Categories
Crops & Gardening

Happy Holidays, From My Brood to Yours

dog in garden with henhouse in backyard
Photo by Jessica Walliser

With the holidays fast approaching, life is more hectic than ever. I’ve been busy getting everything together: doing a little shopping, wrapping far too many gifts, baking cookies, sending last-minute cards and making Christmas crafts with my son. In the rush that is the season, I headed out to the backyard to feed the chickens. I took the camera with me intending to take some shots of them scratching around the hen yard. As I was standing below the garden, I looked up and saw my beautiful little dog sitting there, looking so prim and proper—something she surely isn’t! She, rather than the hens, ended up being the subject of my photographs and was happy to oblige by posing for several sweet shots.

Although pets can be a challenge sometimes, they are indeed part of the family. It’s hard to believe she is 12 years old already. We lost our other dog last year and I really miss him, especially when I am working in the garden. Both were shelter dogs that we adopted as adults. Both spent their puppy-hood someplace that wasn’t very nice. They both had “issues” with their behavior over the years as a result. But when I look at her sweet face and graying muzzle, I am reminded of what a blessing good pets can be to your family.

Happy holidays to you and your families—both human and animal.

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Categories
Homesteading Recipes

Toast 2012 with Irish Cream and Resolve to Know Your Farmer

Irish cream
Photo by Stephanie Staton
Toast the new year with a glass of farmsteadtarian-approved Irish cream.

As the New Year approaches, it might be time rethink your resolutions:

Resolve to make “local” the new “Made in the USA” label in 2012. Becoming a “farmsteadtarian” celebrates the great food you can enjoy by being on a first-name basis with your butcher, baker and beekeeper. Help reclaim our nation’s agrarian roots in your own kitchen. Celebrate homemade and homegrown, even if it means growing produce on the roof or in the windows of your home. Pick up a hoe, or join a CSA. Say no to GMOs and CAFOs, and turn off media or government messages tell you what you can—or cannot—eat.

This Irish Cream recipe showcases the key philosophies behind resolving to eat farmsteadtarian in 2012 by:

1. Forgoing the Processed
With this Irish Cream recipe (or last week’s homemade hot-cocoa mix), you can rebel against those hefty corporate food-advertising budgets attempting to convince us that shrink-wrapped and processed is best. You can make your own equivalents of items many of us just grab from a supermarket aisle. Save money and increase the quality of the ingredients by using things like local or fair-trade products for items you can’t grow or make on your farmstead.

2. Indulging in Moderation
Real cream and sugar? You bet, but in small doses sipped slowly. Use real ingredients and enjoy in moderation when it comes to things rich and indulgent. Think of the way farmers ate just a few generations ago: Basic, unprocessed, whole foods for day-to-day eating (with garden bounty preserved for the winter months) and a serving of something special for a holiday. No guilt, no fat-free fillers.

3. Connecting with Others
This Irish Cream recipe begs to be shared. It makes a hearty batch that causes lingering conversations with neighbors around the woodstove. Resolve to embrace every opportunity in 2012 to bring people together around food.

Recipe: Irish Cream

Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 1 to 1½ cup whiskey, to taste
  • 1 tsp. instant-coffee powder (We use Mount Hagen, the only instant organic coffee we’ve found.)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • 1 T. cocoa powder
  • 2 T. sugar
  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Preparation
In a blender, combine all ingredients and mix for about 30 seconds. Pour into a large glass jar (we use a canning jar), seal and keep refrigerated.

Before serving, give the sealed jar a good shake to re-mix the ingredients before pouring over ice or adding a splash to coffee.

Share Your New Year’s Eve Favorites
What will you be toasting with—or nibbling on this New Year’s Eve? Share your favorite cocktail or appetizer recipes in the HobbyFarms.com John & Lisa’s New Years Party recipe contest, and let’s celebrate together in spirit. From savory to sweet, bubbly to homebrewed, enter what you’ll be serving at your New Year’s Eve festivities as you make your farmsteadtarian resolutions. The winning recipes by popular vote receive a copy of our book, Farmstead Chef for themselves or a friend.

Savoring the good life,

John and Lisa's Signatures

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Categories
Urban Farming

Barley Risotto With Roasted Pumpkin

barley risotto

Photo by Judith Hausman

I like to add fresh rosemary or sage to this barley risotto recipe.

Oh, those cookie and eggnog pounds, the finger food at parties, and the special desserts! It’s hard to stay clear of the treats this time of year, so I like to enjoy a few abstemious home dinners that refresh and keep me honest. It’s getting relentlessly colder here after a long, mild autumn, so dishes, such as a gentle lentil soup, a vegetable stew or this barley risotto, are welcome and cozy. The nutty, chewy whole grain has enough character to be a vegetarian main dish.

The version you see here was made with the last of my garden pumpkins, which I had already cut up and roasted. Any other cubed and roasted winter squash will serve similarly. Winter leeks are also a good substitute for the red onion I used. Frozen peas or shelled fava beans, carrots or fennel slices, or cauliflower florets — cooked until just tender — will work with the barley as well. Homemade vegetable or chicken broth is impressive; boxed is also fine.

Be creative with your herbs and seasoning. I like rosemary or sage with squashes and pumpkins. I reach for thyme to season almost any vegetable, and dill is an unexpected, vaguely Scandinavian touch with carrots or cauliflower. If you have managed to grow some herbs inside, use about one tablespoon of minced, fresh herbs. If the herbs are dried, 1 1/2 teaspoons will be enough.

Serve as is as a side dish or with a generous grating of Parmesan or Romano cheese as a main dish.

Recipe: Barley Risotto With Roasted Pumpkin

Serves about four

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 small, red onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup pearl barley
  • 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, warmed
  • 1 to 2 cups roasted pumpkin cubes (see above)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, sage or thyme leaves, chopped
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • freshly grated Parmesan or Romano, optional

PREPARATION

Sauté the onion and garlic gently in the oil. When they have just softened, add the barley and move it around in the pan a little to toast and coat. Add the warm broth little by little, allowing it to come to a simmer and be absorbed each time before you add more. Taste the barley; if it’s dry, add more broth. When it’s almost tender enough, add in the pumpkin cubes to warm them and then the chopped fresh herbs and seasoning. Sprinkle with grated cheese, if using.

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Categories
Recipes

What Goes With Potato Pancakes?

potato pancakes
Stockbyte/Thinkstock

Potato pancakes, or latkes, the traditional Eastern European dish for Hannukah, are intensely personal. How to grind the potatoes, how much to drain them, how much oil to use; how much, if any, “filler” to help them stick together. All of these things are subjects of debate, even with a relatively simple recipe. I’ll leave you to figure out the style you like.

Let’s focus on what to serve with the latkes. Some families make a beef brisket, the go-to meal for any Jewish holiday but, in my family, we make the meal all about the latkes, so I fill it out with accompaniments. The first two here are the most traditional. A number of the others kind of spin off the ingredients of the pancakes or off of other elements of Jewish cuisine.

Applesauce: This is the usual accompaniment to potato pancakes, jarred or homemade. Combine the applesauce with dried apricots, cranberries or cherries. Cook briefly to soften the dried fruit.

Horseradish Sauce: Mix prepared horseradish (or peel and grate a fresh root) with sour cream and chopped dill. Or mix it with some applesauce instead.

Roasted Beets: Wrap them individually in foil. After roasting at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or so, the skins will slip off. Served sliced.

Secret Weapon

It’s a little messy, but the grandma trick for latkes is to pile all the grated potatoes in a dishtowel, wrap it up and squeeze out the excess water. That makes the potato pancakes crispier. You still have to fry them fast though, or the grated potatoes turn an unappetizing blue-gray.

Braised Leeks: Clean four to six leeks well, using only the white parts and splitting them in half. In an ovenproof sauté pan, lightly brown them in 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add 1/3 cup broth, cover them with foil and cook at 350 degrees in the oven until very soft, about 15 minutes.

Caramelized Onions: Slice up three to four medium onions. Let them cook slowly in two to three tablespoons of butter. Wait patiently 30 to 40 minutes until they are soft and browned, adding a little water or white wine so that they don’t burn. Sprinkle with thyme and a tablespoon of cognac.

A Winter Salad: Toss bitter greens such as endive, radicchio, spinach, baby beet greens with sliced oranges or tangerines, sliced red onion and sliced almonds.

Sauerkraut: Drain and rinse, if you like. You can add sautéed onion, sliced apples, caraway or fennel seed and a splash of white wine to it. Serve warm or room temperature.

Carrot Puree: Cook peeled carrots in chicken broth until very soft. Puree in a food processor with about 1 tablespoon of butter and about 1/2 teaspoon cumin for every six carrots. Season with salt and pepper, adding a bit of sugar too if the carrots are bitter.

Sliced Smoked Salmon: You can also use salmon to make gravlax.

Chopped Hard-Boiled Egg: Include plenty of chopped parsley and capers.

Very Cold Vodka: Need I say more?

Categories
Beginning Farmers

2011 Farm Policy Round-up

Farm pasture with red barn and white fence
Courtesy Jupiterimages/Creatas/Thinkstock

The end of 2011 is bringing news from the USDA for organic and conventional farmers alike, while the recent failure of the congressional supercommittee means that there will be plenty of Farm Bill-related news in early 2012. As you wrap up the last of your gifts and put them under the tree, we’re rounding up the stories from Washington that may be impact your farm in the new year and beyond.

Defining “Organic”
With numerous hot-button issues on the agenda, the fall meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, 2011, in Savannah, Ga.) was a site of contentious debate within the organic-farming and -processing sector.

The NOSB is a USDA advisory committee appointed by the agriculture secretary and comprised of organic farmers, environmentalists, consumer- and public-interest advocates, organic handlers and processors, an organic retailer, a scientist, and an accredited organic certifying agent. In addition to making recommendations on a wide range of topics, including organic pet-food standards and organic-inspector qualifications, the NOSB has the sole power to recommend additions to or deletions from the National Organic Program’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.

Among the topics of greatest concern to consumer-interest groups, like the Cornucopia Institute, was the petition to allow synthetic preservatives (i.e., sulfites) in organic wine. The NOSB rejected this petition.

Much to the dismay of the Cornucopia Institute, the NOSB approved the use of DHA algal oil and ARA fungal oil, additives that appear in organic infant formulas, milk and baby food, with the caveat that these substances can’t be extracted using the petrochemical solvent hexane.

The NOSB also voted on several animal-welfare recommendations. Among these, the board redefined “outdoor access” at poultry operations to exclude covered porches; the board also recommended minimum indoor- and outdoor-living-space square footage for organic laying hens and broilers.

The next public NOSB meeting will take place from May 21 to 24, 2012, in Albuquerque, N.M., with a public comment period opening approximately six weeks in advance.

Cash for Conservation
On Nov. 30, 2011, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the ranking dates for the On-Farm Energy, Organic, Seasonal High Tunnel and Air Quality conservation initiatives. All four initiatives are funded by the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program. 

The NRCS accepts applications for financial assistance on a continual basis throughout the year. There will be three ranking periods for the Organic, On-Farm Energy and Seasonal High Tunnel initiatives (all of which are available to farmers in all 50 states, the Caribbean area and the Pacific Basin); periods for all three initiatives will end on Feb. 3, March 30, and June 1, 2012. There will be two ranking periods for the Air Quality Initiative (open to farmers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas counties with serious air-quality resource concerns);  these periods will end on Feb. 3, and March 3, 2012. At the end of each period, the NRCS will rank all submitted proposals for consideration, notify all applicants of the results and begin developing contracts with selected applicants.

For more information on applying for EQIP funding, or to find an NRCS office near you, visit the NRCS website.

Top Bill-ing for Ag Legislation
For a few months this fall, there was much discussion about the possibility of a “secret Farm Bill”—a legislation package that would be hammered out by a newly formed congressional “supercommittee” and that would replace the 2008 bill that’s set to expire in September 2012. With the collapse of the supercommittee, however, it appears that the Farm Bill will be negotiated as usual beginning as early as mid-January.

Three recently introduced acts will be of particular interest to small-scale farmers as they begin to move through committee next month.

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 was introduced in Congress by Reps. Tim Walz and Jeff Fortenberry on Oct. 14, 2011; an identical companion bill in the Senate was introduced the following month by Tom Harkin. The bill, which is the result of efforts by several farmer-advocacy organizations, including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, is an effort to respond to young and first-time farmers’ needs for capital and education. In addition to making provisions for credit access, conservation programs, and research and extension activities, among other items, the bill provides for a program to support military veterans interested in farming as a vocational and/or rehabilitative option.

Introduced on Nov. 1, 2011, the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act promotes rural development, job growth and public health at the level of local and regional food systems. If passed, the bill will grant authority to the USDA’s Risk Management Agency to develop farm insurance that better meets the needs of diversified operations of all scales. The bill also provides for local-marketing promotion (replacing the existing Farmers  Market Promotion Program), changes to school-lunch procurements that will encourage schools to purchase from local farmers, and renewed funding to the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program.

On Nov. 17, 2011, a bill focused explicitly on the needs of small-scale farmers was introduced in the Senate. The Growing Opportunities for Agriculture and Responding to Markets (GO FARM) Act gives the USDA authority to establish a loan program that issues grants to rural-development organizations. These organizations, in turn, will issue loans to market farmers growing crops for direct-sales venues and local schools and grocers. According to the bill, loan priority would be given to small- and medium-scale producers, socially disadvantaged farmers/ranchers, specialty crop growers, and farmers who are best able to meet the nutritional needs of underserved communities.

 

Categories
Equipment

Gifts of Christmas Past

Plastic bag drying rack
Photo by Jim Ruen
One of the most cherished homemade gifts in our home is this plastic-bag drying rack that I helped my daughter make.

The other day, I was reminiscing about gifts of Christmas past. In particular, I was thinking about things that I had made for my son, daughter and wife. Many were very simple, such as a pull toy for my son and a sturdy (if unrefined) doll’s bed for my daughter.

A very special gift some years ago was exceedingly simple, yet very fulfilling. My then pre-adolescent daughter wanted to make something for her mother, so I suggested a drying rack for plastic bags that can be a pain to dry otherwise. She agreed, and so we started.

Looking around our wooded lot, we found an interesting piece of hickory. It had a branch shooting off from one side, rather like a thumb. What caught my eye was the spalting that had occurred. When a piece of wood lies out, especially in contact with soil, fungi quickly colonize and begin the digestion process. When caught in time, the fungi produce a discoloration in the wood but don’t affect its structure and strength.

I cut off a short length of wood for her and helped her drill some holes for pieces of dowel sticks that would form the rack. We drilled a large one in the center for our largest dowel and four others around the perimeter, including one in the “thumb”. It then became her project solely as she sanded it smooth. To finish the job, she rubbed some boiled linseed oil into the base and over the dowel sticks.

She had the satisfaction of making a useful object with its own well-defined “character.” I had the satisfaction of helping her, and my wife had a gift that we have now used for more than 10 years. What more can one ask?

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Categories
Urban Farming

College Laundry Rooms Go “Greener”

laundry room

Photo courtesy Hemera/Thinkstock

The Lighten the Load initiative seeks to reduce the carbon footprints of college and university laundry programs.

Carbonfund.org Foundation recently awarded Mac-Gray Corporations with the first annual For People and Planet award, in the education category. The nation’s leading provider of laundry facilities management services to multi-unit housing locations, Mac-Gray corporations, along with CarbonFund.org, launched a Lighten the Load initiative in 2008. The initiative seeks to decrease levels of carbon emitted from college and university laundry rooms.

“We are honored to receive the For People and Planet award from our partner, Carbonfund.org,” says Mac-Gray Chief Executive Officer Stewart G. MacDonald. “This award highlights Mac-Gray’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Our Lighten the Load initiative is helping to reduce the carbon footprints of college and university laundry programs while educating students on the benefits of being ‘green’ in the laundry room.

“As the nation’s leading provider of laundry facilities management for the college market, we look forward to partnering with more academic institutions on this important initiative.”

Since launching Lighten the Load, Mac-Gray Corporations and Carbonfund.org has partnered with 29 academic institutions to offset more than 40 million pounds of carbon emissions.

“We applaud Mac-Gray for taking a leadership role in combating climate change,” says Carbonfund.org Foundation President Eric M. Carlson. “In partnering with Mac-Gray, we are encouraging campuses to reduce the environmental impact of their properties and facilities.”

To learn more about Mac-Gray Corporations, click here.

Categories
Animals

Martok’s (Latest) Christmas Letter to his Goat Mom

Note from Sue, Martok’s human mom: Martok agreed again this year to share his annual Christmas letter to his beautiful Nubian mother, Ozark Jewels Peppercorn.

Dear Mom,

Sarah the lamb
Photo by Sue Weaver
Sarah was the first lamb born this year.

It’s been a busy year at our farm even though I didn’t sire any kids this year. My human mom says we’re up to our eyeballs in goats (humans say weird things), and we can’t have more babies for awhile. But guess what? That ugly Kerla climbed over his fence and got together with my mate, Bon Bon, so they’re having kids in March of next year. That’s not fair!

We did have lambs born on our farm this year, five of them in all. They’re Classic Cheviots with stick-up ears like horses, so they’re cute. The girl lambs visit Uzzi and me all the time. They’re silly and talk about lambie things.

The first two lambs were born in March. They are Wren’s girl lambs, Sarah and Grace. Mom says Sarah is the best lamb ever born on our farm. Then in a few days Izzy had her lamb, Black Aliss.

Next was Ursula’s turn. I told you about Ursula, Mom, remember? She’s a fat little ewe who thinks she’s a human, not a sheep. And she’s so tubby that Mom and Dad didn’t know if she was having a lamb or just obese. But finally Ursula had a lamb! Her lamb is Dixie Moon and I’ll send her picture. Doesn’t she look like a pixie sheep?

One more lamb was born after Dixie. I didn’t write about it in my blog, but Mom described it at the Inside Storey blog. It was scary! Mama Hope and her baby, Arthur, nearly died. But both survived and now Arthur is siring next year’s lambies!

It rained and rained and rained this past spring, and then it got very, very hot—sohot that the mama sheep, their lambs, and some of the old sheep and goats had fans blowing cool air on them through the heat of the day. Not me and Uzzi, though. We don’t need fans. We’re Nubians; we’re tough!

Now it’s cold and rainy again. It’s so mucky that our feet are getting soft and some of us are starting to limp. That’s no fun, so Uzzi and I spend lots of time in our comfy Port-a-Hut. Good thing we like each other a lot.

Mom, I wonder what the new year will bring, don’t you? But there’s no way to know in advance, so I’ll write again next year with an update. For now, Merry Christmas, Mom! Wish the other goats at Emily’s farm a joyous holiday from Uzzi and me and have a Happy New Year.

Your loving son,
Martok

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Categories
Urban Farming

Eggless

hens

Photo by Audrey Pavia

My hens aren’t laying right now, but when they do, they get serious about it.

I wanted chickens my whole life, and when I finally got them, I was so excited about having fresh eggs. I remembered the time one of my young hens laid her first. I picked it up, raced into the house and woke my husband up.

“Look!” I said. “Look!” I was so overwhelmed with joy that, I could barely say anything else.

Now, here I am three years later, and seeing eggs in my nest boxes is still exhilarating — which is why I’m so bummed that I haven’t gotten one egg out of my chickens for the past three months.

What is going on? I started to worry they were sick. I did lose one of the hens a few weeks ago, but the others seem perfectly fine. They are eating, running around and doing all the things they usually do.

I complained to a friend in the neighborhood about the situation, and she told me that her hens aren’t laying either. It’s been months. I’ve since heard other people in town are having the same issue.

Why have all our birds suddenly stopped laying? Is it the weather? We seem to be having a colder-than-usual winter so far. Hens are notorious for taking a break in the winter, although, here in Southern California, they tend to lay all year round with just a break here and there. Much like vegetable gardens, chickens in this part of the country produce almost constantly.

But now the hens in this neck of the woods are suddenly acting like they live in Minnesota. Even if the cold weather is causing them to stop laying, they really need to get some perspective. “Cold” around here is a drop of the low 30 degrees Fahrenheit at night, and 60s during the day. And that’s just a few nights here and there. Does that warrant going on an egg strike?

My chickens are weird about their eggs anyway, so I guess this is just a new twist on the things. When they are producing, they will leave as many as three or four a day in their nest boxes, and then suddenly start laying them under a bush. This means I go from bending over to fetch their them eggs from the coop to crawling around on my belly to hunting for hidden ones eggs.

One of the most aggravating things about this current egg strike is that people in my life have come to expect eggs from me, and they just aren’t getting any. When I tell them my hens aren’t laying, they look at me skeptically, as if I’m holding out on them. If they lived with chickens like I do, they would understand. You can bring a hen to the nest box, but you can’t make her lay.

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Categories
News

17 Ways to Celebrate Maple Syrup Day

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting
Photo by Stephanie Staton
Try spreading maple frosting on your favorite cake as a way to celebrate National Maple Syrup Day.

Maple syrup is a booming commodity in the U.S. According to the USDA’s “2011 U.S. Maple Syrup Crop” report, released in June, maple-syrup producers saw a 43-percent increase over 2010’s harvest. Total production this year reached nearly 2.8 million gallons, with Vermont being the state with the greatest production.

So maybe National Maple Syrup Day (Dec. 17) isn’t an actual holiday (we can’t find any official declarations of it), but production that significant is still worthy of celebration. Maple syrup can make appearances in recipes of all kinds, with more traditional pairings, like apples or cinnamon, or alongside unexpected ingredients, like mustard or horseradish. It can be used in marinades, glazes, icings and desserts of all kinds.

Click on the recipes below for 17 delicious ways you can celebrate this (unofficial) holiday:

1. Maple-cinnamon Glazed Nuts
Beware: This sweet snack containing maple extract will having you munching all day long. Take it to the office for a mid-afternoon snack, tote it around the farm for a quick energy boost, or enjoy it as an after-dinner treat.

2. Maple-roasted Parsnips
Try this maple-glazed side with your favorite pot-roast preparation.

3. Pumpkin Cake with Whipped Maple Frosting
Thanks to Hobby Farm Home reader Koleen OConnor of Hanover, Mich., for bringing this sweet treat into our lives. Spread the maple frosting on a sheet cake or layer it up for a fancier look—whatever your choice, it can’t be beat! You can use Koleen’s pumpkin cake recipe, or test it on your favorite cake recipe.

4. Baked Beets with Maple Syrup and Horseradish
Beets take on a new dimension when roasted with maple syrup and horse radish. While the horseradish offers a spicey kick, the sweetness of the caramelized maple syrup will win over even the most skeptical beet eaters.

5. Maple Custard
Who can resist the creaminess of custard? Delight in this simple dessert that dates back to the Middle Ages by including part of your maple-harvest reserves.

6. Maple Mousse
Or give this mousse a try, instead. This dessert isn’t likely to stay in your fridge long—especially if you invite the Hobby Farms editors over for dinner. A favorite in our farmhouses, the light and fluffy maple mousse makes for a beautiful and tasty ending to any meal.

7. Maple Mustard Salmon
When the same old salmon won’t do, give it an update by pairing maple syrup and mustard in a memorable marinade.

8. Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness to this already flavorful (and nutritious) soup featuring farm-fresh produce.

9. Apple-maple Indian Pudding
Head to the Northeast, and you’re likely to stumble upon this favored dessert that melds British, Colonial and American Indian traditions. At its most basic, the recipe must contain molasses and cornmeal, but recipes can vary to include flavors and spices of all kinds. This version is perfect to tie into your maple-syrup harvest.

10. Maple-mustard Ham Glaze 
Some folks like their meat smoky, and others like it with a tinge of sweetness. If you fall into the latter group, try out this glaze on your next holiday ham.

11. New England Maple Cream
Use this maple-inspired confection as a spread on anything from bread to pancakes, or try it as a glaze on your favorite pastry.

12. Maple Dressing 
We like to use this Maple Dressing to spruce up salad greens, but you can try it as a condiment on your favorite sandwich, as a flavor-booster for cooked veggies, or as a dip for anything from crudités to fries.

13. Apple Salad with Gorgonzola and Almonds
This apple salad uses another version of maple dressing. We suggest you give it a whirl.

14. Apple Granola Breakfast Casserole
Say goodbye to excess sugar and hello to a sweet and hearty farm-harvested breakfast. Prepare this recipe the evening before and set the slow cooker  on low. Your houseguests are sure to be swooning by morning.

15. Apple-croissant Pudding
Can you hear our stomachs rumbling? This hearty dessert is a great asset to the farm table, and as Paula in Plymouth, Mass., tells us, it goes great with a scoop of maple-walnut ice cream.

16. Boiled Cider Pie
Mix maple syrup with cider for a delicious alternative to your standard apple pie.

17. Pumpkin Pancakes
Of course, we couldn’t wrap up this list without mentioning maple syrup as the perfect drizzle over pancakes. While you’re sure to enjoy it over your favorite buttermilks, there’s no reason why you can’t drizzle it over our Pumpkin Pancakes, too. What a great way to start the morning and celebrate seasonal harvests of all kinds!