December 2010

A new type of restaurant just hit Madison. One that boasts utter transparency between the kitchen, the bar, and the customers. A restaurant that features the best of local ingredients and drinks. One that even sells its kitchen and bar ingredients in the restaurant. Intrigued yet? Because I definitely am. I had been waiting months to try Merchant, the craft cocktail lounge, restaurant, and urban grocery now open in downtown Madison.

This time of year, the only crop we continue to produce on the farm is fresh eggs. This is the first year we've had laying hens, so we really didn’t know what to expect, especially going into winter. The little bit we learned about laying-hen activity in the winter was through books we read, online research, and other friends who have had experience with chickens. All of these resources combined suggested that as the temperatures cooled off, the hens would slow down -- or possibly even stop -- their egg production through the winter, and they’ll start up again in the spring as the temperatures warm up.

For most of us, the holiday season is synonymous with goodies galore. They seem to be everywhere we turn, from the office to the candy bowl at the local hardware store. Festivities and family get-togethers are what make this time of year so meaningful and a holiday party without multiple goodie platters is like the 4th of July without fireworks.

What's your holiday protein of choice? More often than not, turkey is what's for holiday dinner. Even for vegetarians, there's Tofurkey. Don't get me wrong. Turkey is great. It's a lean white meat, easily available locally from sources that raise the birds humanely. One turkey can feed a lot of people. Leftovers are easy to package up and send home, and can be used in many ways beyond the obvious turkey/mashed potato/cranberry sauce sandwich: turkey noodle soup, shredded turkey mango wraps, turkey pot pies, turkey noodle casserole, etc.

Chances are, though, most of you had turkey on Thanksgiving. And for several days after Thanksgiving. So I thought you might be interested in a not-so-traditional, non-turkey holiday feast for a gathering in December. Ham is an easy way to feed a crowd. Pork or beef roasts are nice, too. But when I was growing up, the main dish we were happiest to see on the table was a well-prepared beef tenderloin.