This is my all-time favorite recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. This Italian bread is so delicious you will have to hide it from your brother who will eat an entire loaf before your guests arrive! It is crunchy, salty, herby, and soft in the middle. You can just eat it plain or it is really wonderful with goat cheese and bacon jam. (recipe for another time). I make it up in advance and freeze in… Read More
America’s Test Kitchen in Tuscany with Farm Girl
I am so excited to be the tour coordinator for this amazing Food tour of Tuscany with Americas Test Kitchens and I hope you can join us on this fabulous foodie trip. This is only the 4th tour that America’s Test Kitchen has scheduled — the first 3 filled in 2 days each so signup today! Find more information and book your trip on my trip site: https://grouptoursite.com/tours/atkmarylovstad Booking is open now. You will need to… Read More
Later, I Shall Eat Pie!
I am so excited to be talking about all things Pie, –yes, I said Pie in this episode with my guest will Cristen Clark, an Iowa farmer, an Iowa Food and Family Project, contributor, a skillful baker whose Harvest Pear Pie brought $3,000 for the Blue Ribbon Foundation at the Iowa State Fair and a Cooking and Baking Contest Judge, just to name a few of her talents. Listen to my interview and learn how… Read More
Fresh Eggs and a Five Hundred Dollar Quiche
A few springs ago, my husband, Eric, after much thought and planning, decided we were ready to start our chicken adventure. Our local farm/hardware store has live chicks in the spring. You just reach into the cow tank and try to grab the ones you like the best — a little like carnival night in grade school, and put them in the cardboard box you have to put together yourself. Ironically, the same shape as… Read More
The Great British Bake Off Inspired Me to Bake a Cake…
I have been binge watching The Great British Baking Show this winter — all seasons and the Christmas shows and it made me think I wanted to be a better baker. It has inspired me to start a cake project and to begin with recipes in my grandmother’s handwritten cookbook. One of the cakes they talk about all the time on The Great British Bake Off is a sponge. While digging through those old family recipes… Read More
I Was Shocked to Find This Hidden Art Treasure in North Iowa…
This winter I when was doing a cooking class for a travel blogger group in Charles City, Iowa. The first night we were staying at the lovely Red Cedar Lodge, getting to know each other, eating treats that would make any foodie jealous, laughing A LOT and having a little too much wine when one of the bloggers, Theresa Goodrich, author of of “Two Lane Gems, Vols 1 & 2” asked if I was interested… Read More
Winter Glamping, Cooking with friends & Beef Stew guest blog.
Recently I did a cooking class at a Winter Glamping blogger event at the beautiful Red Cedar Lodge in Charles City, Iowa. Winter Camping for me was a new adventure and it was lovely. Winter walks, cozy cabins, Christmas shopping in town, baking bread and sharing this beef stew with new and old friends. Perfection. One of my blogger friends enjoyed this stew enough to share it on her blog. I hope you enjoy as… Read More
Woot, Woot – I Made French Baguettes..Thanks, King Arthur Flour!
I have always wanted to make French Baguettes. For me nothing is as delicious as a slice of a baguette, crusty on the outside, soft and flavorful on the inside, slathered with butter or a sumptuous French cheese. Baking bread was not something we did in our household. With nine brothers and two sisters, you couldn’t make enough bread in a day to feed or keep them happy! So taking on a baguette was kind… Read More
25 Tips and Tricks to Travel Smarter in Paris…from an Iowa Farm Girl
Ooo La La — Paris in the spring! I have been back a little over a week from my first trip out of the country, other than Canada, which I don’t think really counts. Paris has always been the one place in the world I have wanted to go and my handsome husband did not want to go with me. Apparently I nearly killed him on our trip to Chicago last summer – he calls… Read More
Stories of My Mother…Episode #623: The Great Escape
A few weeks ago my sisters and I flew out to Washington for a visit with two of my older brothers and hang out at the lake with them. We spent a lot of time laughing at family stories over delicious meals with lots glasses of wine and beer. We grew up in a crazy, big farm family in Iowa — our parents had twelve kids (9 boys and 3 girls) over seventeen years. A… Read More
Finding Julia Child in Paris….and crepes on every street corner!
Julia Child is my food heroine. We have so much in common — we are both a little awkward, late bloomers in life, have an obsession with butter and things fly when we are in the kitchen. I loved Julia’s show “The French Chef” which PBS ran in reruns for years. Her charm was that she just kept on going when things went wrong — she flubbed her flips, burned things, murdered lobsters and… Read More
Church Cookbook Classics: Ice Pick Lemon Cake
Do you have recipes from your youth that conjure up mouth-watering memories? This cake is one of those for me. Mom would make this one in the summer and I just couldn’t keep my hands off of it. I just took teeny, tiny pieces every time I walked by it — they don’t count right? Cake Mixes with Jello and/or Jello Pudding became very popular in the 60’s, although cake mixes were invented in the… Read More
What Scarlett O’Hara and I Have in Common….
…and it is NOT an 18 inch waist! Part 1: The Land From this picture you may think that Katie Scarlett and I had the burning of Atlanta in common, close, but it’s really the love of the land. In the movie, Gone With The Wind, Gerald O’Hara said to Scarlett, ” It will come to you, this love of the land. There’s no gettin’ away from it if you’re Irish. ” Followed… Read More
Happy Baking Accidents…Blueberry Coffee Cake Kind of Thing…
Or Things That Turned Out Better Than Expected… It was 16 below this morning and after reading a Facebook post of a friend who was making coffee cake, I WANTED some, but I was not willing to drag my sorry self out for any missing ingredients. People die in this weather! So the hunt began — digging through the cupboard, freezer and fridge! I found a can of Pillsbury Blueberry biscuits not yet out date (although that… Read More
Cheats Puff Pastry Recipe from The Great British Baking Show
The Farm Girl Attempts Cheats Rough Puff Pastry Recipe from The Great British Baking Show and It Works! I don’t know about you, but I adore The Great British Baking Show. It is my favorite baking show of all time — the tent is gorgeous, the decor is totally charming, the contestants real and diverse, and the food looks to die for! Everyone is nice to each other and helpful, unlike some of the other… Read More
Podcast: 3 Pork Chops, Ham Balls, and Sausage Gravy
Recipes From My Podcast Guests Alicia: Brandy and Brown Sugar Ham Glaze Alicia: Biscuts and Gravy Casserole Val: Hamball Recipe, An Iowa Classic Val: All-Purpose Pork Rub – Tractor Approved Recipe Val: A Look Inside Our Pig Barns Helpful Sites About Raising Pigs and Pork 7 Pasture Pig Breeds for the Small Farm: How to Choose the Best Pigs to Pasture Raise How to Choose Pig Breeds For Your Farm Five Pigs for Your Hobby… Read More
Podcast: Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner
Resources Martzahn’s Farm Poultry Processing Healthy Harvest of North Iowa Iowa State Extension: Establishing a Backyard Poultry Flock The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself Chickens: Tending a Small-Scale Flock (Hobby Farms) How to Care for Chickens 101: Causes & Solutions for Chickens Losing Feathers Can You Keep Chickens For Eggs When RVing Full Time Chicken Coops Urban Coop Company Tractor… Read More
Lefse and the Real Importance of Holiday Traditions
Today, I was reminded why we jump through all of those holiday hoops. We make dozens of cookies, we drink hot chocolate or eggnog, we shop and we trim the tree. Just when we think we can’t do anymore, we clean the house and make 250 Swedish meatballs for the crew descending on us for our family Christmas Party (or whatever holiday you celebrate). Every year we say we are going to cut down, make it simpler, but… Read More
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