Escapees May-June 2023

“DO NOT skip this step. Raw sun fl ower seeds will not process into butter, only sawdust.”

EVANNE SCHMARDER is sure she got the wanderlust bug from her grandparents. In 2000, she and her husband, Ray, set o ff on their own adventure. Eighteen-plus years later, they’re still roaming the country, sharing interesting destinations and cooking up delicious RV kitchen recipes in their popular RV TV series, RVCookingShow.com. Add ½ tsp of salt, process, and then taste. Add coconut sugar, process, and taste. Adjust to your palette. Pour into a glass jar with a lid, allow to cool completely, cover, and store in the fridge for up to a month (good luck with that). Add the roasted sun fl ower seeds to the food processor or blender and process. Stop every couple of minutes to scrape the sides. It’ll get sandy, lumpy, grainy, form into a ball and eventually smooth. * If the butter doesn’t become smooth, it’s okay to sparingly add a few drops of neutral oil.

Sun fl ower Seed Butter A little labor-intensive but oh so worth it! You’ll need a food processor or high-speed blender and a good spatula. What don’t you need? Any type of liquid*. Adding liquid, including vanilla extract, will cause the sun fl ower butter to seize. It’ll taste good but will be a paste instead of spreadable butter. 1½c raw or dry roasted unsalted sun fl ower seeds ½t salt, to taste ¼c coconut or brown sugar, to taste If you are using dry-roasted sun fl ower seeds, skip this part. Otherwise, using your oven, roast the sun fl ower seeds in a single layer at 350° until golden brown, fragrant and slightly oily. DO NOT skip this step. Raw sun fl ower seeds will not process into butter, only sawdust. Remove from the oven and cool until warm.

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May/June 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine