Gird Your Loins! It's Breakfast

Saturday morning was a real treat, as friends invited me to breakfast the Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery. Despite being a Market at the Square regular, I had somehow missed this opportunity (and my evangelizing friend had neglected to convert me!). In March and April, before the farmers market starts for the season, the farm opens for breakfast on Saturday mornings. Folks drive from all around to stand in a long line, order from their hilarious menu, and eat a scrumptious slow-food meal in a converted barn. I don't doubt that such an operation benefits from a combination of do-gooder foodie-ism and the novelty of the farm for the couples and young families who make the short trek out from town.




Gird Your Loins! It's Breakfast #3

On the menu this week were biscuits and gravy; grit cakes with poached egg, tomato pesto, and greens; tamales ("If we were in North Korea this pack of two tamales would be called the Kim Jong Illest."); yogurt-granola parfait; coffee cake; and a short stack of pancakes for the kiddies. To drink was coffee, tea, goat milk ("really local"). and goat milk hot chocolate.




I had the grit cake with all the toppings and a goat milk hot chocolate. This was second breakfast for me, but I polished it right off. The cocoa smelled different than cow's milk--I thought maybe like almonds. It was good, too. (That's some multi-grain honey wheat bread I bought from one of the vendors. It was a little more than I like to pay for a loaf, but we had run out at home several days before, and I was starting to get desperate for my usual sandwich for lunch.)

Despite the size of the crowd, turn over was pretty quick. We also vacated our spots for the next group, and went outside to visit the goats. The farm has all different kinds: black, brown, tan, some with big floppy ears and others with hardly any ears. They keep the ones of similar ages/sizes together. Here you can see the youth playing "king of the hill." They had some very liiittle ones, and in the next pen over was a whole pile of goats. You can see the lamps to keep them warm; there is also a jug of milk with rubber nipples. (The mamas have their own barn.)


Then it was time to drive home again. It was a nice reminder that winter is finally over. I am very much looking forward to my weekly trips across town to the market. Last season we were introduced to turnips, kale, and chard, so I can only wonder what new  foods and recipes we will try this year. Now that it's spring, what are you looking forward to? Are you growing any of your own vegetables, or are you waiting for something in particular to appear at your local market?