Caprese Salad with Baby Pear Tomatoes

Can't get enough of these wonderful Baby Pear Tomatoes with mozarella slices and fresh basil. Be creative with your favorite spices, green onion, parsley, finely chopped celery, balsamic vinegar and enjoy the tastes of summer.

Schnepf Farms and The Olive Mill in Queen Creek offers several choices of flavored vinegars, olive oils and dressings. You can also pick up a copy of Tastes & Treasures there.

Fresh Summer Salad

Experimenting with salad is wonderful in the summer. Starting with romaine and mixed spring greens I added red and yellow sweet peppers, green onion, baby pear tomatoes (from my garden), celery, a peach, strawberries, avocado and sliced toasted almonds. League member Kay Holcombe and I are ready to share the feast.

Topped it off with a delightful Peach Pecan Dressing from Schnepf Farm. It was so good, next time I am putting the Peach Pecan Dressing on my toast. Schnepf Farms also carries Tastes & Treasures cookbook so east Valley folks can buy it there.

Schnepf Farm has lots of history

What a treat to stop at Schnepf Farm in Queen Creek with members of the Historical League. Owners Carrie and Mark Schnepf were delightful. Carrie is a fifth generation Arizonan from the Bigg family in Mesa. She has wonderful stories about growing up in the valley and we hope to have her become more involved with the Historical League. Turns out they sold 5 acres to the Olive Mill which the League toured also. Zona Lorig and Carrie posed with Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Schnepf Farm is an agri-tourism destination with tours on hay rides or mini train through the peach orchards. Blossom time is beautiful. Harvest time is even more fun as you can pick those fresh peaches right from the tree. It is a very family friendly place with Princess Buttercup, the golden laborador, greeting you at the door.

Carrie makes the BEST "melt in your mouth" peach cinnamon rolls ever. Made from scratch, she kneads the dough by hand. This hard work may explain the reason she is in such great shape. She also makes fresh pies, cookies and muffins. Mark Schnepf has a large tray of fresh pies for their country store. League member Kay Holcombe with friends Barb Kurth and Shellie Rudow are eager to share a family size peach cinnamon roll.

A great supporter of history, Carrie was thrilled to see our cookbook and is now selling them in her Country Store. We look forward to May 8-9 at Schnepf Farms when they host the Peach Festival.

Getting Healthy at Olive Mill

Olives are good for you. We learned a lot about the health benefits of EVOO, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, on our tour in Queen Creek of the Olive Mill.

Five years ago, Schnepf Farms sold a part of their land to the Olive Mill and owner Perry has made it a destination. The tours are short but very informative. Mary Parker stands next to the Olive Press. At the bottom of the photo is the red valve where the oil drips. To ensure the freshest oil, the olives are pressed within 24 hours of harvesting. This press works for 16-hour shifts during that time. One thousand pound flats of olives go through in a season.

The Olive Mill in Queen Creek has made history by being the first in Arizona to make Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We brought the cookbook to show them. They were impressed and bought a case for their gift shop.

The grounds are lovely for picnics. Forty League members attended the tour and enjoyed the lunch. Jeannie Fletcher and Pam Ryan also announced our overnight tour will be an exclusive visit to Rancho de La Osa in Sasabe. That is a great destination since it started with Father Kino in the late 1600s and has a chapter in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.