a great food blog

The Laughing Gastronome

I got tuned in to this blog through my friend Kevin's Blog. The particular post regarding pain a l’ancienne has me excited to try something new with my bread. I have not had the time to really sink my teeth into truly good bread building, but it is something that has always intrigued me. As always, it will be with our own fresh milled flour so I trust that I will have to adjust for the healthful benefits of a true "entire grain" flour. The extra germ and bran will be dealt with accordingly, possibly through sifting. I can then use the sifted germ/bran in my oatmeal or a nice batch of raisin bran muffins perhaps.

Anyways, I thought I would share a new blog discovery with you and thank Kevin for inspiring me to bake some bread again!

hand powered flour mill - Nov. 29 2011

The most popular post on our blog is this one from March 16, 2009. It is a simple little post about hand powered flour mills. I am not sure why I never followed up on this, but it is certainly about time. @cinnymom (twitter friend) pointed out to me that the Bosch Kitchen Centre, which I guess is actually Barb's Kitchen Centre, has hand powered mills here in Edmonton. They are on 9766-51 avenue and their number is 780-437-3134.

I am not sure what brand they carry or the quality of the mill so check it out and comment if you can. I am almost never in that end of town and can't make a special trip at this point in time so I'll rely on somebody to post a comment if they can here on the blog.

If you know of other hand powered mills like the ones sold here in Armstrong, BC please share your comments with everyone. Apparently its a popular topic...since 2009!

playing with tractors

Cold start of the 3788 2+2 tractor on Sunday.



By the way, the old Pontiac is for sale if anyone is interested. I was told by the owner that it is a 1970 model with the GTO engine. So that would be the 400? I am not sure. Other cool old vehicles to follow.

gluten free crazy

Here is the definitive article on the subject of the consumption of wheat and the "gluten free" fab dieters who have it all wrong.

Read the whole article through. Anyone who has ever talked to me at my table will have heard the same speech and long before I ever came across this article (5 mins ago).

McLeans Article on Wheat

Modern wheat varieties are bad. They are indeed killing us. Modern flour production practices are bad and again, are slowly killing us.

"It could turn out that if we wind back the clock 100 or 1,000 years, and resurrect einkorn or some of the heritage forms of wheat, maybe that would be a solution."
Dr. William Davis


Eat whole, raw, unprocessed "entire grain" flour. Buy it from local producers who are growing heritage varieties of wheat and your gluten concerns go away. There is a lot of research that shows eating all of the raw bran and germ from a wheat kernal will in fact lower the glycemic index and HELP with weight control.

Don't be a sheep. Look for good quality food and follow your common sense. People have not de-evolved from eating wheat over the past 20 years when we've been eating it for 10 of thousands of years. What's changed then? The wheat.

what comes around...

We just got an amazing phone call today from some friends from our old neighborhood. They are bringing us a load of firewood this morning! We didn't ask for the wood and we were certainly not expecting it, but nonetheless here it comes. What a wonderful surprise.

It just got me to thinking about things a bit. Lately I have been on a bit of a good deed splurge. Not for the sake of getting something in return, just because I haven't done enough of that sort of thing lately. I certainly had no intentions of telling anyone about these deeds...I didn't even tell my wife. I just wanted to do something nice for people, have a good feeling about myself, and know that I've helped out just a little bit in this world.

Then comes today's little surprise and it gets me thinking about cosmic banking. How many credits do we put in the bank before an automatic withdrawal is made? Go ahead and drop a 20 in the Salvation Army bubble and don't take a tax receipt. Stop along the side of the road to help somebody change a tire. Even something as simple as shoveling the extra sidewalk length for a neighbour.

I remain of the opinion that we should do nice things for strangers for the sheer joy of doing so, but it doesn't go unnoticed that when we do nice things, we achieve nice things. I guess it really doesn't get much more simple than that does it?

Beef Update

I spoke with my butcher Tony yesterday. He is feeling a little better and is at least mobile with a cane. He is scheduled to process the beef on Dec. 4th. It will hang for more than a week and then be cut and wrapped. All of our beef should be ready to go around the middle of December! Yaay! We are eating the only beef we have left...burger. Getting anxious for a steak!

straw bale house performance

Thought I would post again about our little strawbale house on the prairie. It got down to minus 26 last night and sits right around minus 20 today. But, the sun is shining here in Sunny Alberta! What that means is that our passive solar design is busily heating our home...for free...without petroleum...without any cost or extra energy whatsoever.

We have not had the propane fueled in-floor heating run since at least two days ago. When it runs so seldom it is hard sometimes to remember when it last worked. Usually though, we turn that heat on only when we decide that we would like the comfort of hot floors on a cloudy, cold winter day. Luckily that seldom happens here in Alberta. Our winters are noted for their cold, but cloudless days. The sun blasts through our south facing windows, its radiant warmth soaking into our concrete floors, granite counters and various furniture. Once the sun sets, that stored heat is slowly released into the home. Actually, even on the coldest of days it sometimes gets too warm in our house and we are forced to crack open the window in the kitchen to let in some cold.

Besides the passive solar heating, our main source of heat is the little wood stove in the living room. It is one of the smallest stoves on the market, but once it is hot we have to turn all the settings as low as they will go to avoid sauna-like temps in the main living space. A heat-powered fan sitting on the stove pushes some warm air down the hallway to the back bedrooms...everyone is comfy cozy.

As I type, watching football on a Sunday afternoon, we have not had any fuel-based heat source in our house since before bedtime last night. The stove has been cold since sometime in the middle of the night and it has been a t-shirt temperature ever since. At some point later this afternoon, probably around suppertime, I will start the woodstove again. I really love this house.

p.s. The power went out earlier this morning and I started thinking about our neighbour's houses. How long can the power stay out before an ordinary house starts getting uncomfortably cool...or cold...or water lines start to freeze? Especially when it is minus 30 or 40 degrees in the middle of January.

xplornet fail

Because so many people that read our blog are rural residents I feel a need to warn people about xplornet. This is a rural internet provider based out of the maritimes. Please check out references prior to subscribing with this company! We didn't and now are regretting that decision.

The performance of this internet provider is abysmal. We have finally given up phoning in our complaints. In fairness to the company they have made considerable efforts to fix our problems...all to no avail. Our internet service is spotty, slow, or non-existent so often that it is a serious source of stress for our family.

We also use them for our phone service and the phone will cut off part way through 98% of our phone conversations...short or long. So much so that we start off each conversation with strangers by saying "if I cut out, I'll call you right back". Our friends and family are so familiar with this that it is a joke amongst us.

Watching family movies via netflix is usually unbearable with pauses sometimes as often as every 16 seconds.

Please, check out other xplornet customers in your area prior to subscribing! The thing that is most alarming about this is that our signal is extremely strong we are told. Our local tower is within viewing distance. For whatever reason though (I suspect it is over-subscription) the performance is awful. We signed a three year contract...sigh. As long as I can warn others.

Beef Processing

I jsut got off the phone with our processor Tony over at Cardiff Meat and Sausage. He has just gotten back from the hospital after being throw out of the back of a cattle trailer while loading cattle over the weekend! Ouch. I guess Tony has injured his knee quite badly. So, this means that I will need to source another guy we've used in the past. I will call him to see what his availability is and then call Tony in another week to see if he is any more mobile by then...doubtful.

That is too bad for Tony to get injured at such an important time of year. Please be patient with me while I make other arrangements for beef processing.

John

OK...phoned a guy we have used in the past before we moved. He gets busy at this time of year with wild game...he hunts too! So I have asked him to book the day, but he won't be available until later this month. That means beef will be ready (after hang time) sometime in early to mid December. I'll keep posted.

Farm Update - Market Update - Oct. 28

Done with harvest for the year which is a relief. Now though we are busy trying to get some fall tillage done along with baling up the flax straw. I have had to go back to work with my off-farm job so getting all of this done before it snows is going to be touch and go. Today I was busy milling and packaging for Old Strathcona Farmers Market tomorrow and I replaced a bearing on the baler and started baling the flax straw. One problem though, forgot to tighten the bolts on the scraper bar. It came loose and wrecked a bunch of belts. Its tough enough to farm when things go right...doubly tough when you do stupid things. Now I have to spend money on new baler belts and lose a few days baling time. Grrrr. Got a call today from a potential customer wanting pancake mix for Christmas gift baskets. They wanted them in 500g size so that gave me the idea to package smaller bags of pancake mix for the Christmas season. I need to design some new labels for the smaller bags, but that should be easy. I should have the smaller sized pancake mixes sometime in early November. If anyone out there is in the Gift Basket business here is a good item for you. 500g bags of Organic, fresh milled grains, organic baking powder and sugar and sea salt!

Swathing Organic Wheat 11

Just a quick video of swathing wheat earlier this fall.

Straw Bale House Update - Oct 2011

Just another quick video update of the house. Getting the final coat of stucco installed this week. I really love the colour and texture...old world.

what's different about our flour?

I just wanted to take a moment to briefly discuss our flour products. We are asked often about why our flours taste so wonderful. What do we do differently?

Well, the only thing we do is mill our grains fresh. All other flour products that we are aware of have been processed prior to packaging and shipping. The germ is removed, as that is the part of the grain that spoils quickly once the oils are exposed to the air and a lot of the bran is also removed. Our flour products are 'entire grain' products. Whatever comes out the bottom of the stone mill is what we package. For this reason Gold Forest Grain flours are best kept refrigerated. We mill 'on order' for our customers. This way, the flour is the freshest flour possible. No other flour products in the Edmonton market are as fresh or complete as ours...this is what makes our flour the best in town!

One other factor about us is our grains and the way they are grown. Organic. Heritage species.

How to use our flour products? Because all of our flours are 'entire grain' they will require slightly altered recipes. All of the germ and bran is present in the flour...of course this also means that ALL of the taste is there too! Most professional and experienced bakers tell me that slightly more moisture and a slightly longer kneading time is required when making bread. If you require your flour to be lighter in texture...something that most North Americans are used to you can simply sift our flour. It wasn't long ago that every kitchen had a sifter. Of course, don't throw away all that goodness you've sifted out, use it in another recipe or sprinkle the fresh bran over your cereal. 

Local. Heritage. Fresh. Whole. Good! Simple.

Dear John and Cindy Schneider, 

"I have recently bought a bag of your whole wheat berries, and am very satisfied. When I bought them, I was asked what I would do with them, since I wasn't planning on making flour, and there's lots you can do! If you soak the berries overnight in cool water, they go great in salads, stews, soups, or by themselves as a snack. I haven't tried it yet, but mixing them with fruit and yogurt for breakfast also seems like a great idea. Since I am a recently converted vegetarian, it's great to discover new foods to incorporate in my diet, especially since whole grains have a decent amount of protein in them. Thank you for a great product!"

Kira Dlusskaya

straw bale house update August 2011

potato buckwheat pancakes!

A new recipe from a new friend! http://tripleheartbeat.wordpress.com/

This is a new blog and it looks good so far. I hope that it is a success!

flax is blooming

Here is a picture of part of our field of Organic Golden Flax. Flax is my favourite crop in the summer when it is blooming. This is an ok crop of flax. When it is a great crop, the fields are solid blue for days on end...lovely.

July 2011 crop tour

Just finished with the little patch of summerfallow...trying to get rid of thistle and wild buckwheat. Up on the tractor tire for a better view of the field of organic wheat. This, as usual, is Park Wheat. Park is the main wheat we grow for high protein baking.





This is the view down the driveway of our home property. A pretty nice crop of organic Gold Flax considering the abysmal weather we've had all year long. Drought in April and May without a drop of rain meant that the seed sat in the ground for weeks trying to germinate, followed by unrelenting rain in June and July which has now drowned large patches of crop.

Spelt Flour

We now have organic Spelt Flour for sale! This is the only grain that we are currently not growing ourselves. Spelt is an ancient grain that has a slightly longer growing season. We have secured some seed from a southern Alberta farmer and we are hoping that within a few generations we will be able to grow our own local Spelt. In the meantime, due to strong demand we are milling spelt flour from the grains we have purchased off-farm. It is a wonderful looking flour...bright white with a red bran. Beautiful. I haven't had a chance to bake with it yet, but I am looking forward to having some time to do something with it soon. 

Today's sales at Old Strathcona Farmers Market were strong for the Spelt. Folks are certainly eager for Organic Spelt flour! Every week at market is better than the last and the feedback we are getting from our customers is glowing. I know we are on the right track with what we are doing and it inspires me to continue. 

farm update - june 24

Finally got around to getting some farmyard work done yesterday. I made a few dump runs with all of the construction garbage that we've had stored in mini-bulk totes since last fall. Dad brought the 766 home yesterday so I was able to put the loader on and use it to load the totes of garbage, move some boulders around and haul some dirt out to our 'island' on the turnaround driveway. There is still loads of work to do as far as landscaping goes, but I got started...and that is good. 

Crops are finally sprouted and slowly growing. Many weeds in the fields though because the weather was so incredibly dry at seeding. Now with all this rain the seeds are sprouting and having to compete with taller grasses and alfalfa weeds. The crops are so late though...really hoping for a late fall. An early killing frost in early September will heavily damage our crops I am afraid. 

I found some time to write this post as the mill is milling some buckwheat. We enjoyed Buckwheat Pancakes this morning...excellent taste! I am almost ready for market tomorrow at Old Strathcona Farmers Market. I just need to mill and mix some pancake mix and finish up the Buckwheat Flour this afternoon and I'm golden. 

Sure hope to see more customers at market tomorrow. It is supposed to be a little miserable outside so it is the perfect day to spend inside this bright and cheery indoor market. I simply love the atmosphere at Old Strathcona...see you there!

a nice email

I just got this wonderful email from Ruth. I can't tell you how much I love getting messages like this! It really makes me want to work harder around the farm to make sure we are able to continue doing what we do. Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to let us know Ruth!

"Hello John & Cindy,Just had a meal of your pancakes and so enjoyed.I've tried to put a message on your blog but can't figure out how to do that so will just tell you why this is special and maybe you can put it on.     For a long time it has been difficult for me to swallow pancakes and believe me I've tried many different brands.They seem to stick and go down very slowly,sometimes with discomfort.But!!Big BUT!!your mix goes down smooth as honey.I can't eat the whole batch so the remaining pancakes are bagged then used as the bread for a sandwich.Also must add that the wheat berries are excellent in place of rice in stir fries and such or just as a side dish.Your grains have added a whole new twist to my healthy cooking. Many thanks from a senior who really tries to eat right and eat local."      Ruth

busy busy

Gosh...been so busy lately trying to get caught up financially. I have found work again off-farm with a friend's company in Edmonton. I've been working there long hours for the past couple weeks and by the time I get home and get some farm work done, I am too bushed to write on the blog. 

Working again and making sure that I have a steady income is good for sure, but a large part of me wishes that the farm would hurry up and accomplish the same thing. I would much rather be working for myself given the choice. It is a catch-22 too...the more I work off-farm, the less I can get done around here and the less income the farm produces. We have made the decision, for the time-being, to reduce our work load with the farmers markets to just one market. Of course we chose Old Strathcona Farmers Market. It is Edmonton's best market and runs year round. It is a difficult market to get in to and we are very fortunate to be there. I want to grow the flour business, but everyone has to take into account that I also need to finish our house, get the landscaping done, work on farm equipment and build some out-buildings this summer. No easy feat even if I didn't have farmers markets and an off-farm job! 

I am contemplating the St. Albert Farmers Market right now though. It is our home town market so to speak and would be much handier for the family to help out with as opposed to the downtown market. I think we will be attending that market within the next week or two. If I am prepping for one market, it is only a little more work to prep for two. We'll see.

If it appears that I am all over the map it is probably true, but there are a lot of external pressures to deal with along with the all important issue of growing the business. I am assuming that next summer will be a steady focus on the big three farmers markets in the area and we'll go hard to make hay while the sun shines. 

market update June 11

I have a little 'man'power shortage this weekend as Brittany will be recovering from a stint in the dentist's chair. So, I will not be at City Market on 104th this coming Saturday. I will however, be at Old Strathcona Farmers Market! Yaaay! I really miss being at this market so this is my chance. Hopefully though, Brittany will be back the next Saturday and I can return downtown.

Seeding is complete by the way. I finished seeding my barley last night. Spring work done...now its time to focus on the house and yard completion and fall equipment repairs and maintenance.

a guest post! Maria Rainier

A Look at the Global Organic Market

In recent years, the global organic market has been booming thanks to more and more considered citizens wanting to lead healthier lives and putting more thought and consideration into the environment.

But due to the economic crash of 2008, statistics have shown that the global organic market, specifically in relation to organic food and beverages, has slightly declined due to the fact that the current state of the economy has put a damper in people’s wallets.

Between 2000 and 2009, global revenue in the global organic market increased dramatically from 18 billion to 54.9 billion USD. But between 2008 and 2009, statistics proved that organic sales grew a mere 5% due to a reduction in investments as well as “consumer spending power.” But in the past year or so it seems as though the economy has been recovering, (although at a snail’s-like pace), and now experts are predicting that more and more people will start spending money on the global organic market thus the numbers are expected to rise once again.

A growth in organic produce

Despite the fact that the global organic market has not been growing as fast as it has been in previous years, many regions in the U.S. as well as other countries are still experiencing organic produce supply shortages. This is because more and more citizens are turning to local farmers to purchase duty-free organic food and produce, and they’re also hoping to grow their own fruits and vegetables in their yards as well to avoid expensive food prices altogether.

The future of the global organic market

Experts are predicting that there will be a growing demand for global organic produce in emerging economies as well as a rise in private organic labels as well. This could be due to the fact that although the growth in the global organic market has actually slowed down, there has been a rise in the variety of different organic products on the market, which now range from organic clothing, make-up, furniture, vehicles and much more. 

Furthermore, more and more companies are now tapping into the “green” market by including many eco-friendly practices in how they grow and produce their products, as well as the various services that they offer as well.

Even though growth statistics have been looking grim over the past few years, the continuing global organic growth is living proof that not only can it survive an economic recession, it may even become the norm in consumer spending as well.

Sources:

http://www.organic-world.net/yearbook-2011.html

http://www.organicmonitor.com/700340.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/organic-produce-is-a-real-growth-market-20110603-1fkph.html

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she’s written on farm management careers along with a piece on business administration degree programs. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, playing piano, and working with origami.

Buckwheat Flour

Is tomorrow the first time in Edmonton's history that locally produced Buckwheat Flour will be offered for sale? Was it offered decades ago in a time when it would have been common? We've grown buckwheat for a few years now and this is the first time we've milled it into flour...tomorrow it will be for sale at our booths at Old Strathcona Farmers Market and City Market on 104th. 

It mills wonderfully but we do have to sift it to remove the hulls. This adds a fair amount more work to the process, but it's worth it. What an intense flavour! We made a Rhubarb Pie with Buckwheat crust and it was awesome. 

The two G's in a field of Buckwheat

There have been a few people asking for Buckwheat Flour at the Old Strathcona Farmers Market lately so now they can go home with a bag of their own. It is, of course, organic. 

Buckwheat was once very popular in North America and has been grown since colonial days. It was a valued cash crop for early new world farmers because it was the only flour that could be seeded and harvested within the 90 limit of most notes of the time. You could borrow the money for seed and pay it back with the harvest...the only crop capable of that kind of quick performance. 

Additionally, Buckwheat was a household item used in all kinds of baking projects. Buckwheat is ground as a flour and used for noodles, pancakes and breads. It should be noted that Buckwheat is a seed or nut as opposed to a grain...it contains no gluten.

Hopefully we will see you tomorrow at market. Brittany will be at Old Strathcona and I will be at City! Should be a great day. 

flax quenelles recipe!

This is a nice email I received from a customer of ours that I met at market last weekend...Sorry Angel, but I don't know much about egg substitutions...perhaps somebody out there has a suggestion?

Thanks for the recipe Angel!

Hi John & Cindy, makers of amazing grains!!!!

 

I was just at the market telling John about an amazing recipe I recently discovered.

This recipe was found at a Vipassana meditation retreat, of all places.

The recipe was called Flax Seed Balls, but being a foodie, I prefer to make quenelles!

 

 

The measurements are for raisins, Gold Forest Grains Organic Golden Flax seeds and sunflower seeds, measured at a ratio of 1-2-3 respectively.

(I ended up with about 6 cups, which made a HUGE lot of 'em!)

 

Put these in a bowl with just enough water to cover. Cover bowl and leave on the counter overnight.

 

The next day you can add cinnamon, vanilla, carob, etc. and then blend until smooth. )I used an immersion blender, worked great.)

Some folks might like to add some maple syrup or other sweetener, as they are mildly sweet.

 

Roll into balls or make quenelles, roll in flaked  coconut. EAT! (You probably already know this, but, organic flaked coconut is insanely inexpensive at Earth's General Store!)

You can also freeze them, which is what I did, I eat them semi-frozen. SO delicious AND healthy!

Unfrozen they are very soft which may not be a desirable texture to some.

 

I am going to experiment more with the recipe, I think there are endless possiblilities,  these would make an elegant dessert if they were plated with some berry coulis, whipped cream and a smash of shaved chocolate!

 

While I have your attention; I went to your blog, but didn't know how to comment there, not too computer savvy moi!

It looks very interesting, will visit more often and check out fellow foodie Kevin Kossowan, as reccomended by John.

 

FINALLY!- As I mentioned today, I am currently lacto vegetarian, and wonder if you can reccomend a way to make your wonderful pancake mix sans eggs? Do you think I could use coconut or almond milk?

 

Grazie mille!!

 

Angel