Special Event:  Find out how to cook with the sun’s energy. High temperature solar ovens reach temperatures over 350 degree F.  Solar cooking demonstration will highlight how easy it is to turn fresh seasonal produce such

as beets, sweet onions and elephant garlic into gourmet treats.  Solar cookbooks and solar ovens at cost with membership in Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture.

Music:  Simmons Family Band will play old fashioned fiddle music.

 In season:  Locally and organically raised by family farmers or backyard gardeners: watermelons, tomatoes, red and white sweet onions, lettuce, new crop of garlic (Italian purple, white and elephant), green beans, large & petite crunchy cucumbers, fresh basil and other herbs, many varieties of summer squash, beets, carrots, baby eggplants, greens (Red Russian kale & chard),green onions, “nopalitos.” Shelled pecans in halves or pieces and roasted pistachios.  Try a dozen farm fresh eggs that are superior in taste, much fresher, higher in vitamins and omega 3’s and lower in cholesterol than conventional eggs. Come early for best selection of produce.

Baked goods:  Homemade biscotti, lemon bars, scones, apple turnovers, sweet breads (Mesquite Pumpkin Cherry Bread), whole wheat bread, honey & cinnamon granola, pecan brittle, pecan turtles, coconut clusters and

caramels & cookies. Naturally sweet mesquite cookies & mesquite tortillas.

 Also available:  Local high desert and mesquite honeys, honey comb, whipped honey, honey stix, honey mustard as well as hive products (bee pollen, propolis & royal jelly), fresh handmade pasta in whole wheat, semolina

and spinach (cooks in 2 to 3 minutes), coffee beans  including Arabica, Robusto & premium Marago, rubs (blends of herbs, spices and other seasonings for meat, poultry and fish to enhance flavors, handmade locally using sea salt and natural spices with no additives, preservatives or MSG),  white and brown tepary beans, grass-fed beef and lamb & poultry raised on pastures (frozen, all cuts including bacon, sausage, ground and chorizos) and desert health foods, prickly pear nectar & fruit leather and chia. Get ready for the 4th of July with home-style Chow Chow and other sweet relishes for the hot dogs and hamburgers. Lots of jams, jellies, pickles and other preserves.

 Body Care & Pet Products: Hand made goat’s milk soap, natural herbal bug spray and herbal remedies for people and pets.

 Plants:  Desert landscaping and garden plants including fresh herbs, veggie starts, giant gourd and chiletepin plants. Raffle for giant gourd.

 Prepared Food:  Fresh fruit juices or “jugos”, fruit smoothies (the mango smoothie is exceptional), fruit salads, shrimp tacos Sonoran-style with fresh cabbage and lime, burritos, “tortas” or Mexican sandwiches, “posole” and freshly brewed hot coffee.

Roasted Garlic

1 to 4 heads of garlic or elephant garlic

2 tsp olive oil

Sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary, optional

With a sharp knife cut the top off ? inch off each head to expose cloves and make them easier to remove from skins after roasting.  Place in a pan with lid and sprinkle with oil and herbs. Bake in a solar or regular oven until

easily pierced with knife, about 50 to 60 minutes at 325 degrees.  Allow to cool.  Squeeze cloves from skins into a small bowl.  Mash and stir.  Use roasted garlic as a spread on toasted or fresh sourdough  or whole wheat

bread, as an ingredient in mashed potatoes or to spread on top of a just-grilled steak.

 Carrots with Lemon Zest, Butter, Honey & Onions

(Carrots are delicious cooked in a solar oven which brings out their natural sweetness.

Adapted from Heaven Sent Food Solar Cookbook by Jackie Harsha)

1 pound carrots

1/4 c water

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp honey

1 small chopped onion

2 tsp butter

Slice carrots into 1/2 inch pieces.  Put all ingredients into a dark pan and bake for a half hour until tender.

 

Baked Beets with their greens

(adapted from Cooking with Sunshine by Lorraine Anderson & Rick Palkovic)

6 medium beets with their greens

Dressing:

1 cup olive oil

2 tblsp apple cider vinegar

2 tblsp soy sauce or tamari

1 tblsp honey

1/4  c. diced onion

Dash cayenne

Trim greens from beets 3 inches from the crown.  Wash beets and place in a dark roasting pan with ? of water. Wash greens thoroughly and cut into 2 inch strips.  Place greens on top of beets, cover and steam for 30 minutes

 in solar oven or sauté with a little olive oil on stove adding a tablespoon of water and covering them to steam until tender.  Bake for 2 hours or until tender when tested with a fork.  Cut stems into ? inch lengths.  Peel beets,

cut into quarters and slice ? inch thick. Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed for two minutes.  To serve, lay down a bed of greens, top with sliced stems and beets and drizzle with dressing.