hour.

Almond filling

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup ground almonds
4 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

In your mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until smooth (about 7 minutes) on medium-high speed. Add almonds and eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add flour and mix on low until just combined.

Preheat oven to 350. (Stewart says this recipe makes about 12 4-inch tarts but my tart rings must have been taller as I only had enough pastry for 6 tarts…) Place dough on floured surface and roll out. Cut a circle slightly larger than your tart rings or tart pans and fold into bottom of shell. Add 5 or 6 raspberries to the bottom of the shell. Add enough almond cream to come even with the top of tart. Press another 5 or 6 raspberries into top of almond cream in whatever design you like.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until top is lightly brown around edge. Top with powdered sugar and some sliced almonds toasted for a short while in the oven and garnish with a sprig of mint.

June 21, 2016 2

On being a young farmer…out standing in her field

This rustic bench is near her farm office yurt and is a favourite spot for evening mojitos made with help from her purpose-grown mint patch.

“Farming should not be a romantic idea because it’s very far from being a romantic pursuit,” says Michelle Younie, owner of Somewhere That’s Green Edible Landscapes in Penticton and the farmer of Valley View Farms that provides produce for the Hooded Merganser Bar and Grill. I re-visited Michelle’s own farm recently and was blown away by the changes in a few short months since my last visit. Her farm is not only productive, it’s beautifully tended, practically weed-free and the produce is super-charged.

She found her vocation early in life and took her interest to another level by working on farms in Italy. “I was always obsessed by food and learning about growing it. My very first day on the farm in Italy I helped make 500 jars of tomato sauce…how perfectly Italian is that?” says Michelle. The recipe involved basil, carrots, onions, garlic and tomatoes and it’s still her go-to tomato sauce.

“My three months in Italy with its olive groves and vineyards convinced me that this is the way I want to live.”

What a lovely bunch of cabbages. These were planted in February and thrived in our mild winter.

Michelle says she will never do without a greenhouse again. The one in the background was constructed by her dad and crops just kept from freezing in late winter with a propane heater.

“Although it seems like the in thing to do these days it is a lot of hard work and a labour of love,” she says. “I had a friend who bought five acres thinking she was going to grow hops. She didn’t even have a watering can when they first started out. They are still in the process of planting the hops and converting the land, even if it’s all a bit overwhelming. Having land is a lot more work than people initially expect and some of the romanticism dies once you get your hands dirty.”

Michelle’s advice is to start small like she did with an eight-foot by eight-foot garden and work up from there. “Take everything in steps. There is a lot to learn.”

Mulch is a must in our hot and dry climate.

Michelle has learned to grow what people will order. She sells out her produce to a list of customers who come to the farm weekly to pick up their orders. “Nothing goes to waste. If there is anything left over it goes to the rabbits my partner raises.”

Much of the discussion on my second visit to Michelle’s home farm, this time with the lovely ladies of the Naramata Garden Club, centred on bugs. “We host volunteers from around the world for six to eight weeks every summer and a German girl’s worst nightmare was her job of picking bugs by hand. I’m so desensitized now that it seemed funny.

“Overtime you get a balance and some bug damage is acceptable. This year my issue is cutworms and I’ve had to re-plant some things. I need to let the chickens out more to take care of them.”

Michelle says there is a desire to learn about food growing again that was lost to the last generation. She is doing her part. “My nephew was with some of his pals and one of them found a big worm and was squeamish about it. He said, ‘You should keep it, take it home and feed it to your chickens.'”

Described as a “stone-cold killer of mice” Missy is the friendliest farm cat ever.

Onions in the foreground of the chicken yard.

In addition to her work on Valleyview Farm and on her own farm, Michelle consults teaching you where and what to plant in your yard with a focus on edibles. Her services range from designing and planning your edible landscape to building, planting and maintaining it for you.

June 19, 2016 1

Lavender Fields Forever

It’s harvest time for some of the lavender at Naramata’s **Forest Green Man Lavender Farm**.

Me and my camera paid a visit to Karolina and Doug’s lavender farm to drop off 140 white lavender plants I started from cuttings for them in my greenhouse.

Results of an experiment using two root stimulating mediums.

In an earlier post…Money for nothing and the plants for free…I did an experiment using honey on half the stems to be rooted and a root hormone stimulate (powder) on the other half. I had equal success with both methods so will use the more natural, readily available and economical honey from now on. After I took the cuttings from the farm, prepared them for planting, transplanted them from plug trays into bigger pots and fussed and hovered over the little guys for several months I have now turned them over to the lavender farm to complete the fussing for a while longer before they have enough of a root system to withstand transplanting in the field. Lavender grows best from cuttings as they often don’t come true from seeds. The white lavender looks stunning in wedding photographs. I did a trade for some of the farms famous Balton sour cherries.

The farm was in the midst of their first harvesting when I stopped by.

I’m looking forward to helping with the harvest in about two weeks. The scent is unbelievable. I wonder if I will be like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz with the poppies and just fall asleep in the field.

I took a bunch home (the spindly one is from my own lavender) and its drying on my kitchen light.

June 11, 2016 4

Food Artisans of the Okanagan

Not just a pretty face…the Okanagan is home to a cornucopia of food artisans.

Jennifer Cockrall-King’s Food Artisans of the Okanagan will make you salivate and then want to hop on a plane, train, car or bike and set out to sample as much of this bounty as your pants will allow. This new guide to the best of what’s grown, fished, foraged, made, baked, brewed or cooked in the Okanagan and Similkameen is the result of a year of Jennifer’s curation, interviewing and storytelling of more than 125 artisans. A food culture writer and urban agriculture expert for more than 20 years, she spent an afternoon talking to me about the the behind-the-scenes process of writing the guide book, the momentum of the Okanagan’s culinary scene and the people and passion behind it, life as a food writer and her next big project. Highlights of our discussion follow.

JCKinGarden — Jennifer Cockrall-King in her own Naramata garden.

“The toughest thing about the project comes after all the writing, editing and lay-out work is done and it’s too late to change anything,” she says. I’m always scared that there will be something I want to change or I’ve gotten something wrong.”

Unfounded worries.

Food Artisans of the Okanagan is attractively and thoughtfully designed and well laid out. The guide is organized geographically and then by category such as fish and seafood, cheese, spirits, beer cider and mead, fruits and vegetables and chefs… Each section (North, Central, South Okanagan and The Similkameen) includes a clear map to help you plan your foodie route. It’s also fun just to flip through the guide stopping to admire the great photos and reading through the stories of the artisans that catch your interest.

**What the Fungus** takes the prize for best-named artisan business. Brian Callow grows 70 edible strains and his Summerland operation is the only mushroom farm in the Okanagan.

“I’m pleased with the book,” says Jennifer. “The publisher (Touchwood) spent money in the right places. The cover stock is perfect and the illustrations great. We went through a lot of different ideas for the cover and then chose between six different colour schemes.” The guide’s Tuscan yellow and blue scheme is perfect for the Okanagan.”A good cover design makes a world of difference as does a good spine design. There are so many things you don’t think about such as the trim size. The book feels good in your hand and it’s a standard guide book size which helps you see immediately how the book is designed to be used. There is nothing worse than picking up a nice looking book and it’s all floppy in your hands.”

After Jennifer was approached by the publisher to write the book, she pushed back on the timeline to allow her the breathing room to do the great job she wanted to do. That meant the time to visit each of the artisans in person in a 20,000-square-kilometre area. “For that entire year you have no income from the project. You are working on perspective and just hope people will buy it.” (Sales are great so far…) Not to mention all the driving…

**Joy Road Catering** always has a line-up at the Penticton Market and is an Okanagan success story that owes a lot to these highly addictive seasonal fruit galettes.

Her criteria for choosing the artisans to feature is illustrated by a recent encounter at The Bench Market (featured in the guide). “I ran into a German tourist who bought a copy of my book which I signed for him. “I thought to myself if this guy buys my book and decides to drive to Osoyoos to seek out some of the artisans that captured his interest am I going to feel confident that he will be happy he did? This was my gut check. Can I feel confident that someone randomly opening a page and deciding to go somewhere will be glad they did.”

She included craft beer, cider and spirit makers in the book like the **Naramata Cider Company** but left the wineries to others to write about.

Jennifer writes about who the artisans are, how they got into their business and what makes their offering unique. “Part of the fun of writing the book was making new discoveries myself. I didn’t know the North Okanagan at all. One really surprising discovery was Fieldstone Organics in Armstrong. I’m a Prairie girl and just didn’t picture grains being grown in the Okanagan.” Fieldstone Organics works with 25 other local organic farmers and now has a line of dozens of organic, non-GMO whole grain and whole seed products like rye, flax, spelt and Emmer wheat along with organic lentils, dried peas and buckwheat.

She also had fun discovering unlikely success stories like Doug’s Homestead Meat Shop which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere in Hedley. With a cult following Brent and Linette McClelland sell over 300 pounds of beef jerky alone every day through their front door.

Jennifer also made a point of giving a shout-out to the amazing chefs of the Okanagan that are doing some very cool things attracting international attention with all the lovely meat, fish, produce, grains, fruit…that our bountiful valley produces.

**Forest Green Man Lavender** in Naramata tops the list for the most scenic artisans profiled. I took this photo this morning and you need to go to get the full effect of the aroma and the sound of the bees in action.

“My hope for the success of the book is largely for the people I profiled. I want readers to make an emotional connection and to understand what goes on in the production of their food. These people put their heart, soul, sweat and backs into this physically demanding work.”

Jennifer’s engaging writing gets right to the heart and stomachs of the people who buy her book. “Good food writing is not as much about the writing as it is about communicating. It’s not about flowery quill pen activity but more about being approachable, open, curious and well-informed.”

Job done or job jobbed as they say in England.

Her next project is about seed banks around the world and we got onto the topic of her visit to the Norway Global Seed Vault on the island of Spitsbergen. Future blog post I hope…

Food Artisans of the Okanagan makes me love living here even more…if that’s possible. This stunning view is a half-hour walk from our house.

June 8, 2016 2

Marichel — A Naramata love story

The views on the Naramata Bench just don’t get any better than this.

When Marichel owner, viticulturist and winemaker Richard Roskell is asked what makes his winery special he pauses and chooses his words very carefully: “The offerings from this farm are an expression of love of Naramata. This is a special place for growing and making wine.”

More than just the attention and care Richard pours into the 1,500 cases of Viognier and Syrah Marichel he produces yearly, the farm too is about love. He was persuaded into buying it by his wife Elisabeth in 2000 who fell hard for the beautiful land on a bluff overlooking Lake Okanagan with its incredible across-the-lake view of Summerland’s Giants Head Mountain.

Elisabeth passed away a year ago. “She was key in helping us acquire the farm,” Richard says. “For example, she spoke German with the former owners who were in Germany. We both fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. She is a huge part of what Marichel is today, her efforts and her vision.”

The vineyard’s name is a combination of the first initials of Elisabeth’s son Marlow, Richard and Elisabeth. I think it sounds lovely and very French.

A retired Air Canada pilot, Richard says he is relishing his second career spent in the outdoors. “There is some useful cross-over from my days as a pilot,” he says. “The discipline you need to approach a problem and the organizational skills definitely apply. But it’s not in any way a mechanical process like flying from Point A to Point B. It’s a much longer and hugely rewarding process to plant vines, watch them grow, tend them and years later literally see the fruits of your labour.”

Richard says his take on wine-making is very hands off. “The wine is quintessentially an expression of the farm. I don’t manipulate the wine…It’s the vineyard you are tasting.”

Anthony Gismondi does a much better job at describing Marichel Vineyard’s Syrah saying, “Mocha, liquorice, black berry jam, port-y nose with intense vanilla, leather, resin, cooked rhubarb notes spiked with garrigue and slightly volatile notes…” Sounds good too me. Here is my description: “Damned good.”

One of two winery dogs that will greet you effusively.

This small winery is a bit of a hidden gem tucked away in Naramata on Little John Road which boasts only two properties…that of our good friends Bill and Pam and Marichel. Richard carefully tends the vineyard himself which is divided up into eight small microclimates. He has left areas of natural plantings on the property which is home to a variety of wildlife. Partway through the growing season he will select prune off a good deal of the fruit to supercharge the flavour of the remaining grapes.

With a quiet, but dedicated following, Marichel is a wonderful surprise for new visitors who are astonished by the dramatic views, special wines and the warm welcome. The tasting room is open daily through mid-October from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 1016 Little John Road is on the lakeside of Naramata Road before you reach the Village of Naramata.

June 4, 2016 0

No Foxglove, No Love

Photo light in the secret garden this morning on my favourite plant of all time.

What does it say about me that my favourite garden plant is deadly? Digitalis, also called Dead Mans Bells, Bloody Fingers and Witches Gloves is toxic but beautiful. A few years ago a US woman poisoned her husband by adding foxglove leaves to his salad. He became violently ill but survived. I guess the guy wasn’t handy.

I prefer to call by them by their more endearing name, Foxglove. Also called Virgin’s Glove, Fairy Caps, Folk’s Glove and Fairy Thimbles, this cottage garden flower is a key reason my secret garden looks magical this morning. I grew all the foxgloves in my collection from seeds in the greenhouse…many of them ordered from Plants of Distinction in England. Some of my favourites are Candy Mountain Peach (see, not a sinister name at all)…the bells face upwards in this one, Camelot cream with its densely clothed stems of Guernsey cream bells, Elsie Kelsey, with its beautiful snow white bells and a raspberry jam lip and obscura with a nodding red-veined yellow flower from Spain. Heywoodii is of the palest of pinks with heavy freckles with densely packed bells on a dwarf plant. Mertonenisis is also a very fine hybrid reproducing truly from seed with its crushed strawberry bells…I could go on.

I like the way they look mixed in with lupins.

They are virtually maintenance free and hardy. It took some patience as most are biennial. I had to nurture my seedlings, harden them off, plant them and wait another whole year to see their bells. They will grow in a number of soil types as long as there is good drainage. Most are hardy to zone 4.

Once your foxgloves are blooming let them for for as long as you can. Your goal is to allow the plant to go to seed and for the seed to dry so it can be scattered around the garden. Yes please. I love the unkempt look of the garden with self-seeders.

Bees love foxgloves and their blooms are entirely dependent of the visits of this insect. The projecting lower lip of the corolla forms an alighting platform for the bee and as he pushes his way up the bell, to get at the honey which lies in a ring around the seed vessel at the top of the flower, he rubs on the pollen. A single foxglove can provide from one to two million seeds. This particular plant is a whopper with beautiful markings towering above my head. They love the dappled shade of my secret garden although they will tolerate full sun.

I love they way their dramatic spikes of tubular flowers with speckled throats add elegance and height to my garden.

Foxgloves are pretty darned handy. They are used to produce the important heart drugs digitoxin, digitalin, digitonin and digitalenin which are extracted from the leaves. The drug increases the activity of all forms of muscle tissue, but more especially that of the heart and arterioles, the all-important property of the drug being its action on the circulation.

June 3, 2016 2

The Fish are Wearing Sweaters

FullSizeRender — “It’s so freaking cold that the fish are wearing sweaters.”

We have been in the lake since May 9th training for our chilly relay swim across the English Channel this summer. Our conversations have been going like this as we stand in the water trying to talk ourselves into actually swimming:

“Colder than yesterday, which was colder than the day before. How is that possible?” — Me

“Just get in.” — Charlie

“Don’t rush me.” — Jan

“It’s a good thing we don’t have balls.” — Me

“Maybe we do.” — Charlie

“I just saw a fish go by. It was wearing a sweater.” — Me

“Just get in.” — Charlie

“Look at the ducks on the shore, I think their feet are frozen to the ground.” — Me

Charlie checking the lake temperature. Sometimes it’s better not to know.

When we start whining I bring up teammate Jaime who is swimming in chillier waters in Alberta. The day she went in when it was 7 degrees in the water with an air temperature of 8 and it was snowing a bit was pretty hardcore. We have been swimming in 12- to about 15-degree water and once in, over the initial ice cream headache and teeth-aching first few minutes we are actually finding it almost “enjoyable”. We have the lake to ourselves as even the hard-core Ironmen are still in the pool. We’ve learned to trust that this too shall pass and we actually will find it bearable.

We have a perfect one-kilometre swim route from the Peach (giant Peach concession stand) to the SS Sicamous (historic paddle wheeler) which is protected from boat traffic by a line of buoys.

The glass is half-full…of lake water

The cold water is helping our immune system. It helps boost the white blood cell count because the body is forced to react to changing conditions. The cold actually shocks your system into rallying its defences.
We get an endorphin high because it brings us close to the pain barrier or on some days through it. The pain stimulates endorphins and voila…it hurts so much it makes us feel good. Something like that…
It boosts our circulation and flushes our veins, arteries and capillaries. The cold water forces blood to the surface and pushes the cold downwards.
It burns a few more calories.
Cold water swimming places stress on the body physically and mentally. So, go figure this one…those stresses reduce life stress making us more calm and relaxed.
You actually habituate to the cold water. You find it hard to breathe for the first minute or so but you settle in, relax and get used to it. You learn it won’t kill you.
The pain of immersion never disappears but the cold shock response will reduce somewhat after about five or six cold water swims.
It makes you feel BAD ASS to be out there when it’s frigging cold and wavy and people on the beach stop and stare. You learn you have the power to master the cold.

A rare calm day. Nice for swimming but not great for our Channel training.

P8100005 — It is really mind of matter for the first few minutes…every time. You learn to trust that the initial shock will wear off and the sense of revitalization you get afterward is worth it. My new secret pleasure is a hot bath of about equivalent swim time with Saje Apres Sport bath salts. Good thing we have solar panels for our hot water.

I don’t know if I will be swimming in early May next year though… Probably will wait until June.

June 2, 2016 0

Apple cake on wheels

This cake is on wheels for four reasons:

It’s the creation of Klemens Koester of Bread on Wheels in Kelowna
It’s so straightforward to make that you can invite your friends over for coffee and have it coming out of the oven in about an hour…so fast — like a cake on wheels.
The apple slice decorations make the cake resemble a wheel.
It’s wheely, wheely, wheely good.

The recipe from The Butcher, the Baker, the Wine & Cheese Maker In the Okanagan, makes two 10-inch (25-cm) cakes. It’s handy to have two cakes as you can send one home with your coffee date guest or pop it in the freezer for a future date.

Ingredients

1 cup (250 mL) room-temperature butter
1 cup (250mL) granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 ½ cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
zest of ½ lemon
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/8-inch (3-mm) wedges
apricot jam, for glazing
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Grease and flour two 10-inch (25-cm) baking pans. In a mixer bowl, whisk room-temperature butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy, then add eggs slowly and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix until batter is even.

Spoon batter into cake pans evenly. Spread out until top is nice and smooth. Lay apple slices gently onto batter. Do not push into the batter.

Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown, for about 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick which should come out without crumbs. Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a rack.

The nicest way to finish up: Dust icing sugar over cake and glaze apples with hot apricot jam or jelly.

The new amazing recipe book’s Bean Scene’s best-ever ginger cookie recipe is equally on wheels and will be my new go-to Christmas cookie. The spice mix is spot on.

May 27, 2016 4

naramata-blend

Life in a slow place that quickly steals your heart.

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