{"id":9116,"date":"2016-04-28T09:01:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T13:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=9116"},"modified":"2016-04-28T08:06:50","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T12:06:50","slug":"city-farms-family-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/city-farms-family-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"City Farms, Family Traditions & TWO Giveaways"},"content":{"rendered":"
When most people think about farms, they think about the country. Big sprawling land and acres of fruit, vegetables and live stock. As city dwellers, if you want to see this type of farm,\u00a0you would probably have to drive an hour or so for a visit.\u00a0We often do this in the Fall when we go for our annual visit to a pumpkin patch. Farms are turned into amusements-like parks filled with games and attractions like corn mazes, wagon rides, playing and jumping on hay, visits with farm animals\u00a0and my favourite part… picking out a favourite pumpkin.\u00a0 These visits have become \u00a0an annual family tradition for us and something that both myself and the kids look forward to.<\/div>\n
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While we live in the city, we’re actually very lucky to have two city farms nearby. One is located on centre island in Toronto which we visit when we head over to the island in the summer. The other is about a five minute drive from our house. It’s home to a few horses, a donkey, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and more. We visit often in the summer months and after a visit with the animals, we cool off in a nearby wadding pool.<\/div>\n
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Farms are also a big part of my\u00a0brother’s life as his family visits a farm every week! Every Friday after work they head over to a farm that supplies them with fresh vegetables for the week.<\/div>\n
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The vegetables are used in another weekly family tradition as every Friday night, my extended family, seventeen of us, gather for Shabbat dinner. My sister-in-law is an amazing chef and she prepares\u00a0delicious and elaborate three-course-meals using the fresh ingredients they picked up from the farm. We often rotate hosting dinners, mainly between my brother’s and parent’s house (because they love to cook), but lately, we have started to host too. While I don’t particularly LOVE to cook, I have picked up a few new recipes along the way. I even started experimenting with baking! One of my favourite cakes to make now is a caramelized banana streusel cake that is a big hit with both adults and kids (who are the true judges anyway). The recipe, from Rose Reisman, is\u00a0 easy to make which is important when you’re a newbie cook trying to prepare a three-course-meal for your big family! I usually stash browning bananas in my freezer and just thaw them right before I bake. I also incorporate Gay Lea’s\u00a0Fat Free\u00a0Sour Cream in the recipe. And by the way, did you know that Gay Lea Foods is a co-operative owned by over 1,200 farmers? It’s funny how things come in full circle!<\/div>\n
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Here is the recipe in case you’re looking to prepare an easy dessert for your big gathering and perhaps this cake will become one of your new family traditions. As my family would say, B’Tehavon (Bon Apetit).<\/p>\n

Caramelized Banana Streusel Cake<\/h3>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Caramelized Banana: 3 large ripe bananas (about 3 cups),\u00a0\u00be cup brown sugar,\u00a02 Tbsp vegetable oil,\u00a0 \u00bc tsp cinnamon
\nCake:\u00a01\u20443 cup vegetable oil,\u00a01 cup granulated sugar,\u00a02 eggs,\u00a01\u00bd tsp vanilla extract,\u00a01\u20443 cup reduced-fat sour cream (I use Gay Lea\u00a0Fat Free\u00a0sour cream<\/strong><\/a>),\u00a01\u00be cups all-purpose flour,\u00a01\u00bd tsp baking powder,\u00a01 tsp baking soda
\nStreusel: \u00be cup brown sugar,\u00a04 tsp cocoa,\u00a0\u00bd tsp cinnamon,\u00a0\u00bc cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional but I always use them).<\/p>\n

Directions<\/h4>\n

1.\u00a0Spray a 9-inch pan with oil and preheat the oven to 350\u00b0F.
\n2. Add thinly sliced bananas along with the oil, cinnamon and sugar to a\u00a0large skillet. Cook\u00a0for 4 minutes until everything is mashed in the pan. Set aside and cool for 10 minutes.
\n3. In a large bowl, mix well the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream\u00a0until smooth. Add the\u00a0cooled caramelized\u00a0banana mixture. Add the flour, baking powder and soda and blend just until everything is integrated. Set aside.
\n4. In a separate bowl, mix\u00a0the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and chocolate\u00a0chips\u00a0to make the streusel.
\n5.\u00a0Take the cake batter and pour half of it\u00a0into the pan, sprinkle half of the streusel on top and then add the remaining batter.\u00a0Add the rest of the streusel to the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

GIVEAWAYS (Yes, there’s an “S” because there are TWO giveaways)<\/h3>\n

Together with Gay Lea, we are giving away ONE<\/b> grand prize of a beautiful KitchenAid Stand Mixer (approximate retail value is $450)! We hope it will inspire you to incorporate all of Gay Lea’s delicious products into your favourite family meals.<\/p>\n

a Rafflecopter giveaway<\/a>
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