The Pauley Principle: First Day at Old Homestead Farm Market

Welcome to The Pauley Principle!

The Pauli Principle, named for Wolfgang Pauli, deals with atoms and electron-sharing that results in new, stronger bonds. Think 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, a shared delectable (!) electron and VOILA! Water!

Similarly, when you prepare whole food to share with family and friends, especially foods you've grown, something amazing happens. Meals become tastier and healthier. Your soul, not just your stomach, becomes fulfilled. You live life more abundantly as a result. During a shared meal, the bonds that people create grow stronger and become something new: GREATER than the sum of the parts! I give you The Pauley Principle.

Monday, March 5, 2012

First Day at Old Homestead Farm Market

Three days before we opened we knew we had a problem. Chris somehow had twisted his back. OUCH! The pain was not going away, so would-be tasks went unattended. Things that didn't get done: (1) the topsoil that someone wanted didn't get hauled away; (2) the firewood did not get split and stacked; and (3) the great big 12-foot-high wooden sign that is barely more than a drawing on paper did not get made. Instead, Chris got resourceful. He took permanent markers, an old shower curtain, a piece of used plywood, and fence posts to fabricate a quick sign. This will be just fine for awhile. We're jumping the season anyway! As a landmark, I told people to just watch for a flying cow in front of a barn. Kids seemed to love that idea. When the wind gusted just so, it looked like the cow was on the barn.

Roosti guards the flock.

Kids also loved going out to see the ducks and the chickens. Roosti-roo crowed incessantly! I guess he was a little excited, but he didn't try to get mean so he hasn't ended up in the pot yet!

Friends Tracy and Caitlyn came just in time to get the last of the bread.

I am so grateful to Pam Pauley for making this sign!

Sales were amazing! We sold out of most things fast but, oddly, after so many people had told me in informal polling that they thought no-bake cookies were a MUST, no-bakes that day didn't sell well. Still, I was incredibly pleased with what did sell! Bread sold out in less than 2 hours! Eggs sold well. The jellies and jams sold well. The pepper jelly was a hot item and has to be replenished. Brownies and chocolate chip/walnut cookies went fast. Cakes, I didn't make. I wanted to but ran out of time because of making ALL THOSE NO-BAKE COOKIES!

Here's the story on the ONE cake. I made a huge angel food cake. 14 medium sized egg whites! I didn't have packaging for such a large cake, but it looked so GOO-O-OD that I didn't want to part with it anyway. On the other hand, eating it all was out of the question. So Chris thought, let's give out samples and see if people like it. Great idea! They loved it!!! So I will be making angel food cakes in the future, smaller than that one, with proper packaging.

Our first day was windy, too windy for the awning, and cold. But no tornado!!!

My son Josh wants a lifetime supply of the pepper jelly. He says he's gotta have it!

The farm market's first day was like a party atmosphere! Several people took the farm tour, and I think we all had a ball! Chris and I deeply appreciate the friends, family and newcomers who came out to it, some from Cincinnati, Gallipolis, and north of Columbus. We had a drawing for a free item. Danita Milliron won that!!! YAY for Danita!

What I learned: (1) It's easy to run out of breads and (2) Preparing for this was hard work but fun, but not as much fun as actually seeing all the people enjoying their outing!!!

I will be making more artisan and gluten free bakery items in the future as well as some different novelty items that we will announce each week on our FB page. For example, St. Patrick's Day just begs green popcorn balls, don't ya think? And we're doing this every Saturday through September, so there will be different items as the seasons change. We'll have fresh veggies on the table as soon as the crops come on!

Even with Chris being out of commission on our first day of the farm market, he set up the camper and table, came out and visited, showed children and adults around the farm, and saw that everyone had a great time! For that I am so very grateful and ever amazed! I want to thank Pam for the egg sign. Thank you, thank you, Pam! And thanks to the elusive but lovely Jessi for putting the Facebook page together and clean-up! And of course, a big big THANK YOU to all the people who came and liked the food I have to offer! Thanks! I had a wonderful first day!!! It was like, like, like...
a PARTY!!!Follow us (click LIKE on Facebook at Old Homestead Farm Market) for more photos, a video, and upcoming offerings. We'll have a drawing each week.

4 comments:

MichaeleMarch 5, 2012 at 9:43 PM
Congratulations on a successful sale! I am so happy for you. Hope you can keep your energy up for the rest of the season - it should be quite profitable and fun.
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dr momiMarch 6, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Wow! Sounds like it was a huge success. So happy for you!
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Give Yourself the Fast Food Alternative: 1, 2, 3 makes 4 and More

For many people, late night ballgames, church, work and other events make fast food too convenient to resist, but what's in that stuff? I can't begin to answer. Big franchises such as Taco Bell say the 63% or so that isn't beef is made up of "the secret ingredient". If we consume their food, don't we have a right to know what that secret is? And more importantly, what's it doing to our bodies? My plan is worth the effort since meals eaten at home with the family benefit our physical and mental health.

Here's an alternative and my answer to Rachael Ray's A Week in a Day. I call it 1,2, 3 Makes 4 and More. On the fifth day, Friday, make a quick and easy pizza.
In one day, you can make a roast, a hearty soup, and a one-dish casserole to get you through most of the work week.
Meal 1: the roast with salad and a veggie.
Meal 2: the soup served with warm bread or in a bread bowl.
Meal 3: the casserole with a salad.
Meal 4: soup from Meal 2 served with sandwiches using the roast, Meal 1.
Meal 5: homemade pizza.

Plan meals and shop for it. Then take a few hours to prepare the entrees ahead. Start with a roast seasoned to taste. I'm talking real meat. While that's slow cooking, start chopping veggies and meat for a good, hearty soup, one that will be a meal in itself. Get it started and simmering away and then begin a one-pot meal that takes a little more attention.

This week my plan is Day 1, a slow roasted ham with salad and mashed potatoes; Day 2, minestrone; and Day 3, shepherd's pie. I'm making mashed potatoes for two days (meals 1 and 3) at one time on my cooking day. The fourth meal will be ham sandwiches with minestrone. Salads and breads round out the meals for the week. Fruits with cheese make a quick and good-for-you dessert. A truly delicious recipe for shepherd's pie is in my blog.

Be good to you. Be good to others. On days 6 and 7, change it up by going out, having a pot luck with friends and family or grilling out. Remember, live your life abundantly.

About Venison

Venison should taste really delicious! No kidding. It is my favorite meat, except for crab.

Some things to consider though:
*If you wouldn't think of eating a bull, then don't eat a deer that had huge antlers or was in rut. I don't. It affects the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
*Replace the deer fat with beef fat for your ground meat for an 80/20 ratio. Deer fat tends to be slightly bitter and leaves that thick coating in your mouth that, although edible, is not palatable.
*For roasts, sear with butter and olive oil. These impart a wonderful flavor.
*For sausage, use pork shoulder, at a ration of about 3 parts ground venison with 1 part ground pork shoulder.
*Venison by nature is a lean red meat. A good young deer processed properly will give you many delicious meals.
*Anything you would do with beef, except ribs, you can do with venison. Look for my recipe for Shepherd's Pie. Use either beef or venison. Enjoy, share, and live abundantly.

Plan Now for Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is cooked down from sap that you gather from sugar maple trees. There are no other ingredients, not even water. And it's incredibly good. On the market, maple syrups will often have corn syrup, gluten, color and other additives which can stretch profitability and decrease the steaming time required. Since it takes 35-45 gallons of the thin slightly sweet sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup, doing it the old-fashioned way takes time but the result is pure YUM!

If you have the opportunity to tap into maple trees and decide you'd like to give this a try, plan ahead. If you steam off the sap inside your kitchen, it can strip your wall-paper! Been there, done that, at our old farmhouse. If you cook it down outside with a gas turkey fryer, the cost can end up being around $8 a pint. We began cooking over a wood fire a few years ago, using a tripod and kettle. Oh, and a large firewood supply. Whatever method you choose, proceed slowly and with caution.

Gather your supplies. We use food safe plastic jugs, buckets, and little water line spouts. Maple syrup production houses will collect into stainless steel vats using long water lines but we simply gather the jugs, pour into buckets and bring it to the kettle twice daily. I buy little pint jugs to store it in. Very fresh, very pure. Start tapping the trees when daytime temperatures are going to be above freezing but nights are still very cold. In Ohio, the sap will be running fast sometime in February.

Try my cousin Stephanie Krupla's recipe for Sticky Bun Tea Ring and you'll want to search for maple trees you can tap into yourself!