A Traditional Farm Life 4-6-15

April 6, 2015

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!  We were delighted to get about a half-inch of rain from a spring shower this past week. An inspection of the garden the next morning revealed bright green potato leaves unfurling from the black earth of the potato patch. 

In the “girl’s garden,” a small plot dug and tended by our girls (ages 10, 7 and 4 years old), sentinel straight stalks of green garlic are shooting up.  This self-started, quite industrious project is even more special to me because the garlic they planted on their own this spring was straight from the produce section of the grocery store.  It was a great example of the rural art of “making do.”

We’re pleased to announce we’ve got a couple Ph.D.’s at our house—Posthole Diggers, that is.  Our two oldest boys (13 and 12 years old) earned the title after digging twenty 12-inch wide and 36-inch deep postholes--by hand--this past week. 

The old railroad telegraph poles for their future round pen for training horses were free from a local farm family, but the boys are putting in their share of sweat equity to make the round pen a reality.  Each boy was given the task of digging ten holes.  It has taken them the better part of several days this week, but they have made it down to their 36 inches, or in some cases only to 30 inches when they hit the shale bed.  Before long the fruits of their labors will be visible, and it is our hope that they will have also learned the value of hard work and the pleasure of reaching and completing a goal.

The Abilene Christian Women’s Coffee invited me to be their “featured guest” at their monthly meeting Thursday morning.  It was an enjoyable opportunity to tell over one hundred smiling faces about our little Mom and Pop restaurant venture here in Enterprise.  An added bonus was meeting another weekly newspaper columnist, Mrs. Doris Schroeder of Hutchinson.  I’ve had the pleasure of reading her column, “Remember When” in the Hutchinson News and it was a treat to meet her and her husband John.

The final round of the Sunflower State Flour Showdown was Thursday evening at The Buggy Stop.  I substituted about half of the Hudson Cream flour in a batch of cinnamon rolls with the last of the Handcrafter’s flour from Farmer Direct Foods, Inc.  Early reports were encouraging as once again they rose well and baked beautifully, but a taste test revealed a slight difference in texture.  Unfortunately, they were slightly less tender than normal.  Hudson Cream Flour’s “short patent” all-purpose flour is known for its role in making tender baked goods, so I guess I better stick with the Hudson Cream Flour for the cinnamon rolls as well. 

At this point the lean artisan breads the Handcrafter’s flour would be best for don’t fit into our business plan, but someday we would like to build a traditional brick oven/smokehouse combination here on the farm.  If you know of anyone that has an example on their own farm, please contact us at The Buggy Stop number below.  If possible, we would like to come take a look at how one was built.  These relics of the past are by and large extinct, but if the bones are still in your backyard, perhaps enough clues would be left to document how to build one anew.  We would very much like to learn the art of traditional brick oven baking and meat smoking.

We were talking pies this week with a customer and the subject of Lemon Pie came up.  My favorite recipe is like lemonade in a crust, and oh, so easy.  To get started you’ll need a fully baked pie shell, purchased or homemade.  From there it’s a piece of cake—umm, I mean, easy as pie!

Lemon Pie

1 pie shell (9”), pre-baked

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice (ReaLemon)

5 tablespoons cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1-1/2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon lemon extract

meringue, whipped cream or

Cool Whip

Combine sugar and cornstarch in heavy saucepan.  Add lemon juice.  Beat in egg yolks.  Gradually whisk in boiling water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly.  Remove from heat and add butter and lemon extract; whisk until butter is melted.  Pour into baked shell and top with meringue if you’re ambitious, or cover and chill for whipped cream if you’re not--like me.

[Test Kitchen Tips:  If you have one, a flat-bottomed whisk is very handy for this recipe.  I use mine from the start to combine the sugar and cornstarch, and from then on to easily whisk in the remaining ingredients and keep the pie filling smooth as it cooks. 

If you are chilling the pie for whipped cream or Cool Whip, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the hot filling after pouring it into the pie shell.  This will prevent a “skin” from forming on top during the chilling process.]

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385.

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