Category: Community

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Beef…the way it was meant to be

The good food community is making a difference! Thanks to committed “foodies” and connoisseurs of fine food, “pink slime” is being removed from the market place. And it is not because our beloved USDA or federal government had an issue with the product, but because the consumers spoke up and said, “Enough !”

Last week, Tyson Foods told their major investors to expect a 2-3% drop in sales because of the pink slime issue, and AFA in Pennsylvania, the major supplier (producer) of pink slime, filed for bankruptcy. 
The loss of this “filler” product is going to further cut into the shortage of American beef animals because pink slime was made of beef scraps and then added to hamburger. Without pink slime being added as a filler, it means that more beef will have to be used to replace the loss of this product. Also, because of the drought in the Southwest over the last few years and really high grain prices, many beef operations sold out and got out. The grain prices have been high for lots of reasons, but the primary reason is that a lot of grain is now being grown for ethanol and when farmers compete against automobiles we usually lose.
Ironically, the consumer is the biggest loser. When the cost of fuel increases, so does the cost of food. When farmers have to pay higher fuel prices then it costs more to produce, harvest and get our food to market. Fuel is the 800 pound gorilla in the room and it takes a huge bite out of everyone’s budget.
 
Thankfully, there is an alternative to rising fuel costs and grain-fed meat. Klesick Family Farm has been working with local family farmers since we began in 1997. We have a great network of farmers that care about their animals and raise them with dignity.  And because we are a local grass-based farm and work with other local grass-based farms, we are not contributing to the craziness of petroleum and its world politics. But even more importantly, we are not supporting the unhealthy GMO grain world and our cows are not beholden to Monsanto in any way, shape or form.
 
We still have shares of 2012 grass-fed lamb and beef available. A quarter share of beef is approximately 90 lbs. of meat, filling about two shelves of a large upright freezer, and costs around $6/lb. Imagine that! You can get locally raised, all natural grass-fed hamburger and T-bone (100% true beef) for $6 a pound. By purchasing beef the way it was meant to be, you are not only supporting local farms, but also sending an important message to Monsanto, Tyson Foods and other mega food companies!
 
If you haven’t ordered local meat from our farm or network of local farmers, it is easy, healthy and straight forward. Just click on the meat page at our website or call the office and we can walk you through the process. 

 
In support of local farms and real food,

 
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Cooking with Fresh Herbs

 

My gardening space and knowledge are very limited, so I must plan wisely. Judging from my last year’s success story, herbs were the most abundant and most used. Every time a recipe called for an herb that I had in my garden, I would proudly make my way into the garden carrying scissors and a smile. Cutting a handful of fresh herbs, I would immediately bring them to my nose to inhale their floral scent and not release the fragrance until I returned to the kitchen to stir them in to whatever I was cooking. think I’ll grow only herbs this year,” I commented to my husband, whose eyes tend to glaze over when I mention anything about the garden. He doesn’t have much input when it comes to the yard, but he also didn’t like coffee when we first married and now he roasts his own, so I remain hopeful.

There is little more that improves food than that of the addition of fresh herbs. Depending on the herb, it can brighten, soften, and add intrigue to anything from eggs to cocktails. The moment you slice into their delicate leaves the kitchen is flooded with a fresh and intoxicating perfume. Beyond that, fresh herbs bring with them an added boost of nutrients.

Spring brings with it a variety of fresh herbs. My garden is already brimming with sage, parsley, thyme, chives, and rosemary. With plans in the very near future to add tarragon, mint, oregano, cilantro and basil. Besides rhubarb, the addition of fresh herbs is what I look forward to most as the season changes.

Tips on working with fresh herbs:

Usually when you purchase herbs they come in a quantity quite larger than what the recipe calls for. Prolong the life of your herbs by storing them in water as you would fresh flowers. Doing this not only gives you fresh herbs for longer, but also a lovely decoration for your kitchen sill, something a multi-tasker like myself can get giddy about.

Think of basil as you do mint. Add it to hot water for tea, muddle with sugar and add a bit of rum or gin, and infuse with cream for the base of a herby ice cream. As a member of the mint family, basil adds a similar scent with a bit more interest than just mint alone.

Tuck fresh herbs into your favorite green salad to add more flavor and freshness.

A fine chop of fresh herbs tossed in at the end of the cooking process adds a stunning pop of green and a bright flavor.

by Ashley Rodriguez           

www.notwithoutsalt.com

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Annual “Share the Good” Contest!

It’s our annual Share the Good Contest! Refer your friends and win! Refer your friends to our delivery service and you’ll be entered into our contest for the chance to win a 5-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator (a $238.86 value)!

How it works: The contest takes place March 26 through April 30, 2012. When the person(s) whom you refer to our service signs up for delivery, they must give your name as the person who referred them. When we receive a referral from you, we will enter your name into the drawing for the chance to win. For each additional referral you send our way, your name will go into the drawing in addition to any previous referrals entered within the drawing period.
For example:

Refer 1 person: your name will be entered into the prize drawing once.
Refer your 2nd person: your name will be entered two more times, additional to the previous entry.
Refer your 3rd person: your name will be entered three more times, additional to the other entries, etc.
Refer 4 or more people, and, in addition to having your name entered into the drawing, you will receive a special gift! It’s our way of saying, “Thank you!”

We will choose the winner through random selection on April 30th, 2012. The winner will be notified immediately thereafter.
There will be a second prize for the runner-up: a wonderful gift basket full of delicious organic goodies, arranged by Lori, of Middleton Organic Specialty Foods.

Now for the small print:
• You must be a customer to win.
• Your referral person must actually sign up and place an order to qualify. New customers who create an account, but do not place an order within the March 26-April 30 time period do not qualify as a referral.
• For each person you refer, you will still receive one of our standard referral gifts as a thank you.
We are excited about making your referrals more rewarding! So spread the word and share the good!

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One Family, One Person

I have figuratively been chewing on a piece of alfalfa lately, mulling over how I can—our farm can—make a bigger impact in our local community in our fight against cancer, heart disease, and other health issu es. These diseases are classified by some as being diet and lifestyle-related. Change…it all comes down to change. Changing the way we think, the way we live and the way we eat.

If you, a friend or family member are fighting one of these diseases, you are literally in a fight for your health and your family’s health. This means our community is in a fight for health, which means our state is in the fight and our nation, as well. As I lean on my hoe and contemplate, “What can I do?” I realize that the answer to the question is a question: “What can we do?”

You have already made a huge choice to change—you get a delivery of fresh, healthy, nutrient-rich foods. You are intentional about eating better and in that intentional choice you have improved your family’s health. You have saved time, money, farmland, you have shored up local farm infrastructure and you have sent a message to Corporate America that you are not buying their products. You have also helped our farm support several other local farms which has turned into to more local jobs. Wow, just by getting a delivery of local food, you accomplished all that. All of these benefits come because of one intentional choice, a choice to be a part of the solution, a choice to get a box of good!

I want to thank you for your intentional choice to partner with us, but I want to do more. I want to expand our ability to reach out to those families and that one person, who is fighting for their health.

KFF has personally funded our Healing through Nutrition program with $1000, but we are looking for others to join us as partners in healing.

You can join us in several ways:

1. If you know of a family medically diagnosed with cancer or heart disease, consider purchasing them a box of good. We will discount your purchase 5% if we deliver it and 15% if you deliver it.

2. If you can’t afford to purchase a box of good for a family, send their name to us and we will try and meet the need through donated funds.

3. Consider donating to our Healing through Nutrition program. We will use these funds to bless those families fighting these diseases.

4. Consider organizing a fundraiser at your office, rotary club, church, etc. and open an account for a family you know fighting these diseases. We will do the rest. A few customers have done this and those families (those giving and those receiving) are forever changed.

5. Lastly, please let us know about the ones you know who are fighting these diseases. Just send us an e-mail to [email protected] with their first name and a short biography and we will add them to our prayer list. If they are important to you, they are important to us.

Your farmer and partner in good health,

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Healing through Nutrition

This is our new outreach for 2012. Last week we shared that the American Cancer Society donated 145 million dollars in 2010 and that 0.3% or $440,000 of that went to nutritional research. Cancer is a multifaceted disease, yet we believe that a healthy diet is vital in prevention, during treatment, and for recovery.  This year we have decided to tackle cancer and heart disease locally, one family and one person at a time.

Deborah was pregnant. During her pregnancy her family discovered she had breast cancer. Her friends opened an account with us and funded it so she could focus on her baby and her treatments, without having to worry about shopping. A soccer team just blessed a fellow player’s family after his father had a stroke. The team mom sent out an e-mail and at the next practice raised $250. That is 10 deliveries of fresh produce. Beautiful, touching, and impactful.

My heart is to alleviate some of the financial burden that our local families are facing as they fight cancer or heart disease by discounting our boxes of fresh produce. We already have a very successful food bank outreach called Neighbor Helping Neighbor. And yet our hope is to expand the good that we, as an organic community, can do and get some healthy produce into the homes of those with diagnosed cancer and heart disease.

Klesick Family Farm is good at growing, sourcing, and delivering nutritionally rich foods that can help the healing process and we want to and need to partner with you to expand our abilities to meet this need in our community.

Here is what I am proposing:
1. If you know of a family medically diagnosed with cancer or heart disease, consider purchasing them a box of good. We will discount your purchase 5% if we deliver it and 15% if you deliver it.
2. If you can’t afford to purchase a box of good for a family, send their name to us and we will try and meet the need through donated funds.
3. Consider donating to our Healing through Nutrition program. We will use these funds to bless those families fighting these diseases.
4. Consider organizing a fundraiser at your office, rotary club, church, etc. and open an account for a family you know fighting these diseases. We will do the rest. A few customers have done this and those families (those giving and those receiving) are forever changed.
5. Lastly, please let us know about the ones you know who are fighting these diseases. Just send us an e-mail to  [email protected]  with their first name and a short biography and we will add them to our prayer list. If they are important to you, they are important to us.

A few years ago, I learned a valuable lesson. Our family had stopped to help a family that was stuck on the side of the road during a snow storm. We got out and tried to help them, but in the process another car was rear ended, because neither of them could stop on the ice. In hindsight, we couldn’t really help that person who was stuck because we didn’t have the right vehicle (4×4 monster truck) and in some ways we made the situation more unsafe. The person did get unstuck, chained up, and going again, but it had more to do with the aforementioned type of truck stopping and helping.

I share this story because some of you have the ability to financially help another family and others don’t. I am asking you to partner with us where you can to make a difference in the local families fighting these diseases. For some it is to forward names, for others to sponsor a box, and for others help us to fund this Healing through Nutrition outreach. Any and all ways of helping are extremely appreciated.

I love being your farmer and it is privilege to work alongside each of you to make our community a better place!

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What is a Farmer to Do…

When it is snowing? Pray that it won’t in April! Although, this week I am assembling two greenhouses. After years of farming without a greenhouse, I have decided to build two smaller mobile style units. They will be on skids, so I can move them to new locations throughout the season. My plans are to start with early greens and move the houses to tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for the remainder of the season and then move it again in the fall for winter greens. Disclaimer: dreaming is dangerous in the winter and I will not be held responsible for changing my mind when farming begins☺!

When cancer and heart disease are injuring lives and families? Pray for wisdom to be able to grow more nutritious food. The American Cancer Society spends $144,897,000 on cancer research every year.* Yes, almost 145 million dollars. How much is spent on nutrition research? $440,000 or 0.3% in 2010. Come on! Not even making it to 1%! What did Hypocrites say, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” One might conclude that the American Cancer Society missed that “memo.”

So what can KFF do? We can’t spend millions, but we can grow, raise, source and deliver life-giving foods. That is what we can do. We can fight cancer one family and one person at a time. So we need your help. We want to fund a local food outreach to people in our local communities who are fighting these diseases. We are calling it, Healing through Nutrition.

I was just talking to my team about how to make a difference in the lives of local people with cancer. And an hour later, we received a phone call from a customer who wanted to buy our Family Box for another family who is fighting cancer. Yes! That is what I want to be a part of—neighbors helping neighbors: a local solution for a local family fighting cancer or heart disease.

This accomplishes so many things. First, a box of good organic and nutritious food says, “We are with you. We love you!” It also saves that family time, by not having to go shopping. It also saves that family money that they can use on co-pays, medicine, travel and loss of work, etc.

Here is what I am proposing. We are a small company and a small farm, but we want to be your partners in good.

You can also donate towards this outreach. Just go to the Products page of our website, select the Gifts category, and choose the Healing through Nutrition donation you’d like to make. We will use these donations to meet the needs we know about. These donations are not tax deductible.

Lastly, we can pray. Fighting diseases like cancer and heart disease is physically, financially and emotionally draining, but it is also spiritually draining. Please let us know about people you know who are fighting these terrible diseases. Just send us an e-mail at [email protected] with their first names and a short biography, and our team will join you in prayer for them.

Please consider joining us as we tackle these diseases with local resources from local farms for local people. We can make a difference with good food.
* www.cancer.org/Research/ResearchProgramsFunding/CurrentlyFundedProjects/extramural-and-intramural-funding-in-selected-areas-of-research

If you know of someone who cannot afford organic produce, consider investing in their health by purchasing them a box. Klesick Family Farm will discount that box of healing 5% if we deliver it to them or 15% if we bring it with your order and you deliver it.

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Klesick Family Farm 2nd Annual Dinner Party Video

Another great event! As we watch this video of the 2nd Annual Dinner Party  we reminisce  on the wonderful organic dinner Chef Larry Fontaine and his team prepared for us. The evening evolved from a quiet and beautifully set up banquet room, to a room that was alive with interaction between our staff, farmers and customers. You could feel the energy of people connecting and sharing around the same passion for real food.

It was a true delight to see growers, chefs, servers, and consumers all sharing a common interest and to see them develop meaningful connections!

Special thanks to Eric Coleman for the production of this video. Follow us on facebook to stay tuned with our upcoming events!
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A Time to be Slow

There is a time and season for everything. There is a time when life demands speed—deadlines to make, schedules to keep, and appointments to meet. There is a time to be slow—reading bedtime stories to your children, a conversation with your spouse about the day, and a vacation where soft-sanded beaches and frilly blended drinks run plentiful.

Our culture tends to be experts on speed, but when it comes to slowing down we need much practice. My natural speed is fast. I get a thrill when I multi-task. It pains me to watch my young son take what feels like fifteen minutes to put on his jacket and shoes as I watch the clock tick on. I frantically push him along, creating tension that really doesn’t need to exist. Something inside of me naturally wants everything in life to move quickly.

There is great beauty in slow. In his book, In Praise of Slow, Carl Honore writes, “Slow is calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about making real and meaningful connections – with people, culture, work, food, everything.” Doesn’t that sound incredible?

There is so much to learn in the presence of being slow that can be easily overlooked when we’re moving too fast.

For me, being slow is a conscious decision. When feeling the desire to speed up I have to ask myself, “Is this a time I need to be fast?” If not, I breathe deeply and rethink how I’m approaching the situation.

This is true in the kitchen too—especially in the kitchen. Weeknight meals are often quick, simple, and prepared in the presence of three hungry children pushing me to hurry up. But it is in the process of slowly preparing a meal that I’m reminded of why I love food and cooking so much. I take the time to smell the fresh ingredients, enjoy the process of dicing a pungent onion, and joyfully stirring the pot as the flavors fully develop in the presence of much time.

There is a time to be slow—probably more time than we allow. Find time for slow, its company will reward you.

by Ashley Rodriguez

http://notwithoutsalt.com/

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Dating … at Home


When Gabe and I were first married we continued to date. Nearly every Friday we would eagerly anticipate dinner made for us by a restaurant we had yet to try. We loved trying new places, new foods and spending that time together away from our harried schedules.

Then three kids came and we found ourselves much more removed from the dining out experience while still needing that time together. We do make time to go out on occasion, as we realize its importance for our friendship and the health of our marriage, but we also feel the need to limit the number of those evenings in order to preserve our budget.

So we found ourselves with a need to date, but with a desire to not pay hundreds of dollars in childcare and fancy dinners a month. Thus, the in-home date night was created.

It’s a simple idea really, but one that has brought us closer together, created a beautiful model for our children and saved us quite a bit of money. First of all, let me say that we find it is still important to get out of the house every now and again. There is something about seeing the dirty dishes and the leaning tower of laundry that can often distract from good conversation and a pleasant date.

For me, the date at home starts in the morning. I scour blogs, cookbooks and magazines to create a menu that is simple, yet special enough to be noticeably different than our regular weekday meals. Throughout the planning process I’m anticipating our date and praying for our time together. I find great joy in knowing that I’m planning this meal for my husband  and loving him in the process.

We sit down to a nice meal after the kids have gone to bed. Their voices still linger in the air while we do a good job of pretending not to hear. Eating at our own pace provides much more room for conversation than when three young children are present. We’re relaxed, comfortable and not too worried if the dishes don’t get done until morning.

With Valentine’s Day approaching and a beautiful box full of fresh produce, an in-home date is a beautiful option. Even if you aren’t married, giving yourself the opportunity to try something new in the kitchen provides the opportunity for a wonderful evening and sets apart that time as something special, which we all need every now and again.

Special food doesn’t have to be complicated—part of the pleasure is in the process. With stunning produce there is little that has to be done to make it distinctive and memorable.

by Ashley Rodriguez

Chef, food blogger, and full-time mom. Read more of her writings at www.notwithoutsalt.com

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The Organic Alternative

In 2001 scientists studying pesticide residues discovered that all of the 96 children in their research group had measurable levels of organophosphate metabolites in their urine, except for one child, as reported in Environmental Health Perspectives. Upon questioning this child’s parents, they discovered that the family bought exclusively organic produce.

Two years later, these same researchers found that pesticide concentrations in urine samples of children on conventional diets were approximately six times higher than in children on organic diets.

“Consumption of organic produce appears to provide a relatively simple way for parents to reduce their children’s exposure to organophosphate pesticides,” the researchers concluded.

Publishing in the same journal, another team found similar results. Median concentrations of metabolites for two neurotoxic pesticides, one of them chlorpyrifos, decreased to “nondetectable” levels immediately after the children were switched to an organic diet.

More research on the links between neurotoxin residues on foods and neurological diseases is needed. But while we wait for science to catch up with common sense, we have a healthy alternative, thanks to the farmers who choose organic production.
USDA certified organic foods repeatedly show up “clean,” except for the long-living breakdown products of organochlorines like DDT, which have even been found in the tissue of mammals in Antarctica.

This is a reminder that we are still paying for the mistakes made by our parents and grandparents who, decades ago, trusted the chemical companies’ promises. We do not yet know how my son’s generation will pay for today’s hubris. We only know that, somehow, they will.

We should think of every conventional food as bearing the label, “Warning: May Contain Traces of Pesticides That Can Harm Your Child,” just as food produced near nuts bears a similar warning. If it’s not organic, it could lead to long-term health consequences we are only beginning to understand. It is time for preschools, in addition to banning nuts, to start prohibiting the conventional foods that may contain traces of neurological toxins harmful to our children.

—Vallaeys, Charlotte. “School

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That was a dinner party!

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to introduce my team of employees and team of farmers to our customers. Together we have an incredible community of folks and together we can do an incredible amount of good. The Comcast Arena at Everett was the perfect place to host our 2nd Annual Dinner Party. Chef Larry Fontaine and his team did an incredible job of dazzling our taste buds with culinary delights and magnificent service.  I was ultra excited about the standing ovation given to our farmers and later to Chef Larry’s team that served us. Growers, cooks, servers, and consumers all sharing a common theme from farm to fork: a celebration of real food.

At one point, Joane from the Rents Due Ranch shared during the farmer panel that organic farming practices can feed the world. That it was no longer pie in the sky rhetoric, but proven scientifically. She is absolutely right!

This week we have an opportunity to drive this point home in Washington State.  There are currently two bills working their way through the Senate and the House.  These two bills will require Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to be labeled in Washington State. I am a huge proponent of GMO labeling and will be contacting my legislators about these bills.

This is going to be a fight, especially from the farming community and the biotech lobbyists.  They will be crying that the world will starve or that GMO labeling will put Washington farms at a competitive disadvantage.  Yes, it will put Washington farms on a different playing field, but this could be a good thing. Yes, a good thing, because it will make Washington a state where companies that want non-GMO ingredients for processing first in line, and there are plenty of countries around the world that have already restricted the sale/use of GMOs, further expanding the market potential.

Usually, I am more of a proponent of letting the market choose, but the GMO side has been using legislation to, dare I say, shove GMOs down our throat, and it is time use the legislative process to make them come clean and label their GMO products so the consumer has the right to choose.

Please join me and contact your Washington State legislators this week in support of these two bills: HB 2637 and SB 6298

To learn more about these two proposed bills, please visit http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5hef8bfd71360f1&llr=h4hsqkiab 

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Face to Face

I often find myself appreciating the fact that I am alive now. I mean now, as in 2012. The technology available to us today, I never could have imagined would even be a possibility. Back in the 90s, when my dad installed a 12” long “car phone” in his silver Jeep, I thought we had arrived. Now, I find myself explaining to my children that the square shaped object with the circular cord on the desk in our hotel room is actually a phone. All they know are iPhones, and they think nothing of the fact that in an instant we can be talking to Grandma and Grandpa’s face on a 3” screen and then moments later they can return to their game on the same device as if what had just happened was really no big deal at all.

I utilize technology in order to help out with the task of managing a family of five. I often get groceries and produce delivered to my door. Now I realize deliveries have been occurring for centuries but Grandma never placed her order online at midnight only to have her groceries waiting for her when she woke up the next morning.

On an evening where I simply don’t feel like cooking I reach for the computer, tell it what I want and in under an hour dinner is at our door. I have even managed to build a social network around technology, creating deep friendships with many and some whom I’ve yet to meet.

I’m so grateful for many modern conveniences, as they’ve helped ease my burden in many areas of my life. But then I find myself in a room with real people – people who are more than just a ¼” avatar that shows me who I am talking to on Twitter. I see their expressions, I hear their inflections, I feel their touch, and I am reminded that there is never a replacement for the real thing.

Last year, Gabe and I had the pleasure of attending the 1st annual Farm to Fork dinner hosted by Klesick Family Farm. The room was ripe with conversation and studded with beautiful produce. Having had the privilege of sharing with you all for quite some time now through this newsletter, it was such an honor to meet many of you face to face and not just on Facebook.

To hear some of you say that you’ve made the recipes and enjoyed them made me smile for weeks after. To be able to come out from behind the computer and meet the farmers who tirelessly work to grow the produce that I, and I’m sure you as well, enjoy cooking with on a daily basis. It was an honor.

Technology is a blessing and has the ability to do great things, but it can never recreate the real life. I am so excited to be able to have the opportunity to attend the 2nd annual dinner. I’m eager to hear your favorite ways to use fennel and what vegetable you enjoyed for the first time this year. What recipe you can’t make often enough and what you are anxious to try. Most of all, I’m excited to meet more of you, face to face.

by Ashley Rodriguez
www.notwithoutsalt.com
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The Year in Review

Supporting Local Farms Since the inception of our home delivery business in1999, we have always focused on purchasing our fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers first. Every week, I contact my farmer friends to find out what they currently have available that I can add to our boxes. If I need to find more produce, I then source it from farms outside our area. As your personal farmer, I really appreciate your dedication to the local farm community. With your box of good purchases this last year, you have blessed several local farm families:

Bartella Farm, Beld Family Farm, Blue Heron Farms, Bunny Lane Fruit, Camano Island Egg Company, Filaree Farms, Hedlund Farms, Motherflight Farms, Munks Farm, Paul & Janice Madden Orchards, Ponderosa Orchards, Ralph’s Greenhouse, Rents Due Ranch, Skagit Flats Farm, and of course, the Klesick Family Farm.

Helping Local People Another core principle at Klesick Family Farm is to give back to our community. One of the ways we do this is by offering our customers the opportunity to donate a box of good to a local area food bank (Stanwood/Camano, Everett, Marysville, Monroe, Snohomish, Edmonds). For every four boxes donated by our customers, we donate an additional box. This year, with the generous support of our customers, Klesick Family Farm delivered over 808 boxes of good (approximately $19,950 worth of quality organic fruits and vegetables) to local area food banks! There is no way our farm could meet this need without your help. This is one of the most satisfying aspects of our business. I love meeting local needs with local resources! Thank you for partnering with us to meet this local need.

If you would like to join us in helping provide quality organic produce to local food banks, either give us a call or order a food bank box under the Boxes category of the Product page of our website.

Thank you for a great 2011! We look forward to next year!

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Second Annual Klesick Family Farm Dinner Party

From Farm to Fork: A Celebration of Real Food

In August we host our family farm festival and now we are hosting an elegant evening to connect in an adult-only venue.

Joelle and I are so excited to host our customers, farmers, and KFF team members for an incredible evening of great organic conversation and organic and non-GMO culinary masterpieces prepared by Chef Larry Fontaine.

This year we are having appetizers, a four-course meal with your choice of garlic roasted wild crab and shrimp or a vegetarian stuffed portabella. Last year, it was buffet style, but this year we are having it part family-style and individually served. Check out our Facebook page for all the details.

We are also going to have a panel of farmers so that each of you can get to know the other growers who make our boxes of good taste so incredible!
Sign up early! This is going to be an amazing evening.

Location: Edward D. Hansen Conference Center at the Comcast Arena, in Everett WA

Friday, January 20th
Four course meal, appetizers, and dessert
Cash organic wine & beer bar
Business attire
$45 per person
Order tickets online (in the Non-Food category
on our Products page) http://www.klesickfamilyfarm.com/main/order-non-food-items
or by giving our office a call 360-652-4663.
NOTE: You will need to specify if you’d like the Stuffed Portobella Mushroom Vegetarian or the Garlic-Roasted Wild Crab & Shrimp Seafood course when placing your reservations.

Schedule
6:30 Doors Open
7:15 Dinner
8:30 Q&A with Your Farmers
9:15 Ciao!

~ Tristan Klesick

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Simple Joys

It’s at this point in the year when my mind is flooded with ideas, expectations, traditions to continue, and traditions I want to start. I anticipate my grown children experiencing the holidays with their families and I listen in on the conversations they have with their own children. My hope is that their memories will be filled with joy and excitement, generosity and love.

In order to fulfill this idea of giving them joyous holidays, I can tend to become overwhelmed with all the possibilities. We’ll schedule an outing to go experience fake snow falling from the sky. I’ll seek out a tree farm where we can hear the saw moving back and forth as our tree is slowly released from its roots. I’ll make plans to bake dozens of cookies to share in their perfectly decorated packages. And yet, if some of these ideas do not happen because of the reality of a chaotic life with three young children, I feel defeated and as if I have failed them.

Then I am reminded of their simple exuberance.

The other day, my husband, sensing my exhaustion from a long day with the children, decided to take the very energetic boys for an evening walk. I relished in the quiet while they left the house bundled up and excited for a little adventure. It wasn’t five minutes later that I heard the roar of the garage door opening and expected the quiet to be over, except that they didn’t come upstairs. Nearly twenty minutes later the door flings open and their little voices call for me with such eagerness I couldn’t help but smile. They came to fetch me from the couch and insisted I close my eyes as they had a surprise for me. So down the stairs I went, guided by a five and three year old with my eyes closed.

I stepped outside into the cold and was guided further. Through closed eyes I sensed glowing colors of red and green. When I was finally allowed to open my eyes I saw a single strand of Christmas lights lining one side of our fence and casually lying among the plants. My boys jumped up and down and shrieked with excitement, and I mustered up as much enthusiasm as I could in trying to match theirs.

Stepping back inside from the cold and warming ourselves with some hot chocolate, I realized that in the simple event that had just transpired my children experienced the joy of the holiday that I so methodically try to create. We spent time together, enjoyed one another, and relished in the season of joy and giving. That moment wasn’t dulled with the stress and chaos that can so often overwhelm the season. It was simple, joyful, and one that I will cherish.

by Ashley Rodriguez

Chef, food blogger, and full-time mom. Read more of her writings at www.notwithoutsalt.com

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Holiday food, family and finances

Oh, the joys of eating our way through the calendar. The big holidays alone make it hard to eat healthy, but toss in all the anniversaries, birthdays, soccer parties, etc., whew! Our whole lives are spent around food—buying, eating and hopefully enjoying it. Honestly, eating is a good preoccupation, but we still have to think before we eat or before we take the next bite.

Now, to find the balance, especially during the next five weeks. Many of us will be busy at various functions like office parties, family gatherings and church socials, and it will be really hard to eat healthy during this season. Not impossible though. When you are out and about, opt for salads and veggies for snacks, you can find these at most restaurants. When you are at the office party or church social, fill up on veggies, fruits, meat and cheese offerings first, then head for sweets. Refresh yourself with water whenever possible and always be a gracious guest. If you are heading to or hosting a party, bring/offer the veggie and fruit tray or a fruit basket. I guarantee that other people will be thankful you did.

And in-between parties and the big meals, eat as healthy as possible to compensate for the other times. Your digestive system will thank you and you will have more energy to enjoy this season.

And lastly, enjoy the people in your life. A few years ago, our dinner table was busting at the seams. Over the years we had slowly been filling up our eight foot farm table, watching the children grow up and grow in number, much like the tide coming in. I was considering building a bigger table, but now, a few years later, with the older children coming and going, it appears the tide is going out and the table seems to be too large, sigh. I am really looking forward to having my farm table bursting to capacity with my children and family at the holiday meals. This season is a joyous season, and wouldn’t it be fun to not have the indulgences of these next five weeks show up on our bathroom scales and our credit card statements, ugh?

Let’s make a commitment to indulge as wisely and graciously, as possible, this holiday season. And while we are at it lets commit to having a debt free Christmas, too! If you want to join me in making this holiday season healthier and debt free, sign below and put this on your fridge! Sign below!

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News worth sharing: KFF Holiday Specials

We have great news worth sharing! Share them on your facebook wall and your name will be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of Tamara Murphy’s new cooking book: TENDER. (http://shinshinchez.com/tamara-murphy-tender)

This raffle will be a series of posts from now until December 15th. Every time you share a KFF post, your name will be entered on the raffle and the more chances you have to win.

NEWS WORTH SHARING: KFF HOLIDAY SPECIALS

This is a time of year when get surrounded by friends and family. We catch up on each others lives and we show them how much we love them! Because we appreciate you (and therefore your friends and family) we have a special promotion to show your friends how much YOU appreciate them.

– FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS*: For the month of December, not only will you receive the standard thank you gift for your referrals, we will take $15 OFF your next order when your referrals become new customers.
– FOR NEW CUSTOMERS**: Order two boxes and get the third one FREE plus a welcome gift from us.
– FOR RETURNING CUSTOMERS**: If your account has been inactive for the past 6 months or more, order two boxes and get the third one FREE …frankly, we have missed you!

Thank you for participating!
Restrictions:
*Not redeemable for cash.
**Buy 2, get 3rd box of equal or lesser value FREE.