Pastures, Stone Walls, Sweet Potatoes and a Recipe Contest!

There is a lot going on around here this weekend! Family Cow is hosting a Party in the Pasture, a celebration of spring. There will be lots of fun things to do including meeting the cows and calves, tasting many delicious homemade dairy products and home-raised pulled pork, touring the farm and checking out Charley MacMartin’s stone calf corral in progress!

Charley of Queen City Soil and Stone is our awesome neighbor. He is building a traditional, Scottish, dry stone wall enclosure for our calves. He’ll be working on it during the party. He is inviting folks of all ages to come check out his work (which is amazing!) and lend a hand. Click here to check out Queen City’s website.

Also, next door to us, Red Wagon Plants is holding their Third Annual Sweet Potato Slip Sale to benefit Friends of Burlington Gardens this Saturday and Sunday (6/5/10 & 6/6/10)  from 10 am to 6 pm both days.   They will  provide 4.5″ pots of rooted sweet potato slips (4 to a pot) for $5.00 each. This will give you tremendous yields of this delicious “super-food.” They will also have some herbs and recipes to give away at Family Cow during the Party in the Pasture.

To celebrate this joint effort, we are holding a fun and friendly contest. Everyone is invited to submit a recipe that uses both sweet potatoes and milk by 5:00 on Friday 6/4 – online via email “julie@redwagonplants.com” or on Red Wagon Plants Facebook page. We will post all of the recipes on our website, and on Saturday morning we will announce the winner of the contest.   The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Red Wagon Plants and a free gallon of milk from Family Cow Farmstand.

Here is one of the recipes we have received…

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

from Carin Laughlin Hoffman (5/31/10)
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 small celery stalks, chopped, greens reserved
1 medium leek, sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 1/2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 Tbsp maple syrup
The leafy tops of the celery stalks, chopped
METHOD
1 Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add chopped celery stalks and leek, sauté about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes.
2 Add sweet potatoes, chicken stock, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
3 Remove cinnamon stick and discard. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot.
4 Add half and half and maple syrup and stir over medium-low heat to heat through. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool soup slightly. Cover and refrigerate soup and celery leaves separately. Bring soup to simmer before continuing.) Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with celery leaves.
Serves 6 to 8.

YUM!

Hope to get your creative and delicious recipes and see you this weekend!

Lindsay

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