The sheep are FAT! They arent getting fat, they ARE FAT!!!! We are in the final countdown to lambing which should start in the next week or so. All available fingers are crossed as we pray that the warming trend continues through lambing...temperatures above 20F can make ALL the difference in the world for the creatures.
We are definitely OPEN for Pizza By The Pond today!!!!!'
The cross country ski trail and sledding hill are freshly groomed and the weather is actually going to
co operate!!! The long term weather forecast is calling for a thaw for the rest of the week, this may be the last time we are able to ski the trails for the year! Take advantage of it while you can, but please remember, the use of the trails for x country ski ing and snowshoeing are for Pizza By The Pond customers only!
Every Saturday you can find me OUTSIDE at the winter version of the St. Paul Farmers Market (on the west side of the market on Wall Street)...alongside of the various meat, honey and bread vendors. Come enjoy the vigorous weather with us, after all a fresh cup of coffee never tastes as good as it does on a brisk winter morning :-) If your cold weather endurance just isnt what it used to be, you can take comfort in knowing that Golden's Deli is directly across the street from us, a great place to sit down and take the chill off. Of course, you can also purchase our cheese while visiting the farm during Pizza By The Pond!
The cheese that I currently have available are:
The Big Holmes( in goat)a young soft herbal goat cheese
The Black and Sassy: (aged version)a 4 month old aged soft goat cheese dusted with maple blossom ash, amazingly complex
Sweet Young Thang: a firm pasted goat cheese that in this youthful stage has a very milky/grassy finish.
That Funky Thang: an more aged frim pasted goat cheese with a robust beefy and pungent profile with a sharp nutty finish
Gabrielson Lake: A rich buttery raw jersey cow milk cheese aged since October. Very buttery with a mushroomy finish.
Ancient Blue Cedar: a limited edition of the native blue raw sheep milk cheese , the paste is hard and flinty, very grate-able .This cheese is simply loaded with native blue molds but the dry ness of the paste allows for a more "back seat " flavor profile allowing you to taste the complexity without being overblown by sharpness. A subtle tartness in the background highlights the complexity of the various blues.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
End of Winter? I dont think so..........
It's been quite while since I updated this blog, I have plenty of excuses but no real good reason. I suppose succumbed to the mid winter BLAHHHHHSSSSSS.
Today the east wind is hammering away at us, screaming that it is going to make good on it's threat to dump snow on our partially thawed out pastures. Good bye green grass!
I had to make the decision of whether or not to close today, which is VERY hard to do when there is still no snow flying, but I finally did it. The wind alone is making it near impossible to keep the temperature up in the warming hut and in the pizza oven. Normally the wind isnt that big of a deal here since we are tucked into the hillside, but this east wind is tenacious and pummeling us with no mercy. So today, we are closed for Pizza By The Pond.
Our more recent farm updates have included a long term loan of a wood burning heater from friends who were tired of eating pizza with blue fingers! This heater is a HUGE improvement over my poor old kitchen cook stove, which just couldn't muscle up to the task of keeping us warm and toasty during those frigid single digit Sundays. Now the warming hut is much more comfortable and pink fingers have returned!
We also have a new litter of puppies and three goat kids, all of which were born the first week of February.
The puppies are down right adorable, and the goat kids are very cute...mischief makers, but still cute ..for
now anyway!
Every Saturday you can find me OUTSIDE at the winter version of the St. Paul Farmers Market (on the west side of the market on Wall Street)...alongside of the various meat, honey and bread vendors. Come enjoy the vigorous weather with us, after all a fresh cup of coffee never tastes as good as it does on a brisk winter morning :-) If your cold weather endurance just isnt what it used to be, you can take comfort in knowing that Golden's Deli is directly across the street from us, a great place to sit down and take the chill off. Of course, you can also purchase our cheese while visiting the farm during Pizza By The Pond!
The cheese that I currently have available are:
The Big Holmes( in goat)a young soft herbal goat cheese
The Black and Sassy: (aged version)a 4 month old aged soft goat cheese dusted with maple blossom ash, amazingly complex
Sweet Young Thang: a firm pasted goat cheese that in this youthful stage has a very milky/grassy finish.
That Funky Thang: an more aged frim pasted goat cheese with a robust beefy and pungent profile with a sharp nutty finish
Gabrielson Lake: A rich buttery raw jersey cow milk cheese aged since October. Very buttery with a mushroomy finish.
Ancient Blue Cedar: a limited edition of the native blue raw sheep milk cheese , the paste is hard and flinty, very grate-able .This cheese is simply loaded with native blue molds but the dry ness of the paste allows for a more "back seat " flavor profile allowing you to taste the complexity without being overblown by sharpness. A subtle tartness in the background highlights the complexity of the various blues.
The Trade Lake Cedar is currently sold out for the season but will reappear late this spring.
Today the east wind is hammering away at us, screaming that it is going to make good on it's threat to dump snow on our partially thawed out pastures. Good bye green grass!
I had to make the decision of whether or not to close today, which is VERY hard to do when there is still no snow flying, but I finally did it. The wind alone is making it near impossible to keep the temperature up in the warming hut and in the pizza oven. Normally the wind isnt that big of a deal here since we are tucked into the hillside, but this east wind is tenacious and pummeling us with no mercy. So today, we are closed for Pizza By The Pond.
Our more recent farm updates have included a long term loan of a wood burning heater from friends who were tired of eating pizza with blue fingers! This heater is a HUGE improvement over my poor old kitchen cook stove, which just couldn't muscle up to the task of keeping us warm and toasty during those frigid single digit Sundays. Now the warming hut is much more comfortable and pink fingers have returned!
We also have a new litter of puppies and three goat kids, all of which were born the first week of February.
The puppies are down right adorable, and the goat kids are very cute...mischief makers, but still cute ..for
now anyway!
Every Saturday you can find me OUTSIDE at the winter version of the St. Paul Farmers Market (on the west side of the market on Wall Street)...alongside of the various meat, honey and bread vendors. Come enjoy the vigorous weather with us, after all a fresh cup of coffee never tastes as good as it does on a brisk winter morning :-) If your cold weather endurance just isnt what it used to be, you can take comfort in knowing that Golden's Deli is directly across the street from us, a great place to sit down and take the chill off. Of course, you can also purchase our cheese while visiting the farm during Pizza By The Pond!
The cheese that I currently have available are:
The Big Holmes( in goat)a young soft herbal goat cheese
The Black and Sassy: (aged version)a 4 month old aged soft goat cheese dusted with maple blossom ash, amazingly complex
Sweet Young Thang: a firm pasted goat cheese that in this youthful stage has a very milky/grassy finish.
That Funky Thang: an more aged frim pasted goat cheese with a robust beefy and pungent profile with a sharp nutty finish
Gabrielson Lake: A rich buttery raw jersey cow milk cheese aged since October. Very buttery with a mushroomy finish.
Ancient Blue Cedar: a limited edition of the native blue raw sheep milk cheese , the paste is hard and flinty, very grate-able .This cheese is simply loaded with native blue molds but the dry ness of the paste allows for a more "back seat " flavor profile allowing you to taste the complexity without being overblown by sharpness. A subtle tartness in the background highlights the complexity of the various blues.
The Trade Lake Cedar is currently sold out for the season but will reappear late this spring.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
We Are Getting Warmer!!!
Just a few quick updates before I scoot out the door...
The wood cookstove is now in the warming hut as supplemental heat, we will do the trial run this morning but since it is the same stove that I used to actually cook on in my farm house kitchen I have total faith that it will be just great.
The ski trails and sledding hill are groomed! We are starting with just a little less than 4 miles of trails and we will add a bit more every week as the weather allows.
Remember, we supply the atmosphere but everyone needs to bring their own equipment. We dont rent iceskates or skis or snow shoes, (maybe someday).
Dont forget suntan lotion for your face and sunglasses!!!!! It is a bright and beautiful day!!!!!
Time to play!
The wood cookstove is now in the warming hut as supplemental heat, we will do the trial run this morning but since it is the same stove that I used to actually cook on in my farm house kitchen I have total faith that it will be just great.
The ski trails and sledding hill are groomed! We are starting with just a little less than 4 miles of trails and we will add a bit more every week as the weather allows.
Remember, we supply the atmosphere but everyone needs to bring their own equipment. We dont rent iceskates or skis or snow shoes, (maybe someday).
Dont forget suntan lotion for your face and sunglasses!!!!! It is a bright and beautiful day!!!!!
Time to play!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Winter Time Updates!
It's been WAYYYYYYY too long since my last post, so much for the fantasy that winter brings extra time for playing "catch up" on the farm.HAH!
We are scurrying along readying the "Grotto" for winter fun. We've been able to get the temperature inside the Grotto ( warming shelter) up to 28F when the outside temp was at -10F, and this we did by capturing the heat from the Pizza oven and sealing up the tarps better. Our goal for this week is to add a 1930s wood cookstove to the middle of the "Grotto", adding not only additional heat but also a place to dry mittens and heat up cider and cocoa yummmmmmmmmm! Once we add the cook stove I have total faith that we will be able to bring the temps up into the 60 degree (or something near)range...perhaps ;-)
We also have a friend that has promised to come out this week to groom cross country ski trails for this weekend....I am keeping my fingers crossed! Since the weather has been cold to the bone, the sledding hill has not seen too much activity, but I bet this weekend that will change, we are supposed to warm up to 15F for Sunday and that is the PERFECT temp for sledding activity. We will have a bonfire going at the base of the sled hill for toasting marshmallows and warming up.
Dont forget to check out our Pizza By The Pond on Facebook for photos of the farm and of the social activity!
We are scurrying along readying the "Grotto" for winter fun. We've been able to get the temperature inside the Grotto ( warming shelter) up to 28F when the outside temp was at -10F, and this we did by capturing the heat from the Pizza oven and sealing up the tarps better. Our goal for this week is to add a 1930s wood cookstove to the middle of the "Grotto", adding not only additional heat but also a place to dry mittens and heat up cider and cocoa yummmmmmmmmm! Once we add the cook stove I have total faith that we will be able to bring the temps up into the 60 degree (or something near)range...perhaps ;-)
We also have a friend that has promised to come out this week to groom cross country ski trails for this weekend....I am keeping my fingers crossed! Since the weather has been cold to the bone, the sledding hill has not seen too much activity, but I bet this weekend that will change, we are supposed to warm up to 15F for Sunday and that is the PERFECT temp for sledding activity. We will have a bonfire going at the base of the sled hill for toasting marshmallows and warming up.
Dont forget to check out our Pizza By The Pond on Facebook for photos of the farm and of the social activity!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Planning For Winter Fun and Pizza Altars?
I can not believe that it has been almost a month since I last "blogged"! Breathlessly I have been running about in order to get the farm ready for winter, along with shifting the schedule for "Pizza By the Pond" from Thursday nights to Sunday afternoons from 1-8pm. to reflect the change in waning daylight hours. The really tough part of all of the change is that there are only two Sundays in November that we will be open since Wisconsin Gun Deer season is in direct conflict with a crowd of pizza enthusiasts chomping down on great eats in the middle of a wildlife refuge....in short, dead customers just dont make good conversationalists!
So we chose to close for the last two Sundays in November and re-open the first Sunday in December when we will find out if our new funky warming hut is up to par. I am posting a few photos of this "unique" shelter on "Pizza By the Pond's" Facebook page. The "plan" is that the pizza oven will supply the heat to the shrouded grotto, but I am more than willing to concede to a back up heater if needed. As I reviewed the photos that I took yesterday, I discovered that I must be channeling some sort of strangely flowing undercurrent of Catholicism that is doing it's best to resurface through the pizza oven... I swear it resembles more of a pizza "altar" than an oven. Kind of spooky.
We have 200 acres here at LoveTree that we will be adding to our "menu" for our customers; any pizza customer will also be welcome to cross country ski, ice skate, sled, or snow shoe. The warming hut will be a great place to refresh and refuel before continuing an afternoon of winter time fun activities and also as a place to simply kick back and unwind while devouring great pizza.
The "ambiance" is decidely unique, it seems that pizza gourmands that enjoy eating great pizza in the middle of a wild life refuge are also some of the most interesting and enjoyable characters that I have ever met. I am extremely pleased to call these folks friends, and honored that they frequent our little pizzeria in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Dave and I have been a bit perturbed as to how we are going to set about grooming the x country trails for skate skiers and classic skiers, so we asked for input from our customers. What could be a better way to design the trails than to have the folks that will be using them tell us what they want and need? Yes, I thought so too. One of our customers may even help us build a groomer, although it sure would be fantastic if I could just hire someone to do the grooming for us, at least for this year anyhow.
I am tired just thinking about the work that needs to be completed in the next month, but I have to admit that I am also excited about all of the new changes taking place, it's as if God himself is breathing new life into the farm.........hmmm.
So we chose to close for the last two Sundays in November and re-open the first Sunday in December when we will find out if our new funky warming hut is up to par. I am posting a few photos of this "unique" shelter on "Pizza By the Pond's" Facebook page. The "plan" is that the pizza oven will supply the heat to the shrouded grotto, but I am more than willing to concede to a back up heater if needed. As I reviewed the photos that I took yesterday, I discovered that I must be channeling some sort of strangely flowing undercurrent of Catholicism that is doing it's best to resurface through the pizza oven... I swear it resembles more of a pizza "altar" than an oven. Kind of spooky.
We have 200 acres here at LoveTree that we will be adding to our "menu" for our customers; any pizza customer will also be welcome to cross country ski, ice skate, sled, or snow shoe. The warming hut will be a great place to refresh and refuel before continuing an afternoon of winter time fun activities and also as a place to simply kick back and unwind while devouring great pizza.
The "ambiance" is decidely unique, it seems that pizza gourmands that enjoy eating great pizza in the middle of a wild life refuge are also some of the most interesting and enjoyable characters that I have ever met. I am extremely pleased to call these folks friends, and honored that they frequent our little pizzeria in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Dave and I have been a bit perturbed as to how we are going to set about grooming the x country trails for skate skiers and classic skiers, so we asked for input from our customers. What could be a better way to design the trails than to have the folks that will be using them tell us what they want and need? Yes, I thought so too. One of our customers may even help us build a groomer, although it sure would be fantastic if I could just hire someone to do the grooming for us, at least for this year anyhow.
I am tired just thinking about the work that needs to be completed in the next month, but I have to admit that I am also excited about all of the new changes taking place, it's as if God himself is breathing new life into the farm.........hmmm.
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