Thanksgiving Holiday Markets are Farmers' "Black Saturday"

Farm News

The torch is being past to our next generation of does this week. Since it appears that most of our older does have been bred, we decided to move the breeding bucks into the “kid” barn to begin breeding our yearlings.  We have separate pens for Eddie, Mocha and Rex. The plan is to wait until the yearlings show signs of being in heat and then put them with their “arranged” suitor.  Since Rex is the smallest of the three bucks, we’re using him as our “heat detector.” Twice a day, we put him on a lead and parade him with the young ones. They are clearly NOT in heat yet, as they flee from him and hide en masse behind the hay feeders. Wes said they reminded him of junior high schools girls at their first dance in the school gym—all packed up, afraid of the boys, but curious at the same time. 

Farmers’ Markets

For most farmers who sell at farmers’ markets, this weekend’s sales are our equivalent of retailers’ “black Friday.”  The weekend before Thanksgiving is THE time of food purchasing to usher in the nation’s ONLY celebration of the seasonal foods.  While we recognize that cheese, jams and gelato were not fixtures on the Pilgrim’s thanksgiving table, we know they hold a prominent place in the modern-day thanksgiving feast.  After all, our milk is seasonal, our gelato flavors are seasonal and the jams are VERY seasonal. 

This Saturday, we are attending THREE farmers’ markets:  Urbana, Bloomington and Chicago’s Green City Market.  We’ll be bringing lots of cheese for you and our cheesemakers, Nat and Alison have a special holiday message for you:

Hi Everybody!  We are Nat and Alison, or Alison and Nat.  We make up the dynamic dishwashing (aka cheesemaking) team here at Prairie Fruits Farm.  However, for many years preceding the making of it, we sold cheese for Pastoral in Chicago.  Although the holiday season can often be a double-edged sword in the world of cheesemongering (that’s cheese parlance for those who sell cheese), there are few things more wonderful than helping the customer build a glorious holiday cheeseboard anointed with all the perfectly complimentary accompaniments.
To that end (and this is selfish, we admit), the only thing better than helping the customer choose the cheese for the plate would be to MAKE the cheese, THEN help the customer choose it.  So, here we go!

Let's talk progression.  Now, we are not saying that you have to tell Uncle Bob to eat his cheese in this order, or he will get none at all, but arranging your cheese with a wide variation in flavors and textures will knock it out the park.  Firstly, start with chevre (I mean who wouldn’t, it goes with everything!).  Posing as the delicate quenelle in the lower right of the photo, the role of chevre in a cheese course should not be underestimated.  Its high acidity, creamy yet subtly chalky texture can open up the palate for the more assertive cheeses to follow it.  So, to the delicious looking number in the upper left hand corner of the photo - a soft-ripened cheese next would be ideal paired with a high acidity, sweet jam such as Alisa’s green-tomato.  I am not gonna lie; soft-ripened cheeses are where we are holding all aces, so the choices you have are broad: Angel Food for decadence, Little Bloom on the Prairie for finesse and Black Goat for, well, joie de vivre.  In an ideal world, you would end either with Roxanne or Moonglo, the portioned pieces in the top right of our picture.  Slightly tangy, grassy, herbal flavors make both of these cheese pair beautifully with apple butters, pears, and all their close relatives.  If you get to the farmers’ market early, all of these cheeses will be yours to choose from. In a non-ideal world, you get to market a little late.  Well, a chevre, Black Goat, Little Bloom cheese plate is still gonna bring ‘em to their knees.    

OH! One final recommendation – Cold cheese is like turkey without gravy, so, for Leslie’s sake, temper your cheese at room temperature for at least one hour before serving. 

 As Nat and Alison mentioned, we have two jams to accompany these cheeses: green tomato (a lovely sweet-tart jam made with the oodles of green tomatoes we harvested before the last freeze) and heritage apple butter. The apples come from Wolfe Orchard in Monticello, IL. They raise a number of old varieties of apples on the hills of Central Illinois (formed by receding glaciers that left piles of rubble known as terminal moraines)—we chose a medley of apples for this slow cooked apple butter.  Alisa was also busy processing the remainder of our green tomatoes into pickled green tomatoes and green tomato relish, and we will have jars of those products available for sale at both Urbana and Bloomington Holiday Markets.

And now I come to the gelato.  Stewart was busy in the kitchen one final time this season to prepare several delicious flavors of gelato. We will have pints only for sale at both Urbana and Bloomington:

• Vanilla
• Chocolate
• Hazelnut
• Pistachio
• Honey Lavender
• Buttered walnut & Maple (with Jarrell family English walnuts)
• Maple Butternut

Lastly, don’t forget to pick up a Prairie Fruits Farm Community Supported Goat T-Shirt (think early holiday presents—beat the rush). They’re organic cotton, large size only and a bargain at $15.

Wes, Leslie, the staff and all the goats at Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery wish you all a delicious, local and seasonal thanksgiving holiday. We have A LOT to be thankful for.