Grainswest Magazine Article - Bakeries & Farmers & Millers

http://www.grainswest.com/2015/08/rise-and-shine/

Nana's Rhubarb Cake

Growing up on the farm north of Bon Accord, AB there was a rhythm to the day, especially at Nana and Papa's place across the valley. The passing of the day was marked with meals. Breakfast, coffee, lunch, coffee, supper. No matter the tasks of the day these meals were observed. My favourite, of course, was coffee time. This was when treats were usually presented on the kitchen table. Peanut butter cookies and Rhubarb Cake seem to me to be the usual suspects for coffee-time treats, but I'm sure Nana mixed it up more than I recall.

In the summer, Rhubarb Cake ruled. I still think of Nana and Papa, the squeaky kitchen floor of the old farm house and the weird whirring and grinding of the electric clock on the wall above the telephone every time I cut rhubarb. I love that smells like these can trigger my memories so easily. They are very fond memories indeed.

So, here is Nana's Rhubarb Cake recipe. I hope it creates fond memories for your family as it did for me.

1-1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 cups cut rhubarb

Mix all ingredients together and place batter in 8" x 12" pan.

Topping
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp butter
Mix and sprinkle over batter

Bake the whole thing at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Award Winning Commercial

2015 Rosies - Best Commercial under $50k.

A Farmer's Philosophy - Bon Ton Bakery from Leven Creative on Vimeo.

Einkorn Flour!

Einkorn Bread!

We are falling in love with Einkorn here on the farm. It is such a lovely flour, light and fine after milling. pic.twitter.com/UiXYVqdQfC

— John Schneider (@GoldForestGrain) March 12, 2015

Organic Box - organic foods...delivered

Organic Box statement

Organic Box is one of our biggest supporters and is a great venue for us smaller, organic farms to distribute our products. Organic Box is a tremendous success story and a proud Edmonton, family-run business. They have consistently expanded in a sustainable way and have grown their team of energetic staff over the years. We love dealing with Organic Box in every imaginable way!
In addition to regular home deliveries within Edmonton, Organic Box also delivers to surrounding Northern Alberta communities. Below is a list of towns and the pickup locations. This is a great way for folks to obtain organic food in areas where an organic food store may not exist.


Morinville and Sturgeon County - Our home town and county!
Saturday pick up only at Highstreet Interiors Inc. 10031-100 Ave, Morinville, AB


Athabasca - Pick up at the Train Station - Sundays (biweekly)

Our farmers daughter in the Spelt field

Peace River
Peaceful Pantry 9911-101 Ave - Wednesdays (biweekly)

Ft. McMurray
Two locations for pickup only on Thursdays
Wood Buffalo Food Bank - 10117 King Street
Sangsters Organic Market - 395 Loutit Road

Stony Plain
Saturday pickups
Multicultural Heritage Centre, OpportshauserHouse, 5411-51 Street

Cindy on our first seeder and tractor! I miss that outfit.

To find our products on the Organic Box website simply click on the Catalogue then click the Pantry category. Finally, click the Flours & Grains icon. Or...just click the link that I've taken the time to set up for you. lol

There are many options for purchasing quality organic foods, but as always, reading the details about the product will help you make the best choice for you and your family. We hope you'll choose our heirloom, organic, stone-milled, fresh, whole flour and grain products.

Cheers

John Schneider
Gold Forest Grains Inc.

Parkallen Home Kitchen Double Chocolate Cookies

Another great recipe from Jacquie at Parkallen Home Kitchen

Whole Grain Double Chocolate Cookies

Photo courtesy Parkallen Home Kitchen

I see that Jacquie has chosen to use GFG Soft White Wheat flour. This is NOT white flour, a common question from our customers. Instead, it is an Entire Grain flour stone milled from Soft White Wheat as opposed to Hard Red Wheat.

http://parkallenhomekitchen.com/2015/01/25/whole-grain-double-chocolate-cookies/

Tip: An interesting thing that @gfgcindy does with our cookies at home is to add a little whole or ground flax to the batter. She insists on getting as much "health" into our food...and it actually tastes great!

A new stall at Strathcona Farmers Market

We've been at the Old Strathcona Farmers Market for about 4 years now. We started the first few months being shuffled around a bit and eventually found a permanent home along the wall on the East side of the market next to August Organics. It was a standard 8' stall and served us well for a few years. However, I was sure starting to find it cramped in there. Our products somewhat limited because we just didn't have the shelf space. Over a year ago, I applied for a corner stall. These corners are highly sought after and almost never become available. A couple weeks ago, the market manager Stephanie let me know that there was a corner available and would I be interested in being considered for it?

Our old spot on the east wall

The new corner spot...under construction

It would seem like an easy decision, but one thing I've noticed is how customers are used to seeing things in their particular place. I was a little worried that once we moved, there would be folks who would see our usual stall occupied by someone else and then just assume we've gone from the market altogether. After assurances from the market and talking to several other vendors who offered to help spread the word about our move, I've gone ahead and pulled the trigger. Yesterday morning, before the big storm, I spent several hours moving our fixtures, painting and setting up a new layout on our corner. I still don't have it exactly the way I want it, but I also didn't spend a dime (other than paint). It will be a work in process for awhile until I can figure out an optimal layout.

The plan now that we've moved is first to make sure our customers are aware of the change and then to implement some new products and to maximize the available display space. I hope to add a couple video monitors to be able to show our customers how we farm organically, how the grains are milled and how our farm is progressing.

There is a process to be able to add products to our stall, but they are all related exactly to what we are doing currently so I am not anticipating a problem there. New products will include poultry feed, new pancake mixes (buckwheat, etc.) and perhaps other mixes like cookies and muffins. These products will compliment our existing flour and grains.

So...when you arrive at market this Saturday, we will be at the far North end of aisle #2. Right across from Gull Valley Greenhouses and immediately behind/beside Peas On Earth. This is still the same alley, just at the far end, away from the large doors.

I hope you'll help us spread the word about our products and our new location. We're still a small, growing company and we rely on as much help as we can get from our amazing customers! Thank you.

John Schneider

A new store!

photo courtesy Amaranth Whole Foods

Cindy is putting the order together today and will be delivering to Amaranth Foods in St. Albert! This will be our second store in St. Albert so we're excited to have a really good foothold in one of our home towns (we have 2 home towns...Morinville and St. Albert). Grapevine Deli, located in historic downtown St. Albert has done very well for us in sales for 2 years now, but Amaranth Whole Foods Market located in the Enjoy Centre will help us cover all of the bases for customers in St. Albert.

As our retail locations expand, we are happy to be able to introduce new customers to our whole and healthful grain and flour products. I do know that Amaranth has ordered our Einkorn Flour as well as other popular products that we produce. Please help support these great local businesses as well as our own. And if you don't see something that you want in their stores, I know they appreciate hearing from you.

Enjoy!

Is Local The New 'Sacred'? + Vegetable Upma with Gold Forest Grains' Steel Cut Oats ~ The Tiffin Box

A beautifully written article by Michelle Peters-Jones. Michelle is an impressive chef with a very interesting upbringing in rural India. One of my favourite people to be sure.

Is Local The New 'Sacred'? + Vegetable Upma with Gold Forest Grains' Steel Cut Oats ~ The Tiffin Box

Royal Palm Turkey

This is our prize Royal Palm Tom. He's so beautiful and such a show-off. We hatched him ourselves along with his two siblings. We actually lost another Tom earlier to a fox. But he and his brother and sister are still doing fine. Easter supper I suspect.

Einkorn Fettucini

There are few things in the culinary world that are easier to make with flour than pasta. The ingredients are as simple as they come. Flour. Eggs. A pinch of salt...and then a little kneading.

If you cannot make fresh pasta with our flour then you just aren't trying. 

Here is a great recipe for fresh Fettucini made with our own organic Einkorn Flour.

2.5 cups of fresh GFG Einkorn Flour (you can also use Red Fife or Park)
4 eggs
Salt (pinch)

In a mixing bowl the flour and salt can be combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs. At this time an optional ingredient can be added - 1tbl of olive oil. I don't think this is necessary, but it doesn't seem to hurt and probably gives the pasta a little buttery texture when all is said and done.

Knead the ingredients together until a smooth consistency is reached with the dough. At this stage you can set your pot of water to boil. I always add a splash of olive oil to the water.

Come back to your dough and proceed to roll it out onto a floured surface. You need to roll it very thin so perhaps dividing the dough into two balls is better. You can use a rolling pin or the bottle of wine you happen to be sipping from while you cook to roll the dough.

Once the pasta is thin enough go ahead and cut strips that are fettucini sized...about 1cm. I used our pizza wheel to cut the pasta. It occurred to me after that you can simply fold the sheet of pasta over itself a couple times and then cut the strips! Duh. Once you have your pasta cut into strips, the water will be at a rolling boil and you can toss it all in. It will cook very quickly, perhaps 2 minutes, so be ready!

Served simply with a little butter, lemon, salt and pepper it is a remarkably simple lunch or dinner. Of course it also goes along beautifully with any pasta sauce you can dream up. Enjoy!