Explore Hudson Valley: Fall
by Erica Chase-Salerno

It’s harvest time in the Hudson Valley, so I asked Holly Shelowitz, local Culinary Nutrition Counselor and Educator for some tips and recipes for families this season. For over 15 years, Holly has been inspiring people to get into their kitchens and cook. In addition to creating Healthy Eating Education programs at Mother Earth’s stores, Whole Foods Market and more, she offers nutrition counseling and teaches adult and kids’ cooking classes in the Hudson Valley. Holly’s name may be familiar to you in another capacity: she has 4 children’s books published; 3 with Golden Books, titled “Animal Babies”, “At the Playground”, and “All About Food”, and 1 book published with Walker Publishing, titled “Oh Baby!” Holly’s mission is for everyone to know how to take loving care of themselves with food choices, cooking and self care, and to be a good Grandma to themselves and those they love. Holly says, “Autumn’s coolness invites us all into the kitchen to play, and what’s better than pancakes for kids to help with at the counter? I have always found that when kids help you in the kitchen, they will be more likely to taste and try new foods.You can purchase local cornmeal and spelt flour from Wild Hive in many of our stores up here. Sunflower and Adam’s often carry their products as well as their spelt flour. Go local anytime you can!” For more information, including her calendar of events, visit www.nourishingwisdom.com.

All recipes by Holly Shelowitz.
Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal or Apple Cinnamon Cornmeal Pancakes
“What’s cool about this recipe is that you can make lemon blueberry or apple cinnamon pancakes. Just swap out blueberries and lemon zest and swap in apples and cinnamon. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. When I go blueberry picking in the Summer, I freeze a whole lot so I can use them all Winter long, and of course apple picking is part of the Hudson Valley tradition! Westwind Orchards in Accord is organic and my first choice.I’m a big fan of palm coconut sugar or keep it local with Lyonsville Sugar House maple sugar- they are both wonderful sweeteners that are much more gentle on the body than white sugar. With the flours, eggs, fruit and sweetener, this can be a mostly local breakfast! If your family is gluten free, just swap out the flour for gluten free flour or grind oats to flour and add a Tablespoon of ground flaxseed to lighten it up. Enjoy!”

Ingredients:
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 Cups dairy or unsweetened almond milk + 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, or chopped, peeled apples
1 cup spelt or unbleached flour (preferably Wild Hive stoneground)
1 ½ cups yellow cornmeal (preferably Wild Hive stoneground)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, or cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I like to use palm coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
2 teaspoons olive, coconut oil or butter for pan

Method
In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk (or lemon juice + milk) and zest or cinnamon; set aside.
In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk egg and melted butter into milk until combined. Make a well in center of the dry ingredients; pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (a few lumps should remain). Do not over mix.
Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes; add 1 teaspoon oil and brush to coat skillet bottom evenly. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto 3 spots on skillet; sprinkle 1 tablespoon blueberries or apples over each pancake. Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Using a wide spatula, flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Serve immediately, and repeat with remaining batter, using remaining vegetable oil only if necessary.
Serve with butter or coconut oil and local maple syrup and enjoy
Yields: 16 (4-inch) pancakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: 15 minutes

All recipes by Holly Shelowitz, Culinary Nutrition Counselor and Educator
Baked Apples and Pears
Another fun, easy and mostly local treat is to bake apples and with raisins in the middle.
Just core apples from the top, fill with raisins, a dash of cinnamon. Slice pears in half, scoop out seeds and place face down. Pour a little apple cider on top of all. Bake in a casserole or baking dish at 350 about 25 minutes.
Or what about an apple salad?
Just peel and seed apples, chop and mix with yogurt, cinnamon and raisins. Add walnuts or sunflower seeds if they let you;) So yummy!
10 minute no bake bars
Adapted from fannetasticfood.com
makes about 12 bars

Ingredients:
Dry use scant measurements
1 3/4 C rolled oats
1 C crisp crispy brown rice cereal
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C chia seeds
1/4 C unsweetened coconut
1/8 C finely ground flaxseed
A few dashes of cinnamon
A pinch of sea salt
½ Cup raisins
Wet (use generous measurements):
1/2 C brown rice syrup
1/3 C creamy peanut or almond butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method
Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Mix them together.
In a small pot, mix together the wet ingredients and warm on low for a few minutes. This will make it easier to mix and add to the dry ingredients since it’s really sticky!
Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix. Keep mixing until the wet binding ingredients are as well distributed as possible. Get the kids to put some muscle into it!
Put the mixture into a shallow pan and flatten it down. Done and done!
Cut them into about 12 bars (they are probably a bit crumbly still, but don’t worry – the fridge will bind them!) and store them in the fridge. You can either just store them together in the big pan (covered with foil) or separately wrap them for easy grabbing and going!