From Farm To Market

Food for Thought: Do You Need Farmers for a Farmers Market?

2010-04-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703404004575198270918567074.html
Fair Use Applies

This article appeared in the Wall Street Journal yesterday and it brings up a great point - do you have to be the person who grow the veggies to sell them at a farmer's market?

Most people, I'd suspect, would assume that the person standing behind the table of tomatoes and peppers was the person, or at least part of the family, that grew those items. However, with the explosion of farmer's markets around the country, there is also a growing market for people who buy food wholesale, (from the same people that Krogers and Meijers purchase from) and then resell it at markets. So, is this a deceptive practice? What about all of that fresh bread and canned jams and jellies on the table...were they purchased as well?

This is really a situation of "buyer beware." But think of this in more positive light; this is a way for you as a buyer to get to know the person who is growing your food. Talk to them. You can usually find out with just a simple question of, "Did you grow this," to find out the answer. And if you are talking to the grower, what a great opportunity to find out then what farming methods they use (organic or not). Most farmers are more than willing to talk about their farms and their produce. They are proud of the work that they have put in to bring these items to the market for you.

Each farmer's market is different. Here is our area, there are markets where you MUST be the person producing what is one your table, and others where you don't have to be, you just can't label the items as "home grown". Also, here in Indiana, if you produce jellies, breads, cookies, or other homemade items, they must be sold by the person who made them. However, it doesn't hurt to ask.

What to do with all these eggs.

2010-04-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

We have over 100 laying hens on our farm. Although we sell most of the eggs, it is not unusual for me to have a couple dozen extra each week. Many times, I will freeze the eggs (break the eggs into a container and scramble. You can freeze them in a larger container, or in ice cube trays. I believe 2 egg-cubes equals about 1 large egg.) This is great for in the winter when they aren't laying as much.

Anyway, I'm always on the look out for recipes that use lots of eggs. This is one of my husband's favorites. It's a take off of a Rachel Ray recipe:

Fritatta

12 eggs, slightly beaten
1 lb cooked spaghetti
6 oz your favorite cheese (we actually like a mixture of mozeralla and asiago)
6 strips of bacon
2 c your favorite veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc.)

Grease a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 deg.
Cook the bacon. Finely chop and set aside. Drain most of the grease from the pan.
(Use a big enough pan to fit a lb. of cooked spaghetti) Put veggies in pan and cook until soften. Add spaghetti and eggs. You don't really want to completely cook the eggs, so just stir constantly for about 3 minutes.

Dump mixture into 9x13 pan. Add bacon crumbles and cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 until golden brown.

I would say this make 6 servings, but my husband would say it only makes 2.

What Did You Say?

2010-03-11T06:35:00.000-08:00

I've noticed in my Esty store, I get a lot of people clicking on the bag I call "Purple Cow." Now, purple cow is a phrase to mean something unusual or unique.

I was thinking about added other such words to my descriptions, just to make them a little more interesting, and came upon this list in my google search:

1. "My favourite is the French l'esprit d'escalier, or spirit of the staircase. This is used to describe the precise moment a person comes up with a clever retort to an embarrassing insult. It is usually after leaving the party, and walking down the stairs that the quip comes to mind." Lee, Wellington, New Zealand

2. "In Chinese if you tell a man they dai Lu maozi, meaning 'he wears the green hat', it means that his wife is sleeping with someone else." Zac Teehan, Fredericton

3. "It's weird that English doesn't have words for vorgestern (the day before yesterday) and 'ubermorgen' (the day after tomorrow)." Anke, Germany

4. "I think my favourite word, and not for its literal meaning, is the Spanish puente meaning bridge. Unlike ourselves, they cleverly place their bank holidays on a Tuesday so that Monday will, on most occasions, be treated as a bridge day (an extra day of holiday) ensuring a four day weekend. Ah, the Mediterranean lifestyle..." Gary Walker, Barcelona

5. "My favourite is faire du leche-vitrines which literally means 'to lick the windows' and translates as window-shopping. Phil, in France

6. "I have a soft spot for the German luftkissenfahrzeug. The literal translation being 'air cushion vehicle', but to you and I it is the simple 'hovercraft'." Jude , Birmingham, UK

7. "In Cyprus, the instrument used to remove staples from paper is termed a petalouda, literally translated into 'butterfly'. Go figure." Jasmine, Nicosia, Cyprus

8. "In Japanese, amakudari, literally descent from heaven, describes the phenomenon of being employed by a firm in an industry one has previously, as a government bureaucrat, been involved in regulating." Jack L. Yohay, Nabari, Mie-ken, Japan

9. "My favourite is the Spanish for handcuffs...esposas...mi esposa means 'my wife'. So 'mi esposa, mis esposas' means 'my wife, my handcuffs'." Ben, Bristol, UK

10. "In Arabic an electrical plug adapter that allows more than one plug to be plugged into the same socket is known as a harami, literally a thief." Brian, Jeddah

11. "There are a few more interesting German words such as handschuhschneeballwerfer, which means somebody, who wears gloves to throw snow balls. It is used in general for all cowards." Bernie, Duesseldorf

12. "In Romania pune-ti pofta-n cui (literally - hang your craving in a nail on the wall) means to forget about getting something." Gabriel, Bucharest, Romania

13. "In Japan we call a balding man's comb over a bar code." Kevin, Tokyo

14. "The Fuegians (from Tierra del Fuego) have a succinct word - mamihlapinatapai and it means 'two people looking at each other each hoping the other will do what both desire but neither is willing to do'." Zephyrus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

15. "So far as I'm aware, no other language has anything equivalent to the Icelandic setja upp gestaspjot, a verbal phrase denoting the action taken by a cat when cleaning itself, with its body curled tightly in a circle and one back leg sticking directly up in the air. Literally it means 'put up a guest-spear' and when a cat was seen doing this it was supposed to indicate that visitors would be turning up." Nicholas Jones, Cambridge, England

16. "I'm a student of the Ubykh language, which has a word - qaamch'ip'q'i - that means 'a filigree metal ornament on the handle of a whip'. It's also an idiomatic term for someone whose good or kind outward appearance is deceptive." Rohan Fenwick, Brisbane, Australia

17. "My favourite used to regularly appear on Austrian traffic reports - geisterfahrer or 'ghost driver' - one travelling the wrong way up an autobahn." Eric Pritchard, Clevedon, UK

18. "In Venezuela we have culebra, literally snake, but meaning a long, morbid, sentimental soap opera. 'My wife is watching the snake,' means that she is watching the soap opera." Ivan, Caracas, Venezuela

19. "From Flemish: iets door de vingers kijken, literally it means looking at something through the fingers, allowing something illegal or incorrect to happen by conscious inaction." Wouter Vandersypen, Washington DC

20. "As a native German one of my all-time favourites is the word gemutlich - impossible to translate directly." Jessica, Nottingham, UK

http://www.jumphook.com/scgi-bin/blosxom.cgi/Journal/TwentyUnusualForeignPhrases.html

I'll have to see if I can incorporate any of these. I especially like faire du leche-vitrines, or windowshopping!

2010-03-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to a great article on yahoo...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/125/seven-foods-chefs-avoid-right-now.html

Seven Foods to Avoid Right Now

And the article was written with March in mind. What it basically encourages the reader to do it think about what food could be grown right now, and what fresh vegetables and fruit are offered in the grocery stores. Since the south's growing season is just starting, and here in the north, it is still a distant thought, most of what is in the stores is coming from South America or over seas.

Why is that bad? The biggest problem is that these foods have very little flavor by the time they reach our grocery shelves. And, although the article didn't mention this, with reduced flavor naturally come reduced nutrition.

So what is a cook to do? Plan ahead. At the end of summer, when foods are at their peek and there is an abundance, you need to think about storing these foods for winter. I can a lot of foods: beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peaches, pears, etc. I also freeze many fruits, especially blueberries. In fact, I just opened a jar of peaches and, no kidding, it tasted like summer. Far better than even canned peaches in the store.

And the bonus is, that I know what chemicals/ingredients were used, if any, on all of this produce. Which is a lot more than I can say for the produce in the grocery store.

Seeds

2010-02-15T06:08:00.000-08:00

Seed Catalogs are something that I never knew existed BF (before the farm). I remember reading a gardening forum, for I knew now that I lived on a farm I needed a garden, about how people were already receiving their seed catalogs. Did I mention it was early January? Being the novice I was, I couldn't understand why in the world anyone would want to think about planting a garden in January, here in Indiana (zone 5).

So, I took the plunge and did what the forum readers suggested, go to these various web pages and sign up for a free catalog. What the heck, free is always good, right?

In the following years I was on every plant and seed catalog mailing list and was receiving catalogs as early as mid-December. And now, I understand the wonder and excitement of receiving such catalogs. I'm sitting here now with no less that 30 different catalogs to review. It is mid-February, and it is actually a little late for me to be placing my orders, as many people will start their seed indoor by now. I am by no means an accomplished gardener, so I don't have the same pressure!

My general goal is this: (remember, I'm zone 5)
Start tomatoes seed indoors by March 15th (to be planted in garden by May 15, our avg. last frost date.)
Start broccoli and cabbage seeds indoors by April 15th.

In the garden:
By mid April, start lettuce, spinach, onions, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and peas, as soon as the garden can be worked.

By end of May, have rest of garden planted, including, zucchini, pie pumpkins, butternut squash, and all the seeds started indoors.

My garden is fairly small and manageable, and each year I have grand ideas for it's expansion. Last year, I received some ever bearing strawberry plants. I was not able to create a bed for them, but I did plant them in pots and even now, mid-February, there are green leaves poking through the snow. I am hopeful that they will transplant well and I might get a fairly decent harvest even this year.

If you've never had the pleasure of receiving seed catalogs, you are missing out on a wonderful way to warm and brighten these long days of winter. Consider visiting some of my favorite companies below and sign up - after all, it is free and you only have to sign up for a couple....the rest will come!

Johnny's Seeds: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Seed Savers: http://www.seedsavers.org/
Gardens alive! http://www.gardensalive.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1266244077
Vessey Seeds: http://www.veseys.com/us/en/?veseys=l45vfk5r7ar8pqu4hnatjsb6f1
Indiana Berry: https://indianaberry.com/
Henry Fields: http://henryfields.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1266244163
Michigan Bulb: http://michiganbulb.com/Default.asp?

Happy Planting!

Whole Wheat Pizzas

2010-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

One of my goals this year is to replace some of our favorite meals with a healthier alternative - lower calories, higher fiber, remove or reduce white flour and white sugar.

My first task was to make Monday night pizza night something I could look forward to and enjoy. I have an abundance of wheat berries that a friend has given me and my sister graciously ground for me in her electric grinder. It has been stored in the freezer for a couple of months now, and I figured it was time to get it out and start using it.

I found this recipe for a "no rise" whole wheat pizza dough:

1 c warm water
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 wheat germ (extra fiber...I like that!)
1 T honey
1 t salt
2 1/4 t yeast (or, one packet)
3 t wheat gutten (this was not in the original recipe, but I add this to the dough)

Since I need this to be easy, I dump this all into the bread machine and set it to the dough setting. Now, the recipe said it was a no rise dough, however, since I am using the bread machine, I do let it rise for about 20 minutes and it is easier, more elastic to work with.

Once the dough in done, I divide it into four individual pizzas. This recipe will make (2) 12" thin crust pizzas or one deep dish pizza, but since everyone in our house likes different things on their pizza, we opt for personal pizzas.

Here you can see that each pizza is pretty loaded (except for Grace, who only likes cheese) AND...each pizza is only 500 calories! Not bad...in fact, they are actually very good.

2010-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: I opened a jar of the coleslaw yesterday and it was fantastic! It was still crunchy and had a taste similar to bread and butter pickles (only with cabbage, of course.)

I think I'll try some on my hamburger tonight.....

Winter Canning

2010-01-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

Many will think that canning is only done in the summer and fall, but for me, it is a year-round adventure.

One item I can regularly are beans, specifically pinto beans for our Mexican feasts. Canning beans is really quite easy, and they taste much better that the refried beans from the store. I also can red beans for chili, and northern beans for ham and beans.

Today, I was anxious to try a recipe that I had found at the Creative Canning Blogspot. It was for coleslaw. (http://creativecanning.blogspot.com/2009/01/coleslaw.html)
I've tried freezing coleslaw in the past, but found it was not only too sweet, but a little too soggy. This recipe also uses a sugar syrup, but suggests to rinse off the syrup, and then adding your favorite mayonnaise based dressing, BRILLIANT! Since cabbage was one sale this week for New Year's, I decided to try it. I'm going to let it sit a week or so before opening up a jar to see if it really does stay crisp.

Oh Fudge!

2009-12-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

My first first real job, with taxes taken out and everything, was at Marla's Bakery. What a wonderful place to work. I not only got to work the counter and wash dishes, but I also got to help make a variety of treats sold at the bakery.

They were many good and delicious things for sale at the bakery - danish, coffeecakes, cookies, but Marla's was famous the New York cheesecakes. My only regret now was that I didn't pay enough attention to how things were made or write down any of the recipes. Oh, I did pick up a few tips, like lining the cake pans with parchment paper to insure the come out clean. Also, use dental floss (not mint flavor!) to cut the cheesecakes cleanly. After spending an entire day rolling truffles, I can do that in my sleep.

Marla's is closed now, and has been for many years. However, Chef Marla still works locally and a few years ago, an article was written about her in the local paper. I really enjoyed reading about her and remembering my days at the bakery. In that article, she shared a few recipes, including her fudge recipe. This was a stroke of good fortune as I am fudge-making deficient. In the past, my fudge always turned out too soft. This, to me, is a easy, fail-safe recipe that works every time. It also freezes well, which is good since this make enough for an army!

Marla's Fudge
4 1/2 c sugar
1 can (14.5oz) evaporated milk
18 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 c butter
3 T vanilla

Put chocolate chips, butter and vanilla in large bowl and set aside. Butter a 9x13 pan.

Combine sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil steadily for 6-8 minutes (or until it reaches a temperature of 238-240 deg.), stirring constantly.
Pour sugar mixture over chocolate/butter/vanilla mixture in bowl, and beat with mixer at high speed until all butter in incorporated. Pour into pan and refrigerate.

It may take 4-6 hours to set up.

Chef Pik Prepares Pumpkin for Freezing

2009-12-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a series of videos shot with our special guest cat, Chef Pik.
I hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

2009-11-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not exactly sure when I decided that I wanted to learn how to cook, I mean really cook...to know how things are done from beginning to end.

It started maybe 8 years ago. I decided I was going to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. I wanted to start with the pumpkin and everything! I was curious about how different it would taste by using a fresh pumpkin verses canned pumpkin, although I hadn't ever made a pie from canned pumpkin so I don't really know what I expected.

So, I started with my pumpkin. It was a pretty big one. It would have made a great Jack-0-Lantern. A couple of years later that I found out that there was such a thing as a "pie" pumpkin. But I digress...

I put that pumpkin up on the counter and began cleaning it out and cutting it up into pieces to roast in the oven. Cutting a large pumpkin into 2" pieces is not easy work. I remember this taking me almost an hour. However, I was not discouraged.

So, after roasting, peeling and the mashing my pumpkin, I was ready to make the pie. Now, this is not a blog about my favorite pumpkin pie recipe, so I will not be sharing any pie recipes. In fact, I remember this particular pie very well because it looked beautiful but...well...it tasted awful! I was so disappointed that I had spent the better part of an afternoon on something that really just needed to be thrown away.

It could have, in fact, been the recipe I used, but I'm pretty sure it was the pumpkin. You see, most decorative pumpkins, although edible, aren't really edible. In our quest for bigger, rounder, flatter bottom pumpkins, we've sacrificed the mild flavor for bitterness and a creamy flesh for stringy flesh.

Now that we are on the farm and I have a garden, I grow my own pumpkins. They are a small, sugar variety. I can't tell you the exact variety, because I did not save the original package of seeds, and I save the seeds from year to year so that I don't have to buy more. I use this pumpkin to make pumpkin bread (thank you Aunt Jan for your wonderful recipe), pumpkin cheesecake, and pumpkin rolls. NO pumpkin pies...I just buy those at the store.