Shana Tova from Nathanial’s Naturals

Community Supported Bakery Newsletter
Volume 2. Number 3

Welcome Nathanial’s Naturals members and friends. Fall is nearly upon us, bringing the beginning of the school year, and an awareness of the cycles of life. In your box of fresh, hearty and earth conscious baked goods you’ll find some special items for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. Typically, challah is braided straight, but on the New Year, it is baked in a circle to symbolize the cyclical passage of time. Although, Nathanial’s Naturals breads are typically vegan, we make an exception for our challah, and use fresh, cage-free eggs.

Another traditional food of the Rosh Hashana meal is apples dipped in honey to celebrate a sweet New Year. Raisins are also added to the challah, to sweeten the deal. Apples and raisins are a wonderful source of vitamins and dietary fiber. Fiber is essential for healthy digestion and metabolism. A diet high in fiber can fight heart disease, cancer, and give your metabolism a boost. The chosen people must have liked fiber as much as I do as they filled their Rosh Hananah plates with heart healthy apples and raisins.

Another delicious and healing fall food: carrots. Celebrate the harvest, the New Year and this wonderfully sweet and vitamin pack vegetable with this honey glazed carrots recipe. Enjoy with your Nathanial’s Naturals challah and fresh fish, for a delightfully nourishing New Years meal.

There’s always plenty to celebrate at the bakery, with new members and fresh nourishing baked goods. So, Shana tova (happy year!) from Nathanial’s Naturals Community Supported Bakery!

Recipe: Honey Glazed Carrots

1 lb small carrots (no thicker than your thumb)
4 garlic cloves -thinly sliced
3 Tb butter
2 Tb honey
2 Tb cider vinegar

Directions:

*De-stem and wash carrots.
*Heat butter in a heavy cast iron skillet on Medium heat.
*Add carrots, and cook on medium/ low for 4 minutes, covered.
*Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, honey and garlic.
*Add mixture to carrots, and cook, uncovered on medium heat for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
*Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Community Supported News Volume 2 Number 2

This week, I’ve been channeling Julia Child and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.  It’s the height of late summer harvest season, and I can’t stop tasting!  This Labor Day weekend, I filled my senses with fruits from the local produce market, Empenadas from the farmers market, and homemade ice cream to beat the late summer heat.  The fruits of Fall are here, and I suggest filling your tummies and tables with dry farmed tomatoes, corn on the cob, melon and berries.

One of my favorite late summer fruits is figs.  Last year, while traveling through the Pyrenees mountains in France in September, I discovered a wonderful “on the go” breakfast of bread, fresh cheese and figs.  This salty, sweet and satisfying snack just melts in my mouth like a song.

Another lovely combination: figs with yogurt, and following are instructions for making yogurt at home.  Sick of all the yogurt containers stacking up in your cabinets?  Make your own yogurt and save waste and money!

Recipe:  DIY Yogurt

Ingredients and tools:

¼ Cup plain cultured yogurt

1 quart of milk

2 Tablespoons dry milk powder (optional)

Saucepan

Candy thermometer

Yogurt maker or

Sterile wide mouth jar & a sleeping bag

Directions:

*Heat Milk in a saucepan over low heat to 200 degrees (do not let boil!).

*Cool milk rapidly to 100 degrees by placing saucepan in refrigerator.

*Whisk in yogurt and milk powder.

*Transfer to yogurt maker and follow your yogurt maker directions or

*Transfer to sterile wide mouth and wrap tightly in sleeping bag.

*Let set for 6 to 12 hours depending on firmness desired.

Naturally, the menu this week offers late summer tastes such as figs and apples.  Try the fig bread toasted in the morning with butter and jam, or pair with a late summer Minnestroni soup.  The apples in the Apple Walnut granola are hand picked from a recent trip to Northern California.

Enjoy receiving fresh, and earth conscious baked goods from Nathanial’s Naturals?  Refer a friend to become a member of the Community Supported Bakery this September and receive a 10 % discount on your membership.

Community Supported Bakery Back for September

Nathanial’s Naturals Community Supported Bakery News

Greetings Community Supported Bakery members and friends.  Nathanial’s Naturals CSB is back this month after a restful and refreshing August reprise.  I spent a long weekend on the Fall River north of Lassen Park biking and running on the long country roads, swimming in ice cold lakes, boating on the river, and of course, cooking and enjoying lovely meals with my family.  I felt like a kid at summer camp, enjoying summer time recreation by day, and leisurely games, puzzles, and books by evening.

A real highlight for me was picking sweet and tart blackberries and preparing summertime treats with my prize.  I baked one particular peach and blackberry cobbler that was worthy of a state fair!  The berries were warm and sweet, and the biscuits were pleasantly salty and rich.  Perfect with iced tea in the afternoon after being in the hot sun all day.  Deserts haven’t been the same for me since.  The recipe was inspired by a cobbler recipe I recently read in Heidi Swanson’s 101 cookbooks blog, which included a bit more salt than usual.  I’ve found that kicking up the salt in baked goods really improves the flavor, and brings out the buttery taste.

Recipe:  Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

For the fruit layer:

2 large peaches

1 quart of berries

1/4 C sugar or agave syrup

juice of 1 lime plus zest

For the biscuits:

2 C whole wheat or all purpose flour
1/4 C sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. (rounded) salt

3/4 C butter or vegan butter

1 C milk or vegan alternative

**Combine fruit with sugar, lime juice and zest and let sit for at least 30 minutes in a wide baking dish.

**Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

**Meanwhile, sift together dry ingredients.

**Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or fork

**Make a well in dry ingredients and add milk.

**Fold together until just mixed.

**Drop biscuit dough on top of berries and bake at 400 for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Worried about your salt intake?  Eating less processed snack foods and sodas, and more home cooked meals will drastically decrease your sodium intake.  As you change your diet, in fact, your body should tell you naturally how much salt you need based on your cravings.  Adding a dash to your morning toast, your soups or stews, or even in your glass of water should satisfy your bodies needs in a natural way.

Here at Nathanial’s Naturals, our mission is to bring community members wholesome and healthy, simple baked goods, and encourage more home cooking, and leisurely mealtime.  Need help preparing dinner?  You can watch our latest video on how to slice an onion, a wonderful start to flavorful and nourishing meals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz-af4TzkHo

June 14 Newsletter

The Power of Green

Greetings, Nathanial’s Naturals members and friends. This week marks the summer solstice, and I can feel the change of season energize and refresh myself and those around me. The longer days have motivated me to get up earlier, take longer walks, and stay up planning for the future. I have also found myself  needing a lot of extra fuel to keep up with my busy body, and I just can’t get enough crisp summer fruits and vegetables.

Tired of boring tossed salads? This week, Nathanial’s is bringing you delightfully flavorful and green spinach tortillas. Did you know that spinach and other dark leafy greens such as Kale and Swiss Chard are simply packed with nutrition? It makes sense: plant leaves are nature’s first calorie producers, so leaves are packed with sugars, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that produce proteins right from the soil and sun! It’s hard to eat many raw greens, though, so I recommend blending them up. My friend Robin makes delicious green smoothies and spreads to satisfy her “green tooth”. If you want to learn more, there is a great book by Victoria Boutenko called “Green for Life”.

A reminder to members and friends: there are five weeks in the month of June, and it’s Pride at the end of the month, so there will be no delivery for the final week of June. Happy Summer Solstice from Nathanial’s!

In Your Box This Week

* Anadama Bread: This dense and satisfying corn, rye and wheat bread gets its name from a myth. A man was so tired of cornmeal mush, that he leavened it with flour and yeast and stuck it in the oven while exclaiming, “Anna, damn it” (to his wife). I love cornmeal mush, and I hate gender stereotyping, but I also love this hearty and flavorful bread!

* Whole Wheat Spinach Tortillas: Made with Guistos whole wheat flour, wild sourdough starter, spinach from Happy Boy Farms, and a bit of olive oil, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought tortillas again!

* Oatmeal Cookie Pie Dough: Made with whole wheat flour, oats, and cinammon. Can be refrigerated for 1 week , or frozen for 1 month before use.

* Rockin’ Rice Crackers: Made with organic, cooked brown rice, these crackers are perfect to bring as a snack as they are, or top with your favorite spreads.

(A note on storage: Although your items come in paper currently, they should be stored in plastic or glass jars to keep)

Weekly Recipe: Robin’s Rockin’ Green Smoothie

2 c Raw spinach

1/2 Avacado

1/2 c Pineapple, cubed

1/2 c Mango, cubed

1 c Water

1 c Soymilk

Directions: Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender, and puree until smooth. Enjoy!

Optional: Add honey to sweeten.

Makes: 2 large green smoothies

 

Whole Grains For Whole People

 

 

 

Baker’s Notes:  June

Welcome to the first June delivery of Nathanial’s Naturals whole grain breads and snacks.  Here at Nathanial’s Naturals we are committed to creating a healthier planet and population by supporting local foods and farms.  Recently, we switched to Guistos organic whole wheat flour, rolled oats and rye flour, milled right here in San Francisco.  This is but a step in the bakery’s path towards sustainability.  Eventually, I plan to expand Nathanial’s Naturals to a farm in the country and grow our own grains, nuts and seeds for the bakery.

 

For now, I am enjoying the beginnings of the summer season here in Berkeley.  To celebrate the sunshine, I planted my first tomato transplants this week.  I love tomato season in the later summer and fall, and tend to eat so many tomatoes, my mouth gets sore!  For now, I have to wait though, and in the meantime, I am enjoying the berries and tender greens of spring.  Did you know you can enjoy fresh salsa before those first cherry tomatoes ripen on the vine?  I love this strawberry salsa recipe, and it’s just the thing to share at those first summer Bar-B-Q’s.      

 

Check out our updated website at http://nathanialsnaturals.info, for more information about becoming a member, orders, and exciting business news.

 

Recipe

Strawberry Salsa

Ingredients:

• 2 Quarts fresh strawberries, sliced.
• ½ bunch cilantro, de-stemmed and chopped.
• 1-2 fresh spring garlic-chopped fine.  (ask your local farmer)
• 1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers- chopped fine.
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 T. apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Either place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse, or hand chop ingredients.
• Enjoy!

 

What’s On the Menu This Week?

Rye Raisin Rolls:  Made with organic whole wheat flour, rye flour, sourdough starter and locally grown golden raisins.  Enjoy as toasted and lathered with butter, or slice for the perfect tuna or egg salad sandwich.  

 Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:  These signature Nathanial’s Naturals treats are so good, you won’t believe they’re good for you too!  Made with organic oatmeal, sweetened with honey, and packed with fiber and protein, these moist cakelike cookies are great as an afternoon snack with tea.

Pancake mix: Made with organic ground oats, whole wheat flour, and flax seed meal, this heart healthy baking mix makes delicious pancakes for a leisurely summer brunch.  Add berries as you cook for added sweetness and seasonal flavor.

Animal crackers:  Made with organic whole wheat flour, sourdough starter, extra virgin olive oil and homegrown herbs, these savory and satisfying crackers will be a hit for the whole family.  Take one bite and you’ll be able to eat a horse… or a dinosaur!

Volume 1, Issue 5 March 2, 2009 Nathanials Naturals Community Supported Bakery Newsletter Welcoming Words Welcome to the first March delivery of Nathanial’s Naturals. This week, I am welcoming new members, and bringing you my wholesome whole wheat bread to mark the start of the new month. This bread is sweet and nourishing. Perfect as a sandwich bread with tuna or egg salad, or toasted for breakfast with jam or honey. Here at Nathanial’s we strive to bring you highly nutritious and flavorful baked goods with a conscience. We use organic and local ingredients whenever possible, whole grains that are packed with protein and fiber, and all natural unrefined sweeteners such as honey, molasses and apple-sauce. Our breads, muffins and even cookies

rise with the help of a natural sourdough starter. Did you know that sourdough is the oldest method of bread leavening? In honor of this ancient baking tradition, I’ve included pita bread in your box, and a recipe for a favorite Middle Eastern treat: humus. I’m always looking for ways to reduce waste, such as plastic humus tubs, and found that making your own humus is cost effective, satisfying and delicious! Make a big batch and share with friends and neighbors! Some notes for new members: remember to place all your items in plastic or glass jars to keep. Also, your feedback is always appreciated. I would love any comments, tips or recipes.

In Your Box This Week · Wholesome Whole Wheat Bread: Made with wild sourdough starter, whole wheat, oats, and honey. A Nathanial’s signature bread. · Power Punched Oatmeal Cookies: Made with Oats, barley, raisins, and walnuts and flax seeds. This protein packed cookie beats those other “bars” any day. · Perfect Pita Bread: Made with whole wheat flour, sourdough started and olive oil. Enjoy with white bean humus and pesto for a great snack! · Nate’s Pancake Mix: Add 1 Cup milk, 2 eggs, 2 Tb honey and 2 Tb. oil or butter. A hearty way to start your day!

White Bean Humous Ingredients: · 2 cans or 4 cups pre-soaked and cooked white beans. · 8 cloves of garlic. · 1 bunch fresh parsley. · ¼ C water · 2-3 T. Olive oil (optional) · ½ t. turmeric. · Salt to taste Directions: · Toast garlic, peel and place in food processor. · Add parsley leaves and pulse garlic and parsley until it forms a paste. · Add beans, water, oil, turmeric, and salt and blend to desired consistency.

Contact us at nathanialsnaturals@gmail.com. or 510-764-4387