A year in review...

As the year draws to a close I am taking some time to reflect on 2012 and look forward to 2013.

As I look back at 2012, I am so thankful and appreciative of all of our vendors and customers. We started the summer season this year praying for the rain to stop for our opening day activities and then the rest of the summer praying for rain every day. It was such a hot summer, but our vendors and customers came out every Tuesday!

We tried to make the summer a little more enjoyable for the kids of the market by bringing water and squirt guns for them to play with at market! Man they had a good time. It made the heat a little more bearable to hear the laughter of the kids each week. There were a few markets that I was hoping they might "accidentally" hi me with water while playing, but no I don't think I single adult got wet all summer long!

We also tried to beat the heat with fun activities like the pie bake off, ice cream social, tomato festival, demonstrations and samples! A big thank you to all of our judges and contestants for the various contests! It was all delicious! One of the ways we raise money for the market is by selling the pie and ice cream after the judging is over. This year we sold out of almost all of the pie and I believe all of the ice cream. Thank you to those who donated their products for our fundraiser!

We also started selling lemonade, t-shirts and bags this year to help raise money for the market. Then at the end of the year we put together a cookbook of all of the yummy market recipes to sell as a fundraiser, too! Thank you to all of you who purchased any of our merchandise! Our biggest fundraiser of the year is our Farm to Table Dinner in the fall. It was so much fun this year and we have some big ideas for next year to make it even more fun! You are not going to want to miss it!

Now some of you may be wondering why we are doing fundraising....where does the money go? Well the fundraisers we do go to support the market paying for business expenses including marketing, insurance, licenses, etc. We also reserve a large portion of our budget for community projects like the school garden that we will be starting on in 2013. We want to continue to do more community projects and grow our market each year and through fundraising we will be able to reach those goals.

Thank you again to all of you who have supported us in 2012! I spoke with some of the people involved with AgriMissouri at the state level and they said they have heard a lot of good things about our market in Fayette! Talk about busting with pride! It is because of you that we have such a great reputation at that level!

Looking forward to 2013, I am very excited to get started putting together our annual meeting and then it will be full steam ahead into opening day! I hope you all have had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best in 2013! Can't wait to see you all on the Courthouse Lawn in the spring!

Holiday Market

Last week we had our first of two Holiday Markets! I have to start off saying how much I love and appreciate each of our farmers/vendors! We had an awesome turnout with tables full of unique goodies! Our next and final Holiday Market is Tuesday, December 18th from 4-6 pm. You don't want to miss it. For a little more incentive to come out to the next one here is a little peak at the first Holiday Market! 

Shelly Appel

Shelly Appel was at the market with a wide variety of gifts. She had signs, bath salts, breads, gift baskets, and many more gift ideas!

 Windy Hill Produce

 Windy Hill Produce had delicious breads, jellies, pickled beets and much more! They also had beautiful ribbon wreaths and crafts. 

The Olde Farmhouse at Collyott Farm

 Collyott Farm had an assortment of dips, beer bread mixes, crafts and a variety of other items that would be great Christmas gifts or to just enjoy at a holiday party! 

Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm

 This one is a little sad for me to write about because our next market will be the last time that Cathy is with us as she is moving to Minnesota in the spring. She has become a very good friend over the last year and I am going to miss her so much! She is making sure that you will all be able to get her delicious bread and meat next season though! We will keep you posted. Now she had her breads, beef, clutches, soaps and scarves. Make sure you stock up on the 18th! 

Sullivan Farms

 Sullivan Farms had fresh leeks and collard greens, jellies, gift baskets and the very popular cake pops. If you haven't had a cake pop from Sullivan Farms make sure you come by and get one next week!!!! These boys to the right really enjoyed their cake pops! 

With the Wild Farm featuring Goatsbeard Farm Cheeses

 With the Wild Farm had a table full of fresh goodness including carrots and greens along with the delicious cheeses of Goatsbeard Farm! 

Blue Bell Farm 

 Blue Bell Farm had a wide variety of seed packets that would make great stocking stuffers! They also had lots of cactus plants that would make a great gift just tie on a bow! 

Fretwoods

Fretwoods is a new vendor to the market and I was so impressed. These are beautiful hand crafted ornaments that would make a nice addition to any tree along with other hand crafted gifts. Make sure you stop by and get your loved ones a special ornament or gift this year!

Country Neighbors was a little late getting to market and I failed to get a picture of her table. I apologize. She was out with lamb, chickens, hamburger and sausage!!! Stock up a the next market for the winter! 

Well that is a quick look at all of the amazing vendors that came out for the Holiday Market! It was a great market and we look forward to seeing you all there on the 18th! Come out and shop local for the holidays! 

Apples....

Apples and fall go hand in hand so let me take you on my apple adventure. Two weeks ago I made arrangements with Mike from Hamptons Hilltop Orchard to get two bushels of apples to put up for the winter. I was very excited to get the apples and made arrangements with my in laws to borrow their dehydrator to make apple chips during my apple weekend! My father-in-law delivered the dehydrator when I was away from my office so he just put it in the back of my vehicle along with some of the apples he had picked (I thought he was just bringing some, but it turns out he brought a lot!). So when I went to load the two bushels of apples into my car from Mike I found that I already had a car full of apples (two 5 gallon buckets full and a small box full). So on Tuesday I took home about 3 bushels of apples instead of two! In my book the more apples the better so let the cooking begin!

First I have to say that any recipe is better when you start with amazing produce and if you want amazing apples go visit Mike this week at market! We spent the weekend making applesauce, apple cider, apple pies, and apple chips! YUM!!!!!!

Preparing the apples: 
I remove the core and skins when I am preparing the apples unless I am going to make cider then I core them, but leave the skins on. I will be doing cider with all of my applesauce batches from now on because it is easy and a little less time consuming! See all the yummy recipes below!


Apple Cider and Applesauce
After many batches of just applesauce I discovered you could do cider and applesauce all in one process!

Fill your stock pot with cored halved apples and two mason jars of water. Heat to boiling and then let it simmer until the apples are soft. Have another stock pot waiting with a fine strainer in it. When the apples are soft, mash the apples with a potato masher just to break them down a little. You do not want to mash them completely down at this point. Then pour the apples and juice into the strainer. Let the juice run out and put the apples back into their original pot. Now add your seasonings to your cider. I added about 1/4 cup sugar and tsp cinnamon. Bring to a boil and let it boil for about 8 minutes. Viola...Apple Cider! At this point you could can it or I just put mine in a mason jar with a lid. Let it cool to room temperature and then stuck it in the fridge. I may attempt to can some this coming weekend, but we will see.

Now back to your applesauce. You apples are already soft so just add back in about one mason jar of water to the apples along with 3/4 cup sugar (I use white sugar, but you can use brown sugar or a combination of the two), about a 1/8 cup cinnamon and a couple pinches of nutmeg. Bring it back up to a boil and let the sugar and spices absorb into the apples about 5 minutes. Then mash the apples with a potato masher and I always run my emersion blender through the apples to get a good texture to the sauce! A few chunks of apples in applesauce makes it yummy! Remember these apples still have the peels on them so you have to strain the sauce to take out the peels. I just used my strainer and spoon to push the sauce through and then just discard the peels. Let the applesauce cool and then bag in quart ziplock bags and freeze.

Apple Chips

Peel and core your apples. Then slice thinly and place in the dehydrator. Follow the directions on your dehydrator to see temperature and length of time. Some recipes call for dipping the apples first or added sugar and cinnamon, but as I said earlier...when you start with great apples there is no need to add anything to these.

Apple Pie

There are a ton of apple pie recipes out there. I used the one in my Betty Crocker cookbook and it was delicious. The best part about making these apple pies is that I got to let the kids make their own mini pies to deliver to MiMi and PaPa so we could share the apple mania! I found the little foil tart pans at C&R in Fayette and I let them put their dough in the bottom, we filled them with apples and then they got to do their patterns on top on half and then we added the crumble topping to the other half. What a great way to enjoy apples with your family! Oh and you get to enjoy eating them when they are done!!!!!! YUM!!!!





So that was my weekend adventure with apples and it is far from over because I still have lots of apples to use in the next week, but my house smells delicious and we are going to enjoy all of this apple adventure clear through winter!

Let the fall cooking begin.....

Fall is my favorite time of year for the beautiful weather and all of the gorgeous leaves, but mainly because of all the yummy cooking that fall brings. It has been a week/weekend of cooking around my house! Great cooking starts with great ingredients and I always stock up at the market each week! I will note in the recipe where I got the market ingredients so you can stock up this week at our final market of the season! Here are just a couple recipes for dinner. Check back later for my blog about apples!

Roasted Lamb with potatoes and applesauce (for two)
1 package lamb ribs (Country Neighbors Farm)
1 carton of potatoes (Sullivan Farms)
1 onion (Sullivan Farms)
Applesauce (see next blog)
1 loaf of Honey Oat Bread (Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm)

This was my first time make lamb ribs so I kept it very simple. I place the ribs in the crock pot in the morning before I left for work with about 3 cups of water, 1/4  cup worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons of butter and salt and pepper to taste. They were tender and delicious at dinner time!

Fresh potatoes are delicious any way you cook them, but for this meal I sautéed them with a little olive oil, onion, and creole seasoning. If you have an iron skillet pull it out and put a little olive oil in the skillet and get it hot. Chop up your onion and potatoes then throw them into the skillet. Add seasoning to taste. Cook until potatoes are done.

Homemade bread and butter along with homemade applesauce finished off this delicious dinner!

Hungarian Noodles & Beef

2 soup bones (Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm)
1 package egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. chopped onion (Sullivan Farm)
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp hot sauce
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh cheese (Goatsbeard Farm~found at With the Wild Farm)
1/4 cup shredded goat cheese (Goatsbeard Farm~found at With the Wild Farm)
Garlic salt and pepper to taste

Again pull out your crockpot. Put in the soup bones and enough water to cover them in the crock pot in the morning. When you are ready to start dinner, pull out the soup bones and put them on a plate. Pour the water full of soup bone goodness into a pan and bring it to a boil. While it is coming up to a boil take all of the meat off of the soup bones and set aside. (You will be amazed at how much meat is on a soup bone). When  your water comes to a boil pour in your noodles and cook them as directed. Do not discard the excess water after they are done. Just turn off your burner and just let the noodles hang out for a bit. In a large skillet cook your onion in a lithe olive oil. Add the soup, worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds, hot sauce, cottage cheese, sour cream, fresh cheese, goat cheese, and seasonings. Once all of that is combined and creamy add in your meat. Then pour it into your noodles. Combine and serve! It is a delicious fall meal and of course you can add homemade bread on the side!

Our amazing vendors...

I know I have talked about how amazing our vendors are before, but they are one of the greatest groups of people. We have started donating every other week to the Fayette Food Pantry! The vendors put together quite a donation each time for the food pantry that is serving 300+ families in the area. I have to admit that I had no idea there was that much need in the area and I am blown away that these farmers are willing to donate so much to those in need. We will have one more donation on the last market of the season on October 9th and then we will continue our donations again when we open in the spring. 

Pictured above are Derek Bryant from Blue Bell Farm, Donnice Dowell and her grandson from Windy Hill Produce, Laura Korte from Country Neighbors Farm, and Brittany and Kaleigh Sullivan from Sullivan Farms! We have also received donations from Mike of Hamptons Hilltop Orchard, but we couldn't convince him to join us in the picture! 

Check out all that delicious produce and meat! The farmers donated apples, hamburger, squash, tomatoes, swiss chard, melons, peppers and green beans. 

2nd Annual Farm to Table Dinner

This past Saturday we had our 2nd Annual Farm to Table Dinner Fundraiser for the market. It was a beautiful way to kick off fall and we couldn't have asked for better weather. After all of the heat of the summer it was refreshing to have a crisp sunny fall day to have our dinner. You may be wondering where all of the pictures are from the night.....well I am going to have to gather some from other members of the market because I did not stop to take a single picture. So I will have to rely on my words to describe this beautiful night.

As you drove up the long drive to Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm you first saw beautiful aprons blowing in the breeze along the fence of the party area. Then as you got a little closer the tables were gorgeous with white linens and antlers, hedge apples, and mason jars full of flowers or with candles in them as center pieces. Each plate had a menu for the dinner and a colorful wrapped bar of soap as their favor to take home. It smelled wonderful! There were fires set up in case you got a little cool. You could help yourself to drinks of all varieties and some yummy appetizers to start!

The appetizers included:

• Honey Muffins
• Sesame Crackers
• Variety of Goatcheese
• Tortilla chips and salsa
• Arugula Pesto with Toasted French Bread
• Sliced Vegetables

Is your mouth watering, yet! YUM! These were fantastic and as I was greeting people as they came in I couldn't ever actually see the appetizer table because it was always surrounded with people. I think they all enjoyed these tasty starters! 

I have to take a minute to talk about the kids at the dinner. JA and Cathy had a zipline up for the kids to play on and talk about fun! Our kids started playing on it at about 3 and it was in constant use until the dinner was over around 8:30. So the background music for our dinner was the zip of the zipline and the laughter of the kids. It just doesn't get any better than that in my book! 

We had a fabulous solo musician/singer for our dinner. Noah Earle played delightful music and everyone enjoyed the easy listening songs all night long. He had quite a few songs that he whistled in and that was amazing. Noah's wife and two boys joined us for the dinner! We are so grateful that they took time to join us for the dinner. 

After everyone had some time to enjoy the appetizers and drinks we asked everyone to take their seats and the dinner began. We started dinner with a roasted butternut squash soup served by all of our wonderful vendors to the guests! 

Then it was time for the main course and it went a little like this: 

• Smoked Beef Roast
• Grilled Lamb Kabobs
• Grilled Vegetables
• Green Beans
• Corn Casserole
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Baked Potatoes
• Three Seed and Honey Oat Bread with homemade butter and jelly 

Amazing! That is the only way to describe the main course! After all of that goodness you have to finish it off with dessert. Nothing says fall like apple crumb pie and that is what was for dessert along with cheesecake drizzled with honey! YUM! 

It was a beautiful night and I am so glad that we got to share it with all of you that came to the dinner! I promise to add some pictures on here of the event when I get them. For now check out our facebook page to see a few. 

I have few special thank yous to send out. 

• Thank you to all of the vendors....you all work so hard all year long to make our market amazing and then donate, cook, bake, and so much more for the dinner annually. There would not be an event without each of you!
• Thank you to JA and Cathy Johnmeyer for hosting this year! It was a beautiful setting!  
• Joseph did all of the decorations and worked for weeks putting it all together and it looked spectacular. He isn't much for crowds so he didn't stick around long enough for me to thank him in one of my speeches. 
• We also had some volunteer cooks that worked their magic on the meats. Jim smoked all of the roast and it was delicious! James was the grill master for the night and the kabobs and vegetables were perfect! 
• Thank you to Noah Earle for coming out and providing the music for this years event. 
• Thank you to John for letting us borrow your hotbox and serving sets! We couldn't do it without all of those pieces. 
• A special thanks to Les Bourgeois Winery and Bushwhacker Bend Winery for donating wine to our event and for Anheuser Busch for donating the beer for the event. 

A little rain goes a long way....

I remember opening day of the market this year we were worried that we were going to get rained out and I remember praying that it would stop raining by 3 so we could have market and all of our fun activities! If we had known then that we wouldn't get another good rain until September our prayers would have been a little different. This summer season has been hot and it seemed like Tuesday, our market day was consistently the hottest day of the week. The heat was relentless, but despite the weather our amazing farmers have had a bountiful crop of veggies and fruits this year along with filling their table with homemade goodies, meats and cheeses! The heat and dryness made the grasses brown and flowers have died, but thanks to good irrigation systems the farmers have maintained their crops. As I was driving into work today I was looking around and everywhere you look it is green. Three months of no rain is washed away with a good weekend of rain. Plants are amazing to sustain in the dry and then thrive in times of rain. Thank you to each vendor at the market that has worked so hard this year to keep their plants alive and have come out each week in the heat to make our market a great place to be on Tuesdays! As the summer season moves into fall I hope you all come out these last few weeks to support our local farmers because they work really hard to bring you the very best of their farms each week!

Sullivan Farms....

I got to visit the farm of Bill and Brittany Sullivan recently and I loved it. They hosted a farm tour for a Young Farmers group that is one of the nicest groups of people you will meet. Bill and Brittany along with their daughter Kaleigh live outside of Fayette on 20 acres. Every aspect of their farm is environmentally friendly and organic from their straw bale home to the way their produce is planted and cared for daily. And the animals at Sullivan Farms live a great life especially one of the newest additions; the pigs!

I have to give a little side story here about my experience with pigs because my dad raised pigs the entire time I lived at home and they drove him crazy. Granted we had a lot of pigs with their own sheds and large open areas to roam, but they go out, made my Dad mad regularly and were a source of a lot of work for all of us. So when Bill started talking about how excited he was to get pigs I thought he had lost his mind. Excited for pigs...that was crazy talk. Then once he got the pigs Bill talked about how good they are and how much he loved having them. This I had to see to believe...surely the pigs would start to get out and drive him crazy, too! As of the farm tour he still loves his pigs and they adore him. Well except for the bad pig that gets out occasionally....

The Sullivan's farm is home to 8 pigs now, chickens, and a goat. There are seven female pigs and one male who is the newest addition to the farm. He arrived about a week I believe after the tour. It has been a rough go for Herbert, but I think he has finally won over the girls! I see baby pigs in the future! The chickens are kept on grass or what is left of the grass in all this heat and they seemed very happy and content! Ivory, the goat loves the Sullivan's and we heard lots of stories of how she thinks she is part human and just wants to be with them whenever they are outside so she gets out and follows them. She was entertained all night long by all the kids playing near her pen during the tour so I don't think she felt the need to come visit with the adults!

Sullivan Farm is irrigated with pond water so they have been able to maintain their vegetables throughout the summer. They are delicious. As you can see in the beautiful picture below of their rows of vegetables and their house in the background it is a large operation that is all done by hand. The Sullivan's work very hard and try new things along the way to help make their harvest as bountiful as possible. One of the new things they tried this year was to plant sunflowers in the beds with the squash to give more shade to the plants to help them produce. They said it helped and it sure made for a pretty picture! I love sunflowers and these were beautiful standing tall in the afternoon sun.

Come out to the market and pick up some of the delicious vegetables and homemade goodies from Sullivan Farms! They have homemade jellies, tortilla chips, salsa and sometimes banana bread. During this time of year they have potatoes, tomatoes, swiss chard, scallions, beets, squash, and a limited supply of green beans! YUM!!!



Also if you want to learn how to build a straw bale structure check you can attend a workshop on their farm and learn first hand how to build it! See the details in the flyer below.

Spaghetti Squash...

Have you tried it? I hadn't ever tried spaghetti squash until a couple weeks ago. Boy have I been missing out! It is delicious and can be prepared so many ways. Check out a few of the recipes that I have used with spaghetti squash. 

Spaghetti Squash

1 squash

olive oil

Cut your squash lengthwise in half. Place face down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cook in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes (time may vary depending on your oven). Allow squash to cool. Shread squash using a fork, place the spaghetti in a bowl and use immediately or refrigerate for later use. 

Buttery Spaghetti Squash

Take your squash and toss with olive oil or melted butter. Add salt and pepper to taste and then top with parmesan cheese! Quick, easy and delicious! 

Spaghetti Squash Hashbrowns

Heat your skillet and a little oil. Then put in the spaghetti squash. Allow to brown on the first side then turn and brown on the other side. YUM! I haven't tried it but I bet you could add a little egg to the squash in the bowl and then form into hash brown pattys for that variety. 

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Top squash with your favorite red sauce for a low carb substitute for pasta! 

Spaghetti Squash Side Dish

2 cups shredded spaghetti squash 

1 egg

1/2 cup crushed crackers

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup shredded cheese (your favorite variety)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Heat skillet with a little oil and butter in it. Pour in mixture and allow to brown on each side. 

Soap at the Market...

PureTouch Essentials Soap

You can find more than delicious produce, meats, fruits, and cheeses at the market. My family also enjoys staying clean with homemade soaps from PureTouch Essentials Soap. Jennifer Hill and her husband Jason bring amazing soaps to the market that they make in their home. Their soap is made using a Natural Cold Process. They also feature essential oils that benefit your skin. I am going to let you stop by and visit with Jennifer to get all of the details on the process and the specific oils she uses and I am going to skip right to telling you how much we love her soap.

I have three types of her soap in my bathtub that I rotate using just because I couldn't pick just one! My son and daughter have been using PureTouch Essentials Soap since they started coming to market and have their different scents all lined up for use. PureTouch Essentials Soap leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth. It has a great lather for your whole body! Yes it is great to clean your hands, but don't forget to take it over to the bath or shower to use there too! Or better yet just come up and get a second bar for the bath or shower!

Come up to the market tomorrow and pick up your favorite scent!

Basic
Lemongrass & Tea Tree
Milk & Honey
Patchouli
Tea Tree
Cherry Blossom
Oatmeal & Tea Tree
Karma
Black Amber & Lavender


The basic is $3.00 and all the others with Essential Oils are $4.00

Turkey in July....I think so!

Yes it is over 100 degrees outside and far from the cool weather of November, but Laura from Country Neighbors Farm had an extra turkey taking up room in her freezer and asked if I wanted one. I thought that sounded great so last week I brought home a 14 pound turkey from the market! 

Now that I had the turkey I had two problems: 

1. I have never cooked a turkey before...

2. It is over 100 degrees outside and I don't want to turn on the oven...

I started thawing the turkey when I came home from market Tuesday night and it was thawed and ready to cook Thursday. I solved both of my problems by treating the turkey like a chicken. I brined the turkey overnight with water, kosher salt, lemon juice and a little brown sugar. The next morning I rinsed the turkey and then rubbed it with olive oil and a little salt. coated the inside with about a 1/4 cup of honey. Then I fired up my grill (one side only) and put on the turkey breast down. Let it be for about one hour and then turned the turkey and glazed it with honey. After another hour I turned it again and glazed with honey. It took about 2.5 hours until it was completely done. Make sure you let it rest and cool off before you cut it up to enjoy. 

So when it is 100 degrees you can cook a turkey without heating up your house and it is delicious! So order an extra one from Laura...one for Thanksgiving and one for the summer! I believe she is taking orders for those holiday birds now!!!! 

Sides to go with Grilled Turkey in the summer: 

Fried Corn off the Cob 

Caleb came home from work the other day and said one of his co-workers was talking about fried corn and so we tried it. I would say it is a success and a great way to use up any extra ears of corn that are already cooked. 

3 slices of bacon

5-6 ears of corn with the corn cut off ( I used corn from the Kircher Farm...they will be back a market in a couple weeks)

Fry the bacon and leave the grease

Add the corn and cook until it has a crunch but is not crispy 

I added a some diced up patty pan squash from the market and cooked it right with the corn. I also crumbled the bacon and put it back in at the end. 

This was a wonderful side dish! 

Deviled Eggs

Hard boil eggs from Blue Bell Farm and cool 

Remove shells, slice in half and remove yolks

Mix the yolks with salt, pepper, mayo and a little mustard

Put the yolk mixture back into whites and serve

Honey Recipes

After my experience extracting honey I had to come home and cook with it, too! We enjoy honey by the teaspoon straight from the bottle, but these are some great ways to enjoy honey in a meal!

Grilled Whole Chicken with Honey 
1 chicken from Country Neighbors Farm
1 jar of honey from Potterosa (you will not need the whole jar)
1 apple
olive oil, salt and pepper

I used a gas grill (if using charcoal you will have to have a cool spot for the chicken). My grill has a double burner so I turned on the burner to the right on med and the one on the left was off. Prepare your chicken by rubbing it with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Then I cut up an apple and stuffed it inside the bird along with a generous squirt of honey. Place chicken on the part of the grill that is not on and leave it alone for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, turn the chicken and glaze with honey. Wait another 30 minutes and turn again and glaze with honey. Check the chicken at this point to see how close to done it is with a meat thermometer. At 180 degrees it is done.

Take your chicken off the grill and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting. Add your favorite side dishes and you have a great meal!


Honey BBQ Chicken

Take your left over chicken from above and warm back up in a skillet with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and about 1/4 cup honey. I served this with baked potatoes and sauteed zucchini and broccoli from the market!

My first lesson in honey extraction = success

Dennis and Bonnie Potter are the owners of Potterosa Honey and we have been talking all season about me going out to visit the bees. Just so everyone knows up front the idea of getting that close to bees was not something I was really looking forward to, but curiosity won this internal battle! This weekend was extraction weekend at Potterosa Honey and I was lucky enough to be part of all of it! I say extraction weekend because this was a two day farm visit for me so I could see the whole process!

That's me ready to start extracting!

Yes, I said lucky...what a difference a visit with the bees makes!

DAY 1: Friday afternoon I met Dennis at one of his many hives to extract honey. He had an extra suit for me and so I got to suit up (it is warm in those suits but if the choice is bee stings or a little sweat I am going with sweat every time). You can see two hives in the picture and then there was another starter hive called a NUC just out of the picture. The taller hive is where we extracted honey. 

The bees need a little smoke to stay calm.

Those bees are gently brushed
off the frame! 

My first frame of honey. It is full! 

We got all suited up and Dennis got a little fire going in his bee smoker box and then added some green grasses to get a cool smoke. Put a little smoke near their entrance and over the bees that are on top of the box when you remove the lid and they completely ignore you. Why...well the bees use pheromones to signal danger which causes them to attack because they are protective of their hive. The smoke masks those pheromones so there is no signal of danger and we are safe while extracting the honey. Once you take the top off the hive it is time to get to work, but I learned around bees you move at a leisurely pace because then you don't startle them or disrupt their work because they are always working. Each frame is pulled out and examined. If the honey is capped by the bees like in the pictures it is ready to be extracted. The bees cap the honey when it has just a little over 18% water in it. This honey will last forever if you let the bees do their work and patiently wait for them to cap it. We extracted 10 frames from this hive and replace them with new frames so the bees can keep doing what they do! It is amazing to watch them work and I am so thankful I didn't chicken out of this farm visit!

Watching the experts! 

This is the tool for uncapping.

Uncapping the honey!  

DAY 2: I got to visit the home of Dennis and Bonnie Potter for day two of honey extraction! It was a beautiful day on Saturday to be in a screened in porch extracting honey. Extraction day is an event around the Potter home. Clayton Lee, a fellow Beekeeper brought his 16 frames for extraction, too! We dive right in and I say "we" because they let me be a part of the whole process. First you have to uncap the honey. You take the tool pictured and just gentle remove the caps....after a little practice like 10 frames or so I had a pretty good rhythm! After uncapping the frames you put them four at a time into the extractor and spin by hand until all the honey is flung out of the frames. The honey then flows down through the first strainer. The honey is then sent through two more strainers before ending in a bucket. The honey will stay in the bucket for a couple days until all the bubbles have come to the top and then it is bottled and ready for sale!

It is like being a kid again getting to
spin the honey out of the frames! 

Grandpa's little helpers!

The "honey fairy" working her magic! 

Liquid gold....gorgeous honey! 

As we were getting started Dennis and Bonnie's family arrived and it became a family event! Their son and daughter with their spouses and the grandkids joined in all the fun. It was so special to see the grandkids watch in awe of the whole process and get right in there to help. I was a little in awe of the experience myself. The kids and spouses didn't hesitate to take turns either. Extracting honey is a very fun process and man the results on fresh muffins is delicious! We had to bottle a jar immediately for everyone to enjoy on Bonnie's fresh muffins and biscuits! YUM!

In control of the honey flow!

1st jar...it was so good!

I feel like I got a crash course in bees, beekeeping and extracting
honey in two days! Dennis said that it is contagious and I know what he meant now. I have been pondering bees on our land since I left their house on Saturday.

Thank you to Dennis, Bonnie, and the entire family for sharing your very fun day with me. Thank you to Clayton Lee for letting me have a go at uncapping your honey!


Potterosa Honey will be back at the market on Tuesday with the freshest honey you can get....well unless you go help on extraction day!

Eggs...yes please!

Farm fresh organic eggs are delicious. They are richer and have a more vibrant color than the eggs you can buy in the grocery store. You can find eggs at the market from many vendors depending on the day and their egg production. There are brown eggs and "Easter Eggs". My kids love to eat the "Easter Eggs" because they like to pick out their egg color before we eat! 

Eggs are a staple in our lives and we often just think of them as a breakfast food or an ingredient in a dish. Yes...eggs are great for breakfast and they are essential in lots of dishes. Here are a few ways that we enjoy eggs.

Recently I had an abundance of eggs from Blue Bell Farm so one evening I boiled a dozen eggs. When I boil eggs I bring the water to a boil and then boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes. So you have a dozen hard boiled eggs...now what? Here is what I did with those eggs.

• I enjoyed hard boiled eggs for breakfast with some three seed bread from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm.

• Another way to enjoy hard boiled eggs for breakfast is to make a white sauce with butter, flour and milk and thicken. Then chop up some of the eggs in the sauce. Top your favorite toast with this egg gravy.....it is delicious!!!!

• I made egg salad: cut up your hard boiled eggs, add a little mayo (it doesn't take much with these eggs), salt, pepper, and dry mustard. Combine and enjoy as a sandwich or with crackers. I did both....a sandwich for dinner and then egg salad with crackers while at work for lunch the next day. 

• A hard boiled egg makes an excellent snack, too! 

• You could also make a wilted salad with fresh spinach from the market, slice hard boiled eggs, bacon, and onion. You make a hot vinaigrette and drizzle the salad. Yum! 

These are just a few ways to enjoy eggs! They are so much more than just a staple food so pick up some farm fresh eggs and get to cooking! 

Cooking experiments.....

Trying new things has never scared me in the kitchen. They key to that confidence is that you have to be ok if something you try goes wrong because it does sometimes. I thought I would start off this blog with sharing one experiment that did not work out and then a few that did work out delicious! 

When I got pie cherries a couple weeeks ago at the market I was very excited to make my first ever cherry jam. Yum! So I sat and pitted all the cherries. I had to share a few with my dog who loved them, but boy did he drool! :) I found a recipe online and got to work. All of the jam recipes are essentially the same  when they are made without pectin, which I didn't have on hand. This particular recipe said to cook at a simmer for 30-40 minutes. I did it for 30 minutes because it was at the right temperature. Excitedly poured it into the jar and sealed it up. When I heard my top "pop" a little later I was thinking I had just successfully made my first cherry jam. I woke up the next morning, made toast, opened up my newly made jam and it was as hard as a rock. Taste good, but there is no spreading this stuff! It happens. I got some more pie cherries from Sandy Creek Farm this past week so I will be trying this again! 

Ok, now some recipes that went great on the first go! 

Brisket in the oven..yes please! 

• 1 Brisket from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm
• Olive oil
• Homemade rub (1/4 cup Kosher salt, 1 tbsp garlic salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1tsp dry mustard, and 1/4 cup bbq spice..you need enough to cover your brisket so the amounts will vary a little)
• Time
• bbq sauce if you want

You have to plan a little in advance for this meal, which you probably all have figured out by now that I don't do very often! Thaw your brisket at least a day in advance of when you want to cook it and then the night before mix up your rub. Coat your brisket in olive oil and then get your hands dirty and put on the rub. Cover and place in your fridge to let those spices get to work! The next morning wrap your brisket in 4 layers of foil and place in a shallow pan to catch in juices. Put it in your oven on the lowest temp (175-200). Go to work or ignore it for the day. I put mine in at around 8ish and then took it out at 5ish. I opened it all up on the top and poured on a little bbq sauce and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes. Take it out and slice it up! Delicious! 

Homemade coleslaw for 2

You can get a cabbage in a lot of varieties and from a variety of vendors right now at the market. I love cabbage raw or cooked, but last night I made homemade coleslaw. 

1 head of cabbage (mine came from Elmtree Farm this time)

1 large carrot (shredded or sliced)

Dressing (You may have dressing left over, but I just stuck mine in the fridge to use another day)

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp mayo

salt and pepper to taste

Mix up your dressing and let it hang out in the fridge while you chop up the cabbage and carrot. I thinly sliced the cabbage and sliced the carrot. Top with your dressing (to your taste) and then let it hang out in the fridge again until you are ready to eat. YUM!

We made sandwiches out of the brisket and enjoyed the coleslaw on the side last night for dinner! It was worth the extra planning! The bonus is there is enough brisket left over for at least two more meals!  What a great way to stretch your dollars....a meal for less than $5.00 for two!!!!

Country Neighbors Farm......

Join me as I visit Country Neighbors Farm with my kids! 

Country Neighbors Farm can be found just outside of Fayette and it felt like going home to me. My Grandma who recently passed away raised sheep and I grew up loving visiting Grandmas house and going out to see the sheep especially the babies. So I asked Laura, owner of Country Neighbors Farm if it would be alright if my kids joined me on the farm visit. She agreed and so I got to visit an amazing farm, relive childhood memories and make memories with my kids! 

Country Neighbors Farm is home to chickens, turkeys, lambs, cattle and pigs. Lots of very happy animals. We got to check out the chickens and sheep on our visit. Turkeys were coming shortly after our visit so we didn't get to see them, but got to check out their homes. C.J. and Lily wanted to visit the chickens first so we headed across the pasture. 

As we were walking to see the chickens Lily says, "Kiersten it stinks a little." I replied by saying that when I was a little girl my Dad used to say it smells like money when I said it was stinky. She looks at me like I had lost my mind and without missing a beat says, "So farmers make money on stink?" That girl cracks me up and she had Laura laughing, too with that comment! She quickly forgot all about the smell as they looked at chickens.

The chickens are confined in open air homes that are moved daily so they are always on fresh grass. The chickens are watched over by Sadie, who after a bit of shyness was ready to play! C.J. would run across the field and Sadie had so much fun running with him! 

It was a sight to see all those mamas and 50-60 babies try to hide from us in the grass. The kids quickly figured out if 

they were quiet the babies would let them get close enough to pet them for a minute. Then we got to meet a very special little lamb that was not being cared for by his mama and Laura was trying to get a new Mama to take 

care of him. The kids decided that his name should be Willy, well Lily decided and C.J. agreed! She named him Willy because that is how she used to say her name when she was little.....she told Laura the whole story. They got to pet him and really wanted to bring him home. I have to admit I  wanted to bring him home, too! I grew up with a barn lot full of babies that we bottle fed when the mamas wouldn't or couldn't take care of them. We were all excited to hear that his adopted Mama was feeding him though the next day. Country Neighbors is a great place full of happy animals! Laura has a beautiful sustainable farm. Stop by the market on Tuesday and visit with Laura...she has delicious meat and great stories! 

What a great way to spend the afternoon....making memories with my kids!