Kretschmann
Farm
Dec. 9, 2009
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings
from the Kretschmanns,
In a nutshell, Becky and I are still a bit
mentally (and physically) challenged in focus right now. Having spent a week in a Mexican border town
with a church group “missioning” at Thanksgiving, we then visited a daughter
who teaches on a special ed school on the Navajo lands and spent a few days
driving through
So, though I’m here, and you and Becky are
there in the ‘burgh, we’re all joined at hips in this wonderful world of local
foods and mental/technological connection.
The crew should have put together a great box of late fall/early winter
veggies and fruit for you to enjoy. At
the last minute, Ross gave a cell call to us in “the middle of nowhere”
(quoting a local café owner in Mexican Hat, UT) saying there were some great
broccoli sideshoots in the field and since it
have been a crying shame to have wasted these rarities, we’ve included a
bag of these as well. Though often
turnips are not a favorite, the Golden Ball variety we’ve included are truly as
good as it gets. They’re more like
rutabagas and roast up a lot more like potatoes than the other quick cooking
fall Haikurei turnips. Apples are a mix
of Yorks and those unique Goldrushes which defy categorization. Is it sweetness, tartness, crispness…or just
plain “complexity” which defines them?
Please take note of any outstanding balance
you might have, either for the regular veggie box or extras you might have
gotten. We’ll be mailing out our “bills”
shortly for anyone who owes over $10 as well as any refunds we might owe you
for the season. Right now, the amount
shown above doesn’t reflect the amounts for the December box.
We normally start the signup process for
next season in February. If you want to
continue next season, you can avoid the crunch and send on a $75 deposit and
we’ll save a spot for you. We’ll then
keep you posted in February with anything new for the upcoming season.
A Happy Season’s Greetings and thank you
from
Don (Becky & The Kretschmann Crew at Home)
Here’s some repeats from Thanksgiving which
are still right in season and brought fresh to mind driving day before
yesterday right through the heart of the northern Wisconsin cranberry bogs
through many a town with clear Scandanavian heritages.
Carrots with Cranberries:
Combine 1 grated apple, 4 c. grated carrots, 1 c. cranberries, 4 TBS
brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2
c. cider. Place in buttered casserole
dish and dot with butter.
Cover, and bake in @350 deg. for 40
min., stirring once.
Swedish Apple Ring:
Basic sweet yeast dough—easy way. Microwave1 c. milk in larger Pyrex
measuring cup until it just starts to boil.
Add ¼ c butter, 1 tsp salt. Allow
1 tbsp. powdered yeast to soften in ¼ c. warm water. Place milk in breadmaker or mixing bowl. Add ½ c. sugar or honey, 1 tsp lemon zest,
and the softened yeast. Then add about 5
c. flour. (I usually go ½ whole wheat and
keep it to about 4 1/2c. if using the bread mixer—otherwise add flour until
it’s soft dough) Let rise in warm place
until doubled in bulk or use the “dough” option on the breadmaker. Dice 2 apples, mix with 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ c.
walnuts meats, and ½ c. brown sugar.
When dough is ready, divide into two and roll each out to about 6”x16”,
brush with melted butter and spread half the apple mixture on top evenly. Roll like jelly roll and place on greased
cookie sheet in a ring, pinching the ends together. Cut with scissors at 1” intervals almost
through ring and turn slices slightly.
Let rise until doubled and bake @ 375 deg. 25 min. While warm, drizzle with powdered sugar icing. Wait till it cools before…. Mmmm… great on
any winter’s day.
Butternut Squash “Fries”: All the rage right now are those sweet potatoes fried up
looking like sweet orange shoestring potatoes.
You and do pretty much the same with butternut. We peel it with a normal potato peeler, then
slice through with a sharp knife just below the seed cavity and slice off the
stem and flower end. Then it’s just a matter of controlling it as you slice it
up into French fry shaped pieces. Toss
these with oil to coat well and bake in the oven until they are just starting
to brown up. I doubt anyone would be
able to tell these from restaurant sweet potato fries. (Try out your favorite
spice like curry powder or cumin sprinkled on top before baking.)
Big cabbage taking up the fridge?
Stuffed Cabbage: Nothing will provide a spate of nice meals like taking the short time to
roll up a big pot of these. There are
lots of fillings which are family heirlooms, but we’ve always just ignored the
hoopla and just used the whole ingredients we have at hand. Precook a pot of brown rice—1c. rice 2 c.
water 30-45 min. Finely dice up an onion
and mix 1 ½ # ground beef (pork mix or lamb works just as well), several cups
of cooked rice, a egg or two and spices—pepper, oregano, thyme, sage. Lamb is good with rosemary and thyme. Then get a huge pot of boiling water
rolling. Take a good stout meat or
barbeque fork, poke it firmly into the stem of your cabbage, then lower the
cabbage into the water, more or less stem side up. Keep the heat on to rewarm the water as the
cabbage will cool it. After the outer
cabbage leaf show signs of turning bright green and getting flabby, either
remove the cabbage to a large plate and cut off the outer layer of leaves at
the stem, or you can do this in the pot and remove the leaves with tongs to a
plate. Put the cabbage back into the boiling water and repeat the process with
the rest of the uncooked cabbage. The
leaves needn’t be totally cooked, just pliable enough to work with. While the cabbage continues to cook, place a
few spoonfuls of filling on a leaf and roll it up like a burrito, folding the
sides beginning with the thick part and ending with the thinnest part.