oh.

My.


GOODNESS!


Just back from our annual judging at the State fair - we host and judge a herbal cooking contest every year, and every year the entries were PHENOMENAL!!! This year, some highlights include: super-deliciously garlicky herb bread (one loaf contained SIX CLOVES of garlic!!!!!!!!!!), a most amazing and delicious lavender-chocolate torte, fabulous lemon balm pound cake, a delicious pecan/mint tea bread (it tastes much better than it sounded!), and a fantastic bread containing an interesting mix of herbs such as juniper berries, mustard, thyme, peppercorns and allspice - paired with a dark beer and some sharp cheddar...oh my!!!

A good friend/customer of ours always enters oodles of contests at the state fair and she sent us home with one of the seven (!!!!) cakes she had entered in the fair today...I'm including a picture so you can see the caliber of stuff I'm talking about. Is this cake gorgeous, or what? And, I assure you - it tastes even better than it looks!!!!!!!!



in other news! We stil have space in our Batik With Natural Dyes class this Saturday, August 11th - come learn to batik with natural dyes and make and take home a gorgeous window charmer such as this:



or this:





in FURTHER news (gosh, aren't we busy this week??) We have a SAMPLE SUNDAY this weekened, Sunday, August 12th, from 12-5 PM - all three farms are involved, here's what's going on!

At Prairieland Herbs:
LIVE MUSIC! Super-talened Sarah Johnson of Adel, Iowa will be playing beautiful music for us!!

Samples of our Fiesta Dip and Garlic Herb butter - perfect for summer veggies and corn on the cob! Body powders will be on sale, and we'll be giving out samples of soaps and whatever else we have time to make up and throw in the sample basket. :)

Northern Prairie Chevre will have:
* Professional Tribal-Style dancers, Benu Dance Company from Lincoln, Nebraska will entertain at 1:00 and 3:00 and have items for sale.
* Jasper Winery will be sampling their award winning wines.
* Anthofer Family Farms ironworks decorations and The Atlantean ethnic jewelry.
* Milton from Sheeder Farms will be sampling his free-range meats.
* Lots of meats for grilling season.
* NEW! Kramer's Gourmet Salsas.
* Tour the barn, visit the kids and girls and view either a milking or kidding video.
* Lots of kid-friendly activities.
* Lots of samples and much more to see and do!

Picket Fence Creamery will have:

ICE CREAM SUNDAES ONLY $2! That's right...we'll be making sundaes with our famous vanilla ice cream and your favorite toppings! Choose from caramel, chocolate, or crushed cookies...ONLY $2! We'll have a kids' size available for the children too!

TRY LOCAL FOOD SAMPLES GALORE! Our own fresh white cheddar cheese curds (regular, dill, garlic, hot pepper, and a garden herb blend (created by our friends at Prairieland Herbs), cream cheese ball, elk sticks, creamery butter, local honey, and of course..."the best chocolate milk this side of the Milky Way!"

TRY OUR FRESH GRILLED MEAT! Jeff will once again be grilling some of our delicious beef and pork, raised right here at the farm without the use of artificial hormones or chemicals. Burgers off the grill - $2! Hotdogs for the kids - $1.

TRY OUR PICKET FENCE ALL-PURPOSE SAUCE! Dip your meat sample in some of our Picket Fence All-Purpose Sauce - great for beef, pork, chicken, and your other favorite meats, and for dipping. Wonderful! Only $4 a bottle.

FROM JENNA'S ORGANIC GARDEN- Fresh radishes! We'll also have fresh organic garlic from our neighbor, John! Radishes: $1/bag. Garlic: 75 cents/bulb. Feel free to browse around our garden. And get ready for tomatoes - Jenna has 120 tomato plants!

FRESH FROM VANDERPLOEG BAKERY IN PELLA- Dutch letters and apple cinnamon pecan bread! Also Pella bologna, beef jerky, and beef sticks.

SUPER DEAL! A fresh cherry, berry, or cherry-berry fruit crisp (made from scratch with REAL fruit), and a quart of iced cream...ONLY $10. Enjoy dessert!

OTHER GOODIES- Sour cream cinnamon rolls (made with our cream!), $3.90 for plate of four; single serve berry crisps, $1.49; fresh Lillie Mae caramels from Marshalltown (made with our cream!), $5.99/bag; your favorite Iowa wines; and a nice selection of certified organic foods.

FOR THE GRILL- Look over our selection of beef, pork, lamb, elk, buffalo, chicken and goat meat. All local meats from animals NOT injected with artificial hormones. We have fresh farm eggs, too...brown and green!

KIDS! See the calves, pigs, & kittens, hay maze, 00100355

and run through the sprinkler to stay cool! Free pencils and posters, too!

FREE KITTENS! We have about 16 kittens. We will be giving them away FREE on Sunday, July 15! Pick any size, shape, or color that you want! (We have three black Halloween cats!)

Music will be provided by HB Productions, Altoona, Iowa.

Whew. with all that suff, why *wouldn't* you come see us on Sunday??

Hey gang! We still have 3 spots open in our Soapmaking 101 Class this Saturday, August 4th - if you're interested, please do sign up!!

And, here is a wonderful summer recipe for all that zucchini I know you have in your garden...Enjoy! I will get it posted on the website pretty soon!

You need:
zucchini or summer squash
cheese (whatever kind you want)
herbs (whatever kind you want)
salt and pepper (if you want).

I made this last saturday for 10 people, for a dyeing class we had at
our shop. I made a huge 9x13 pan and they ate it all and I thought
there might be a fight over who got to lick the pan.

Slice zucchini or summer squash into 1/4 inch thick slices or rounds.
I like to do it longways, so the slices are kind of like lasagna
noodles, but the rounds work too. Place one layer of sliced zucchini
in the bottom of a pan. Sprinkle with salt and/or pepper (if you
like), a generous sprinkling of whatever chopped fresh or dried herbs
you have, and a layer of cheese. Repeat, until you are out of zucchini
or cheese or your pan is full - but end with a layer of cheese. Cover
with foil and cook at 375 until cheese is melted and zucchini is al
dente. If you want to be fancy, remove the foil for a few minutes and
broil the cheese on top.

My best rendition of this recipe, to date, used green zucchini, a
combo of sharp cheddar, mozzarella and feta cheeses, seasoned sea
salt, freshly cracked black pepper, plenty of dried toasted minced
onion, a bit of granulated garlic, and lots of thyme.