Weekly Garden Thread - September 12-18, 2020

Get ready for an over-the-top almond paste recipe paired
with apricot jam, sliced almonds and orange marmalade.
Delicious bar recipe makes a lot for the work involved.

Apricot Almond Bars / 36 Bars

ING CRUST 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened 1/4 cup sugar ING TOPPING 7-oz tube almond paste 1/2 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup cold Butter, cut into pieces 10-12-oz jar (1 cup) apricot spreadable fruit preserves 1/2 cup sliced almonds ING GLAZE 2/3 cup powdered sugar 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Combine crust ing. Beat at low speed to coarse crumbs, scraping often. Press on bottom of dry 13x9" baker. Bake 350 deg 14-16 min (edges lightly brown).

Crumble almond paste into same bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Cut in 1/4 cup butter w/ fork to coarse crumbs; set aside. Spoon orange marmalade evenly over hot, partially baked crust. Sprinkle almond paste mixture over marmalade. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely.

GLAZE Stir enough milk into conf for desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled bars.

I’ve grown amaranth many times. My first suggestion is to check if it’s growing wild around you already. The domesticated varieties will cross with the wild ones very easily.

All the amaranths I’ve tried had leaves that tasted like spinach. I don’t like the taste of spinach, so I can’t tell you how the eating quality compares. But, if you get a grain type, you’ll get the greens as well. The inverse is not always true. The ones bred for grain production tend to have bigger (relatively speaking), more tender seeds, and more of them. You can still eat the grain from leaf-types and from wild amaranth, but the seeds will be smaller, harder, and have less yield per plant. I’m told that some even have a bitter taste, although I haven’t encountered that.

There used to be a company called “Bountiful Gardens”, that had an incredible collection of heirloom grains, including amaranth. The company closed, but some of their varieties were picked up by other companies. Looks like Quailseeds.com, Adaptive Seeds, and Southern Exposure got the best of them.

Thanks for the advice.

I’ll look into it.

The seed catalogues don’t have a lot about the grain aspect of the amaranth. Mostly on the edible leaves and the flowers for cut flower arrangements.

Garden is doing just right for this time of year; plants are starting to die back. It is most notible on the caladiums and impatience. The parsley is bounding back but there are new caterpillars munching on it. The one cateripllar chryliss I have been watching still not open. I check on it every day to see if I can grab a picture that happening but no cooperaton from the caterpillar! lol tomatoes keep rolling in and I must say they have been a most excellent crop this year. Ready to transplant the pansy and viola seedlings. Arugula doing well but something ate the Four Season Lettuce seedlings! Maybe I’ll try again in the house. Happy fall to the group.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.