Now is the time of year to dig out the ice cream maker and take advantage of the fresh produce available.  I picked up some fresh peaches from the farmers market and decided to make some peach ice cream.  Because we have an overabundance of fresh wineberries I just had to add a few to the mix. 

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 1/2  cups sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 real vanilla bean.  may substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• Touch of salt
• 5 fresh peaches
• 1 cup wineberries

Cook the cream, sugar, eggs, honey, salt and vanilla bean over low heat for about 20 minutes.    Split open the vanilla bean and scape out the black gold!. Add this to your ice cream mixture.  Do not allow the mixture to boil

Remove from heat and allow to cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Remove the skins from the peaches by dipping them in a bath of boiling water for about 10 seconds,  the skins will peel right off.  Dice up the peaches.

Add the peaches and fresh berries to the mixture.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and let it do it’s magic.

Enjoy a great summer time treat.

Great Food, Good Wine and a romantic movie at the Kluge Estate Winery.  What a  great date night.   Everyone is welcome to enjoy a romantic, wine-themed film outside and next to the vines. Enjoy Kluge Estate’s wines and Wild Rose Mountain Barbecue, who will be on site with their smoker and a special Kluge wine BBQ sauce. Movies will be shown the following this Friday, June 25 (as well as July 9 and July 16) from 7:30-11:30pm. General admission is free (food and wine are concession style). Wine club members receive a complimentary glass of wine. The movie will show rain or shine (if it rains the movie will be moved inside to the Pavilion). Call 434-220-5919 for additional information. Note that they could not advertise the movie title, but can share the following description with you. Please call Kluge for the movie titles. ~ The June 25th movie is a romance from 1995 and stars Keanu Reeves as Paul, a soldier returning home from WWII. He encounters a young woman headed home to help with the grape harvest at her family’s winery. Paul helps her face her fears, her father and traditions and a passion for each other is ignited between them. Also, the Kluge Estate Farm Shop June – October hours are in effect. The Farm Shop is now open daily from 11am-6pm. Gourmet bites and delights available every day now too. Cheers!

Join the Kluge wine club and receive a $50 gift card for the Inn on Poplar Hill.

Couple exchanging vows under the Mulberry Tree

Raspberry Cone

People sometimes confuse raspberry fruits with blackberries. A raspberry is hollow. When you pick it, it leaves a cone-shaped receptacle behind. A wine berry is a type of raspberry, it has a tart rather than sweet taste.. 

The Blackberry is really made up of lots of tiny, round, shiny berries stuck together—an aggregate fruit. Each tiny berry in the cluster has its own seed, so one animal eating one fruit spreads many seeds.  Unlike raspberries, there’s no receptacle protruding from the stem after the fruit has been removed.  A dewberry is related to the blackberry but grows very close to the ground. 

A Blackberry Smile!On the hunt for wild berries

Beware of the sharp, curved thorns, and of poison ivy, which has similar leaves and often grows along with blackberries.  We recommend that you wear long sleeves, pants and closed toe shoes while picking.  It is also important to check yourself for ticks after walking in any tall grass. 

Poison Ivy Look for the grouping of 3 leaves

 Mulberries also edible, resemble blackberries, but they grow on thorn-less trees, not thorny canes, in late spring and early summer, the tree in our side yard attracts dear who love to snack on the tasty treats.

Blackberries ready for harvest

One of the benefits of our wild flower meadows is the abundance of butterflies.  Several of the flowers are particularly attractive to the beautiful insects, especially the Milkweed.    This is a great site to identify Butterflies.   http://www.gardenswithwings.com/identify-butterflies.html 

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

   May 24

How to Harvest Linden Flowers | eHow.com

By Administrator

How to Harvest Linden Flowers | eHow.com.

Our Linden Tree is in full bloom! It is time to harvest the flowers for Linden Tea and Linden baths. Linden tea is a traditional Turkish treatment for cough. Pour boiling water over the dried flowers you have harvested along with a selection of apple peels and cinnamon sticks. Linden flower baths are used for treating insomnia and irregular sleep patterns.

The Flowers of the Linden Tree can be harvested to make a tea or relaxing bath.

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   May 19

Wedding Pictures

By Administrator

View some great pictures of Kate & JP’s Wedding which took place here on 5-8-10.  The Photographer Bluesquarepro  took some awesome pictures. 

Wedding at the Inn on Poplar Hill under the shade of an ancient Poplar tree.

http://bluesquarepro.blogspot.com/2010/05/kate-and-jp-050810.html

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