In your share

• Chicken
• Guanciale (jowl bacon)
• Breakfast Sausage
• Pork Chops
• Ground Goat
• Steak

Reminder – This is the last month for both the seasonal and yearly subscriptions, so make sure you head to our online store to renew for next year, if you haven’t already done so.

On the Farm

In most years December is the time when things slow down a bit and we can get some much-needed rest, but not so much this year. We’ve been moving our small beef herd to various properties around Corbett to maximize our grazing season and minimize the amount of hay we need to purchase, and we finally moved them back to their normal home at Ello Farm (@ello.farm on Instagram) just before the heavy rain at the beginning of the month. Then, we moved the sheep herd to Ello Farm as well, since that’s where most of our hay is stored, and in between all that, I made some treks with the truck and trailer to Tygh Valley to load up on said hay.

But the real distraction is the arrival of 8 brand new Great Pyrenees puppies! Their due date was on turkey pick-up day, but if you were at the farm that day, you know that didn’t happen. JoLee waited until the day before Thanksgiving for her delivery date, and everyone was healthy and doing well…until two days later. We noticed JoLee started having contractions again and when we checked her temperature, she did have a fever, causing us to fear that there might be a dead puppy still inside. So, off to the emergency vet in the middle of the night, where thankfully the x-ray did not show anything but a likely uterine infection. I was even more thankful when the vet told me that if that had to do an emergency spay, it would have cost $9-11,000! So, after only (!) $1,000 we went home with a round of antibiotics and everyone is now doing great. If you know of anyone in the market for a large, lovable dog, send them our way!

Recipe

French Toast Cassrole modified from “lilluna.com”

This is a departure from our normal recipe suggestion, in that is more of a sweet, rather than savory, dish. But we are including it now because we think it would be a great addition to a Christmas morning breakfast or brunch. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes we have it for dinner.

Ingredients

French Toast

• 1 loaf sourdough bread or brioche, challah or French bread
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 lb Terra Farma Breakfast Sausage
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

Directions

1. Crumble sausage and cook over medium-high heat in a skillet until cooked through
2. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and scatter evenly in a greased 9-x-13-inch baking dish.
3. Mix cooked sausage and blueberries into the bread cubes until evenly distributed.
4. In a medium bowl, mix eggs, milk, heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar together, then pour evenly over the bread.
5. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
6. To make the topping, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut butter into this mixture until crumbly. Place the topping in a small resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight as well.
7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
8. Unwrap the baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over the bread.
9. Bake, uncovered, for 45–60 minutes, depending on how soft you like it.