Sometimes, the week's reflections are best captured by a poem and some beautiful photographs. Shout out to Iris Riggs, one of last week's goat hikers, who took some amazing pictures of the goats and the farm, and was so generous to share them with us.
The times call for some Robert Frost, especially with the growing piles of leaves crunching underfoot.
Gathering Leaves
BY ROBERT FROST
Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I fill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight, And since they grew duller From contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use, But a crop is a crop, And who’s to say where The harvest shall stop?
Farmers' Market Offerings and Farm Happenings
Hours are 8 am to 12 noon. The indoor market is located conveniently inside the south wing of Lincoln Square Mall. You can shop without a coat if you like! We have a wide assortment of seasonal chevre flavors this week, and we're offering our 3-chevre special-any three seasonal chevres for $25! Don't forget the yogurt, feta and bloomies-perfectly ripe Angel Food and super-young little bloom on the prairie. Ukrainian Farmhouse cheese is back in the lineup too! Also, grab a grazing box to enjoy when you get home from the market. We will also have our farm-made seasoned pecans (using Voss Orchard Pecans) and our delicious apple chips (our farm's apples as well as those from Cary's Garden of Eatin'). You might even see some PFFC merch, especially as we approach the holiday season.
Need some cheesy menu ideas for simple eating? You can make a whipped feta and yogurt sauce with fresh herbs to drizzle over roasted sweet potato wedges. How about smoking or grilling a round of young little bloom or angel food and serving with a warm apple compote? How about a fall mixed-greens salad with chevre, chopped apple and toasted-candied pecans?
We'll be bringing the following cheeses to market:
Fresh chevre--plain, herbs de Provence, cracked pepper 2022 American Cheese Society Gold Medal and 2023 Bronze Medal winner!
Fresh chevre with dried tomato (last chance) AND roasted garlic
Additional seasonal flavors: summer berry (very limited), dill-lemongrass-lemon zest, and NEW!! dried clementine-chile pepper (limited)
Angel Food: mixed milk mini brie or large format wheels--you choose--perfectly ripe!!
Little bloom on the prairie-mixed milk camembert-sytle bloomy rind- YOUNG
Ukrainian Farmhouse cheese-all cow milk fresh cheese, similar to a cross between cottage cheese and ricotta
Feta in whey brine: crumble on a summer salad! Use the whey brine to marinate chicken or lamb! Put it on a pizza! 2023 ACS Bronze Medal
Goat milk yogurt (pints and quarts)-all natural, no thickening agents-use it as the base of a marinade, a salad dressing or just eat it with fresh fruit
PFFC grazing boxes: include small portion sizes of at least two types of cheeses along with jams, spreads and fun "vehicles" on which to eat the cheese (bread, crackers, potato chips). Price varies based on components
Recipe of the week
This recipe is so good and so easy, we're posting it again this week.
Whipped Goat Cheese & Fresh Herbs Dip
Recipe found on Brooklyn Supper Website
Ingredients
6 ounces plain chèvre, room temperature
4 - 6 tablespoons plain yogurt (PFFC is best)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for finishing
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for finishing
1/2 cup minced parsley, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon minced tarragon or thyme leaves
2 tablespoon Castelvetrano olives, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, for serving
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chèvre, 4 tablespoons yogurt, lemon zest lemon juice, red pepper flakes, pepper, and sea salt. Blend until smooth. Taste, add sea salt and up to 2 tablespoons yogurt, as needed. Pulse in the parsley.
2. Spoon into a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.
3. Allow dip to come to room temperature before serving.
4. To serve, spoon dip into a shallow bowl, swirl, and add minced herbs, chopped olives, an olive oil drizzle, black pepper, and flaky sea salt. Serve alongside the crackers, potato chips and sliced vegetables of your choice.
5. Dip can be made up to three days ahead. Allow dip to come to room temperature and add garnishes before serving.
If you want raw goat milk or gelato, you will need to come out to our farm store during open hours. PLEASE NOTE: Our raw milk supply is dwindling as the goats are getting bred and nearing the end of their seasonal lactations. As such, we will only have frozen goat milk available until it runs out. To ensure that you get your milk, we encourage you to order through our online store for farm pickup. PLEASE NOTE: Frozen milk has an estimated shelf life of one week once it's thawed. It will last for several months frozen.
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery-Fresh Picks Cheese Board Collaboration
For those of you in the Chicagoland area who have been wondering where to find PFFC cheeses, look no further. Fresh Picks, a home delivery service featuring local and organic foods, carries a lovely assortment of our cheeses. You can order a la carte OR, even better, you can order a local cheese board featuring our cheeses, local charcuterie and accompaniments. You can even order wine to go with it!!
Farm Events in Fall and During the Holiday Season
It's the time of year when people tend to nest and get ready for the holidays. We at Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery are HERE FOR YOU! We have numerous special events, classes and workshops planned for November and December. Follow the links to book reservations NOW as these will fill up fast! Just added: A candle making workshop at the farm with Fire Doll Studio-Sunday, Nov. 19th, 3-5 pm. ALSO, If you can make it tonight, join us and chef Garron Sanchez at Martinelli's Market, Champaign for a fun and casual "fall entertaining with goat cheese" event-:5:30-7:00. This event is ticketed (only $15) and includes appetizers and mocktails. Just come on over to Martinelli's and you can grab a ticket there.
Here's what we have planned so far:
November 16th: Cheese For Holiday Entertaining
November 19th: Candle Making workshop with Fire Doll Studio at PFFC 3-5 pm
November 25th. 1-4 pm Goat Holiday Photo Booth (Goats in holiday attire for family photos, goat milk hot chocolate, Nieces Pieces brownie sundaes and more...details forthcoming-save the date)
December 10th-Goat Holiday Photo Booth, 1-4 pm, Take Two (in case you missed the first one in November)
Farm Open Hours
Fall is a gorgeous time to visit the farm, especially with the foliage changes and the clear light we get from our wide open prairie skies. We are open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 am to 5 pm. You can visit with the goats, taste our raw milk (and buy some to take home), shop our farm store for cheeses, accompaniments and unique gifts, enjoy a cheese board under our pavilion or grab a scoop of gelato.
We've have an amazing wine & cheese flight for fall, featuring a buttery Italian white (La Coccinelle) and a rich French red (Hermitage de Pic Saint Loup). Our beer flight has a fantastic sour weiss from Polyanna, an easy-drinking Belgian style ale and a German-style beer. Both flights feature cheeses from Jacobs & Brichford, in memory of Mathew Brichford, their founder/head cheese maker, who was at the forefront of some of the best pasture-based, raw-cow milk cheeses in the US (even internationally). He was a kindred spirit in the very small community of US pasture-based farmstead creameries, and his recent passing is a huge loss to the artisan cheese community overall.
Please note: on Saturdays, we offer "build your own" cheese boards and flights starting at 12:30 pm until closing. On Sundays, they are available from 11-5.
Our farm is great place to unwind, enjoy some great cheese and gelato and take in the natural surroundings that are so scarce in central Illinois. Our goat teenage girls are usually hanging around close to the barns and fences, waiting for your adoration. We have raw goat milk for sale (now sold as frozen milk) as well as a fantastic selection of cheese accompaniments (crackers, jams, sauces, pickles, wines, beers) as well as Joyful Wren pastured-poultry eggs, our goat milk soap (made for us exclusively by The Wright Soapery), tea towels and t-shirts. Come see the latest new offerings in the farm store. From Divina fruit spreads, to Great Lakes Potato Chips ((the cherry BBQ is the "bomb!") to Central Illinois Bakehouse crackers and a growing array of roasted and seasoned Voss orchard pecans, we have some of the best accompaniments you'll find in central Illinois. Ask for cold brew "affogato" or a root beer-gelato float!
Special shoutout to our new potter in residence Irene Woo (Pottery by Irene). She has made some special goat milk soap holders for us. Her true works of art are these leaf and flower platters, using leaves and flowers from OUR FARM! You must come check these beauties out!!
photo and post by Laura Trovillion
Goat Hikes and Pasture Walks
Looking for something fun and unique to do this weekend? Want to get outside and commune with nature AND take a walk with some adorable goats? Join us this Saturday Nov. 11th at 11 am. This might be the last hike of the season. If you can't make it on Saturday, we are offering a very special goat pasture walk on Sunday, Nov. 12th at 1:00 pm.
When hikes happen, join Wes or one of our rock star volunteers on a stroll along the eastern edge of our farm. It's a gorgeous part of the farm. The hike lasts for about 30-40 minutes and then we take you on a brief tour of the dairy. It ends with a scoop of gelato. $18/person includes the hike, a farm tour and a scoop of gelato at the end. The pasture walk will be with the milking does and we will take you into our silvopasture. This walk also includes a tour of the dairy and a scoop of gelato at the end (also $18/person).
NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. SUITABLE FOR AGES 8 AND OLDER, unless your younger child is good to walk for 30-40 minutes. WEAR STURDY SHOES FOR UNEVEN TERRAIN AND APPROPRIATE CLOTHING/HATS FOR THE WEATHER. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO BRING A WATER BOTTLE AND SUNSCREEN TOO.
HOLIDAY GIFT BOXES FOR BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS
If you own or work in a business or a non-profit organization that has the custom of giving gifts to your favorite clients/customers/donors, consider a unique and delicious cheesy gift box from Prairie Fruits Farm! We have curated four gift boxes for all budgets. Since this page/collection is password protected, please email me at prairiefruitswholesalecheese@gmail.com if you would like to check out our offerings and place an order. The deadline for placing orders is November 6th, to give us ample time to get all components in stock to fulfill orders. For those of you who want to order holiday gift boxes for individual gift giving, have no fear! We will be posting those options on our website sometime in early November. Stay tuned.
Want to order for farm pick up during the weekend? Need some raw goat milk? Eggs from Joyful Wren? Cheese? Just order from our Online Store for Farm Pick-Up. It's super easy!! Not local? You can still support us! You can order from our online retail store. We ship nationwide Mondays through Wednesdays every week. You can choose from one of our gift collections or just mix and match a la carte. Retail Holiday Gift boxes landing just before Thanksgiving!!