Farm Fall Cleanup

The cleanup was a little early this year. A few weeks back our region got hit with a massive hail storm which made all the leaves see through. Next year we need to remember to plant fall and winter vegetables. Lower maintenance and hail-resistant.

Jalapeño Cucumber Lemonade

This is a great combo. Lemonade, 1 cucumber sliced, 3 jalapeños sliced and seeded.

Crop of the Year: Peppers

Our pepper plants are still producing. Poblanos, cayenne, jalapeño, banana, cherry. We are freezing some for later use. And before the bears get them.

State Fair Biennial 2010

Two years ago Farmer No. 1 planned a surprise party for No.2's birthday. It was a Minnesota State Fair themed affair and was a blast so we revisited the theme for this years party. We planned this one out with different events throughout the evening.
6.30 Ice Cream Throwdown
7.30 Sausage Fest
8.30 Beer Tasting
9.30 Desserts
10.30 Spicy Tequila nightcap

State Fair Biennial: Ice Cream Throwdown

Four contestants, all ice cream making enthusiasts. Votes were tallied from the tasting audience. 

The entries were: Lychee Lime Sorbet (not really an ice cream but so good!), Chocolate, Chocolate Bourbon, Banana Bourbon, Fig and Lemon Zest, and one more that went so fast I couldn't even write it down. And the winner is…

State Fair Biennial: Food

Tons of food. A lot of the ingredients we used were from our garden. It's the last harvest of figs this year and it was great to share them with everybody. Jalapenos are in abundant supply right now too and were made use of in a jalapeno lime butter, a green chile mayo and a big hit, the jalapeno fig jam. Friends brought a lot of food to share as well which makes a party even more fun. A main food attraction event this year was the State Fair Sausage Fest. In our italian neighborhood sausage is a specialty. On the grill were fennel sausage, broccoli rabe sausage, pepper and onion sausage, hot pepper sausage and some lamb sausage.

State Fair Biennial: Beer Tasting

Another event we planned for this year's party was a beer tasting. Our friend Jeff Wallace has chosen beer as his career. Seriously (or vice-versa). He is a beer buyer for a major gourmet grocer here in New York and he is brewing his own beer too. For our event he presented four different types of beer for everybody to try and gave little food pairings to complement.