Tips for buying local

While searching the blog world I found a great little blog called Married to the Farm. The author, Jena is from Michigan but I loved her Tips for Buying Local. Thanks Jena!
I also read some disturbing news about McDonalds that will ensure that I won't be going there again, not that I went there much in the first place.

On another more local note, it was deer hunting opener in Minnesota this past weekend. While never a big fan of hunting, I have gained a new appreciation in recent years. My understanding is that there are only so many days to hunt and they are pretty limited. There are only so many tags that can be had (limits, so to speak) and that there are, in essence, more humane ways of hunting.
Last year my husband went hunting for the first time. Not really being a fan himself, he wants to ensure that the deer doesn't suffer and is not hunted needlessly. Frankly, I'm guessing that the whole process that most sincere hunters practice is a lot more humane than what happens to most cattle at many of the large scale corporate farms that exist.
To top it off, I try to adhere to what the Native Americans did for so long when they were the only ones on this land. I give thanks and gratitude for the deer that sacrificed it's life for my family to have food.

This pumpkin could make some serious pie

This past weekend I made a most fabulous Maple Glazed Pumpkin Cake. It was quite impressive partly because it was a gluten free/wheat free/dairy free cake (I made it for friends that follow that type of diet) and also impressive because it was the moistest cake I think I've ever had.
I casually mentioned that I made it with pumpkin I had left in the freezer from last season. They joked, "you mean not pumpkin from a can?" and "you mean pumpkin comes some other way than in a can?". Seriously, you are missing out if you've never actually had fresh pumpkin. It is a variety of squash and can be cooked like most other winter squash. The only problem is it's size. You will see, however, that there are generally separate types of pumpkin sold - for carving/decorating and for cooking (the cooking ones are much smaller). I usually cut it down in to small parts, cut the seeds and the rind off and then steam in batches in my steamer over a pot of boiling water. I then puree it in the food processor and freeze for pie, cake, bread, muffins and more.
Which brings me to the local part. It is pumpkin season and at least in our part of the world you can even drive by patches in random spots (across the street from an airport??). Very near us in Shakopee is Peter's Pumpkins, Seever's (they have a great corn maze and I believe the patch by the aforementioned airport. The only other one I've been to is in Bemidji at the Lazy Acres Farm, which also has a corn maze. This time of year many of the apple orchards sell pumpkins, and the pumpkin patches have corn mazes so you can get apples, pumpkins and some entertainment too. If you have a great pumpkin patch or maze I'd love to hear about it!

Apple Picking

Apple season here in southern Minnesota begins in August. One of my favorites in the southern metro is Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard. They've got a great website that details each of the varieties they grow, their seasons, their best uses and more. I found it incredibly helpful to review before I went. I think they're easy to find and are set up well - easy to park, very regular wagon rides to the trees, helpful handouts on picking and lots of helpful people. They also have horse back riding, if you are so inclined.

Emma Krumbees is probably a little more well known. It's a little further down the road but they have a larger full service restaurant and store. When we were there we didn't actually pick apples (although we bought some), we took advantage of their other offerings - a Scarecrow festival, pumpkin picking and tractor/hay rides. We did also have lunch at the restaurant.

One of my friends goes to Deardorff Orchards in Waconia. They have 100 acres and 5000 trees with 15 varieties. yum.

Since apple season is in full swing around here, you can find an orchard near you on the Minnesota Grown's website. They have a great apple quick list.

Well, I'm off to the store to buy the food stand attachment part for my KitchenAid mixer. I'll need that to make my applesauce. Crabapples are great for making homemade applesauce. I have to admit it is really easy if you have a food strainer and nothing beats the smell of cooked apples throughout your house (it's a smell better than baking an apple pie!). Yum.