February thought on the human condition: Now is when we complain if the house isn't as warm as it was in the summer, when we complained about the heat. -Author unknown, c.1963 | The Countdown Begins The sheep have been sheared, the pens prepped, and the cameras cleaned. Tony, our Hong Kong shepherd is excitedly anticipating the lambing to begin. I'm not sure the rest of the guys at the farm are as excited. After all, they are the ones who have to get up in the cold and dark to help with the lambing and to bottle feed the little guys who need it. However, the intensity and long nights are for only one month of the year. | Sunny and Shadow, Marseilles' ducks are going to have company in the lambing barn. It'll be fun to see how they react to more activity and how the lambs react to them. Videos coming. | Jeannie is busy planning gardens and thinking about starting seeds. Consideration is half the work. The rest falls into place when you know what you want and how to do it. | Besides all the other tasks Jeannie does like ordering products, running the store, keeping things tidy, and serving customers, she made some lovely skin care creams. Soft, creamy, and delicately fragranced moisturizers that make your skin feel so smooth. | And then there's Martin working on taxes. Or not! He will do anything to avoid taxes, even cutting hair. What's the difference between death and taxes? Martin isn't sure. | Meal preparation is made easier with foods that you just heat up or even serve cold, but that doesn't mean you need to compromise on flavor or nutrition. We have a tasty assortment of prepared meats – sausages and deli slices from our quality pasture-raised beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey. And beef wieners that are large, juicy, and flavorful. Made from Harvest Haven pasture-raised beef with no fillers at all. These are a quick nutritious meal when in a hurry. Serve in a Harvest Haven hot dog bun that is made with simple organic ingredients (fresh-milled Harvest Haven flour, Harvest Haven eggs, oil, cane sugar, and sea salt) and baked in the wood-fired oven. What's more convenient than opening a jar of Harvest Haven sauerkraut? That's convenience and enzymatic nutrition in one. Serve at room temperature or heat gently to preserve all the beneficial enzymes. Add a side of Harvest Haven French Fries or Hash Browns. Fresh russet potatoes are cut into fries or cubes, blanched in hot beef tallow, drained, and flash frozen. Heat and serve. Enjoy the convenience of Harvest Haven prepared foods without having to compromise on flavor or nutrition. | Organic green cabbage and Maison Orphee French grey sea salt fermented in ceramic crocks make a probiotic-rich kraut. Great for your gut.
Crunchy with the perfect tanginess. | Jeannie's been busy making more great personal care products using cocoa butter, shea butter, and Harvest Haven tallow from our pasture-raised beef. Back to Basics Tallow Face Cream is safe and effective, and nourishes your skin. It's made from organic ingredients, without hormone-disrupting chemicals, or petroleum products. Tallow, the main ingredient, is uniquely compatible with the biology of our cells. It consists of 50 to 55 percent saturated fat, just like our cell membranes. The result is healthy toned skin that looks, feels, and is, good. Tallow contains skin-nourishing ingredients that plant-based oils do not, like the abundance of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, K, and E) that naturally occur in pastured tallow, along with the potent anti-inflammatory conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and anti-microbial palmitoleic acid. Frankincense, camomile, geranium, and carrot seed infuse this beautiful cream with a mild floral scent, as well as provide numerous benefits to your skin. The Back to Basics Whipped Body Butter is a super soft moisturizing cream made with cocoa butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, and castor oil. The vanilla and tangerine essential oils give it a soft subtle fragrance that is fresh and dreamy. Feel good about your skin. Let your skin feel good about you! | Harvest Haven Pastured Beef Wieners, 4 pack – Juicy, flavorful all-beef wieners made from the finest Harvest Haven pasture-raised beef with no fillers at all. Gently seasoned for a delicious repast. Harvest Haven Hot Dog Buns, 4 pack – Light and fluffy homemade buns made with simple organic ingredients (Harvest Haven flour and eggs, oil, cane sugar, and sea salt) and baked in the wood-fired oven. Unique to Harvest Haven. Harvest Haven Raw Sauerkraut – Organic green cabbage and Maison Orphee French grey sea salt fermented in ceramic crocks make a probiotic-rich kraut. Serve at room temperature or heat gently to preserve all the beneficial enzymes. The superfood we love! Harvest Haven Russet Potatoes, 5 lb or 10 lb bag – The classic white potato, long and uniform, is perfect for mashing, baking, and French fries.
Harvest Haven Garlic – No kitchen should be without garlic. Large, savory, and aromatic cloves of garlic add just the right touch of flavor to all your meat and vegetable dishes. Camino Organic Cocoa Powder, Dutch-processed, 224 g – "Dutch-processed" means the cocoa powder is treated with an alkali (1 – 3 % potassium carbonate) to neutralize the acidity and bitterness, raising the pH levels to create a smooth flavor and deep, rich color. Makes it ideal for all your favorite recipes. Organic Cane Sugar, 800 g – Organic cane sugar is unrefined sugar minus the cancer-causing and environmentally damaging pesticides present in conventionally grown sugarcane. Compared to white sugar, organic cane sugar has the full-bodied taste of sugarcane and is much less processed, retaining a lot of the nutrients present in cane juice. It is the best substitute for conventional white sugar in any recipe. | Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic. | Harvest Haven Wieners with Sauerkraut on Mashed Potatoes 4 Harvest Haven Wieners
2 cups Harvest Haven Sauerkraut
1 medium Harvest Haven Onion, chopped
Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes (recipe below)
Yellow Mustard Fry wieners gently until heated through. Remove from pan and fry the chopped onion until golden brown. Add sauerkraut and heat until just as warm as you like it. Return wieners to the onion and sauerkraut. Warm if necessary. Serve over hot mashed potatoes with yellow mustard. | Garlic Mashed Potatoes 3 lb Harvest Haven Russet potatoes
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
4 cloves Harvest Haven garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste Peel the potatoes (or leave some/all of them unpeeled if you prefer, just make sure to scrub them well) and cut them into thirds. Add them to a pot of salted water and boil until a sharp knife easily pierces them. While the potatoes are boiling, add the cream, butter, garlic, and salt & pepper to a small saucepan over low heat. Let it slowly warm through. The garlic slightly cooks, infusing the cream so the potatoes are more evenly flavored. Drain the potatoes thoroughly and leave them in the pot. Slowly pour in the cream mixture and mash the potatoes using a hand-held potato masher. Mash until the cream has been absorbed and you've got a nice, smooth mash. Don't over-mash or they may end up gluey. Serve potatoes with extra butter on top (if desired). | Brownie Pudding 1 cup butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
4 extra-large Harvest Haven eggs, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Camino organic cocoa powder
1/2 cup Harvest Haven flour
2 tsp vanilla Vanilla ice cream, for serving Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding. Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream. | Musical Moments The Van Popta teens are talented musicians, each with a unique gift. Kathy, their piano and voice teacher is always so enthusiastic about their accomplishments. Recently, she told me about what they have been doing and thought it would be nice to share it with everyone. Konstantijn has been taking voice lessons but isn't ready to sing for us, yet. She did write a beautiful piece of music. But for this video, she chose one of her recent favorite pieces by another composer. Mathijs has many interests, especially in anything mechanical or computer related, including videography. He enjoys playing classic rock on his guitar. But in this video, he's ventured into jazz, which he performs quite nicely. No one is sure if he reads the music or just hears it and plays it. And he's not saying. Marseilles is also very creative and her instrument of choice is a pencil for sketching intriguing figures on any piece of paper that happens to be lying around. Kathy, her piano teacher commented, "Marseilles has written her own song. We're in the process of transcribing it, so she'll have a nice keepsake. I've never seen such nice penmanship. Every theory student should be an artist!" In this video, Marseilles performs the lovely piano piece she wrote. Enjoy! | | |
