A Picnic Lunch

Autumn - There are many characteristics that lend themselves to making this my favorite time of year. The smell of apples cooking on the stove, colored leaves, crisp, fresh air, leaves crunching under foot... Some of my best memories come from this season. Typically even though our fall days have always been busy - storing away home grown food, winterizing garden, home, and lake cabin, plowing telephone cable into the ground once the crops are harvested, etc. - there is something about the season that calls for setting all work aside, getting the whole family in the car, and going for a relaxing drive and picnic.

Sandwiches are an important part of my family's picnics. Since bread is rarely hard to come by in our house, I guess it makes sense. Sliced bread, buns, plain bread, flavored bread, meat, jam, salad filling, prepared at home, assembled on the picnic - we've had it all. Though all have tasted delicious (what doesn't in the great outdoors?), there have been a few that stand out in our memories. One such sandwich was made with meat, lettuce, and Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Bread (picture above). As I have mentioned before, there is something about the sweet fruitiness of this bread along with meat that makes this sandwich rise above all other meat sandwiches. It's much the same concept as turkey and cranberries, ham and raisin sauce, and if you are Scandinavian, ribs and lingenberries. A simple idea, but a delicious one.

Happy picnicking, everyone!

Other Happenings In the Kitchen

Ok, ready to see something else happen in our kitchen besides farmers' market baking? Let me tell you, this is one busy kitchen! (Right now I'm sitting with a lap top at the kitchen counter. Apples are on the stove, juice being boiled out of them. Mom is busy making supper - BLT's. The bread machine is mixing up a couple loaves of whole wheat bread. Can you believe it - we're basically out of bread in the house!)

A couple weeks ago our kitchen was invaded by a group of birthday cake decorators. Who was the aging person? An eight year old girl who we were taking care of for the day along with her brother and sister. Here are some pictures of our celebrations for you to enjoy.

Mom helping Brandon frost. Chocolate frosting on peanut butter cake - yum!

Here's the birthday girl! Ryndel's favorite decoration was chocolate chips. I think she was thinking more about flavor than color. :)

Brandon, Ryndel, and Natalie, ready to dig into the master pieces. No worries - their own beautiful sunflower/zinnia cakes were set aside to bring home to mom, while we feasted on the extra mini cakes. "Happy birthday to you..."

Bacon, Eggs, and... Black Pepper Seed Bread?

Do you have favorite bread and spread/filling duos? I have a few -- Whole Wheat French Boule with peanut butter and jam, Dill-Onion Bread and fresh tomato, Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Bread and chicken salad, and Black Pepper Seed Bread and cheese. Lately my goal has been to broaden my sandwich horizons. Black Pepper Seed Bread (still my favorite flavored bread) should have more matches than cheese, I'm determined. What could they be?

Unfortunately I have only had one loaf of this bread in the freezer and 6 hungry adults to feed, so experimenting has been rather limited. Where to start? How about that recipe I saw in the latest Country Home magazine? I've always loved BLT's, and fried egg sandwiches are a good and easy comfort food, so why not. Here's what I (with plenty of help from the family) did.

Mix together:
2 T. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. capers, drained
Fry:
4 slices bacon
4 eggs (Fry after the bacon in a little of the drippings.)
Toast:
4 slices Black Pepper Seed Bread
Slice:
Tomato (we used Romas - not so sloppy wet)
Snip:
Fresh basil, optional

Spread some mayonnaise mixture on the toasted bread. Pile with egg, tomato, and bacon in whatever order you wish and sprinkle with basil if desired.

This is what it looked like.
Now of course with 6 hearty, country eaters we made more than this, but these are the proportions in the recipe.

This is what I learned from fixing this sandwich:
-Don't try out a new food when you are over-tired and stressed. Nothing tastes good then.
-Basil grown at home from the same packet but on different years (thus different growing conditions) isn't necessarily going to taste the same. I'm curious to know what the conditions were this year that made it stronger.
-Capers aren't my favorite flavoring.
-Eggs, bacon, and tomato mask the wonderful, peppery flavor of the bread.

This sounds pretty negative, but not all the ratings were as critical as mine. I may just have to try it again sometime, with a few alterations of course. Meanwhile the mother-of-all recipe hunt continues. If I don't succeed there is always cheese! Who coined the phrase, "Variety is the spice of life," anyway?

PS - Mom's current spread of choice on Black Pepper Seed Bread is home-made apple butter. Sound strange? Try it, and you may just be surprised.

More Changes

Selling at the Lakes Area Farmers' Market in Detroit Lakes, MN has brought forth a whole new set of blessings and challenges.

Blessings:

-Uncle David and family, DL natives, make an instant connection to this active, lake country town. Not only do I get to see these relatives more often, but I am also meeting some of their friends. They have done a great job making me feel at home right away.

-50 plus loaves along with dozens of goodies fly off my table in just a few hours. This is the largest amount of baking I've ever done for a single market.

-A great group of vendors, averaging 15 during the peak season, have warmly welcomed me. New friendships are already forming both with vendors and shoppers.

-Sisters more than willing to give a chunk of their day to help me sell. I couldn't do it without them!

Challenges:

-Two long and tiring days of baking to try meet this market's demand. Not only does this mean a weary baker but a frazzled book keeper (one and the same person) trying to sneak her work in every spare minute.

-A work-out trying to keep the tables stocked with all baked goods.

Solutions to challenges:

-More sandwich loaves to "up" production. Six sandwich loaves fit in one oven at a time in contrast with two round loaves.

-Baking what I can handle and not worrying about selling out early.

-One complete week off to recuperate and catch up. Were you wondering what brought on this rash of blog posts?

-Dad's beautiful cedar crates. How do these help? Let me show you, but first, a short tour of what he did...

Dad, chief designer/craftsman, in his shop late into the evening.

That's an impressive pile of saw dust!

Dad's finished product loaded with my finished product.

Now for how these work out to be a solution. For one thing, no longer am I limited to hauling everything to market in our mini van. With the new, handy frames, I can slide eight trays, each loaded literally with pounds of bread, into our Forester. Neat, huh?

It's a pretty tight fit, but with Hannah, my travel loving family's chief packer of vehicles, set to the task, there's even room for my sister's stacks of books to study on the road. (No, not a student. A tutor!)

And my favorite solution. Look at all the bread that fits on my tables now! No more scrambling to restock. Thank you, Dad!

More refiguring is in order to manage this new venture, I'm sure, but with help from the whole family, I'm well on the way to a great, new market.

Changes

Friday, August 1st, 2008: Today was my last day at the Sabin farmers' market. After watching sales dwindle to only a few loaves sold each Friday, I decided it just wasn't worth the time and drive. Saying good-bye to the friends I'd made in the year I'd been there was sad. Their quiet, godly example had been an encouragement to me. But life is full of changes, and change it will!

New opportunities are on the horizon. The farmers' market in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota has been referred to me as one with potential. Up until now I've shied away from the prospect of the one hour drive there, but it seems like the best next step. This will mean a few more expenses, though. Besides the extra gas, there will be a larger weekly fee. A canopy tent is also required. Time to do a little shopping.

A few weeks later: My family's weekend stay at the lake proved to be the perfect time to try out the new tent found in Fargo, ND. Lots of good help from parents and sisters!

One of the deciding factors for this tent over the rest at the store was the attachable side panels. Great to block brownie melting sunshine and the whipping, Minnesota winds.

Saturday, September 6th: My third time at the Detroit Lakes farmers' market. Isn't that a beautiful tent?

Yes, changes are a part of life. What a relief to know the One who has all changes in His hands. No need to wonder and worry!

To: Florida

While a box of bread traveled to my sister and friend in Pennsylvania (see my last post), a package of goodies from my kitchen made its way to Florida. Second cousin, Karin, and her family were to be my other shipping guinea pigs. Two days after I brought the frozen sweets to the little, down home post office in Rothsay I got the notification email. The package had made it to its sunny destination. One step accomplished. Now the question - how do scones, caramel rolls, and brownies hold up to the intense Florida heat?

Besides a call from Karin with a thorough report, she sent great pictures and captions for you all to enjoy. Thanks Karin and family for being a terrific panel of judges and for your great documentation!

July 25th – a wonderful package from Minnesota arrives packed with delicious goodies!

Karin's favorite - caramel rolls


Half of them were put on a plate for a taste panel…
…and half of them were put in a container in the freezer to be thawed out and tested a few weeks later.

My husband, Jason, and his sister Amanda who was visiting from Georgia joining me in a tasting that evening. (Wow! Pen and paper beside each judge. Did I mention these people did a great job judging? - Elsa)

Dividing the desserts…

Oh so good!

Must have been a winner…these crumbs were all that was left from the scones.

Saturday, August 30, 2008: the second batch has been thawed out and a new taste panel tries out some of the goodies. Here is Jase, the youngest taste tester. He gives a big thumbs up to the chocolate and cherry scones! (A diverse judge panel! What more could I have asked for? - Elsa)

His older sister, Siri, concurred. :)

Mommy was extremely selfish and kept the last caramel roll all for herself! It was so much better just warmed up a bit in the microwave.

My only complaint was not enough caramel…but then again, I don’t ever think you could have too much for me! (More caramel - hmmm. Will have to see what I can do. - Elsa)