Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Vendor List:
Buck Naked Farm – Lathe Demonstration
*Parking $5, No Dogs Allowed,No Smoking, we encourage carpooling & to come later in the day*
Pieces & Parts & Goats Milk
Dog, cats, ferrets & Soap Crafters, what do they all have in common?
Pork!!!
Dan surprised Jeanette & I today with our special request for
Tails, Fat Back( what you use for lard), Liver, Heart , & Feet are now all in stock in .
Prices
Tails- $4.50 per pound- Not only a great for pets but also great for stews and veggies.
Fat Back $4 per pound if you want lard or to make your own soap this fat is gold.
Liver-$4 per pound liverwurst, Scrapple or liver pudding you know you want to make your own this summer to go with all those fresh garden veggies. We have a few books in the store to steal some recipes out of for these dishes
Heart- $2.99 per pound great for adventurous eaters (slice and cook like a steak) or for pets
Feet- $2.50 per pound. These are my secret ingredient to so many dishes. I smoke them then add them to beans, collards and pork bone broth. Oh yes, pork broth should be its own magical food group.
Ears-$4 per pound. Not just a great dog treat, these are also my favorite bar food. I braise these till tender (280 F in a dutch oven for 2 hours) then slice and fry.
Neck Bone-$4 per pound try a new flavor of bone broth. If you love beans this will add an extra depth of flavor to them.
Finally Raw Goats Milk ($5 per 1/2 gallon) is back in the store on Fridays and Saturdays. The supply will be limited. Please let Lucy know by Monday if you need an order. Several of the area veterinarians in the area have suggested this for orphaned pets or pets going through medical issues such as Chemo or on raw food diets. Please check with your own veterinarians to see if this is right for you.
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Whole Duck Now Available
Lucy here on the actual non- recipe part of the blog. We’re still having some internet issues here on the farm. The store is open tomorrow 2-6 p.m. & Satuday from 8-5. Erin & Crystal will be running the store while Dan gives tours. SWMBO & I will be off picking up our kiddos and hosing them down after a full week of sleep away camp.
Ninja Cow Farm has a wonderful new product in stock. DUCK!!! Seriously, we now have Duck thanks to Blue Whistler Farm over in Bahama, NC. Blue Whistler is a wife and husband owned 5 acre farm. It may not seem like much land, they work it and are producing some great products.
Last year I was introduced to Amy at Blue Whistler Farm. I followed her for a while, light facebook stalking in truth. What drew me to her was the amount she loved and cared for her animals while they were on the farm. How she is able to provide with love and care yet realize this is a business and you must follow the rules of it to be successful.
She has tried several animals on her 5 acre farm. Amy shares her triumphs and successes along the way. Now we can share her ducks with you. Blue Whistler Ducks are pastured raised, while receiving conventional feed rations.
As you can see though they stay in the pasture not in a closed in cage on a factory farm. Amy is hoping this winter to bring us Duck by the cut as well. Blue Whistler ducks are currently sold whole in our store for $8.45lb. Drop by and see us for a new flavor on your table.
What a view
I don’t talk about our leased farm that much. Other than stopping by to check on things or go catch an errant cow, we don’t have to go over there that often anymore. We used to have our entire herd over there but now with just the brood cows and babies, it’s pretty quiet.
But at least once per year, I’m fortunate to get to go over and visit with the owners and talk about the upcoming year, visit with the kids, and pay the annual lease.
The picture above was taken from their back porch as we talked about the upcoming year and some fencing projects we need to work on. The picture doesn’t do the view justice. It was absolutely gorgeous as the sun was setting. In the medium distance, you can just see the cows and calves grazing in the fading light.
It was about this time that I told them we’d be coming to get the cows before too long, to take them to our farm for the winter. Lips were poked out all around. Nobody was happy to see the cute and cuddly cows leave. Oops, I thought they’d be happy to know we’d have them at our place over winter giving their farm a rest. I guess I don’t have to worry anymore that the cows have been misbehaving and wearing out their welcome.
But truth be told, I miss them. I’d spent some time before our meeting just hanging out with the girls and their new babies in the pasture. They came right up to me and started asking where I’d been, complaining loudly that I didn’t come visit often enough. You know how moms are. I’d committed to them they’d be coming home before long and you never go back on your word to a mom. They have a memory like a steel trap!
Today is the day!
While we are open for regular customers today from 8am – 5pm, however starting at 1pm we will also be part of the 10th annual CFSA farm tour.
This is our first year being on the farm tour so we have little idea of what to expect but we have all hands on deck should we be so fortunate as to have a large crowd.
Today SWMBO and Spork will be giving tours on the quarter hour showing new visitors the farm, seeing the baby pigs and chickens. The usual stuff.
Erin, our resident milk maid, will be out by our girls Betsy and Hedi to explain to people how we go about milking our cows, what we do with the milk, etc.
Jennifer Howard from Buck Naked Farm will be here with not only her encyclopedic knowledge of bees, but an observation hive as well so you can see the bees hard at work up close and personal.
Jason “Abe Froman” (extra points if you know what that name is from) will be manning the grill, cooking up samples of our bratwurst and chorizo sausages, whetting your appetite before you head into the store where you’ll find Lucy, Dagny, and Myla helping everyone with their shopping.
Of course the bakery is already hot this morning, making up batches of fresh chocolate chip cookies for today. Make sure to grab yours when you come in.
You can purchase your ticket for the farm tour at the first farm you visit (which should be us, of course!) The tickets are $30 per car so it’s one price for all farms, and all your friends who can ride along. You can see as many of the 25 farms over the weekend as you can get to. I could usually get about 3-4 per day if I tried hard but I usually ended up staying at a favorite farm too long and only hit 2-3. You can buy your tickets from CFSA as well, right here.
Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles
There has been a bag of Amish Noodles staring at me from the pantry for a month. In July, my daughter and I traveled to my home state of Missouri, the northwestern corner of the state up by Kansas, where Mennonite & Amish Markets abound. There I bought a bulk bag of Egg Noodles with dreams of Beef Stroganoff.
One of our big sellers is Beef for Stew. I use it for many things soups, stews, kebabs, etc. This meal is larger, feeding up to 8 people (Or my just my ravenous bunch of kids – Editor/Farmer).
Boneless Beef for stew runs $8.99 per pound with all of the ingredients listed you’ll have dinner for roughly $12-$15. If you want to jazz it up a bit use one of our Sirloin Steaks at $14.99 lb, thinly sliced with the fat removed.
Beef Stroganoff
- 1 lb NCF Beef for stew
- 2 tbsp Butter (extra virgin olive oil can be substituted)
- 1 med yellow onion sliced thinly
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 8 oz Cremini mushrooms
- 1 cup beef broth (low sodium or no salt)
- 1 cup Guinness beer or 1 cup Pinot Noir (if you prefer no alcohol double the beef broth)
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup fresh peas *optional
- salt & pepper to taste
- The Beef for Stew chunks are rather large. The first step is to cut them down to bite size removing any left over silver skin, season with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter in a large deep casserole or dutch oven over med heat.
- Once the butter has melted add in the onions & mushrooms lightly salt, cook until the onions are translucent with a bit of browning showing.
- Add seasoned beef and cook till browned.
- Toss in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Next up add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and the beer.
- Lower the heat to med low.
- Place lid on and simmer for 45 min to 1 hour stirring frequently if the liquid is greatly reduced add a bit more broth.
- If adding in peas do so now, let cook for 4 minutes.
- Add in sour cream
- Taste adjust salt and pepper.
- Serve over warm egg noodles.
Noodle Prep
- 2 cups Extra Wide Egg Noodles
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tbsp Butter
- Prepare Egg Noodles per instruction on bag.
- Drain
- Finish with butter and Nutmeg
Spiced Peach Glazed Ham Steaks
Processor pick up day is akin to Christmas morning for 5 yr olds here in the NCF store. The difference is we’re all closer to 40 than 5 and we’re getting giddy over new cuts of meat. This week we received our first Uncured Ham Slice Steak. Hello new porky goodness to experiment with.
Today I’m going to serve up a Peach Jam Glazed Ham Slice. You’ll find much of my cooking has alcohol in it. As a Nashville girl Jack Daniel’s is a go to flavoring for me. Apple Cider Vinegar is Pork’s best friend. It enhances the flavor without adding a ton of unnecessary sodium.
First things first, just like Beef you want to bring your Pork Steak up to room temperature. An hour before you cook set it out.
Trim the excess fat from steaks, I freeze my leftover fat to use in dishes later like collards, or to render into lard for cooking. Side note if I’m going to use the fat for collard or beans later it will get smoked first.
Sauce
- ½ cup Buck Naked Farm’s Peach Jam
- 2 TBSP Jack Daniel’s
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Place ingredients in a small saucepan cook over a medium low heat till reduced.
Pork
*Pre-Heat broiler to 500 degrees F
*Use a heavy bottom skillet that is broiler safe
*Salt & pepper steaks to your taste
Pre Heat 2 tsp of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive oil) over med-hi heat place steaks into your skillet
Cook for 4-5 minutes until the steaks release from the pan without tearing. If you feel them stuck to the pan let go and wait.
While waiting spoon ½ of your sauce over your steaks. Once the meat releases from the pan flip them. Spoon your Sauce over the 2nd half of the steak. Place in the oven for 7 minutes. When done place steaks on your serving platter and cover with foil for 5 minutes.
While these cool place your skillet back on the stove on medium heat. Use 1 cup of Pinot Grigio or your favorite light non-oaked white wine to deglaze your pan. Simmer down the sauce till thickened and pour over the steaks.
Results from the great flood of spring 2014
We received about 7 inches of rain in a short amount of time last week. I took the occasion to go down to the back pasture and see if there was any water coming onto our land. In all my years on the farm, which include multiple hurricanes, I’ve probably seen the pasture flooded 8-10 times in any way. I’ve seen it flooded till it covered the pond once, after a hurricane. I’ve never seen the water flowing like a river and I’ve never seen what we saw last week.
“Spring” calf
Today we found a new addition for 2014. Our first “spring” calf. As I type this we have about 8″ of snow on the ground and it’s still snowing hard with ice coming behind. So much for spring.
Either way, this little calf is the first calf from Benjamin and the mother is #14. Everyone is healthy and the calf should be fine through all this weather. I will check on him tomorrow.
Here is a little video from this morning. The lady talking is our neighbor at the golf course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFtRLdnzj1Y
What dads are for
We are walking back from the barn and it begins to rain. Spork and The Princess seem unaffected but Bok Bok turns and asks for me to get her out of the rain. I smile and reach up and pull my hat off of my head and pop it onto hers. She gives me a big smile as the rain pelts off of her new hat,a smile that melts my heart. She continues forward to the house, now happy and oblivious to the rain. She was so cute I grabbed the phone and snapped a quick picture.
You only get a few years to be the hero to your kids. Thank God I get this time and was able to capitalize. And for you boys out there, you never know when your hat is going to make a lady’s day. You do have a hat, right?