Recipe for Butternut Squash Soup

Don't anyone faint, but I am actually going to (at least try to) start blogging again!

Why you may ask?

Simply because I miss it and because of my passion for local food and wanting to share it with like minded people AND because funny stuff happens in my life.  I like to share these stories to give others a chuckle every now and again.

So here goes...

First I have to catch some of you up on an exciting local foods cooperative that has opened in Mitchell.  If you are not familiar with Hometown Harvest, here is the website.  If you live in the area and haven't been there... what are you waiting for?

http://hometownharvest.coop/

And their Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/HometownHarvestCoop

So for this post's recipe...

I made it last night so let me try to recall the recipe.  I rarely cook with a recipe book because I hate to be told what to do and don't like to follow rules.  I am a meal makin' renegade!

Let's see... how should I do this?  Do you want the instructions first or should I do it more in a recipe fashion?

Let's try to do the recipe fashion.

What you need:
1/2 stick butter (PS, I rarely measure so you won't need measuring cups!)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 butternut squash (peeled and cubed)
4oz pkg Shiitake Mushrooms (sliced)
4 cups or so of Chicken Stock (homemade or organic)
1 or so cup of white wine (not necessarily necessary, but I think it adds nice flavor and is nice to sip on while you are making the soup!)
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream (told you I don't measure, I just spooned some in)
1/2 to 1 cup cream cheese (again, just spoon some in)
Pepper
Curry powder

I think that's it.

In your favorite soup pot (please tell me you have one, if not, get one!  I love my Lodge Dutch Oven 6 Quart Porcelain Enamel, google it) melt the butter, add the onion chopped and saute until translucent.  Add minced garlic cloves and saute for a few more minutes. Add sliced mushrooms.  Should smell heavenly at this point.  Saute some more, probably 3 or 4 minutes.  Who knows how long, maybe you can take a couple of sips of wine, and then it'll be done!

Okay, time to get serious.  Sorry.

Add the squash and saute a little longer, probably 3 or 4 sips...

Now add the chicken broth and wine.  Put the lid on and simmer until squash is softened and can be mashed easily.  Probably 20 minutes depending on how big your "cubes" are.  When the squash is cooked, puree everything in a blender (I use my mother's avocado green blender from the late 70's, works like a charm!).  DO NOT put too much in the blender at one time or the heat from the soup will cause the lid to sky-rocket off like a skyrocket in flight and you will have puree all over the ceiling!  This should be done in "batches".

Pour the puree back in the pot. Add the sour cream and the cream cheese (which you should cube so it will melt faster).  Season with pepper and curry powder.  Heat to serving temperature.

We toasted some jalapeno cheddar bread, buttered it and ate it with the soup.  It was delicious!!!

Okay, want to try it?!  Well, you can get all the ingredients (except the wine, which you really don't even need) for the soup at Hometown Harvest.  Well and the Jalapeno Cheddar Bread, which can be picked up at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market at Mamma Jane's Artisan Breads.

And just to highlight the LOCAL PRODUCTS used, here is a recap:

* The star of the show, Butternut Squash from Wind Harvest Farms, Henry, NE
* The co-star, the Shiitake Mushrooms from Hazel Dell Mushrooms, Ft. Collins, CO
* The supporting cast, Garlic from Mitchell Valley Farms, Mitchell, NE
* Chicken Broth made from pastured poultry that we raised.  We don't have any for sale, BUT you can purchase pastured poultry from Lazy W Diamond Ranch (Banner County, NE) at Hometown Harvest
* AND last but not least, the special guest star, Jalapeno Cheddar Bread from Mamma Jane's Artisan Breads, Huntley, WY

Enjoy!

Spinach, Ham and Cheese Quiche - Recipe

I made the most delicious quiche yesterday morning, I thought I should share the recipe. Besides, I haven't shared a recipe in a long time it seems... So here you go.

Let me first start by saying that if you don't know, I am a huge advocate for local food.  This was made with some of our farm fresh eggs, compliments of our beautiful egg layers here at the Open A Bar 2 Ranch, LLC, white cheddar dill cheese from the Cozy Cow Dairy in Windsor, CO and fresh spinach grown by Dan Weitzel of the Mitchell Valley Farm.  Dan grew the spinach in his high tunnel in Western Nebraska, in the months of January and February!  Can you believe it??  It is so tender and yummy.  Dan is a vendor, along with us at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market.  I often wonder how many people actually are aware of the fact that we are extremely blessed to have a winter market here.

If you are on Facebook... like the Open A Bar 2 Ranch, Cozy Cow Dairy, Mitchell Valley Farm and the ScottsbluffWinter FarmersMarket!


Here is the recipe.

I started with a basic recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens red-checked cookbook, one of my favorite all time go-tos, and tweaked it to my needs.

The Ingredients...


1 already made pie crust (because I stink at making pie crusts)
1/2 cup or so of chopped onion
2 Tbs. butter
8 farm fresh Open A Bar 2 Ranch eggs! (WARNING:  if you use store bought eggs you will probably get food poisoning or something of the sort...)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk (I used raw milk, straight from the cow, because that's how we roll...  take that USDA police)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup sliced ham 
3 cups lightly packed fresh spinach from Mitchell Valley Farm
1 cup Rocky Mountain cheddar dill cheese from Cozy Cow Dairy


(This recipe is very versatile, so use what ever ingredients you want to... just stay with the basic ingredients of the eggs, sour cream and milk.)


1.  Bake the pie crust according to the directions on the package.
2.  Meanwhile, saute the onions in the butter until translucent.
3.  Beat eggs lightly in a large bowl.  Stir in sour cream, milk, salt and pepper.  Stir in onion, ham, spinach (I left mine whole leaf, but you can chop it up if you want to) and cheese.
4.  Pour mixture into hot, baked pie crust.  Bake in 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes.  I covered the edge of the pie crust with foil so it would not burn.  It is done when you can insert a knife in the middle of the quiche and it comes out clean.
5.  Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.
6.  Eat and enjoy!  Yum.


The remaining dates for the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market are February 25th, March 10th & 24th and April 7th & 21st.  It is held at Aulick's TLC in the greenhouse from 1-4pm.  You should come.  Seriously, you will be surprised at what all it has to offer.

AND if you want farm fresh eggs but can't make it to the farmers' market... let me know.  I sometimes deliver...  Call us at 787-1111.  Now all you smarty pants who live many miles away... don't bother asking... the answer is no.

Dan the Man the "BIG RED" Kamado Kooker

For Christmas this last year, Dan the Man received a few gifts cards for Mernards from our boys. For those of you who do not have a Mernards where you live, it is like a Home Depot or Lowes. Danny has been sitting on those gift cards all this time waiting for the summer grills to come in stock so he could use them to help purchase a new grill. Danny has been wanting a new grill, a charcoal grill, for a year or so now. We currently have a gas grill that never seems to work right.

He originally did research on charcoal grills several years ago and ran across one called the "Big Green Egg" or some such thing. He has been obsessed with getting one since. The only thing holding him back is that they cost around $800 and while Danny can easily dish that kind of money out for some piece of machinery or equipment for the ranch/farm... he has a hard time spending that amount on something that falls in the "household" category.

Well, he finally found a "knock-off" version of the "Big Green Egg" at Mernards! Oh happy day! It's called the "Big Red" Kamado Kooker of which Dan the Man is the new owner of. It is about the third of the cost of the egg one. I like it, because it is red and matches perfectly with the Cleary building. Green would not have looked so good!

"BIG RED"
Kamado Kooker

(I just noticed his grilling "tools". What is my garden spade doing hanging from there?)

Oh my gosh, can I just tell you he has been like a little boy at Christmas with his new hot wheels race track that he simply can not get enough of! He has turned into an OBSESSED GRILLING MACHINE! Hee, hee! I'm not complaining, I've actually have enjoyed someone sharing the daily cooking chore with me! I am in charge of making sure there is something thawed out for him to grill each night (unless we are having left overs) and he does all the research on the internet as to the best way to prepare it. Sometimes this can take hours or even days!

We started out easy with hamburgers. Then moved to steaks and chickens.

At one of the winter farmer's markets I bought a chicken roasting pan that Jennie Salters of Chalk Butte Pottery made for me. Dan the Man just HAD to roast a chicken using it in his grill. I succumbed to the notion, but told him specifically, it could not get any hotter than 350 degrees or it could crack. He promised me, that it would not. I told him if it did, he would owe me another one.

Beautiful Open A Bar 2 Ranch Pastured Poulty
(Seasoned with Famous Dave's Country Roast Chicken Seasoning)
5.5 lb Roaster waiting to be roasted in my beautiful
chicken roasting pan, hand-made, just for me...
which by the way I hadn't even got to use yet.


Potatoes with a little olive oil and seasonings ready to roast.




Dan the Man, the chicken and my chicken roasting pan...




Dan the Man carefully setting everything in the grill.

He roasted the chicken for about 2 hours at 350 degrees. One of the nice things about these grills, is that it is extremely easy to keep the heat regulated in.

The finished chicken!

The finished potatoes.

The chicken turned out great! Very moist and juicy. The potatoes... well... since Dan the Man didn't know that he should probably turn them half way through cooking they were pretty brown... well, actually they were BLACK on the bottom half. And perhaps 2 hours was too long for them. And my pan, you are probably asking yourself... CRACKED! Boo, hoo. I am so sad. Guess Dan the Man owes his Country Chicken Girl a brand new chicken roasting pan from Chalk Butte Pottery! Oh Jennie....

Yesterday, he made a huge leap and smoked two 11 lb. chickens! That's not a typo, by the way, the 11 lb. chickens... Some of you know the story about the BIG chickens!!! Those of you who don't... in a nut shell, we had our commercial freezer konk-out on us last year in the middle of chicken production and ended up growing some pretty big chickens, as in 10-13 lb. chickens which we coined as our "churkeys"... chickens as big as turkeys! So these two chickens were from that whole episode.

Anyway, Dan the Man smoked them for 5 hours at 230 degrees and used apple wood chips. Oh my! He might be on to something. Perhaps Open A Bar 2 Ranch will soon be offering smoked chickens! Dan the Man's Smoked Chicken!

I'm just wondering how long this "grilling fascination" will last until it becomes "work" instead of "fun"! When that happens, the grill will end up being my duty!

Update to Miss America Post

I know you guys are probably getting tired of the Miss America thing, but KNEB (our local radio station) just posted this video of the press conference and it has me presenting the congratulations card to Miss America.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Read this previous post:

Country Chicken Girl and Dan the Man Meet Miss America

No one is forcing you to watch it. I promise I will still like you even if you don't watch it. You can even leave me a comment that you have had enough of the Miss America thing and I won't take offense, but I still think it is kind-of neat-o. Wait until I get to share the story with all my little granddaughters and can show them the video on YouTube! I'll be one super cool grammy!





If you really want to see the whole press conference, there are four parts to it. You can find them all on YouTube. Just click on the YouTube video here and it should take you to the YouTube page where the rest of the videos are.

Country Chicken Girl and Dan the Man Meet Miss America

Well, well, well... who says nothing exciting ever happens around here?

Actually, we never say that here at the ranch. Where there are animals... there tends to be excitement. One thing that is absolutely predictable is that animals are always unpredictable, which can lead to a little excitement now and then.

But that's not the subject of this post... I am getting off track.

I am talking about excitement that happens once in a life time. Excitement that is atypical and abnormal to experience when you are married to a rancher, live in the middle of nowhere, and hardly ever get to vacation or travel. Day in and day out, our lives are pretty mundane, predictable, ho hum, etc.

But for a brief hour or so, that was not the case on Wednesday afternoon.

If you missed the post about the BIG Miss America Congratulations card, you need to stop reading this post and backup and read this post before you continue or you won't know what I am talking about.

Help Us Welcome Home Teresa Scanlan, Miss America!

So we had the signing of the card at the winter farmers market and had quite a few people stop by to sign the card. Everyone loved it. It was beautiful! Thank you so much Spencer for your gracious donation. If you don't know who Infinite Graphics is, check out their website. They have any printed product and/or business advertising items you may need for your business or home! And if you need a BIG card for something, Spencer is your man!

Here's a picture of Spencer "reading" the card at his shop.

Hey Spencer, do you need your bifocals to read that card?

Spencer said while holding the card,
"You guys wouldn't believe how heavy this card is!
My arms are getting sore. Hurry with the picture!"

We were laughing so hard while poor Spencer was
trying to hold the card still for the picture.

So anyway, back to yesterday. It started as any normal day here at the ranch. Chores in the morning, then to work on what ever project is on the schedule for that day.

Yesterday, the project was to paint the guest bedroom which we are remodeling. Here we are, a typical picture of what we look like while we are working. By-the-way, that is a painting hood I have on my head since I was spraying paint. If you don't wear a hood, you end-up with a hair coloring job like Dan the Man's.

Me spraying the ceiling. Cute, huh?

This was the just of the morning. But the afternoon held something new for both of us. We were attending a press conference in Scottsbluff for Teresa Scanlan's, Miss America 2011, homecoming. Dan the Man and I were going to present THE CARD to Teresa at the press conference. We even had to get press passes for the occasion.

Here is a picture of the press pass.



After we got done painting, we ate lunch and got ready to go to town. I sure was glad I wore that spraying hood. It would be just my luck NOT to wear it and then have paint speckled hair to deal with before a press conference where I was making a presentation to Miss America! After my shower I must have tried on about 4 outfits before I chose what I was going to wear. Dan the Man even asked me to iron his shirt AND his jeans. He wanted to look his best as well.

I think we clean-up pretty good!

Remember the "BEFORE" picture?



AND the AFTER PICTURE!

I wrote a little "speech" of what I wanted to say to Miss America when we presented the card... so I practiced it over and over before we went and also during the 20 minute drive into town.

When we got to the Hampton Inn Conference Center, where the press release was to take place, the conference room was full of reporters and their cameras. Not FULL as in a presidential press conference, but FULL as in a press conference in Western Nebraska. I believe almost all of our news sources were there along with 9 News from Denver, the Lincoln Journal Star and a paper from North Platte.

Dan the Man and I felt a little out of place especially since we didn't know too many of the people who were there. I had spoken with the Miss Nebraska Organization people and had made the arrangement to present the card through them. We introduced ourselves to Dr. Scanlan, Miss America's dad, and waited for the big moment. While we were waiting I scoped out a person who I thought would be willing to take our picture with my camera while we were presenting the card. I don't know who I asked, but she said she would be more than happy to snap a shot or two for us. I gave her instructions on how to use the camera and left the camera in her capable hands. It seems like we waited a long time before Miss America was in the building. Just as we heard that she was coming down the hall, my camera woman brought me back my camera and said that the batteries were dead! Egads! Wouldn't you know it, I left the camera bag with the extra batteries at home.

The card before Miss America entered the room.
The one picture I took before my batteries died.

Miss America entered the room and people were taking pictures left and right. I was so BUMMED that my batteries were dead. We were first on the agenda so we were introduced and it was our turn to present the card. Dan the Man had it easy. He just went up with me and smiled real pretty! I pulled out my little speech and managed to stumble once because I didn't want to totally "read" it so when I tried to say it on my own I goofed it up a little. Oh well, I am human and it didn't really bother me too much. Miss America was genuinely surprised and loved the card. I told her we were really glad we didn't have to mail it because we were really having a hard time finding an envelope for it and didn't think we would be able to afford the postage on it.


With our turn over, the press conference went on. The mayor of Scottsbluff presented Teresa with a key to the city and then the press asked her questions. I think it lasted for about 45 minutes or so. After the questions we all had time to take pictures with Teresa. Well, all of us who had cameras with batteries in them. Thankfully, one of the reporters with Miss America said he would take a picture of us and send us a copy! Thank you Randy Henry of "On3 Photography."


After the press conference we told Teresa's parents that we would be more than willing to deliver the card to their house since it was a little hard to maneuver. They gladly took us up on our offer. So off we went to deliver the card. After dropping the card off at Miss America's house, we drove back to the ranch. We discussed how much fun that had been, from watching the pageant on tv to personally meeting and presenting the card to Teresa.

Then Dan the Man said something like, "well, now it is time to move on to the next non-profit for the farmers market," which is the local chapter of the Red Cross.

Yep, time to move on. We got home, changed back into our work clothes and worked some more on the guest bedroom.

Just another day in the life of one Country Chicken Girl and her man, Dan!

Help Us Welcome Home Teresa Scanlan, Miss America!

Wow, have I've got some exciting news to share.

I have had this in the works now for a couple of weeks and have finally got all the details taken care of and can finally share this newsflash!

For those of you who don't know, the newly crowned Miss America, Teresa Scanlan, is from my home state of Nebraska. But not only is she from my beloved Cornhusker state, she is from the same county, Scotts Bluff County. Actually her hometown of Gering, Nebraska is about 20 miles from where we live. Do I actually know her? No... but let me tell you that Teresa winning the title of MISS AMERICA has caused quite the excitement here in our little corner of the state known as the Panhandle.

Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011

As most of you know, I have organized the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market this past year. At each of the winter markets, we try to feature a non-profit organization that market-goers can donate to while they are shopping at the market. I have posted about several of them in the past.

Oh and by the way, you might like to know that our last organization, SKIPPER'S CUPBOARD, collected tons (not literally) of dog & cat food along with a total of $355.69 in cash donations. I will post about that very soon and share some pictures of Snickers and the market with you.

Anyway... back to what this post is suppose to be about.

I had heard on the radio a while back that the Miss Nebraska Organization would be responsible for the cost of Teresa's homecoming celebration. I immediately thought that the Miss Nebraska Organization would be perfect for an upcoming non-profit organization at the winter farmers market! What a perfect cause for the Panhandle residents to support.

At each of the markets where we feature a non-profit we usually collect donations from the vendors and compile a basket full of goodies to be given away to some lucky person who donates to the cause. In other words, if you donate to the cause, you get to enter your name into a drawing for a gift basket compiled of goodies from the market vendors. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do something other than a gift basket as a give away... I wanted something "special" for this cause.

Then the idea came to me, that we should have a BIG card, a congratulations card, for people to sign for Teresa. But, with the winter market not having a large amount of funds available for such things... I thought that it would be a great idea to have a local business donate the card. I called Spencer McMurtry who owns and operates Infinite Graphics in Scottsbluff and mentioned the idea to him. Spencer was very gracious and said he would be more than happy to donate the card! Thanks again Spencer!

This card is going to be BIG folks. We are not talking a "large" card, we are talking a 4ft by 4ft Congratulations Card. Not a poster, a real card, you know with a fold that opens up! My idea is to have the main artwork of the card be the signatures and congratulatory wishes from the residents of the Panhandle. We will have a rainbow of permanent markets available to sign the card and a lot of space for signatures.

We will present the card to Teresa at the press conference on Wednesday, February 23rd, time to be announced.

So, here are the particulars. The card will be available to sign at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market on February 19th from 1-4pm at the Scottsbluff Hampton Inn Conference Center. Cash donations will also be accepted for the Miss Nebraska Organization to help pay for Teresa's homecoming celebration on February 23rd.

Please help us spread the word so that we have TONS of signatures on the card! I am sure that there are SEVERAL people who would like to personally congratulate Teresa for her accomplishment. What a perfect way to do so! Let us also donate to Teresa's homecoming! If you would like to donate to Teresa's homecoming, but will not be able to bring your donation to the Winter Farmers Market on February 19th, you can donate directly to the Miss Nebraska Organization (you can click on the link.)

To become a volunteer/sponsor/donor for the Miss Nebraska Organization, please contact:

Jay & Amy Engel: Co-Directors
2220 Cedarberry Rd.
North Platte, NE 69101
Home: 308-534-3638
Fax: 308-532-6748
jaengel@charter.net

Janet Heinzle, President
2320 West "A" Street
North Platte, Nebraska 69101
janetl@nque.com


Hope to see you all at the market!! You can follow details of the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market on Facebook.

Be sure to "like" Infinite Graphics on Facebook in show of your appreciation for their generous donation!

First Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market = Success!!

I am so excited to tell you about the first ever Scottsbluff Winter Farmer Market. Can I just say that a good time was had by all??

Our first non-profit organization of the season was CAPWN.

Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska is a Community Action Partnership and member of a national network of over 1,000 community action agencies across America. CAPWN is a non-profit community based health and human services organization that serves low-income, disadvantaged, and those unable to meet their needs through other sources. Check out their website for more information.

The Winter Market held a food drive for CAPWN's food pantry and collected several non-perishable food items along with $136.60 in cash donations! Everyone who donated food to the food drive or gave $1 got their name entered into a drawing for a gift basket compiled of goodies from all the vendors. I think the gift basket was valued around $200. Wow! Elaine Hays of Scottsbluff was the lucky winner! She was ecstatic that she won. It was so much fun delivering the basket to her. She said she had never won anything before in her life.

A BIG thank you goes out to Christina Armstrong of Beeloved Jam who helped with the raffle table along with several students from Morrill High School who volunteered their time to help with the market. Those who gave of their Saturday afternoon were Carlie Sinks, Skyler Manville, Marcus Vacock, Alexis Reynoso, Athena Tarin and Megan Fish. They helped at the raffle table and also helped the vendors carry stuff in to the market and then back out when it was closing time. Many hands make light work! Alexis and Carlie did face painting for a free will donation and all proceeds went to the CAPWN Food Drive. Thanks guys, you did a fantastic job!

Christina Armstrong (Beeloved Jam) and
Skyler Manville (Morrill High School National Honor Society)
manning the raffle booth.
There is the gift basket Elaine won!

Alexius Reynoso painting Tessa Brunner's Face

Alexius, you work just like Dan the Man, with your tongue out!
Dan the Man does that all the time and so does his sisters.
Must be a family trait or something.
Does anyone else in your family do that Alexius?
Maybe I should do a study on that...

Cutie~pie Tessa Brunner showing her true colors. GO BIG RED!
Megan Fish in the background helping with the raffle table.

Marcus Vacock (Morrill High School) sporting a bullet hole painted
by one of the girls doing the face painting.
These kids got bored at times do to the small number of children who
actually came to the market.

Laura's Herbal Apothecary
Can I say that I simply adore the Peppermint Hand Lotion!
mmmmm, smells so fresh and light!

Another sale at the Victory Hill Farm booth!

Bob and Judy Sharp selling Bob's hot rub!
Which by the way, makes a most excellent stocking stuffer
for anyone who likes spicy foods!

Heidi Robertus selling some of her delicious baked goods.
There is one of her signature pumpkin roll cakes in the front.

Sue Maxey and her co-worker at the
Diabetes Care Center @ RWPC information booth.
Did you know that November is Diabetes Awareness Month?


Tina Meier and a couple of boys from the Bluffs Middle School 8th Grade Class
They were having a bake sale to raise money for their class trip to Washington D.C.
(Sorry I didn't get your name boys!)

A Big THANK YOU to everyone who helped support their bake sale.
I think they sold everything except for a couple half dozen cookies!

Nathaniel McGowan manning Ernie Griffiths' booth.
Ernie is the honey guy!



Vicki Brunner of Vic's Festive Expressions and her kid-os!
Check out Vicki's personalized gifts.
I'm thinkin' very unique Christmas presents!

Various personalized candy bars Vicki makes.
Anyone getting married? Look at the wedding one! Ooo la, la!

Adorable Christmas baskets from Vicki.

More from Vicki, what a GREAT idea!

Melanie West from MWest Designs.
Melaine makes beautiful high quality rag rugs...

... and unique tin art.
Love these crosses with antique button embellishments!

Connie and Carolyn Driver of Blue Heeler Glass.
You have got to check out Carolyn's uniquely handmade glass beads.
They are beautiful. I've never seen any like them before.
Connie was also selling some of her art work. This girl is overflowing with talent. She is such a delightful young lady. I truly adore her!

Here's Dan the CSA Man of the Mitchell Valley Farm.
Dan had some great produce!


Beth Everett, who also had some great produce.
Have you tried her squash? It's soooo good!
And be sure to pick up one of her free seed catalogs!

Jane Sedman of Mamma Jane's Artisan Breads
Jane's breads are FANTASTIC!
She sold out as usual! Better get to her booth fast if you want some!

Mary & Mike Armstrong of Creative Bubbles

That's my Aunt Kitty talking with Mary.
My Aunt Kitty and Uncle Dexter came to visit for the weekend
and Aunt Kitty, bless her little pea pickin' heart, helped
Dan the Man and me with the farmers market.
AND... Aunt Kitty bought something from every single vendor.
She is quite the shopper.
Dan the Man said we went home with more stuff than we can with, hee, hee!

Some of Mary's adorable Christmas baskets!

And last but certainly not least,
The Green Valley Homesteaders

Bill Snocker

Wynne Buehler

John Jessup

Okay people... if you enjoyed their music,
please let them know by leaving them a tip.
The Green Valley Homesteaders are playing at the Winter Market
solely for tips!
Thanks guys, you are great!

Here is what Kim Grams had to say about the
Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market on Facebook!

"The first one was fantastic. I can't wait for Saturday. BTW, I LOVED the music you had ... nice and festive (but not so obtrusive that I couldn't think or ask questions of vendors)."

Kim Also posted:

"The ScottsbluffWinter FarmersMarket was AWESOME!! I got cheese and meat and herbal stuff for our immune systems. Plus info on some personalized chocolates to order for upcoming events. Yay!"

And Jennifer Reisig, bless her heart posted this:

"I was so excited about the ScottsbluffWinter FarmersMarket, I showed up 2.5 hours early, thinking I was late & had probably missed all the good stuff. It's not until 1-4pm today at the Hampton Inn. A farmers market in the afternoon...now I'm even more excited!"

Next market is November 27th, 1-4pm Hampton Inn Conference Center.
Christina Armstrong has been busy setting up a toy drive for Toys for Tots. Bring a new unwrapped toy or cash donation for the toy drive and your name will be entered into a drawing for a gift basket full of goodies from the vendors.




Hope to see you all there!

Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market, Meet the Vendors, Part 2

Here are some of the vendors who are signed up for
the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market.

Don't know what I'm talking about?
Catch up on what's happening on the links below.

Announcing the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market

Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market, Meet the Vendors, Part 1



And now for some new faces...

Meet Laura Whelchel of Laura's Herbal Apothecary
Click here to check out her great website

Laura is from Harrisburg and will be offering 100% goat milk soap, lotion, body butter, lip balm, FUDGE, herbal tinctures, organic soap nuts, handcrafted face clothes and wooden soap holders.

Laura is new to the Scottsbluff Farmer's Market and we are excited to welcome her aboard!

Read more about Laura on her website.
Who We Are - Laura's Herbal Apothecary


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Meet Chuck & Carolyn Driver of Blue Heeler Glass
Click here to check out their website

Chuck & Carolyn along with their daughter Connie, are regular vendors at the Morrill Farmers Market. They have some of the most beautiful and truly unique glass beads I have ever seen. What a talented family the three of them are. They will be offering their beautiful handmade art glass lampwork beads along with home made breads. Insider tip: the bread is often still hot from the oven!! If I close my eyes and think back to the Morrill market, I can smell Carolyn's bread!

You can also check out their beads at their Esty Shop
Beautifully simple components by bluhealer on Esty



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Meet Melanie West of MWestDesigns

Melanie is from Lisco and will be offering handcrafted rag rugs and and unique tin art. Melanie is also new to the Scottsbluff Farmers Market and we are very excited to see her wares!

You can check out Melanie's unique rag rugs and tin art on her Esty store.

Melaine also has a blog, MWestDesigns.



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Meet Leanne Knox of Lyman. Leanne is also a newbie to the farmers markets. Leanne has participated in many craft fairs in the past, but after giving the craft show thing a break, she is ready to start selling her wares again and is excited to be participating the Winter Farmers Market.

Leanne will be offering handcrafted dolls, kitchen items and various crafts along with handcrafted furniture. Leanne also is a wonderful baker and will be offering various homemade goodies such as PIES, cakes, caramel apples, fudge, BUTTERBALLS, breads and cookies.

I have eaten many of Leanne's dishes and can personally testify that she is a wonderful cook!!!



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You know, I haven't even mentioned that we are a vendor.


So... meet Dan & Kathi Manville of the Open A Bar 2 Ranch.
Yes, Dan the Man is actually going to work the Winter Market! (hee, hee)
They will be offering their all-natural beef, farm fresh eggs, baked goods (have you tried Kathi's "Death by Chocolate Cake" or the "Darn Good Chocolate Cake"?) along with some of Kathi's Primitive Folk Art.

Check out their website
Open A Bar 2 Ranch, LLC

and Kathi's Store on Ebay
(which desperately needs some more goods in it!)
Sassy Cat Folk Art Studio
or this link for some pictures of Kathi's previous work
Some of Kathi's Folk Art


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Did you know that the Winter Market is on Facebook?
User name: ScottsbluffWinter FarmersMarket
Become a friend to keep posted on market happenings!



Well, that's all I have time for now. I have to make two cakes for the computer club for Skyler. He always volunteers me to make the desserts, at least he has faith in me in that department, other wise, according to his thinking, I am so misinformed on the ways of the world! hee, hee. Typical teenage boy...

Oh Skyler also said that "the only thing the computer club does is meet in the computer room and that is why they are the computer club." The club has nothing to do with computers? I wonder what exactly it is that they do then? Do they just meet every once in a while so they can have an excuse for me to make dessert for them??? Hmmm...