Spring Update 2014
We have so many fun things to share with you this spring! Here’s an update on what’s coming.
Also, if you haven’t already, place your order now for dry goods. The deadline to order is this Thursday morning at 9:00.
Deadline To Order: April 17th at 9:00 a.m.
Pick Up Date: April 24th or 25th, depending on location
Printable Price List
Place Your Order Here
Vanilla
As we mentioned last night, we will be ordering from our vanilla supplier today in just a little while. So the sooner you get your order in for any of these special vanilla items, the better.
After sampling many different brands, we believe the Singing Dog Vanilla extract is one of the best there is. But we’re eager to know what you think too. Order yours now and take part in our Great Vanilla Search just by offering your feedback once you’ve tried it.
All Things Maple
The especially cool spring weather has presented our maple grower with a later-than-average harvesting time. So our organic maple order will be later than usual as well. Right now, it looks like the delivery dates for maple syrup, maple sugar, maple candy, and maple nuts will be in early-ish June.
Although it won’t be delivered until June, we plan to start taking orders for all things maple sometime next week.ates for maple syrup, maple sugar, maple candy, and maple nuts will be in early-ish June.
And folks, this is amazing maple syrup. Fresh from Vermont, the BEST we’ve ever had! You won’t want to miss this stuff! (And it freezes perfectly, so you can stock up for your own family or even for Christmas gifts if you’re the type to plan ahead.)
Rapadura Organic Whole Cane Sugar
You, we, and everyone else has been anxiously awaiting our bulk Rapadura whole organic cane sugar, so here’s an update. It has taken F.O.R.E.V.E.R. for the ship to carry our rapadura from Brazil, where it is harvested and processed, to the U.S.A. And even after it arrives here in the states, it has to be inspected and also receive clearance from customs before we can pick it up at the dock and truck it to Tennessee.
The good news is…
The rapadura has arrived in the states, cleared customs, passed inspection, and is ready for us to pick up. Now, the only question is WHEN it will arrive here in TN. We hope it will be delivered in time for our April delivery. If not, then it will certainly be available on our May order form.
We’ll keep you posted.
Cod Liver Oil | Green Pasture Special
Green Pasture, the supplier of our cod liver oils and butter oils, is careful to maintain equal pricing on their products for everyone. No matter where you buy your Green Pasture cod liver oil and butter oil, the price is the same.
But we’ve been given special permission by Green Pasture to make a high volume purchase, and pass the savings on to you this May. This order will include Green Pasture’s famous fermented cod liver oils and their butter oils in many different flavors.
You can also have your regular priced cod liver oil or butter oil shipped directly to your home anytime through this link. The shipping is on us.
Tropical Fruits
We’re still working out the details, but in May, we plan to offer a nice selection of fresh tropical fruits. Keep an eye out for our emails on this one. We’ll know more soon.
Peaches
Peaches will be later this season; we’re thinking late June.
What happened to the May peaches?
There are peach trees that bear fruit in May, some that bear in June, and others that bear in July. And just as you’d expect, the trees that bear fruit in May bloom sooner than those that are ready for harvest in June or July.
All over the southern, peach-growing states this spring, the weather warmed enough that the May bearing peach trees bloomed a few weeks ago. But just after the bolssoms had been polinated and the fruit had begun to grow, there was a cold snap, and the delicate new fruit was frozen and ruined. So there will not be any peaches available to us in May.
Mind you, there should be plenty of peaches in June and July. It’s only the May bearing trees that were affected by the frost.
Livestock Feed
Livestock feed will be available to order for pick up on the following dates. The order form for the May delivery dates will open soon.
May 22nd or 23rd (depending on where you pick up)
June 26th or 27th (depending on where you pick up)
SAF Yeast Special
SAF yeast in 1 pound bricks is 1/2 price on our dry goods order form! So stock up now!
The one thing you need to know is that the “best-to-use-by” date on these sealed yeast packs is May of 2014. So if you decide to store some up for a while, we recommend placing them in your freezer. This will help keep them fresh for a long time:)
Regular Price $3.93
Sale Price 1.97
Spend This Thanksgiving With A Very Special Date
- 2-1/2 cups chopped pitted dates
- 1-1/2 cups water
- 1/2 fresh lemon squeezed or 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1-1/3 cups flour
- 1-1/4 cups old fashion oats
- 2/3 cup rapadura (sugar)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup or 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
3. Preheat oven to 350. Use 8-inch stoneware or spray 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Evenly pres 1/2 of the crumb mixture into pan, then top with cooled date mixture. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture on top, pressing gently. (I think next time we will add some walnuts or pecans to the topping as well!)
Click Here to go to the Order Page!
Order Deadline for Drygoods and Cranberries: Nov. 13th, 10:00am
Delivery Date: November 21st and 22nd (depending where you choose to pick up)
Rapadura Caramel Popcorn
Upgraded Easy Rapadura Caramel Popcorn
By Erin Otto
I never would have attempted to make this recipe. Not because it’s difficult – because it is really quite easy. But because the recipe my daughter “adapted” it from called for two ingredients I never use, and I would never have expected caramel to turn out without them. But it did.
The two ingredients I don’t ever use: corn syrup and white sugar. And instead, my daughter substituted rapadura sugar and honey. To my complete surprise, not only did the caramel turn out, but this is the absolute best caramel popcorn we’ve ever had.
I love that’s made with ingredients you usually have on hand, and it’s rather impressive too. The work is all done in a matter of 5 or 10 minutes, and then all you have to do is wait for it to bake.
Ingredients
8 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup rapadura, sucanat, or sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Butter 2 9×13 baking pans and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Place the popcorn in a large mixing bowl.
In a heavy saucepan mix the butter, honey and rapadura. Cook and stir over medium heat until it boils. Then turn the heat down a little and continue boiling, without stirring, for 5 more minutes.
Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the baking soda and vanilla, and pour the whole mixture over the popcorn, stirring to coat.
Pour the popcorn into the prepared 9×13 pans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan onto buttered foil to cool. Makes 8 cups.
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Caramel Rolls
This recipe is the Featherpuff Bread from the Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book. I would never have thought to put cottage cheese in a bread recipe, but Laurel just raved about how light this bread turns out, which makes it ideal for cinnamon rolls. The thing I like best about this recipe is that the high protein from the milk, eggs, and cottage cheese makes me feel satisfied, but not heavy. And the kids don’t have a sugar high either.
In the picture, our cinnamon rolls almost look like chocolate sticky buns, but that’s just our natural sweetener, rapadura. It tastes quite good, but it does look rather dark.
If you already bake with hard white wheat flour, you may not be impressed with this, but do you see the cinnamon roll near the top of this picture that looks like white bread is showing through underneath the caramel topping? That, my friends, is 100% whole wheat flour from Prairie Gold Hard White Wheat. If you have access to it, you definitely want to use that kind of wheat flour for these rolls. It makes a BIG difference, especially if you mill it yourself.
We start the dough before bedtime on Friday night using the full amount of yeast. The dough rises in the fridge, and it’s ready to roll out into cinnamon rolls for a special Saturday family breakfast.
One trick to making these rolls light is to roll them up loosely – they need room to rise!
1 recipe makes 2 9×13 pans of cinnamon rolls.
For the Dough
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. warm water (for the cottage cheese mixture)
2 t. yeast
1/2 c. warm water (for the yeast)
5 c. Prairie Gold white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t. salt
2 T. cold butter plus a little more for the bowl
- Warm the cottage cheese gently in a saucepan. Remove form heat and mix in the eggs, honey and water, taking care that the cottage cheese is not so warm that it cooks the eggs.
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. (The water should be about skin temperature, or slightly warmer.)
- Mix the flour and salt thoroughly, making a well in them and adding the cottage cheese mixture and the yeast mixture. Mix to make a dough, and test for consistency, adding more water or flour if needed. The dough should be very soft. If it’s sticky, add just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the counter – not too much or the dough will get too tough to rise properly.
- Knead by hand for about 15 minutes, or by machine for 8 minutes, adding the butter in pieces halfway through the kneading. Then place it in a large buttered bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise overnight in the refrigerator.
For the Rolls
1 stick of butter, melted
3/4 c. Rapadura whole organic cane sugar
2 T. cinnamon
- In the morning, take the dough out of the bowl and cut it into two pieces. Dust a surface with flour and shape each piece of dough into a rectangle. Roll them out into large rectangles that are about 3/8″ – 1/2″ thick.
- Brush half of the stick of melted butter on each rectangle.
- Stir together the Rapadura and cinnamon. Using a spoon, sprinkle a thin layer of the mixture over each piece of dough.
- Roll the dough up somewhat loosely – jelly roll style – and pinch the end to seal. Set aside while you make the caramel topping.
For the Caramel
1/4 c. honey
3 T. water
6 T. soft butter
3/4 c. Rapadura
1 1/2 c. pecans (optional)
- To make the caramel topping, mix together the honey, water, soft butter and Rapadura. Spread the mixture in the bottom of two 9″ x 13″ pans. If you’re using pecans, sprinkle them over the caramel.
- To slice the cinnamon rolls, take a length of strong thread or fishing line and tie the ends to two pencils. Slide the thread under one of your long rolls and cross the two pencils, pulling to cut the roll. In this way, cut each roll into about 12 pieces. Place the rolls on top of the caramel mixture and let them rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until they’re very soft.
- When they’re about double in size, place the rolls in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Bake them for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- To serve, remove the rolls from the pan using a metal spatula and place them, caramel side up, on your serving dish. They are best served hot out of the oven.
- Makes about 24 rolls.
Whole Wheat Apple Walnut Muffins
Some muffin recipes call for milk to make up most of the liquid. And that’s fine for those recipes. But this one is all about flavor since the apples themselves make up almost all of the liquid. If you use freshly ground soft white wheat flour, the muffins turn out light and soft, and baked in preheated stoneware pans, they’re heavenly.
Ingredients
3 or 4 fresh apples, or you can substitute 2-3 cups of applesauce
1/3 c. melted butter
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. soft white wheat flour (use freshly ground flour if possible)1/2 c.
Rapadura (whole organic cane sugar)
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
Directions
- In a blender (or you can do this by hand), blend together the bananas, melted butter, egg, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, rapadura, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and chopped walnuts.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and spoon into buttered muffin cups.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Variation: Apple Blueberry Muffins
Prepare as above except use 2 c. of applesauce instead of the bananas, and 1 c. blueberries instead of the nuts.
Gluten Free Almond Cookies
My mom found this recipe in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, and wanted me to try making these for her. I thought the idea of putting arrowroot powder into cookies instead of flour sounded a bit strange, but I made them anyway. They’re awesome! When I took them out of the oven, they were very crumbly, and broke easily (probably because they don’t have eggs in them), but after they cooled down for a few minutes they were very nice.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almonds
1 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup Rapadura Whole Organic Sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon, or 1/2 orange
1/2 cup softened butter or coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
about 18 almonds for decoration (optional)
Directions:
Put the 1 1/2 cups of almonds in a blender or food processor. Turn the machine on low and grind the almonds into a meal. Pour the almond meal, arrowroot powder, Rapadura and lemon rind into a bowl and mix them together. Then add the softened butter and vanilla, and stir until combined.
Drop rounded tablespoons of cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork, or press an almond into the center.
Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cookies are just slightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool before serving. Store in an airtight container. (Makes about 18 cookies.)
Christine’s Apple Pie Filling
Canned apple pie filling: the ultimate last-minute dessert for unexpected company or chilly winter evenings when you’d rather be sitting beside the woodstove than slaving on pies in the kitchen. If you’d rather, you can freeze this pie filling in quart freezer bags. Enjoy.
4 – 6 quarts peeled and sliced firm apples, like Winesap, Rome, Ida Red or Jonathan (reserved)
4 1/2 cups sugar or rapadura
1 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
10 cups water
In a large pot, cook all the ingredients, except the apples, until thick and bubbly, stirring often. Remove from heat.
Add as many apples to the sugar sauce as you can, keeping the mixture plenty juicy.
Place the apples into prepared quart jars and process 25 minutes in a hot water bath. Makes 4 – 6 quarts.
Rapadura Carmel Popcorn
My daughter Emma invented this recipe on movie night last fall, and since it’s similar to a candy recipe, with specific instructions on boiling, I didn’t expect it to work with rapadura and honey – but it did! Good job, Emma – it’s a real treat! (And I never would have thought of it.)
8 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup rapadura
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Butter 2 9×13 baking pans and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Place the popcorn in a large mixing bowl.
In a heavy saucepan mix the butter, honey and rapadura. Cook and stir over medium heat until it boils. Then turn the heat down a little and continue boiling, without stirring, for 5 more minutes.
Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the baking soda and vanilla, and pour the whole mixture over the popcorn, stirring to coat.
Pour the popcorn into the prepared 9×13 pans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan onto buttered foil to cool. Makes 8 cups.