A group of about 33 area business leaders spent a day immersed in agriculture Friday, October 16 as part of the Leadership McLean County program.
Hear what participants Ryan Thomas & Pete McCann thought about the experience on WJBC’s Farm to Table segment Episode 10.21.15.
Tune in every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. for the “Farm to Table” segment on WJBC Radio.
The math is pretty simple for this recipe: 12 cups of homemade applesauce & 12 hours in a crock pot yields 6 pints of sweet & spicy apple butter. Apple butter makes a tasty topping biscuits, rolls & toast…or if you find it as hard to resist as some people I know, you can eat it all by itself out of a bowl. And as a bonus – making apple butter makes your house smell amazing!
The rich brown color of apple butter comes from a combination of brown sugar, cinnamon & cloves, but part of it is also due to oxidation of the apples. Just like a sliced apple turns brown if it’s exposed to air long enough, the oxygen in the air reacts with the apples as they cook.
Enzymatic browning is not harmful, but discoloration on a fresh apple is somewhat unappealing. Recently some scientists and plant breeders figured out how to ‘turn off’ the genes that cause enzymatic browning to create Arctic Apples which will be available in Granny Smith & Golden Delicious varieties initially.
Arctic apples are so new you can’t buy them yet – some growers have planted trees but it will take a few years before they will bear fruit.
Did you know there are more than 7,500 apple varieties in the world? About 100 of those varieties are grown commercially. Check out this handy overview of apple varieties from Modern Farmer for more information.
For this recipe, I would recommend Yellow Delicious, Fuji, MacIntosh or Jonathon apples.
Please note that fresh apple butter (like this recipe) needs to be kept refrigerated or frozen. The only real challenge is making all the applesauce, which should be done the day before. When it comes to cooking the applesauce into apple butter – you pretty much set it & forget it.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Melted cheese and a combination of Italian spices make this Baked Mostaccioli recipe a solid contender for some hearty & delicious comfort food. This is actually not a recipe I grew up with, but one I learned how to make in college and then introduced to my family. Now it’s one my mom, my siblings & I all make frequently.
I grew up in a ‘Midwest meat & potatoes’ kind of family – a reflection of my mostly German heritage, my rural/farm upbringing, a great big summer garden and my mom’s hearty homemade cooking style.
That’s not to say everything we ate fell into the ‘meat & potatoes’ mold or our food was mono-cultural. Things like spaghetti and tacos were part of the regular rotation. I didn’t think those foods were particularly unusual or exotic….so, I was surprised to find out one time that those weren’t foods my mom ate growing up (on a central Illinois farm about 3 miles from where we lived).
She remembers her introduction to spaghetti was as a new recipe someone brought to a church potluck and the first time she had tacos when a foreign exchange student brought them to her high school Spanish class. (Yes, my mom has a crazy-good memory!)
It’s interesting to think about the ways in which we get introduced to new foods. If you’ve never made baked mostaccioli, I would encourage you to try it!
This is a very simple recipe and can be easily adapted to your family’s tastes – if you like spicy foods throw in some hot pepper or substitute a spicy ground sausage for the hamburger. You can also throw mushrooms or bell peppers into the sauce. I make my own season my own sauce, but feel free to use a store bought spaghetti sauce if that’s your preference.
One recommendation – make sure to get ‘rigate’ noodles (the ones with the little ridges). They ‘hug’ the sauce and help the dish hold together. Bottom line – try it, experiment with it and let me know what you think!
Baked Mostaccioli
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Directions:
Makes about 4 servings.
Who will you share it with?
My dad, my brothers & I with our 400-horse power combine in 2006. Technology changed a lot during my father’s farming career, but the traditions he passed down to us continue. Traditions like taking care of the land so it can take care of you – a legacy I plan to pass on to the next generation.
We wrapped up harvest this week and as I watched the equipment make its final rounds through our fields, I could still see my father sitting in the cab, even though it’s been 10 years since his last tour of duty running the combine. This September marked the sixth anniversary of my father’s passing as well as the sixth birthday of my oldest grandchild.
My father never took much, if anything, for granted. He loved good food, a “good read”, the Chicago Bulls (Jordan Era) and he loved people. He also loved to farm and appreciated the technology that went with it.
Pulled out of school at 13 (during The Great Depression), his farming life began holding the reins behind a few horses (the four-legged kind) and ended 75 years later in an air conditioned cab, on top of four hundred horses (diesel) that used satellites orbiting the earth to guide it through the field. I could elaborate at length on how much he appreciated the advances in technology in his farming career, but just suffice it to say, “a bunch”!
He suffered through allergies (ragweed was the worst), long hours (never heard him complain much), and some daunting curve balls that “Mother Nature” threw his way. Embracing changes and advances in technology, helped alleviate his allergies, shorten his hours and helped him get a few hits off of some of the nasty pitches thrown his way. Thanks to the inventiveness of others (and some of his own), he provided for his family, made time to spend with his family, and left us a farm that was in better shape than when he acquired it.
As I mentioned, my father didn’t take much for granted, including leaving the world a better place than when he entered it. I believe he truly was and is representative of the American farmer today. The conservation practices and farming traditions that farm families carry on today are because of the legacy of those who came before us and continue to touch us today!
I miss him!
My dad started his farming career behind two horses (the four-legged kind). Here he is with the reins and my two older siblings circa 1950.
In honor of National 4-H Week (Oct. 4-10, 2015), here’s at just a few things that make 4-H a great experience for kids (and adults)!
As a third generation 4-Her and an active member from age 8 – 18, I could probably come up with a lot longer list, but here’s five:
To learn more about 4-H clubs, check with your local Extension office. You can find the Livingtson, McLean & Woodford Counties Extension Unit here.
Are you a current or former 4-H member? What would you add to the list?
