A bump in Our journey......

The past couple of weeks at "The Farm" have surely been a whirlwind!  Between the Barn renovation and the Bakery orders we have been beyond busy.  Its been exciting, tiring, and fun all in one.  The builders are working tirelessly to restore the barn to its glory. The past couple of weeks they have started installing in the windows and some of the siding.  However, after the first windows were added we realized that they were too big for the spots in between the beams and they ended up cutting some of the beams to make the windows fit.  YIKES!!!  After taking a look at the end result, we knew we had to go back and fix them.  We are very passionate about restoring the Barn, but we also want to keep the integrity of The Barn, including the BIG Beams that make it so fantastic.  Its hard to imagine that these beams and the structure of the Barn were built almost 200 years ago.  The good news is they have now fixed the beams and we have come up with a solution to ensure the rest of the other beams stay in tact.  

The builders were also able to replace one of the big corner beams that had started to rot because of the previous holes in the roof.  Its huge and its amazing to see how they can take out the old and replace it with a new huge beam that will provide the support and structure to hopefully keep this barn standing for another 200 years.  

We continue to be excited and continue to put all of our faith and trust in God every step of the way.  When you go through a renovation of this size there will always be bumps in the road that can cause stress and worry.  On Wednesday morning this past week around 7am, my father, Chris and I all joined hands in the Barn and prayed for peace and comfort as well as guidance to get us through the rest of this project.  Only God can take all of those fears and worries away and give you a peace that surpasses all understanding.  We are trusting God with every bump that may arise.

Until next time,

Chris & Becca

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:4-7

Here's a quick, simple summer salad for you

Summer season is great, lots of salads and proteins. This salad can easily be changed based on what's in the fridge. Start with some fresh greens, a couple vegetables with crunch, a nut, and a berry. These types of ingredients create a nice balance. The dressing has the same ability too. You need sweet, sour, citrus, oil, fresh herb! Try experimenting with your favorite flavors.

-Chris

Quick, Simple Summer Salad

(Yield 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

•  Two heads of greens (whatever your favorites are) rinsed, dried, and ripped into mouth-sized pieces
• One orange pepper, julienned
• One yellow pepper, julienned
• One pint of blueberries, rinsed
• 1/2 c. chopped mixed nuts
• 1 c. jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks

Instructions:

• Layer ingredients on each plate beginning with a bed of greens, then pile on everything else! Finally sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Citrus Dressing

(Yield about 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• One lemon, zested and juiced
• One lime, zested and juiced
• 1 tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbs. honey
• Handful fresh basil
• Olive oil (amount to add is known once everything is in the processer)  
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a food processer add all ingredients except the oil and salt/pepper. Pulse until combined.
2. Then add the oil to double the quantity in the processer (e.g. if your ingredients measure 1/4c., then add 1/4 c. oil).
3. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
4. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Just bring it to room temperature prior to use. 

Our passion for fresh local ingredients...

We made a commitment when we first re-started the bakery to source local ingredients as often as possible.  We were so excited when we found a local mill, but we quickly realized that we were paying as much in shipping for our flours as we were for the actual flours. When it came time to re-order more flour, instead of having it shipped again, I thought it would be a good idea to make a trip out to Small Valley Milling. This mill has been exceptional from day 1 with hearing our needs and providing us with some of the best flour I believe money can buy. Unfortunately Halifax is two hours from Quakertown. I knew this trip would be special because I would be able to see first hand how our flour is made. A goal we have is to know where our food comes from and this was a perfect opportunity to do this.

Joel Steigman is the owner of Small Valley Milling. He converted his mill to an all-organic mill in 1999 and has never looked back. He was very welcoming and interested in the Farm Bakery. His mill offers Spelt flour, both whole and white, as well as other specialty flours. I was blown away by the size of some of the equipment! I took some pictures for you all to see.  The flours Small Valley Milling produce taste noticeably better, and all of the minerals and vitamins are preserved because the grains are properly grown and milled.  The Farm Bakery is all about using the cleanest, healthiest ingredients in our baked goods. Our continued partnership with Small Valley Milling will assure this, even if it's 2 hours away! I believe it's certainly worth the sacrifice to bring our customers wholesome ingredients and keep our costs in check. 

Thanks for sharing in our passion of good wholesome foods.

-Chris

Cherry Dumplings....Mmmmmm!

I was so excited my Aunt Janet reached out to me last week and stated that she had found Grandma Mikulitsch's Cherry Dumpling Recipe.  Grandma Mikulitsch is my father's Grandmother or my Great Grandma.  Many of the recipes Grandma Meyers made were originated from her Mom and it's exciting to be able to share some of these old recipes.  I'm not sure about you all, but I had never had a Cherry Dumpling and I have to say that they are definitely not one of our Healthy Recipes. They were a lot of fun to make, especially right now with cherries being in season.  Grandma Mikulitsch brought this recipe over from her home-town in Austria and often made this recipe for my Aunt and Father for dinner, that's right not dessert, but they ate these dumplings for dinner!

Friday's at "The Farm" we like to call our test kitchen night.  We had a lot of fun making these dumplings with the entire family!!  Lets us know if you try these out, we did make them for dessert by the way!!  I have a feeling we will be making these again with a little healthy twist!!

Enjoy your Cherry Dumplings,

Becca

Cherry Dumplings

Makes 12-16

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups of Flour
• 1/2 Cup Mashed Potatoes
• 1 Cup of Water, plus extra if needed to make dough
• 48 Bing Cherries - Wash & Pit ahead of time - 3 per dumpling
• 1-2 Sticks of Butter
• 1-2 Cups of Plain Bread Crumbs
• 4 T of Sugar

Instructions:

1. Make dough.  Combine 3 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and 1 cups of a water in a bowl.  Mix until thoroughly combined using a mixer with a dough hook or a fork until you have a dough consistency.  Add more water as needed.  Form the dough into a ball.
2. Flour a your work surface, sprinkle more flour on your dough and a rolling pin.  Roll out the dough as big as you can using your floured rolling pin until about 1/2 inch in thickness.  Keep flipping the dough and flouring the surface and rolling pin until its fully rolled out.  
3. Cut dough in squares.  (Big enough to fit 3 cherries)
4. Add 3 cherries to each square, close and seal.   Roll into round balls.
5. Bring large pot of water to a boil.  Add dumplings, keep at a simmer for 10 minutes and then drain.
6. In a large non-stick frying pan, melt 1 or 2 sticks of butter, add in 1 or 2 cups of bread crumbs and approximately 4 tablespoons of sugar.  This is the bread crumb mixture that will coat your dumplings so you can use as much or as little as you would like depending on your taste.
7. Add the Dumplings into the pan, toss and coat with the crumb mixture until lightly browned.
8. Serve warm either plain or topped with vanilla ice cream.  
9. Scrumptious!!!  

The "Cupola" went on today.....

When we started planning the renovation we never really thought about all of the little details to plan as part of the restoration.  When Christian our builder asked us if we would like a Cupola, I really had no idea what he was talking about.  So after a little explaining, a "Cupola" is basically the small structure that goes on the top of the roof that can provide ventilation to the building and also acts as a ground for lightening storms.  You see these on barns across the country in all different shapes and sizes.  Since our barn is relatively large, our Cupola is actually 5 feet by 5 feet. It was quite large close up. But now that its up on the roof it looks perfect.  

In addition, you can see from the pictures that they are placing new boards on the outside of the beams.  These will help to reinforce the structure of the barn, but once the siding goes on you will not be able to see them from the inside.  The goal is to maintain the structure of the barn on the inside so you can still see all of the old beams that the barn was built with back in the 1800's. 

We are really excited with the progress.  There is still a lot to be done, but Christian and his team are working extremely hard to make every last detail perfect.

Until next time....

Warmly, 

 Chris & Becca Lynde