Kale is one thing I never grow tired of!  Gone are the days when I viewed it as a silly little garnish on the side of my plate – now, kale is the focus of some of my most favorite meals!

And, it’s also excellent for snacking!  I’m sure most of you have been introduced to the beloved Kale Chip recipe that has circulated our local farm loving community.  Here it is again, with a few variations to spice things up a bit!

Kale Chips:

1 bunch of Kale (any kind)

1-2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 tsp. of Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 300.  Thoroughly wash and dry your kale.  Remove the stems and rough inner ribs (but reserve for dipping in veggie dip – cause those stems are still tasty and packed with nutrients!)  Massage the leaves and tear into 3-4 inch pieces.  Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and toss to combine.   Spread on baking sheet.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until desired crispiness has been achieved.

Enjoy with your favorite holiday movie!

And here are a few variations from BluePoppy.com:

Flavor Variations:

• Sea salt & Vinegar – Whisk 1‐2 T of malt vinegar into the olive oil, then drizzle over the kale
• Teriyaki – Whisk 1 T soy sauce, 2 t rice vinegar, 2 t mirin, ½ t finely grated ginger, and 2 T garlic infused oil together, then toss with the kale. Sprinkle with togarashi or gomasio, if desired (Remove the olive oil and the sea salt from the base recipe)
• “Cheese” for the dairy‐free – Sprinkle the base recipe with nutritional yeast to taste.
• Parmesan & Garlic – Replace the olive oil with garlic‐infused oil, remove the salt, and sprinkle with finely grated parmesan cheese
• Sun‐dried Tomato & Herb – Puree 1 clove finely minced garlic, 2 T finely minced sun‐dried tomatoes (preferably oil packed), and 2 t finely minced fresh basil, then whisk into the olive oil
• Lemon & Olive – Add the juice of one lemon and 2 T olive puree to the base recipe. Remove the sea salt
• Balsamic Vinegar & Herb – Whisk 1 T balsamic vinegar, 1 t minced thyme, 2 t minced chives, and 1 t freshly ground black pepper into the olive oil
• Sour Cream & Onion – Remove the olive oil. Puree 1 c cashews (soaked for 2‐3 hrs first) with the juice of 1 lemon, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1 large shallot, and ¼ c water. Drizzle over the kale, then sprinkle with minced chives.

And, what’s your favorite way to eat Kale Chips?

Greens are wonderful.  Turnips are tasty.  Garlic is essential.  But, when I see a jar of honey in my CSA basket, it takes my joy to a whole other level.

Kevin and his bees at BeginAgin Farm in Lafayette

And not just honey…

Creamed honey.

From local bees, at Kevin and Lorri’s local farm.  It just doesn’t get any better than that now, does it?

Tonight I went on a mission to find out just how many uses there are for my prized creamed honey – cause I certainly don’t want a drop of it to go to waste!

Here’s the list I’ve come up with, thus far.  Feel free to add your favorite uses for creamed honey in the comment section (located directly under the title of the blog post)

1. Toast (of course!) – There is no better use for tasty creamed honey then slathering it on a piece of warm Niedlov’s bread or just about anything from Bluff View Bakery (I especially love their Multigrain bread).
2. Honey Mustard – Add a scoop of honey to a sprinkling of dry mustard and stir for a spreadable honey mustard for your turkey sandwich.  Or make a larger quantity for a compliment to a grilled chicken, or as a dipping sauce for veggies.
3. Use in place of maple syrup when making granola.  (My most favorite granola recipe is this one from Earthbound Farms)
4. Add a small scoop of it to your holiday cheese plate, next to some roasted almonds and any one of Mary Beth Sander’s preserves from Fox Peace Farms, sold at the Main Street Market.  (I recommend the Pear Ginger!)
5. Hot Tea – I’m an avid hot tea drinker and a few drops of creamed honey makes my mornings sweeter!
6. Make your own Almond Milk – for a recipe, see here.
7. Lip Balm!  Add it to almond oil and beeswax to create your own natural lip balm – perfect for these parched winter months!
8. Pair it with your CSA kale, and some other ingredients to create a healthy green smoothie – here are several excellent recipes!
9. Breakfast topper – Add it to just about any of your holiday breakfast dishes:  pancakes, french toast, pastries, etc.
10. Honey Pecan Pie
11. Use a dollop of honey as a seasoning on BBQ spare ribs, pork chops, or chicken wings.
12. Combine it with olive oil and vinegar for an extra tasty salad dressing – great with Mark and Gina’s Asian Salad Mix!
13. Combine 1 Tbsp of honey with 3 cups of yogurt and 1 cup of chopped almonds for a fantastic fruit dip
14. Homemade Peanut Butter – yum!!
15. Chocolate Coconut Oat Bars – yum, again!
16. Baked Brie – drizzle honey over brie, add pistachios and bake at 350, until the cheese starts to turn melt.  Serve with crackers or baguettes.
17. And, I would be remiss if I did not implore you to please, please drizzle some of that amazing honey on your next bowl of ice cream.  And, with that, I’m off to do just that!

What will you be using your Creamed Honey for?

If you are like me, you received a beautiful head of cabbage in your CSA box this week.

I’m often a bit confused by cabbage.  I like it, but I don’t often make Cole Slaw, which is usually why I would buy cabbage.  I’ve started adding cabbage to the top of fish tacos – but that only takes a small amount, so…

Sauerkraut to the rescue!!!!

Living in the South, I’m sure we’ve all been subjected to the dreaded “Kraut and Wennies” on occasion, yes?  Well, I decided that’d I’d like to make a big girl version of this classic dish to serve during the holidays.  I plan to serve my homemade sauerkraut alongside some local Link 41 Sausage, for a hearty and heart-warming holiday meal.

However, the key to Sauerkraut, I learned, is TIME!  Which is why it is a good idea to start now.  As in, right now!

Here is a standard Sauerkraut recipe that I started on last night from www.wildfermentation.com.

As the recipe explains, it takes weeks (sometimes months) to ferment the cabbage to your liking.  But the prep time is minimal, so get started now and enjoy this dish long into the month of December.

*This recipe is for 5lbs of cabbage (whoa!) – so I reduced mine to just a pound and a half or so and 2-3 teaspoons of salt.*

Enjoy!

Put your leftovers AND this week’s CSA basket to good use with this delicious stew from The Kitchn.

Bacon, Kale, & Turkey Stew
serves 6

3 thick slices bacon, cut into small strips
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bay leaf
10 ounces kale, chopped into bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 to 3 cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken meat

4 to 5 cups turkey or chicken broth, ideally homemade
Gruyere or Parmesan cheese, to serve

Place a heavy 5-quart or larger pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently. When it has released much of its fat, but before it has gotten crispy, add the diced onion, minced garlic, and the bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, for at least 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened and become golden.

Add the kale, handful by handful, stirring to coat it with bacon fat. If it won’t all fit at once, keep stirring until it wilts down. Sprinkle the kale lightly with salt and pepper and the smoked paprika. When all the kale has been added, stir in the shredded turkey or chicken meat, and cook for an additional 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to make sure that the kale is coated with the bacon fat and letting the onions and shredded turkey brown slightly.

Add the broth and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the kale has wilted and the soup is hot.

Serve with shredded Gruyere or Parmesan cheese, if desired.

There are apples galore  in the fields and at the markets these days!  It’s a great time to stock up on your favorite varieties and turn them into tasty applesauce for the winter.  We threw some cranberries in our batch for color and taste.

Cranberry Applesauce

By:  Rachel McCrickard & Lucky Rouse

Ingredients:

• Apples (combination of  Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, or other sweet variety)
• Cranberries
• Cinnamon

Instructions:

For the best canning advice (sans your grandmother), I always use:  http://www.pickyourown.org/applesauce.htm.  They are an excellent resource for step-by-step canning instructions.  If you are new to canning, I recommend that you go there for a complete list of utensils and guidance.

I’ll summarize here:

Wash and chop apples (leave the skin on).  Put an inch of water in a large pot and fill the pot with the apples and cranberries (the apples mostly cook in their own juice, so there is no need to add a lot of water).  Put the lid on the pot and cook apples on high, until they begin to sizzle and cook, then turn the heat down to medium high.  Cook the apples until they are soft.

At this point, Lucky and I just mashed the apples with a potato masher, rather that using a sieve to turn it in to “real” applesauce.  We like ours sorta chunky – but I recommend sieving the apples if small children will be eating the applesauce.  My 2 year old niece didn’t care too much for the chunky apples!

If you choose to keep your applesauce chunky, add cinnamon at this point, mash the apples and cranberries, stir, and begin the canning process.

If you like the smoother variety, check out the instructions on the link above to sieve the apples and then follow canning instructions to complete.

Then, enjoy the taste of Fall, all through the Winter!

Two of the main vegetables that have been on rotation in my kitchen for the past 3 weeks, have been Kohlrabi and Butternut Squash.  I can’t resist buying a squash every time I go to the market, with this wonderful fall weather – and Kohlrabi has been a consistent staple in my (and yours too, I’m sure) CSA basket for the past few weeks.

So, I found this nice little recipe that includes BOTH of these fall favorites!  I just might have to make this one for Thanksgiving – it’s definitely “guest-worthy!”

Ingredients:

• 2 medium kohlrabi (1 1/4 lb with greens or  3/4 lb without)
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb butternut squash
• Shallow heavy baking pan

Preparation:

Put oven rack just below middle position and put baking pan on rack, then preheat oven to 450°F. (If roasting vegetables along with turkey, preheat pan for 15 minutes while turkey roasts, then roast vegetables underneath turkey.)

Trim and peel kohlrabi, then cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Toss kohlrabi with 1/2 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a bowl. Transfer kohlrabi to preheated pan in oven and roast 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel butternut squash, then quarter lengthwise, seed, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Toss squash with remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper in same bowl.

Stir kohlrabi, turning it, then push it to one side of pan.

Add squash to opposite side of pan and roast, stirring and turning squash over halfway through roasting, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 30 minutes total (after squash is added).

Toss vegetables to combine and transfer to a dish.

Cooks’ note:  Kohlrabi and butternut squash can be cut 1 day ahead and chilled in separate sealed plastic bags.

Recipe found here:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Kohlrabi-and-Butternut-Squash-236414

Thanks to all who came out for the Fall Planting Party at Tant Hill Farm this past Sunday!  It was great fun!

Gina said that, all total, we got over 600 plants in the ground!   How great is it to know that we will be enjoying those salad greens in just a few weeks?  Grow, baby, grow!

After planting, we enjoyed some fantastic Pie Slingers Pizza, farm fresh greens, homemade tea, and s’mores galore, all while being entertained by the very talented Amy and Bruce!

We finished out the night with a large (incredibly large, actually) bonfire.

Roasting marshmallows became a full-contact sport… this little guy spent most of the night on his stomach…

A HUGE thanks to Mark and Gina for hosting such a wonderful night for us co-growers and lovers of all things local!

I don’t know about you, but I sure do love knowing my farmers!

Hello Co-Growers!

You are invited to join us  for a…

Tant Hill Farm – Fall Planting Party

Sunday, October, 21st

Planting:  3:30-5:30 pm

Pizza, Bonfire, & Music:  5:30-8:30 pm

Bring your favorite drink, we will have the ice and cups.

If you want to bring the kids remember this is a farm and because this is a last minute attempt to pull this off we don’t have events that will keep them occupied, so it will be on you.

Feel free to come for the planting at 3:30pm and stay all evening, or just come for the pizza and bonfire if that works better for you!

We hope you can make it given this last minute invite. Sometimes these impromptu occasions turn out the best!

DIRECTIONS:

We are about 30 minutes from St Elmo straight down Hwy 193 at

Tant Hill Farm

3698 Hwy 337

LaFayette, GA

It is a straight shot south of St Elmo. You will turn right at the third traffic light ( not including flashing yellow). From that light our driveway is 3.4 miles on the right. When you come in follow the driveway off to the right and park in the front.

We’d like to order the pizza from Lupi’s on Saturday so that we can bake it fresh on Sunday so please let us know as soon as you can by RSVPing to info@tanthillfarm.com , or by giving us a call. 423-637-9793

Hope to see you on Sunday!

All the best,

Mark and Gina

I get so excited every time I see kale in my CSA basket!  I especially love the Red Russian Kale that we received this week!

Here is my most favorite Kale recipe, though I can’t claim any credit – it was created by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks.  I love just about every recipe in her cookbook:  Super Natural Every Day.

Kale Salad

By:  Heidi Swanson

1/3 cup – extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp – toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp – shoyu, tamari, or soy sauce (I use soy sauce)

3 1/2 lightly packed cups – chopped kale, stems trimmed, large ribs removed

1 1/2 cups – unsweetened large-flake coconut (I use this, from Greenlife or Earth Fare)

2 cups of cooked farro or other whole grain (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce.  Put the kale and coconut in a large bowl and toss well with about 2/3 of the olive oil mixture.

Spread the kale evenly across a baking sheet.  Bake for 12-18 minutes, until the coconut is deeply golden brown, tossing once or twice along the way.  

Remove from the oven and transfer the kale mixture to a medium bowl, toss with additional olive oil mixture, if desired.  Place the farro or whole grain on a serving platter and top with the tossed kale.  Serve warm.

It’s delicious!  And heats up well for lunch the next day!