berks county apple branches have begun to blossom

Berks County, Pennsylvania is the breeding ground for a delightful assortment of fresh-picked apples. Although I have months to impatiently wait for our local varieties, my nearby backwoods' branches have begun to bare the blossoms that hint to toward one of my most favored treasures. Here's my peek!

photographs of fasnacht day from this full-blown pa dutchy

With a sigh of relief and an upward puff to brush the remaining flour off my forehead, I completed my second year of whipping up over a hundred fasnachts for my family and friends. As I previously wrote about here, the recipe is one of my grandmother's, a woman who wowed the Strausses' tastebuds day in and out with the best of her Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.

However, adamant about good-health, Fasnacht Day is one of my only baking days that I shy away from my recipes pumped with nutrition-hidden ingredients like whole-grain flour, raw sugar, soy milk and agave nectar syrup. So, in honor of doughnut lovers who have recently scarified their sugary addictions and also, being that the fattest day of the year has passed, I've decided to offer you a much simpler and healthier version of browned rounds that sing victory for your lent-crazed ways and also assist in dejellying your belly.

Doughnut Muffins

makes 10 regular muffins

(also published here and adapted from here.)

3/4 cup raw sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup soy or rice milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour (whole-grain, spelt or flaxseed meal)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

blueberries or strawberries (optional for fruity doughnuts)

Coating

2 tablespoons butter or vegan butter, melted (optional)

1/2 cup superfine sugar (or raw sugar pulsed for 30 seconds in your blender)

Lightly grease a muffin tin with vegetable oil or spray.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg. Add vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla to sugar mixture and combine.· In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Then pour into liquid mixture and stir to combine.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until nicely browned and when the center is poked, it comes out clean.

And, only after you enjoyed the nutrition of the healthy-version of the above-mentioned doughnut bites, I leave you with photographs of my escapades of Fat Tuesday.

Roughing the doughnut dough the night prior to frying, quite a pleasant experience.
Although traditional fasnachts are cut rectangular or just circular, minus the hole, the Strauss way was to use a round dough cutter and then, cut the center out with the thimble. I still have my grandmother's cutter and I most definitely use it every year.
The most time consuming part of the doughnut making, but possibly only because I can only fit 10-12 rounds in my fryer at a time.

Being a local reporter at a nearby newspaper group that has a coverage area that spreads to Lancaster County, I was in pure, traditional bliss pitching that I journey through the land of Dutchies finding the best bakers around.

Laura Jenkins of Eliza's Bakery of Phoenixville offered the sale of lard-ridden doughnuts all last week. Just entering into her shop left me intoxicated by the fresh smell of sugary sweets.
Closeup of Eliza's decadent offering of granulated and powdered sugar fasnachts.

Jim Chudnovsky of Bird-in-Hand's Bakery and Creamery cheerily continued throughout the day of Fat Tuesday whipping up the bake shop's distinct version of the Dutch doughnut. Hundreds stopped in the Lancaster County sweet spot to celebrate the tradition of the fasnacht.

for valentine's, waltz on wine and chomp on chocolates

For wine-loving locavores, the Berks County Wine Trail has a Valentine's Day gift that might be more welcome than the typically gifted fresh bouquets of flowers or heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.

Offering lovers a weekend-long event of self-guided wine tours throughout their eight participating locations that span from Reading to Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley, each winery is set to host an array of activities sculpted around chocolate tastings that specifically accompany their locally produced varietals.

The Berks County Wine Trail requires no reservations, and all wine pairings will be offered for free, and even better, couples are encouraged to start and finish at any winery location most convenient to them. Also, to lessen the pressure of traveling from one winery to the next, each location offers directions to journey to the following sipping spot that falls nearest to them.

In appreciation of what southeastern Pennsylvania has to offer to individuals who adore smooth sips produced in our neighborhoods, the Berks County Wine Trail encourages couples to plan a pleasurable afternoon locally, all while providing what every lady loves - chocolate in all its assortments.

Begin at one of my closest winery, Kog Hill of Morgantown, and you will be delighted by the tastes of their Raspberry Dessert Wine paired with the light bites of chocolate torte. Their bottled raspberry sips are rich in flavor and color, and offer an excellent comparison to the sweetness of the cocoa dessert.

Kog Hill, Morgantown's winery is a close stop to either Clover Hill of Robesonia and Manatawny Creek Winery of Douglassville, who will entice traveling samplers with sugary treats like cannolis rolled with miniature chocolate chips or a slice of ultra-chic chocolate Cabernet cake.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery of Kutztown will serve classic French crepes pumped with strawberries, drizzled with decadent bittersweet chocolate sauce and dusted with confectioner's sugar and chocolate shavings. The winery's homemade crepes will be paired with one of their decadent red wine, the beloved bottle of Sweet Seduction.

Family-run Blair Vineyards of Mertztown, who are slated to relocate to Kutztown in April, will tantalize sweet teeth with a dessert titled Mocha French Kiss, which is a coffee truffle treat that goes perfectly with their Lower Block Pinot Noir. Bashore & Stoudt Country Winery of Shartlesville will offer chocolate fondue for fresh fruit dipping, which is offered inconjunction with their series of fresh fruit wines like pear, peach, elderberry and blueberry.

Also participating is Calvaresi Winery of Bernville and Long Trout Winery of Auburn. Long Trout plans to whip up wine-infused Chex Mix batches to accompany their series of cocoa wines, while Calvaresi warps into a chocoholics' haven by joining their Cayuga White with chocolate-covered mango and their 2009 Concord red wine with triple-chocolate malted-milk balls. The Auburn winery also produces sherry, which they will offer to individuals with chocolate-covered red raspberries.

Although J. Maki Winery of Elverson is not a partner of the wine trail, they too make for a great Chester County sipping spot, offering boldly distinctive red and white varietals made in the European premium dry wine tradition. The winery of Grove Road will be open both days of the wine tasting weekend, on Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m.

Also published here.