As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.– Vincent van Gogh | Still Harvesting This has been the fall of the long harvest. We still haven't had overnight temperatures below freezing. But, frost and snow will come. Of that we can be sure. Potatoes have been harvested, bagged, and stored in the root cellar. Now, the guys are working on carrots. Only planting garlic is left for gardening ventures this year. | The super beef cow shelter is finished and ready for use when the snow does come and the cows return to the corral from pasture. | With the light rain we had a couple of weeks ago, James was able to do road work around the place. He gets to play with his big toys whenever the opportunity arises. And we appreciate his expertise and the smooth roads. An additional project Martin hopes to finish this fall is another hay shelter. With more cattle, we need more hay; with more hay, we need more shelter for it. Maybe one of these days Jeannie will get her greenhouse built. The concrete foundation has been poured and it has a woodfired stove. Now, it just needs a structure. | We're offering beef sides to our customers this year. We worked out a price of $7.99/lb based on the hanging weight (which includes the weight of the bones). That will make our average side of beef about $3200. This price will vary depending on the size of the animal and includes the cost of slaughtering, cutting, and wrapping. After the animal is mostly boned out (you'll still have a few bones here and there in your cuts) and wrapped, you can expect to receive about 220 lbs of packaged meat. To put things in perspective, you'll save about $200-250 over purchasing the whole side piece by piece out of our display freezer. Please consider the matter as quickly as possible as our final slaughter dates for this year are quickly approaching and working out cutting instructions with you takes a little time to organize. We're seldom in a position where we have enough beef inventory to offer sides, so if interested, grab it while you can. | The humble potato has been much maligned for not tasting good and for making you fat. Conventionally-grown potatoes in the supermarkets don't taste good, so they will make you fat when you must dress them up to make them appealing. Also, copious amounts of harmful chemicals have been used to produce and store them. For example, a local farmer fed conventionally-grown potatoes to his farrow sows. They didn't produce any piglets the next spring. Among the many chemicals sprayed on non-organic potatoes is a product called Sprout Nip, which inhibits sprouting by preventing cell division. It prevented the sows from having young. Organic potatoes are exceptionally healthful, being a very good source of numerous vitamins and minerals, as well as a variety of phytonutrients that are important antioxidants. This comfort food can be enjoyed in so many ways that it should be part of your menu everyday. Here are the varieties of potatoes we have: German Butterball – tender, buttery yellow flesh; versatile for every preparation; Linzer Delikatess – delicate, buttery flavour; ideal for roasting and potato salad; Norland – traditional red potato, good for boiling, frying, and roasting; Russet – the classic white potato, great for baking and French fries; | We have eggs again! After a summer out on pasture, the hens have been returned to their cozy berm barn for the winter. They get to scratch in the dirt floor and dig around in the fresh green hay spread in their pen. Organic grains and Grander Living Water round out their diet. All those young hens that Martin was raising are starting to lay, which means we have plenty of medium-sized eggs. As the hens grow and eat more in the cooler weather, their eggs get larger. The color of the shell is determined by the breed of hen, of which we have a bit of a variety. When you open a carton of Harvest Haven eggs, you are greeted by several shades of brown and some stark white. The contents of the eggs are all the same. The feed the hens get determines the color of the yolk, though not the shell. Happy hens in a clean environment lay eggs that are good and good for you. | Harvest Haven Pasture Raised Chicken Cutlets – Tender, moist, tasty, and so easy to prepare for that special dinner or a quick meal for the family on the go. Organic Crimini Mushrooms – These lovely brown mushrooms are simply the slightly more mature version of the common white button mushroom. They are drier and more flavorful, with an earthy, meaty, and brothy flavor. Wonderful in pastas, soups, casseroles, risottos, omelets, quesadillas, tacos, tarts, bruschettas, salads, sauces, and gravies. Prepare by sauteing, roasting, baking, and simmering, or just serve them raw. Harvest Haven Red Potatoes, 5 lb or 10 lb – These moist, smooth textured potatoes have a creamy sweet flavor. Red-skinned white-fleshed, they are good for mashing, pan-frying, baking, and roasting. Harvest Haven Garlic – This year's garlic crop produced large bulbs with crisp cloves of robust flavor. A staple for every kitchen. Organic Thomcord Grapes – This is the better, grapier grape for fall baking. A hybrid of Concord grapes (the juicy, jewel-like dark purple grape that beget the flavor most associated with grape juices and jellies) and green Thompsons (the most ubiquitous of all the seedless grapes in America), Thomcords have two distinct qualities that make them exceptional. First, these grapes have the rich, deep flavor associated with Concords. Second, they don't have the pesky seeds that make Concords so obnoxious. These purple orbs are a grape season game changer. Organic Hazelnuts – These marble-sized nuts are a tree nut native to North America. As a child growing up in Manitoba, Victor picked little red Flyer wagon loads of these and stored them in the third floor attic for enjoying in the winter. Their rich flavor still stands out in recipes with other bold flavors, including chocolate, grapes, and caramel. | Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic. | Creamy Mushroom Chicken 2 packages Harvest Haven chicken cutlets
Salt & pepper to taste
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
12 ounces sliced crimini mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 cloves Harvest Haven garlic minced
1/2 cup Harvest Haven chicken bone broth
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup whipping cream Season the cutlets with salt & pepper then coat them in flour. Add the oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken. Cook it for 4-5 minutes/side until golden. Once this step is done, take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside. Add the butter to the pan. Let it melt, then add the mushrooms and Italian seasoning. Cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until the water has been released, it cooks off, and they get a nice sear. Take the mushrooms out of the pan (ok to put them on the same plate as the chicken). Add the garlic, chicken broth, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard to the pan. Give it a good stir until the mustard dissolves, and let it reduce by half (about 3-4 minutes). Add the cream to the pan, along with the chicken and mushrooms. Let the chicken cook for another 5 minutes or so until it's cooked through and the sauce has thickened a bit. Season with salt & pepper as needed. | Red Skin Mashed Potatoes 3 lbs. unpeeled red Harvest Haven potatoes, cut into quarters
4 tbsp butter, divided
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup whipping cream
Fresh scallions or chives, for garnish Place potatoes in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover potatoes. Add 1 tbsp salt and bring water to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes using a strainer and set aside. Return pot to medium-low heat and melt 2 tbsp butter. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until aromatic, but not browning too much. While garlic is sautéing, combine milk and cream and heat in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until hot, but not boiling. Return potatoes to pot and mash with a potato masher until desired consistency is reached. Take care not to over-mash or else you may get gummy potatoes (I like to leave some chunks, but you can also mash until smooth). Add remaining butter, hot milk/cream mixture, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and stir to combine. Serve with chopped scallions or chives and an additional pat of butter, if desired. | Grape Cake with Hazelnut Streusel 1/2 cup butter, room temperature, cut into 1" pieces, plus 6 tbsp butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for pan
1 3/4 cups skin-on hazelnuts
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 large Harvest Haven eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
1 1/2 lb Thomcord grapes Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13x9" pan. Lightly dust pan with flour, tapping out excess. Toast hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 10–12 minutes. Bundle nuts in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove skins. Spread out and let cool. Transfer 1 cup hazelnuts to a medium bowl (reserve remaining hazelnuts for the cake). Add brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt and mix to combine. Using a fork, mix in 6 tbsp melted butter until well combined; set streusel aside. Pulse reserved 3/4 cup hazelnuts and remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. Add lemon zest and remaining 1/2 cup room-temperature butter and pulse until combined, about 1 minute. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add vanilla and pulse just to combine. Whisk baking powder and remaining 2 cups flour and 3/4 tsp salt in a medium bowl. Pulse in half of dry ingredients to combine, then pulse in yogurt. Pulse in remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with three-quarters of the grapes. Top with streusel, then sprinkle with remaining grapes. Bake cake on a rimmed baking sheet until a tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 50–60 minutes. Transfer cake to a wire rack and let cool. | Sunny and Shadow The other day, Marseilles was describing her journeys with her ducks between the pond and the brooder barn where they safely spend the night out of reach of predators. Because the days are getting shorter, she has had to get the ducks in earlier than they are accustomed to and they didn't like it. They also didn't like the rain we had recently, probably because they haven't experienced it in their short lives. We only had a couple of showers all summer. However, when they found worms in the puddles on their path from the pond, they were excited. Marseilles loves her ducks. Hi, I'm Marseilles, and I'm here to talk about my ducks! My ducks' names are Sunny and Shadow and they're super cute! Sunny is a Peking duck and Shadow is mostly Cayuga. Cayuga ducks have black feathers that can change colors in the light to blue, green or purple! Pekings just have white feathers, but are just as pretty. Black feathers actually get warmer in the sun, so Shadow likes to be in the water more than Sunny. He enjoys scaring Sunny by diving underwater and resurfacing right under him! In turn, Sunny always gets to the bugs and snacks first. I often have to save a few just for Shadow. Their favorite treats are grasshoppers and earthworms. They hated the rain until they saw the worms! One time I decided to take the ducks to our house. When Mathijs saw them, he was upset. "What are you doing? The ducks belong outside!" He said. "Don't worry," I replied, "Mom likes quackers.*" All in all, I love my quackers. :) *To explain to all you novices of the English language and history of terms, when Jonathan our son was about four years old, Victor and he picked a few raspberries from our garden. Victor suggested that he should share some with me. That's when he said, "Mom likes crackers," and promptly popped the berries in his mouth. Since that time when similar incidents arise, we say, "Mom likes crackers/quackers." | | |
