"Fresh from the Farmstand" Review & Giveaway!

Hello friends! It's time for another Gooseberry Patch Early Bird review!

This time I have received two copies of Gooseberry Patch's latest cookbook, Fresh from the Farmstand. It will be available to purchase soon, but you can win your very own FREE copy here! Details at the end of this post.

To purchase, please click here.

This is a wonderful cookbook, chock-full of fresh ingredient recipes. The book is divided into six categories: Freshly Gathered Breakfasts; Market-Basket Soups & Breads; Garden-Fresh Sides & Salads; Farmstand Feasts; Summer's Best Appetizers; and Berry Best Desserts. I prepared two dishes, and they are both fantastic. The first is "Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie." Apples are plentiful now, and I thought that this would be a good addition to a holiday dessert menu.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 9-inch pie crusts
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
7 cups Jonathan, Granny Smith, and/or Gala apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Here are my prepared apples. I used Macoun...they're my favorite variety for baking. I suggest you use whatever apples you like, but make sure there's a little tartness.

Combine pecans, brown sugar and butter in a 9" deep-dish pie plate; stir to mix. (I used walnuts.) Spread mixture in bottom of pie plate.

Top with one pie crust. (I used Pillsbury ready-made crusts; if you want to make your own, go for it!)

In a large bowl, toss together remaining ingredients; spoon into crust.

Top with remaining crust; trim crust even with edge of pie plate. Bring bottom crust over edge of top crust; seal and crimp. Cut several slits in top crust.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Cool for 5 minutes; place a serving plate over pie and invert. Carefully remove pie plate and replace any loose topping. (I was scared that the pie would stick to the pie plate...but no worries, all that butter really greases up the pan good!)

Cool at least one hour before serving. Serves 8 to 10.

VERDICT: Wow, this was delicious! I love regular apple pie, but this is extra special. The butter/brown sugar/nut topping caramelizes and keeps the crust moist. Dave and the kids also loved it...Annabelle is usually not an apple pie fan, I think because of the plain crust. This she really enjoyed. The rest of us also cleaned our plates. The topping is gooey and decadent. I will definitely make this again!

Ok, onto the next recipe. This one is called "Ryan's Yummy Pasta Salad."

INGREDIENTS:
8-oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini, uncooked
2-1/2 cups rotelle pasta, uncooked
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup deli roast chicken, chopped
2 Tablespoons lemon pepper, or to taste
Ranch salad dressing, to taste
(NOTE: I make ranch salad dressing from the Hidden Valley mix. It's very simple (you just add mayo and milk), and I think it's much, much better than the bottled kind. Thanks to my buddy Sharon for this tip!)

In separate saucepans, cook tortellini and rotelle according to package directions, adding frozen vegetables to rotelle pan. (I chose to stick with frozen corn for my vegetables. I bet it would be great with broccoli florets or some peas to green it up.)

I think I should have used a larger pan! Oh well.

Drain; combine in a large serving bowl. Add chicken to pasta; sprinkle generously with lemon pepper. (Ok, I admit that I don't know what "lemon pepper" is....is it a special seasoning blend, or just lemon-flavored pepper? In any case, two tablespoons sounded a little excessive to me. Since my rotisserie chicken was lemon pepper anyway, I skipped this step and just added a few extra grinds of black pepper.) Add salad dressing to desired consistency and toss to mix.

I used the whole 8-oz. recipe of Ranch dressing that I made. I also thought it needed a little "something," so I shook on some bacon bits...yum! 

May be served warm or chilled. Serves 6 to 8.

VERDICT: Very, very good pasta salad! We all liked it a LOT! (well Mason didn't try it, but I figured that would happen).  I served it cold with warm biscuits on the side. Next time I will add some chopped parsley and some green veggies too.

I cannot wait to try some of the berry recipes when they're back in season around here. How about you? Would you like to win a copy? Just leave me a comment on this post by Friday, December 23. I will pick a random comment on that day. In order to be considered, PLEASE make sure there's an email linked to your comment, so that I can get in touch with you.

Have a wonderful day!

♥ Jen