18 Dec Fri 2009
Westminster Farmers' Market Report for 12-18-09
Westminster Farmers’ Market Report from Maple Heights Farm
Why NOT Make Your Own Puff Pastry?
The Holidays are upon us and everyone is in crazy mode preparing to have a relaxing Christmas day. We are no exception as we are triple-booked some nights with meetings, elementary school chorus performances, holiday gatherings and parties! With all the craziness, it is harder to gather my thoughts around dinner every night – and our local fruits and vegetables are becoming scarce. Still we have no trouble finding the following:
· Apples from Bolton Orchard that are as crisp as the day they were picked.
· Butternut squash from Hartman’s Herb Farm (Mass Local Food)
· Kale and sprouts from Elim Lodge Farm (Mass Local Food)
· Jerusalem artichokes and greens from Rachel’s Everlasting (Mass Local Food)
· Cheese, eggs and whole grains
· Beef, Pork, Lamb, Goat, Veal
I recommend a new year’s resolution to start you on your way for 2010. New Years is a great time to change a habit, and changing it slightly and permanently is better than changing something drastically but impossibly. How about having one non-processed, as local as possible, day each month through the winter – just one day out of 30 – but for the entire day. This habit can get you started on healthier eating. Stick to the whole foods and do some of the preparation yourself. Pick the day of the month that is easiest for you, perhaps a weekend when everyone is home and you can possibly put some little hands to work helping (or should I say “helping” in quotes?).
· Breakfast: Home baked bread (dust off the bread machine and try it, it’s easier than you think) or eggs with sausage or bacon, or simply hot oatmeal, plain or stir in a bit of peanut butter and maple syrup.
· Lunch: vegetable sauté or leftover homemade soup or perhaps a cheese sandwich.
· Dinner: roasted chicken or pot roast or homemade pizza or quiche with your own homemade pie crust. It doesn’t have to be elaborate; it can be simple and fun and will surely be healthier than something from the freezer section!
One year I resolved to learn to make puff pastry. I wanted to perfect what I put on the table without relying on the refrigerator or freezer section of the local grocery store. My kids don’t love pie crust but I found that they would devour my turkey pot pie if I used a single crust of puff pastry over the top instead of pie crust. And I can tell you that puff pastry is almost a pie crust with a bit (just a bit) more folding and rolling. I like knowing how to make puff pastry because it is free of added chemicals and is very versatile and it also contains butter instead of chemically laden shortening. One time Andy and I went to a very nice restaurant in Princeton (someone had given us a gift certificate) and I had a creamy lobster dish wrapped like a cornucopia in puff pastry. It was beautiful and a delicious (and expensive) meal, but my puff pastry is more tender and flaky! In addition to topping my pie, I use puff pastry for pastries filled with chocolate hazelnut spread and farmers’ market raspberry jam (if you try this people with think you stopped at the bakery on the way to the party). I also fill it with Smith’s Country Cheese Gouda and bake it until the cheese melts.
Another great recipe for your puff pastry bag of tricks is Cream Puff shells. I use this recipe on Christmas Eve for our Seafood Newburg to take to Andy’s family gathering – a bit unconventional I know, but it works surprisingly well! It is a unique and interesting way of making pastry and is a terrific substitute for those Pepperidge Farm shells – and they come from my own kitchen – which I like. Of course they can be used for Cream Puffs too! It is easier than you think and probably one of the most fun and simple recipes you can make!
My Broccoli Days are probably over…
Last week after the snowstorm, with a night of 16 degrees in the forecast (that’s -9 for my UK readers!); I picked most of my remaining broccoli. I skated through the 8 inches of ice-crusted snow to my garden, dug through the snow where I could and collected to my heart’s content. It was delicious and a real treat so late in the season. I did leave some just to see how much mileage I can get out of it this winter, but it was covered by snow at the time and I’m fairly certain it will be frozen solid by now (3 degrees with wind chill (-16C))! I had planned to have hamburgers for dinner that night, but when I saw the broccoli, I decided on broccoli with cheese sauce and cornbread instead. It was delicious and very sweet (not how you might usually describe broccoli) and a welcome addition to our table this time of year! So, next year, when you are planning your vegetable garden, don’t forget to read the chapters on double-cropping, winter gardening and carryover gardening. The gardening season does not have to end on September first. My new gardening calendar will keep you on track!
Christmas Farmers’ Market…
We filled the DPW barn to overflowing last week with vendors selling everything from terrific food to holiday gifts and decorations. We appreciate the terrific job that the DPW did in keeping us warm (I’m sure not an easy task considering the cold outside). It was a great ending to a great Farmers’ Market year and many of us are already looking forward to 2010 when we will plan to reopen early in May. The Agricultural Commission is already planning to make 2010 our best season yet! Stay tuned for updates over the winter.
Orders are opening for Mass Local Food on December 21st and will stay open until January 4th with a delivery day of January 8th. This is your simplest method for obtaining all the fresh local farm products that this region has to offer!
News from Our Farm
At Maple Heights Farm, we will have our last batch of 25 chickens processed on December 20th, just in time for a Holiday meal if you wish (pair it with a small boneless ham and you have the makings of a terrific Christmas dinner). These chickens are a heritage breed, Barred Plymouth Rock, and are listed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy protects genetic diversity in livestock and poultry species through the conservation and promotion of endangered breeds. Now, if you followed along with my suggested reading last summer, you will know: if you eat them, the species will recover an interesting paradox to say the least. Our chickens have been free-ranging outside since they were old enough to survive the elements without protection (though we brought them in on Tuesday night for the first time due to the weather). We have used a “chicken tractor” that gets moved to fresh grass every few days, providing a clean and rich source of food. This is not your oven-stuffer roaster (we had those in October and they were delicious in their own right) but should have a more chicken-like flavor, though not as plump and tender (or mushy as some would say). We will take orders by email or at the market on Friday. Price is $4.00 per pound and I estimate they will weigh between 3 and 5 pounds each. Pickup will be at our home in Westminster later in the day on December 20th. These can be eaten fresh on or before Christmas Day or put in the freezer for later this winter.
We have also developed a “Gardener’s Calendar” for your Christmas gift-giving needs (for those vegetable gardening gift recipients living in or near Zone 5), and we think you may want one for yourself! This beautiful, 11 x 17 wall calendar guides beginner and expert gardeners through planting, fertilizing, weeding, thinning and harvesting of all the major vegetables and also keeps track of all your household appointments. Created by Maple Heights Farm, this calendar will be the most valuable guide for all vegetable gardeners, new or experienced! Did you know you can plant onion, shallots, peas and spinach in March? In April: radish, scallion, seed potato, kohlrabi, turnip, and carrots? By following the schedule outlined in this calendar our family has eaten out of our vegetable garden since May and we will still have beets, carrots, shallots, kale and leeks if they survive this cold! These calendars are $14 each or $12 if you order 5 or more (pair them with a trowel, a packet of seeds and some plant labels for a terrific gift – Agway is well stocked). You can view a sample of the calendar here.
Kerrie Hertel