At the Griggstown Farm, we put a lot of effort into raising and preparing turkeys for Thanksgiving and also providing our customers with all the trimmings and desserts that accompany your holiday dinners.  On behalf of the Rude family, owners of the farm, and their dedicated staff, we would like to thank you for your patronage this holiday and for your continued support of Field to Table agriculture.

We wish you and your families continued good health and fun times.  Our farm market is open all year to provide you with the comfort foods you love.  So please remember that everyone does a lot of celebrating during the month of December.  Don’t forget to place your orders for turkey, duck, pheasant, quail, chicken, pot pies and fruit pies for your festivities.

Win A Turkey

* * * HOW TO WIN A TURKEY * * *
Send a photo of your Thanksgiving table setting to CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com by Friday 12/2 to be eligible for a Thanksgiving Table Setting contest.

All entries will be displayed for voting until midnight 12/9.

Chuck’s Corner

Last week’s winner of an official Griggstown t-shirt was Chef Judy for her Kale and Fava Bean Soup recipe.

That’s right, we are still accepting recipes and if we feature your recipe in our newsletter, you will receive a t-shirt.

Special Visitor at the Farm

Yes it’s true, Santa came to Griggstown to pick up a turkey for Thanksgiving .  See the newspaper report on our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Griggstown-Farm-Market/123020157752317?ref=tn_tnmn

Drop by the farm market and see the autographed picture Santa gave us when he picked up his turkey.

Food of the Week: Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial^[1] plant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and is widely cultivated as a vegetable crop.

Featured Recipe

Turkey Pasta Casserole With Asparagus and Cheddar Cheese

Courtesy of Diana Rattray, About.com Guide

Great recipe for leftover turkey.  I used mini penne pasta in this hearty casserole, but elbow macaroni or small shells would work just as well. It’s a great casserole to serve for an after-the-holiday meal, or make it for a potluck dinner.

Last week’s winner of an official Griggstown t-shirt was Chef Judy for her Kale and Fava Bean Soup recipe.

That’s right, we are still accepting recipes and if we feature your recipe in our newsletter, you will receive a t-shirt.

Psst …………………..  The secret is out.

We had a couple of our customers request our brine recipe so we decided to share it with all of you.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Gallon of Water
1 Cup Kosher  Salt
1 Cup Brown Sugar or Honey
1 Sprig of Thyme
2 Cloves Garlic
Tbsp Coriander
Tbsp Fennel seed
Tbsp Black Pepper Corns
2 Bay Leaves

Directions:

Place water into a large container.

Dissolve brown sugar or honey in 1 gallon of warm water.

Then add the rest of the ingredients.

Place turkey in the container and let sit refrigerated for 24 hours.

Chuck’s Corner

READY FOR THANKSGIVING? You reserved your turkey, planned the menu, invited the guests, it’s time to set the table. The presentation is equally as important as the food so we would like to see your table setting.

Send a photo of your Thanksgiving table setting to CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com by Friday 12/2 to be entered into our Thanksgiving Table Setting contest.

Food of the Week: Kale

Kale or borecole is a form of cabbage (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group), green or purple, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and brussels sprouts. The cultivar group Acephala also includes spring greens and collard greens, which are extremely similar genetically.

Featured Recipe

Kale and Fava Bean Soup

Courtesy of Judy Harvey, www.TheDinnerLadyPersonalChef.com

I stopped by the Griggstowm Farm Market the other day and the kale was beautiful!

So. to start with, I made kale chips for snacking then some some kale and potato soup.

Kale and Fava Bean Soup, so yummy on a fall day!

READY FOR THANKSGIVING? You reserved your turkey, planned the menu, invited the guests, it’s time to set the table. The presentation is equally as important as the food so we would like to see your table setting.

Send a photo of your Thanksgiving table setting to CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com by Friday 12/2 to be entered into our Thanksgiving Table Setting contest.

The votes are in and Carol Negvesky’s little grandson, Brayden is the winner with a total of 365 votes.  Congratulations to the Negvesky family, but more importantly, their little Brayden for a job well done.  I see a modeling career in the future for this kid.  What do you think grandma?

The staff at Griggstown Farm Market would like to thank everyone who participated in this contest by submitting photos or voting for your favorite costume.  It was fun watching the votes add up.  Brayden did not start out in the lead at first, however.  Over halfway through the contest he built momentum, then took the lead and kept it to become the winner.

As a token of our appreciation to all participants in this contest we are providing you with G-Bucks (Griggstown Bucks) that you can use towards purchases at the farm market.  Click here to get your G-buck.  Print it and bring it to the farm market to redeem it.

Chuck’s Corner

These are only a few of our past winners for sending in a recipe that we used in our newsletter.  They were rewarded with official Griggstown t-shirts.

We are still accepting recipes.  So while you have your recipe box out deciding what to make for Thanksgiving, please send us your favorite recipe so you, too, can have a t-shirt.  Send recipes to CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com

Farm Market News

We are still accepting reservations but time is running out!  So Reserve Your Thanksgiving Turkey Today.

You can reserve your turkey online at http://www.griggstownquailfarm.com/thanksgiving or call the store at 908-359-5218.

Food of the Week: Olive

The olive Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin (the adjoining coastal areas of southeastern Europe, western Asia and northern Africa) as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.

Featured Recipe

Sicilian Olive Chicken

Courtesy of Eating Well

This saucy one-skillet chicken dish is full of tomatoes, spinach, olives and capers. Try Kalamata olives in place of the green Sicilians or a combination of both. Serve over whole-wheat egg noodles with a mixed green salad on the side.

These are only a few of our past winners for sending in a recipe that we used in our newsletter.

They were rewarded with official Griggstown t-shirts.

We are still accepting recipes.  So while you have your recipe box out deciding what to make for Thanksgiving, please send us your favorite recipe so you, too, can have a t-shirt.

Send recipes to CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com

We are still accepting reservations but time is running out!  So Reserve Your Thanksgiving Turkey Today.

You can reserve your turkey online at http://www.griggstownquailfarm.com/thanksgiving or call the store at 908-359-5218.

Thank you, April, for suggesting we try making Veggie Pot Pies.  A number of them have sold and we have about a dozen left.  We would like to hear from those that purchased the pies so we can decide if we should make veggie pot pies part of our product offering.  Please send us an email with your comments to: CustomerRelations@griggstownquailfarm.com.

We are busy making pies for our fund raising clients, which have proved to be a tremendous success for them in the past.  As we near Thanksgiving, we will be making all the side dishes and preparing the turkeys for sale.  Every year, the ready for oven turkeys have become more popular.  I don’t know if it’s how we season the bird or just the convenience of placing the bird in the oven since it comes in its own tray.

Although we are not offering our $6 picnic lunch special anymore, we do have prepared food in our deli counter as well as easy to prepare foods in our freezer, such as:

Soups

Pot Pies (turkey, chicken, beef and a few veggie)

Sheppard’s Pie

Quiches

Chicken Meatballs

Turkey Burgers

Chicken Sausage

Pies

And other items you should check out in our freezer.

Also, we are still accepting recipes and giving you a free t-shirt if we use it in our newsletter.

Chuck’s Corner

The Halloween Costume Contest is on its way and you have until Sunday, 11/13, at midnight to cast your vote.

These are the 3 top contenders so far, but anything can happen.  To cast your vote, go to our facebook page and click on the contest photo at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Griggstown-Farm-Market/123020157752317

Farm Market News

Just Do It!!

Reserve Your Thanksgiving Turkey Today.

You can reserve your turkey online at http://www.griggstownquailfarm.com/thanksgiving or call the store at 908-359-5218.

Food of the Week: Chickpea

The Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) (also ceci bean, garbanzo bean, chana, sanagalu Indian pea, Bengal gram) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its seeds are high in protein and it is one of the earliest cultivated vegetables; 7,500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East.

The name “chickpea” traces back through the French chiche to Latin cicer (from which the Roman cognomen Cicero was taken). The Oxford English Dictionary lists a 1548 citation that reads, “Cicer may be named in English Cich, or ciche pease, after the Frenche tonge.” The dictionary cites “Chick-pea” in the mid-18th century; the original word in English was chich, found in print in English in 1388, and taken directly from French.

Featured Recipe

Turkey Chili

Courtesy of Chef Karyn, iCookuEat

I thought this was the perfect chili recipe when you are aching for something warm, smoky, comforting and a little spicy.  We’re still trying to keep it healthy, so we’re preparing our chili with ground turkey.

Wait!!  Before you stop reading, turkey is not just for Thanksgiving anymore.  It is a really flavorful alternative to ground beef.  It just needs to be seasoned and you’ll be surprised at what great flavor it has in this chili.

The Halloween Costume Contest is on its way and you have until Sunday, 11/13, at midnight to cast your vote.

These are the 3 top contenders so far, but anything can happen.  To cast your vote, go to our facebook page and click on the contest photo at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Griggstown-Farm-Market/123020157752317