Category Archives: Food

2025, Business, Family, Farming Update, Food, gardening, Nature, Science, Technology, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS FARMER BEN?

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This weeks farm report from Ben.

I finished lighting the show in Chatfield last week, in time to fly out on Saturday with Kelly and our daughter. Kelly had a work conference and we got to travel along and amuse ourselves for a few days.
 I was under the impression that taxi drivers were always better than Uber / Lyft because they are more professional and know the roads better. But that plan falls apart if they’re all independent taxi’s and they all seem to need to enter the address in their phones anyway. And they tell me they’ve lived here multiple years, so it makes me wonder why they don’t know their way around yet? But whatever. Our first driver was crazy; drove like a maniac and told me he liked American women and big boobs! Second taxi was a nicer driver, but his car broke down and when daughter and I came out of the Butterfly Pavilion he was sitting right where he had left us. He called a friend of his to take us back to town. And the taxi back to the airport was a nice guy with sheet metal screws holding his car door together. Resourcefulness! 

Daughter and I had a good time walking around downtown and there was lots to see. I took lots of photos of old buildings. The day we saw the butterflies, that only took an hour. We never got going too early in the day, because we were on vacation after all. I was surprised that I could out-walk daughter. It was as hot there as it was back in MN, but less humidity, so that was nice. I didn’t expect it to be that hot. I found it interesting so many restaurants and bars had wide open windows or garage doors and yet there was very few bugs. One bartender told us they really spray the place down at night, but she said there was less flies this year than usual.

On Wednesday Kelly gave a presentation on Laughter Yoga. I snuck in the back and watched. It was well received, the group liked it, and she had several good loud laughers, so that got the rest of the group going. 

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She picked up some swag for me with the catch phrase: “Wicked Smaht Pathologists” and a link to their group. It makes me laugh. If you need a pathologist, you’re gonna want one that’s Wicked Smaht.

We had a young lady staying at the house to deal with dogs overnight while we were gone, and some other friends that would take care of chickens and eggs and amuse the dogs during the day. They said, “Bailey and Humphrey make us want dogs. Luna reminds why we don’t have a dog.” 

And on the way home, in the MSP airport, the gate agent was a girl I went to high school with and hadn’t seen in 40 years. We had a little reunion right there at the gate for 15 seconds. It was nice to see her again.

Last week as I was headed to Chatfield one night, I saw, walking on the side of the road, three nuns in full black habits with the veil and headpiece. I had to double take, and double take again. This was out in the country. A few days later, Facebook, of course, provided the answer. There is an old order Catholic Church in the area and they have been seen coming from there. Well that explains it. Sure did make me wonder though. And then, ten days later, I saw two more nuns in full habits. But that was outside a Catholic Church, and they were selling baked goods at a street fair. Although when I saw them, they were packing up. I saw them pulling the totes with the collapsible tents up the street. I hadn’t seen a nun in full habit for years and now here was twice!

You all had that big storm come through on Monday night with high winds… the oats got beat up. Yep, sure did. Maybe 50% of it down. We didn’t get any hail so nothing threshed out on the ground, it’s just broken off and lying down and it makes it more difficult to pick up for harvest. 


The plan is to start harvesting Friday. Going to try taking it straight- meaning I don’t swath it and lay it in windrows first. A lot of guys do take it straight. When we have tried it in the past it didn’t work so well… we shall see. I have the swather ready just in case. 


The soybeans are waist tall and looking good. At least some of them. They don’t all look this good, but some of them.



There’s a guy on YouTube goes by ‘Bushel Billy’, from the Ohio area and he was talking about a corn issue with a certain variety, in extreme weather conditions, having “tassel wrap” meaning the last leaf doesn’t unwrap from the tassel. So of course if the tassel can’t open up to shed pollen, it’s going to be tough to get all the kernels (silks) pollinated. It takes 90,000 kernels to make a bushel. Hence 90K pollen grains to 90K silks are needed. He pointed out how after pollination the silks turn brown and detach from the kernel after pollination. I didn’t know that and I had to check it out myself. 

Notice how many silks are loose. Just a few on the tip still stuck. 

HUH!
Sweet corn would be so much easier if the silks would detach. 

Read more about it here:

https://images.app.goo.gl/FEkAcj9D6XXozUvV9



YOU THINK I’M GOING TO ASK ABOUT HABITS, BUT THAT’S LOW HANGING FRUIT. 

HAVE WE TALKED ABOUT CRAZY TAXI DRIVERS? GOT ANY TO SHARE?

2025, Family, Food, State Fair

Too Soon

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You all know I’m a little obsessed with a certain event each August.  I like to be organized but normally don’t start getting going until a couple of weeks before (athough before retirement I used to request the days off several months in advance).

YA and the State Fair, on the other hand, are rarin’ to go now.  In the past couple of weeks there has been a barrage of emails.  Grandstand announcements and ticket offers. Highlighted fair beverages (of which there seem to be A LOT).  New vendors and new foods. 

YA has definitely inherited some of my love of lists; over the weekend she came into my room with a pad of paper and announced that it was time to make our food list.  She started doing this a few years ago so that we remember what we want to get while we are at the fair.  This list includes our favorites as well as items from the new foods email that look interesting to us.  It looks like a long list but it’s spread out over several days and we don’t always get to everything.  I did notice that nothing from last year’s new items have jumped to our “old favorites” list.

The floodgates are open now.  I printed off all our tickets as well as my fair packing list.  Can’t go off to the fair without all we need in the turtle bag.  We even started a little pool of cash for the big event.

Anything you’re preparing for (or obsessing over) this summer?

2025, Food, Mysteries, Technology, Weather

Donut Joy

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I had a fun surprise yesterday morning.  As I stood in my kitchen, thinking about breakfast, I got a text from one of my donut haunts, telling me that I had a reward coming – a free donut or a free coffee.  So much more exciting than eggs and toast.  Since I was going out for a couple of errands anyway, I decided to go the donut route for breakfast.

In order access this reward, I had to use my phone but since I didn’t have a younger person with me, I sat in my car until I got onto the right screen, or so I thought.  The young man waiting on me was very patient when holding the phone to the “register” didn’t seem to work.  He said he’s do it the “long way” and put my phone number in.  He then said I had a $5 off, free donut or 5% discount.  Which did I want?  And then he said “or all three?”  You all know what I said.  He started punching in stuff; on my side, the screen was showing 3₵.  I kept waiting for it to get to a higher number and it never did.  When he confirmed the 3₵, I told him I’d have to go to the car to get a quarter since I didn’t have any cash on me.  He smiled and said “let’s take it out of the penny jar” which was on the counter.

So I had my donuts and diet pop for free.  And it was a gorgeous morning to boot.  What could be better?

Any unexpected joys over the weekend?

2025, Farming Update, Food, Kids, Nature, Seasons

Corn Time!

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When I was down on the farm last Friday, Ben took me on a tour around the fields – it’s one of my favorite things about visiting.  The corn was tall but weren’t showing any ears yet.  Ben explained about where the ears start to form and we also talked about the difference between field corn and sweet corn.  He commented that sweet corn is a bit ahead of field corn and in Iowa, there might be sweet corn already.  I’m such a city girl – I love earning about farm stuff.

He was proved incredibly on the mark.  As I was driving home, YA texted me that our former neighbors had dropped off some sweet corn for us; they had been visiting the grandparents in southern Iowa!

YA and I both love corn but for some reason the first sweet corn of the season is really special.  We dragged the grill out of the garage on Saturday and roasted all the corn along with some veggie brats.  Ate on our little patio in the backyard – it was perfect weather for the first corn lunch.

Yesterday, I used up the last of the ears.  I was too impatient to drag out cookbooks and look for recipes so I just kind of made it up as I went along.  This is what I made:

Corn Salsa
2 ears of corn, kernels removed from the cob
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 hot pepper, finely chopped (I used a pepper from our garden called “salsa pepper” – it was hotter than I anticipated, but not too hot to eat.  A less hot pepper would be fine.)
3 T. chopped cilantro (also from garden)
Juice of one lime
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix it all together.  Eat.ll

Elote Off the Cob
2 ears of corn, kernels removed from the cob
¾ c. cotijo cheese, crumbled
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
About 1/3 c. mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip because YA doesn’t like it)
2 T. cilantro, chopped (from garden)
2 T. chives chopped (from garden)
¼ tsp. tajin (if you don’t have tajin, you can use chili pepper & cumin)
Juice of half a lime
Salt & pepper to taste
Again, mix it all together!

Neither of these were big recipes, so I don’t expect the corn will last long.  We’ll do plenty more corn this summer, but these first six ears were the best!

Favorite summer foods?

animals, Business, Food, Gatherings, Stories, work

Relishing Every Bite

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On the phone with my friend Pat last week, she reminded me of the following story.

This was about 20 years ago.  Cell phones were a thing but not the ubiquitous kind of thing they are today.  In a department meeting, Lydia’s cell phone (names changed to protect the innocent) buzzed in her pocket.  When she looked at it, she got a funny look and zipped out of the meeting room.  About 5 minutes later she came back in and announced to all of us that she needed to leave.  I don’t know about anybody else, but all kinds of dark thoughts jumped right into my brain.  Sick kids, husband in car accident, mother fallen down steps… that kind of thing.

Apparently her dog had gotten out of the yard and wandered several blocks over to a local gas/convenience store.  He headed straight over to the bread section and proceeded to help himself to a couple packages of hot dog buns before anybody noticed him.  Luckily Lydia and her family had a chip so the local animal control was able to get hold of them pretty quickly.

After she rushed off, the meeting broke down completely.  Apparently we had all thought the same kinds of horrible scenarios and were really relieved that it was a funny story instead of a tragic one.

The next morning when Lydia showed up, her desk was covered in packages of hot dog buns.  I can’t say whose idea that was, but I do remember who did the leg work with a handful of collected cash!

Why do all hot dogs look the same?

2025, Family, Food, Uncategorized

Sandwiched

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Last night, Husband decided he wanted to have hot dogs for supper, so we headed to the grocery store. At the checkout, we were behind another older couple sporting Methodist t-shirts, and a young Hispanic woman buying rolls and a papaya. The papaya turned out to cost more than the young woman wanted to pay, so she declined to buy it, and only got the rolls.

She used her cell phone to pay for the rolls (I have no idea how that is supposed to work), and was on her way out when the clerk called her back because her transaction had been declined. All this was transpiring while the other older couple was bagging their groceries. They and we noticed all the issues with the young woman’s purchase.

I intended to step in and buy the rolls for her, when the other older woman jumped ahead of me and paid for them. I exclaimed “I was going to do that!” Husband said he was going to do the.same thing. We all laughed except the young woman, who was deeply embarrassed and said it was just a glitch and showed us on her phone the balance in her account. There wasn’t very much in it. We told her she was sandwiched between two old couples and to enjoy the rolls.

Who have been the helpers in your life? What is your favorite sandwich?

2025, Family, Food, Gatherings, Kids, Uncategorized

Positive Peer Pressure

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The Baby Sprinkle held at our Son and Dil’s home on Saturday was a lot of fun. It was attended by us, Dil’s mother, and six couples and their children, the couples being family friends. Their children are all the same age, between Grades 1 and 4. .

The women spent the Sprinkle coloring funny pictures on diapers and onesies, while the guys were in the downstairs playing a new, baby-oriented Dungeons and Dragons game Son had developed. Many of the families have children who attend the same Boys and Girls Club daycare as our grandson.

It was really funny to hear the moms talk about their amazement at the vegetables their children eat at Club and not at home. The children have been coming home asking for “those crescent-moon shaped green beans” (lima beans) and the little cabbages (Brussels Sprouts) that they get at Club. Grandson declares he loves romaine lettuce as long as it has French dressing on it. He is a very picky eater, and the lettuce is a real surprise. He has never eaten lettuce at home prior to this.

These kids are eating vegetables because they see their friends eating vegetables! How wonderful! No amount of parental pressure could accomplish this at home.

What were your favorite and least favorite vegetables as a child? How were you positively influenced by your peers? Ever play Dungeons and Dragons?

2025, Family, Food, gardening, Uncategorized

Brassica Blues

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I was at home yesterday morning making a peach crumble preparatory to going into work, when Husband phoned from the office asking if I wanted to go to Taylor, a little town about 15 miles east of us to get four cabbage plants. I said I would. They had set the plants aside for us.

I started some Alcosa savoy cabbage from seed several weeks ago. We have grown them in the past and they are a lovely cabbage. We usually start seeds under our grow lights in the basement. For a variety of reasons we had the pots in a sunny window upstairs instead. The seeds germinated beautifully, but didn’t get all the light they needed and got too leggy. Many of them got bent or broken off. I planned to grow six cabbages. I ended up with three barely viable tiny plants and planted them on Tuesday. I think they will make it. They look much better now that they are deeply planted. We even have some nifty chicken wire cloches to protect them from bunnies. We had some lovely rain in the afternoon that really helped.

Husband has been worried and fussing over the possibility that we might not have our own garden savoy cabbage. None of the grocery stores here sell it, and none of the greenhouses sell the plants. He says we have a minestrone garden, as opposed to a salsa garden, and need savoy cabbage. I told him I found a place that will send us savoy cabbages in the fall, but he continued with the anxiety about the cabbage plants. When he phoned to say that Taylor Nursery had set aside a red cabbage and three regular green cabbage plants he would be content with, I agreed to go to ease his cabbage anxiety. He is excited to make coleslaw and borscht from these very vigorous plants. I just want the fussing to stop. I just hope he doesn’t get all fussed up about the collard green seeds he plans to plant. I am so happy he isn’t planting kohlrabi.

What is your favorite veggie in the cabbage family? Would you rather have a minestrone garden, a borscht garden, or a salsa garden?

2025, Family, Food, Uncategorized

Crackers

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We hardly ever buy potato chips or corn chips. I like snacking on fresh fruit and cheese. Husband prefers to have olives, figs, and dried apricots for an afternoon nosh. He also loves saltine crackers and nuts, though, the crunchier the better. I can’t stand hearing his crunching. To be fair it really is my issue, since I can’t stand hearing anyone crunch on things.

I occasionally need some graham crackers for pie and cheesecake crusts. I have to hide them after I buy them, as Husband will eat them all before I bake. Most crackers I can take or leave, but I recently got some extremely thin sea salt and herb crackers from this Italian import place we like to order from. They are called Pane Carasu, and are from Sardinia. You can see them in the header photo. They are really quite delicious. I can even tolerate Husband’s crunching on them.

The new crackers have inspired Husband to get out our Nordic Baking Book and choose some crisp bread recipes to try. He also plans to make crackers from his sourdough discard. I am sure they all will be noisier to eat than the Sardinian crackers. I will just go into another room when he eats them.

What are your favorite snacks? What noises irritate you? What do you imagine it is like in Sardinia?

2025, Business, Food, Mysteries

Postage-Less

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Yesterday I had to send off a package to my friend in Nashville.  She broke her ankle in two places while traveling in Italy and had surgery today (she came home for this).  Post-surgery she’s staying with her son who lives just a few miles from her.

I, of course, sent off a card immediately but wanted to do a bit more.  My friend has a soft spot for the Little Debbie Swiss Rolls and I’m sure her son won’t think to toss them into the shopping cart when he gets groceries.  So I got a couple of boxes, boxed them up and headed for the post office.

It was a little busy when I was there and it was surprising that there was a supervisor who kept coming out to say “thanks for your patience, we’ll be with you….”   I’ve never experienced that before.  Then I heard the postal worker next to mine say that they didn’t have any stamps.  I was sure I had heard that wrong, but my postal worker confirmed… no stamps.  She said that the manager who “unlocks” the stamps hadn’t come in yet.  I couldn’t help laughing, although I did try to suppress my giggles in case anybody else in line needed stamps. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it reminded me of the gas shortage in the 1973 with the long lines.  And of course, it made me remember the toilet paper “crisis” at the beginning of covid.  But for some reason, the post office not having stamps strikes me as the weirdest.  Why does only one manager have the key?  Why hadn’t that manager come in; if not able, why hasn’t someone driven to his/her place to get the key?  I suppose I’ll never know.

What other shortages have you survived?  What strategies did you use?  Did snack cakes help?