Happy New Year!

We're finishing 2011 by doing what we've done for the previous 364 days of the year--producing safe,healthy milk by feeding and caring for our animals and land. It's a great privilege to be in the less than 2% of the population that provides food for American consumers and I appreciate your interest in how we work responsibly everyday to produce safe,affordable,and available food. 

                              Thank-you for consuming our dairy products and for reading my blog!
                            From my family to you-- we wish you a  very dairy and Happy New Year!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

  On a recent trip to pick up seed at a  Missouri farm store, Ryan and I saw this cute chicken house as we entered the front door and  I remember casually saying that "I  could really raise some chickens in that house!"  I would never have guessed that I would be receiving my own chicken house for Christmas! I'm thankful to know that my  farmer husband does listen to me sometimes and  that I can wait till spring before raising any chickens!

Dairymom's Paper Power

With the Christmas gifts unwrapped and most of the holiday festivities passed, this dairymom found herself  in the farm office this afternoon facing a badly neglected pile of work on the desk and stacks of papers to be filed. It has become one of my jobs to be in charge of the "papers". The dairy farm requires a variety of different supplies and services which generates many paper receipts. I'm striving to get everything filed before the end of the year in preparation for the new tax year.  Being in charge of the papers is an unending,thankless job but it is an important organizational task for our family farm just as it is for any business.  The upside to my job is the power that I have when anyone needs a paper!

Dairy farming requires a large investment in land,buildings,equipment and feed for the animals. Many family farms that may include multiple generations are organized as corporations for business tax purposes. Even though the look of the family farm and the technologies have changed, we are still committed to providing safe,high-quality milk by taking good care of our cows and land.

I'm already getting excited about the new box of file folders I'll be opening in just a few days when we celebrate  the New Year!

Purple Pudding--A Family Tradition

Trying to fit all the activities of Christmas Day into the daily routine of the dairy farm is quite a challenge. It doesn't seem to bother anyone in my family when we plan to open gifts or eat Christmas dinner as long as I make preparation to serve favorite family recipes that my mother-in-law prepared for us during the holiday season. Serving those favorite recipes that my mother-in-law always prepared for Christmas or through the year is a sweet and comforting remembrance for all of us and has become an important part of our ongoing family traditions.

Purple Pudding (my mother-in-law's recipe) is a family favorite throughout the year.  I chose to include it as part of our family dinner tradition because it is easy to assemble, can be prepared ahead of the event, and of course, it includes a couple of dairy products!

Purple Pudding

Ingredients:
1 can condensed sweetened milk
2 lemons
1/2 pint whipping cream
4 tablespoons black raspberry jam
1 cup nuts (optional)
vanilla wafers

Mix milk with the juice of two lemons,set aside. Whip cream;add jam to whipped cream,mix well. Fold together.

Place vanilla wafers in the bottom of a 9x9 dish. Add pudding mixture; add layer of nuts if desired. Top with vanilla wafers. Chill and serve.

            Hope you have a dairy good week and enjoy time with your family during this holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old,familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth,good-will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom,
Had roll'd along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth,good-will to men.

And in despair I bow'd my head.
"There is no peace on earth,I said.
For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth,good-will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead,nor doth He sleep:
For hate is strong,and mocks the song
Of peace on earth,good-will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead,nor doth He sleep:
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth,good-will to men!"

Till,ringing,singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth,good-will to men!

Henry W. Longfellow,1807-1882

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Christmas is a great season for all of us  multi-tasking moms to show how efficient we are with the holiday to do list.  Mrs. Reindeer looks like the perfect multi tasking mom!   I'm thankful for the fun and beauty of the holiday season   even when I don't get all the to do's marked off the list. I hope you're enjoying the season!

Christmas Day Dairy Breakfast

Christmas Day on the dairy farm always includes feeding the baby calves,milking and feeding the dairy cows and caring for all of our livestock.  Since Christmas is on Sunday this year, the schedule will be even more hectic and require a little more advance meal planning to make sure I get the calves fed, feed the family and get to church on time. The Cheddar and Mushroom Breakfast Squares recipe that I found on the MidwestDairy website will be a great recipe to prepare in advance and serve my family as a special Christmas morning treat before chores and church.

Cheddar and Mushroom Breakfast Square

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons butter
2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced green onion,including green tops
6 slices country style bread,cubed
2 cups shredded,reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
2 cups fat-free or low-fat milk
2 cups egg substitute
1 teaspoon red or green hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

Preparation:
Spray an 8x8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add mushrooms. Cook mushrooms about 5 minutes or until softened and brown at edges. Stir in green onion; set aside.

Place 1/2 of the bread cubes in prepared baking dish. Scatter 1/2 of the mushroom mixture and 1/2 of the cheese over bread cubes. Layer remaining bread cubes and mushroom mixture; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat milk,egg substitute,pepper sauce and salt, if desired, until well blended. Pour milk mixture over bread cubes and top with the remaining cheese.

Make ahead suggestion: cover dish with foil and refrigerate for 8-10 hours before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake,covered for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes or until top is puffed up and cheese is browned at edges. Let cool for 5 minutes; cut into squares to serve.

 

                                           A great assortment of dairy recipes can be found at http://www.midwestdairy.com/ or  http://www.dairymakessense.com.  Hope you have a very Dairy Christmas!!