Thursday, June 30, 2011

Peach Pound Cake

Celebrate July 4th with a fresh, local dessert to take to your family picnic. Try North Carolina Peach Pound Cake, recipe courtesy of Madison Whitley:

Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons of butter and dust with 1/4 cup of sugar; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together remaining butter and sugar. Continue beating and add eggs one at a time. Once fully incorporated, gradually add 2 3/4 cups flour, baking powder and salt to mixture, beating until fully incorporated.
Dredge peaches with remaining 1/4 cup flour and fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The ABC's of Beef: Grass-Fed, Grain-Fed, Know Your Farmer

Written by Madison Whitley

If you are anything like me, you can’t help but stop and stare as you pass a pasture full of beautiful white and black spotted cows on the side of the road. I bet you also think that beef is beef is beef… right? So did I. Well, think again! Just as everything from growing produce to making clothes to raising children has multiple ways to plant, sew and discipline, there are various ways to feed a cow. And just as different planting, sewing and disciplining techniques result in varying quality of produce, clothes or children, different types of feed will alter the final outcome of the beef. The main types of feeding of a cow are grass-fed or grain-fed. Hopefully the following will shed a bit of light on the difference between grass-fed and grain-fed beef and make it easier for you to decide which to purchase and consume based on your personal preferences, your budget, your values and the objective information presented.

Saturday, June 4, 2011