Category: chocolate

Now What?

The 2012 harvest season has ended for us. The guys are wrapping up the tillage, and should be done some time this afternoon. Many of our friends and family ask us, “Now what?” Some may assume that we kick back and take it easy until spring work starts again. While the most physical part of the work is finished for this crop year, we are not done with our work.

Jonathan and our youngest daughter, Laura, will be headed for a 16 day missions trip to Tanzania next week. They will be working at the Kikatiti school – a place that our church has sponsored for many years. They will be bringing many used eyeglasses with them, and some of the team will be matching vision needs with the glasses we bring. Others on the team will be doing some maintenance work. Laura and a few other women will be teaching girls how to use the sewing machine the was purchased for the school. They will work on the basics of sewing, with the hopes of teaching them how to make things to sell. After they finish their work at the school, they will be going on a safari. How cool! I am very excited for them, yet a tad nervous about keeping things going here by myself.

In the winter, we still have pig chores to attend to, and a lot of paperwork. It is also the time of year when we take a serious look at what varieties of seeds we want to grow next year. We have a yield monitor in the combine, and we’ll print out the yield maps to see what varieties we want to plant again and what varieties we will drop.  We store all of our crops in grain bins, and will be selling throughout the fall and into next year. We work with our buyers to arrange hauling dates that work well with both of our schedules – although sometimes it would be nice if the weather would cooperate on the cold winter days!

Both Jonathan and I will be attending meetings this winter. They are sort of like our continuing education classes. So far, we have the Minnesota Farm Bureau Annual meeting, and three organic conferences on the schedule. I will also have a few meetings for various other committees I am on. I love winter meetings, and networking with other farmers. The education components can really help set the tone for the coming crop season as well. It doesn’t matter what kind of farming you do, it is always helpful to see what is the latest and greatest thing.

Winter is also when I get to have fun in the kitchen. I have been collecting recipes from blogs over the past year, and am excited to have the time to try ones I haven’t gotten to yet.  When the kids all went to college, I warned Jonathan that I may be trying out all kinds of new recipes. He is pretty game to try what I come up with, fortunately!

One of the first recipes sent to me by my good friend is one I have posted above my stove. I see it every day, and have been patiently waiting until I have the time to whip up a batch. This is one that will require an event to bring them to, otherwise I will want to eat them all!

This blog is written in a combination of Swedish and English. The writers culinary passions are rivaled by her photography. This blog is a treat for both the eyes and the taste buds! The first recipe I want to try is her Perfect Expresso Chocolate Cupcakes.  Call Me Cupcake

Another blog that I thought was fun, and had a yummy looking recipe for Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting, is the Brown Eyed Baker. (Notice a theme here?) Her blogging style is one I enjoy reading.  Brown Eyed Baker

On the savory side of things, since we cannot live on cupcakes alone, is a Gratin recipe from Dairy Carrie. This is another blog that has a writing style that I really like, along with some great recipes and awesome information about her dairy farm.

I love, love, love reading cookbooks. I read them like some people read novels. I picked this one up on a shopping trip with my girls, and can’t wait to try out many yummy looking recipes.  This should keep me busy for the winter!

Okay, I’ve given you three blogs and one book to find. I would love to hear about your favorite blogs and cookbooks!

Fun Food Friday

I was craving some ice cream today, but ice cream doesn’t really like me. I figured out I was lactose intolerant while eating ice cream at my niece’s graduation reception. Not a fun day. I have tried taking Lactaid with the ice cream, but it still doesn’t like me. So, when a craving hits, I like to see what kind of substitutes I can find.

A few posts back, I shared a photo of my new favorite State Fair treat – a frozen banana on a stick, covered in chocolate and rolled in peanuts. It made a good ice cream substitute at the fair, so why not make them at home?

I started by cutting up a couple of bananas into more manageable sizes than the one offered at the fair. This way, if I only wanted half a banana, I wouldn’t have to try cutting it in two after it was on the stick.

We had some some bamboo skewers left over from Laura’s graduation reception, so I used those as my stick. You could probably get by just fine with bigger round toothpicks, depending on the size of banana slices.

I dipped the cut banana pieces in a bath of water and FruitFresh. You could also use lemon or lime juice in water. I dabbed them dry with a paper towel, and placed them back on the plate. I covered the plate with plastic wrap, and placed it in the freezer.

When the bananas were frozen, I assembled the rest of the ingredients.

I coarsely chopped some salted peanuts in my food processor, and put them in a shallow bowl. I had some Magic Shell ice cream topping in the pantry, so I used that for the hardening chocolate. I have a narrow measuring cup that holds about 1/2 cup of liquid. You could use a small juice glass as well.

I poured a little bit of the Magic Shell into the bottom of the measuring glass, since I was planning on having three chunks of banana. Once it is poured into the glass, you cannot put it back into the bottle.


Tipping the glass slightly, I rolled the banana in the chocolate, making sure it was coated well.

I held it above the glass until the chocolate began to harden.  Then, I rolled the banana in the coarsely chopped peanuts.

I repeat the process for the other banana pieces that I wanted to prepare. Then placed the rest of the bananas back into the freezer for the next time I had an ice cream craving.

The bananas satisfied the craving. They tasted just like a banana split…okay, almost like a banana split!

My next challenge is to try different combinations – splitting the bananas down the center, and spreading creamy peanut butter on one half making a pb banana sandwich to freeze. After they are frozen, dipping them in a homemade chocolate shell mixture, and letting them freeze again.  Mmmm. I think I need to go buy more bananas!

Have fun with your food today!