Can we talk about the weather?

My kids are home from school today due to freezing rain and snow. Maybe yours are too.
Snow definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for today and it isn’t convenient. It’s so easy to curse the weather and wish it away. But snow is moisture and so I will take it.

I was planning to write about my favorite fried chicken recipe today but the weather is weighing on my mind and so Fried Chicken will have to wait for next week ;)

This weather isn’t convenient. It could even be dangerous for those who have to be on the roads. But dang do we ever need the moisture.

Iowa has been in a drought for more than 190 consecutive weeks. That’s 3 years and 8 months since we’ve had adequate moisture in our soils.

Really think about that.

We have been in a drought for almost FOUR YEARS. The last time we had a drought like this was in the 1950’s.

It's easy to forget we are in a drought when water flows freely from our taps and water restrictions are distant memory from last summer. We never forget it here on the farm though. We depend on a well and we see the effects of too little moisture first.

We need water for our vegetables to grow. We also need water to clean those vegetables up and bring them to market. We need water to quench the thirst of our animals as well as our own. Water is necessary to clean ourselves and our clothes and our dishes. Our kids love to play in water and I yearn for a time when I can let them do that without my chest clenching with worry.

I have a hard time holding my tongue when someone says "man, I wish it would stop raining!" or "gross! It's snowing!" And it happens Every. Time. We. Have. Rain or Snow.

I know it's inconvenient. I know gray skies dampen moods and mess up plans.

But without rain and snow, crops - FOOD - will eventually cease to grow. 

Nathan has videoed dust-nados in neighboring fields. I’ve witnessed tumble weeds blow across the road in front of my vehicle twice in the last week. My stomach flips upside down every time I see a swirl of dirt rise from the ground. I can’t help but think of the dust bowl.

We have the tools today to avoid such a disaster but have we implemented enough of them? Or has greed and willful ignorance left too many fields ‘naked’?

Have too many trees been cut down?

Have we replaced enough ‘lawn’ with deep rooted, drought resistant, prairie plants? I fear not.

And so for right now, I don’t care if the moisture falling from the sky is rain or snow or if it means I have to cancel all my plans. I will take it. And I will be thankful for every drop.

Your farmer,
Emily

*Successful Farming Magazine & U.S. Drought Monitor

Let’s talk lamb!

Have you seen lamb on our product list and wanted to try it but just not sure how to cook it? Well, there are a lot of great recipes out there so I will share a couple of my favorite today and also where to look for more!

The most common question I get is: “If I want to try lamb what should I get?” And my recommendation is always either ground lamb or lamb chops. Ground lamb, like any ground meat, is just easy and it floats right into a lot of simple meals. But to really get the experience, lamb chops are where it’s at! Lamb chops are also simple to prepare and pack a lot of flavor.

My favorite lamb chop recipe is: Seared Lamb Chops with Mustard-Herb Pan Sauce. This recipe is a classic because in it, I provide instructions for cooking the chops themselves separate from the sauce. This means that you can enjoy the chops as is, without any additional seasoning, or you can rub the chops with any herbs you like before cooking them. I personally really enjoy rosemary and garlic with lamb. And if you choose to make the sauce, you make it in the same pan as the chops so it is a really flavorful one pan dish :)

Ground lamb can be used in almost any dish calling for ground meat. From lamb burgers to lamb chili, lamb lasagna and more, ground lamb is very versatile. My favorite recipe to showcase the lamb itself though is Lamb & Broccoli Pasta.

I can’t end a blog post about cooking lamb without sharing my absolute favorite recipe for Leg of Lamb. Leg of Lamb can range from 3-6 pounds and as such can be intimidating. However, with this Super Simple Buttermilk Leg of Lamb recipe, you can’t go wrong. It is a no fuss recipe and with just 3 ingredients you really can’t mess it up :)

In addition to these great recipes, we also have free recipe books from the  American Lamb Board we can give you when you visit us at Produce in the Park as well as when you purchase lamb here at the farm.

Other lamb recipes available on my blog:
Lamb & Rosemary Koftas (ground lamb)
Greek Roasted Lamb Shoulder Roast (can also use leg of lamb)
Braised Lamb Shanks
Shepherd's Pie (use lamb kabob for the 'stew meat')

Have you tried our lamb? Tell me about your experience in the comments. What is your favorite lamb recipe?

Enjoy!

I originally shared this recipe with our Date Night CSA customers back in June of 2019 and it was a hit! This simple recipe is a great introduction to lamb. You set the chops aside before making the sauce so you can sneak one plain and then dress the rest up with the delicious Mustard herb sauce for a restaurant quality meal!
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This recipe is also easy to double or triple. Just make sure to sear your chops in batches so you don't over fill your pan. Then make the full amount of sauce after cooking all the chops.

​Seared Lamb Chops with Mustard-Herb Pan Sauce
 
Ingredients
4 bone-in lamb chops
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold butter
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (or 1 TBSP dried chives)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
 
Directions
Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the lamb chops until golden brown and medium rare (130 degrees F), about 3 – 5 minutes each side.
When chops are done, transfer to a serving platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Reduce heat to medium-low and de-glaze the skillet by carefully pouring in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until broth has reduced by half.
Stir in the mustard and lemon juice and simmer one minute more. Add the butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the chives and rosemary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour sauce over chops and serve.

One of the things about farming in Iowa is that it's very seasonal. We work like crazy from March through about Thanksgiving and then the ground freezes and the plants die. Many of the animals go to butcher in October and November and chores, while still a daily presence, decreases to a few necessary minutes each morning and night. The work takes a sudden shift from what feels like around the clock outdoor physical activity of growing/nourishing/harvesting and reactivity of customer interactions to largely indoor/office work. Catching up on the books, researching that new idea, making crop plans and ordering seed for next year, making decisions about if and how to grow the business. Hard mental work that gets pushed aside during the spring/summer/fall but that is soo necessary to running a business. At the same time, the physical demands lessen and the days get darker and colder and even though I know how exactly worthwhile it is to go outside despite the cold and snow, it gets MUCH harder to cross that thresh hold and step outside.

And then there's the holidays... whew boy, those holidays can certainly bring stress. I've thought a lot about the holidays this year. THE matriarchs, aka - the grandmas that held everyone together, on all sides of both families have passed away in the last few years and we've been floundering a bit as long held holiday plans and traditions shift and morph into something new.

I've also come to realize that the holidays and the traditions and magic that we associate with them are so important to keeping spirits up during the cold, dark winter days. We have been blessed with a few nice days this past week but it gets dark so early that it’s hard to take advantage of the nice weather after school and work. And so, we focus on the season before us and bask in the lighted trees and the hot chocolate and the music that we all know so well.

Besides lifting spirits in the moment, traditions also tie us to each other and seat themselves deep in our memories. I will never forget making Christmas candy with my brother, mom, grandma and great grandma. This is one tradition that has largely fallen to the wayside over the years but I will never forget the coziness of 3 women and 2 children all working together in great grandma’s tiny apartment kitchen. And nothing was more fun than getting to help great grandma pull the peanut brittle after mom dumped it from the hot pan onto the cool cookie sheet. Trust me, you haven’t had truly good peanut brittle until you have had peanut brittle that has been pulled!

One of my favorite Christmas memories is driving through the luminaries in Anita, IA with mom & grandma. And after the luminaries, we would always drive up and down every street in town soaking in allll the Christmas lights. I find myself drawn back every year - even though my kids don't seem to think it's nearly as captivating as I do.

To be fair, my kids are just now old enough to really take in the wonders of Christmas so maybe this year will be different. It's interesting, sifting through two families worth of traditions, keeping some, discarding others and ultimately creating our own traditions that will hopefully populate our kids' winter memories for a lifetime.

One thing we have landed on is a tradition of giving - just doing a little something to help us focus a little more on others and a little less on ourselves as we pass the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Last year was a food pantry advent calendar, this year we are making blankets to donate to Lydia House via the Elk Horn Public Library. Making fleece tie blankets with a 4 & 6 year old has been a true adventure. Maybe after this I can teach them to tie their shoes. Ha. I should probably hide the scissors though as they now feel they have license to use them a little more freely than I might have intended.

Other traditions that have stood the test of time are visiting a tree farm to pick out a live tree. I mean honestly, is there anything better than getting all bundled up and walking through a patch of carefully shaped pine trees on a brisk day while debating the attributes of each tree?  Is this one ‘full’ enough *thinking emoji*? How about this one? It’s just a skotch taller than Dad, it should fit in the dining room right? Could we be more efficient and like measure things out? Well sure, but where’s the fun in that?! And honestly the best part of the whole thing is the cup of hot chocolate or apple cider to warm up with afterwards! This tradition is getting harder to hold onto as tree farms are fewer and farther between. The disappearance of Christmas tree farms feels like an analogy for the disappearance of all trees in Iowa *eye roll or sad emoji* - but I’ll write about our disappearing trees another day.

I’m working on my brother to help create a new tradition for the farm -  BKF Xmas card! It won’t happen this year but maybe next year ;) My brother is the genius behind the camera – he takes all of the truly quality photos you see from the farm.

How about you? What are your favorite Holiday traditions? What brings magic to your house in the cold winter months?

I have spent weeks preparing for this. This COLD. I knew it was coming and I even looked forward to the reprieve - the opportunity that a frozen garden presents to spend more time on writing and baking and stitching. And yet today my body tells me it absolutely is NOT ready. My brain balks at even the bare bones chores that are left now that the broilers are gone and the garden is (mostly) frozen.

I drag my feet. Warming first myself and then my coat next to the fire.

But alas my excuses have run out. Time to buckle up and face the frozen tundra to feed the laying hens and pigs.

When I come in, I will bake bread and warm both the house and my soul.

For this is just the beginning.

 I This is part 2 of a 3 part list of fabulous ways to give new life to leftover chicken! If I'm being honest, I cook whole chickens just so I can make these dishes! I challenge you to try #4 ASAP - making Orange Chicken has never been so easy!

4. Orange Chicken

• This is a fun dish that I just added to my family’s meal list. I save time by starting with leftover chicken. Prepare sauce by combining the following ingredients in a small saucepan: 1/2 cup orange juice, ¼ cup sugar, 1 TBSP vinegar, 1 TBSP soy sauce, ¼ tsp fresh minced garlic, ¼ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp red chili flakes, 1/2 tsp cornstarch. Mix thoroughly and continue to stir until the sauce bubbles and begins to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside. 
• ​​Start a pan of rice cooking on the stove top.
• Then, toss bite size pieces (or even bite size clumps) of chicken into an egg wash and then coat in cornstarch or flour. Fry in batches in a deep pan with about 1 inch of oil or lard in the bottom. When chicken bites are golden brown, place chicken pieces on a paper towel and allow excess oil to drip off. Then toss chicken with the orange sauce. Reserving some sauce to spoon over rice if you wish. Green onion makes a nice relish!

​5. Chicken salad
         Chicken salad is so versatile. Serve it on a bun, a croissant, a bagel, plain ‘ol bread, wrap it up in lettuce or eat it with a           spoon. Anyway, you serve it, chicken salad is a simple make ahead main dish that’s perfect for summer. For a classic             chicken salad, grab your favorite mayo, a stalk of celery, a small red onion and mustard, salt and pepper to taste.
        Shred the chicken and finely chop the celery and red onion. Mix cold chicken and veggies with mayo, salt, pepper, and             mustard. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.
6. Creamed Chicken on Biscuits

• This simple comfort food is hygglig on a cold winter night! In a hot skillet, combine 2 cups roughly chopped leftover chicken, 1.5 cups whole milk, ¼ cup flour, and 3/4 cup chicken broth. To avoid lumps, reserve ½ cup milk and stir the flour into it before adding to the pan. Stir gently until the gravy begins to bubble and thicken. Add salt & pepper to taste as well as ½ cup mushrooms or peas or both! Continue to simmer until the peas and mushrooms are heated through.
• My family loves this satisfying chicken gravy served over biscuits or mashed potatoes. It is also delicious over toast, buttered noodles, or rice.

I hope you and your family enjoy these recipes! Leave me a comment to tell me which recipe was your favorite or to share YOUR favorite chicken dish!

Also, click below to snag my new cookbook, 3 Meals from 1 Chicken! I created this cookbook specifically to help you make the most of each chicken. The cookbook even includes a bonus chicken broth recipe - just in time for cooler fall weather!

It’s 5pm and you’re staring at the bowl of leftover chicken in the fridge wondering what in the world you are going to make for supper tonight. That roast chicken was darn good last night but you’re ready for something different.

I know that feeling.

In fact, it’s a common one since I don’t meal plan. At least not in the traditional way. So, I made a list of quick and easy main dishes to use up that leftover chicken! I am sharing 3 of those recipes today in the first of a 3 part series on using leftover chicken.


1. Chicken tacos
      This one is simple, roughly chop the leftover chicken, toss it         in the skillet along with a packet of taco seasoning(or see my favorite homemade taco seasoning recipe below!)
      and a TBSP or two of water and cook until hot. Set the seasoned chicken aside and add sliced onions and peppers
      to the skillet with a bit more taco seasoning and sauté until tender crisp. Serve on tortillas with a side of rice.
              *Here's my favorite homemade taco seasoning!*
                   -1 TBSP chili powder
                   -1/4 tsp garlic powder
                   -1/4 tsp onion powder
                   -1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
                   -1/4 tsp dried oregano
                   -1/2 tsp paprika
                   -1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
                   -1 tsp sea salt
                   -1 tsp black pepper
I like to double this recipe so I can use half now and have enough for the next time I want tacos too!
​​
Chicken Alfredo
I keep a jar of alfredo sauce on hand at all times so I can make this family favorite on a whim! While water is boiling for your favorite pasta (I like to vary the shapes I use to keep it interesting), chop veggies (red onion, snap peas, zucchini and carrots are some of my favs in this dish) and then sauté them in a pan with a bit of butter & garlic. Set veggies aside and add chicken to the skillet sprinkled with your favorite seasoning salt and sauté until warm. After draining your al dente pasta, combine pasta, chicken and veggies for a hearty nutritious supper! 

Shredded chicken sandwiches
This one is soooo easy! Simply grab a couple forks to shred that bowl of leftover chicken. Generously shake in your favorite seasoned salt and mix it up. I like Blue Ribbon Seasoning made in Logan, IA or Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. Measure with your heart. Heat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove with a splash of water. Serve on buns with pickles and a side of steamed veggies like carrots or broccoli!

I hope these ideas make the supper 'witching hour' a bit easier! Follow along for parts 2 & 3. You won't want to miss my orange chicken recipe ;)

Enjoy!
Emily
P.S. if you haven't already, grab your free copy of my new cookbook, 1 Chicken, 3 Meals! The cookbook breaks down how to make THREE meals out of just one chicken and even covers how to make homemade chicken broth!

“Oh, you have working hands” she sighed with a tinge of disappointment.

Grandma held my hand as I was preparing to leave after a visit. Although just a freshman, soon to be sophomore, in college, my hands were rough and dirt stained. I was caught off guard, not by the state of my hands, but by the hint of disappointment, or perhaps simply weariness, in my grandma’s voice. 

I thought ‘but isn’t she proud of the work I do?’  At the time I was confused and maybe even a bit hurt. I was working my way through college after all. It was summertime and I was working at a local dairy as well as for my dad in his construction business and still putting in a few hours a week at a local grocery store as well. I was working for the next year’s tuition but also to gain experience in a field I very much wanted to dedicate my life to.

Grandma has been gone for 9 years now and I still find myself reflecting on this moment.

I know grandma was proud of me and the work I did (and still do) but after a few more years of life, and work and burnout and birth and death and sorrow and joy and rejuvenation, I think I’ve gained some perspective on that moment. I’m guessing that in that moment, my grandma wasn’t so much disappointed in me but was instead flashing through her own life and years of hard work and the accompanying exhaustion and joys and sorrows that she experienced and knew that much of the same lay ahead for me in my chosen agrarian life.
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I don’t regret my decisions. I love the physical work of the farm and I still get a thrill when I sit down to a meal that my family and I have grown, harvested, and prepared. I do understand grandma’s weariness now though in a way that I certainly didn’t at 19. 

Emily
#life reflections series no. 1

Are you stuck on what to serve for supper this week? Grab our FREE 1 chicken, 3 meals cook book when you subscribe to our email list.

“Oh, you have working hands” she sighed with a tinge of disappointment.
​
Grandma held my hand as I was preparing to leave after a visit. Although just a freshman, soon to be sophomore, in college, my hands were rough and dirt stained. I was caught off guard, not by the state of my hands, but by the hint of disappointment, or perhaps simply weariness, in my grandma’s voice. 

I thought ‘but isn’t she proud of the work I do?’  At the time I was confused and maybe even a bit hurt. I was working my way through college after all. It was summertime and I was working at a local dairy as well as for my dad in his construction business and still putting in a few hours a week at a local grocery store as well. I was working for the next year’s tuition but also to gain experience in a field I very much wanted to dedicate my life to.

Grandma has been gone for 9 years now and I still find myself reflecting on this moment.

I know grandma was proud of me and the work I did (and still do) but after a few more years of life, and work and burnout and birth and death and sorrow and joy and rejuvenation, I think I’ve gained some perspective on that moment. I’m guessing that in that moment, my grandma wasn’t so much disappointed in me but was instead flashing through her own life and years of hard work and the accompanying exhaustion and joys and sorrows that she experienced and knew that much of the same lay ahead for me in my chosen agrarian life.

I don’t regret my decisions. I love the physical work of the farm and I still get a thrill when I sit down to a meal that my family and I have grown, harvested, and prepared. I do understand grandma’s weariness now though in a way that I certainly didn’t at 19.

Emily

#life reflections series no. 1