Mix It Up This Holiday Season

Laura McNamara

The American Culinary FederationThe American Culinary Federation wants holiday cooks and chefs to experiment in the kitchen this holiday season. That’s why the organization is offering new, tantalizing recipes for those who are a bit more adventurous.

During the holidays, cooks confuse tradition with monotony. Every year, it’s the same menu. Offer your readers new recipes that will give them cause to celebrate. The American Culinary Federation is making available several holiday recipes complete with jpg art.

Hanukkah:
— Crispy Potato and Goat Cheese Salad with Basil Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar
— Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Oven-Dried Tomato and Roasted Eggplant
— Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel

Christmas:
— Pan Seared Duck Breast with Glazed Root Vegetables, Celery Puree and Orange Sauce
— Espresso Rubbed Venison Tenderloin with White Corn Pudding

New Year’s Eve:
— Maui Shrimp Cocktail with Coconut Cocktail Sauce
— Creme Brulee with Honeyed Raspberries
— Raspberry Martinis

To receive any or all of these recipes contact Dan Macdonald at (800) 624-9458, ext. 113 or e-mail at dmacdonald@acfchefs.net.

Food

Chins Sing Carols

Chuck Zimmerman

The ChinsThe Chins are back at Sundog and they’re ready to sing your favorite Christmas carol.

I picked Silent Night to start with. Just enter in your song and let them sing it for you.

We’re trying to get into the holiday spirit and thanks to our friends at Sundog for helping us out.

Let me know how you’re trying to get into the holiday spirit on your website and I’ll feature it here.

Agencies

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Ag Leader Technology, Inc. introduced the GPS 1500, a low-cost high-accuracy GPS receiver, ideal for use in DirectCommand™, SeedCommand™ and harvesting operations using AutoSwath™. AutoSwath is used to automatically turn sprayer boom sections or planter sections on and off based on field maps or already applied/planted areas and to automatically adjust swath width of combines during harvest. The GPS 1500 is an all-in-one antenna/receiver system with sub-meter accuracy. In addition to planting, application and harvesting operations, the GPS 1500 can also be used for tillage, data logging or general mapping.
  • The 2008 Women Managing the Farm Conference is scheduled Feb. 8-9 at the Grand Prairie Hotel and Conference Center in Hutchinson, Kan. Titled “Celebrating Ag Women,” the conference is designed for women who are sharing agribusiness decisions with their farmer or rancher husband and for women who have either inherited – or are purchasing – a farm or acreage or choosing agriculture as a career. Early registration for the two-day conference is $75 and due Feb. 1, 2008; registration after that date is $90. A partial (one-day) registration is $50. Registration information can be found here.
  • John and Christine Augustine are the recipients of the 2007 Farmer of the Year Award from the Arizona Farm Bureau (AZFB). The award was presented during the AZFB annual meeting on Nov. 8 in Carefree, Ariz. The Augustine family manages two plant nurseries in Maricopa County, Ariz., and operates a ranch in Young, Ariz., plus have farm operations in Iowa. John Augustine is the first person to hold a patent on plants in Arizona for developing the Desert Blaze and Phoenix Bird varieties, trees his nursery specifically developed for the Arizona climate.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Corn Commentary on YouTube

    Chuck Zimmerman

    If you want to learn the facts about water usage and corn then Rick Tolman, NCGA CEO, will fill you in. This is a short video interview I did with Rick at the recent NAFB Convention. I shot several while I was in their booth. It was pretty dark in the Trade Talk room so a light is now on my “need” list. But it works. These are all content for Corn Commentary.

    Isn’t it amazing how many uses we can come up with for the content we create?

    Ag Groups, Corn, Video

    Iowa Woman Recognized for Promoting Farm Safety

    Laura McNamara

    Farm Safety 4 Just KidsVoters nationwide are nominating their picks for 6th Annual Volvo for life Awards and one of the semifinalists is an Iowa woman being recognized for promoting farm safety and health. Marilyn Adams has been selected as one of the nation’s top 40 heroes for her creation of a non-profit organization that works to educate children about farm safety and health.

    Twenty years ago, Marilyn Adams faced every mother’s greatest fear. Her eleven-year old son, Keith, suffocated in a gravity flow wagon while helping with the first full day of harvest on the family’s farm in Iowa. Determined to find a constructive outlet for her grief, she was inspired to create a non-profit organization working to educate children about farm safety and health. Today, thousands of volunteers across the United States and Canada work to keep rural kids safe and healthy. Adams is now in the running to be named “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” in the 6th Annual Volvo for life Awards — an annual, nationwide search for real-life heroes across America.

    In 1987, Adams founded Farm Safety 4 Just Kids and set out on a mission to promote safe farm environments and eliminate farm-related child health hazards, injuries and fatalities. A report by the National Safety Council found that children between the ages of five and 14 were 66 percent more likely to be injured in a farm accident than adults aged 45 to 64.

    Farm Safety 4 Just Kids’ contribution to the farm safety movement has helped to reduce the number of agriculture-related fatalities among children in the United States. Farm families now have additional programs and educational materials highlighting the dangers that children can encounter on farms, and information about how to avoid them. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids now has 137 chapters throughout North America. Through her visits to rural schools, media appearances, testimony before government agencies and in Congress, Adams has spread her farm safety message across the country.

    Forty semi-finalists have been selected. You can vote for the final winners at www.volvoforlifeawards.com. Three finalists will receive $100,000 charitable contributions and the grand prize winner receives a Volvo car every three years for life.

    Ag Groups, Education, Equipment, Farming

    Getting Back in Action

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Hello from the central part of the country. I’ve been a little lazy on posting this weekend I admit. It doesn’t mean nothing has been done though. I’ve been doing some new creative backups of hard drives and computers and a number of other interesting things to get ZimmComm New Media ready for a gangbuster year coming up. We’ve got new recording stations in our offices for one thing. We do a lot of over the phone interviews so that was something I’ve been wanting to do.

    This week I’ll be out and about but of course you’ll be able to keep up with all the action here.

    I think I mentioned that I’ve upgraded to Leopard on my Mac and I just used Time Machine to back up this computer to a new hard drive I bought. I spent a lot of time this weekend doing antivirus scans on my PC’s and backing them up. That’s something I don’t have to do on the Mac!

    Uncategorized

    Zimfo Bites

    Melissa Sandfort

    • Agriculture Under Secretary Nancy Johner for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services announced the appointment of Dr. Brian Wansink as the Executive Director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). Dr. Wansink currently serves as the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. At CNPP Dr. Wansink will be responsible for overseeing the planning, development and review of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the food pyramid known as MyPyramid.gov and programs including the Healthy Eating Index, the USDA Food Plans, the Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, and the cost of raising a child.
    • Ag Leader Technology, Inc. announced that planter monitoring functionality has been added to the planter control system, SeedCommand. SeedCommand now tracks and logs average population while monitoring seed spacing. A color bar graph and population display provide this information to operators in real-time. These capabilities allow growers using SeedCommand to eliminate planter monitors from their tractor cabs completely – monitoring and controlling necessary planting functions from the InSight™ display. For the 2008 growing season, planter monitoring functionality is available to replace KINZE KPM I, II or III planter monitors.
    • William Bradley, a Gallatin County corn grower, is the recipient of the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s (ICGA) top award presented at the organization’s annual meeting Nov. 20, 2007. The World of Corn Award goes to individuals, organizations or businesses for making significant contributions to the corn industry. The special award, now in its 17th year, was created to recognize the global importance of corn, and specifically honor individual pacesetters that have made Illinois a leader in the corn industry.
      Zimfo Bytes

      Cooking Up a Good Podcast and Blog

      Chuck Zimmerman

      Culinary Institute of AmericaI’m still recovering from a turkey induced coma and food is on my mind. That’s why I was interested to see the Culinary Institute of America using some new media tools. Here’s what their podcast is about:

      The Culinary Institute of America’s podcast series “Insight From The Inside” gives aspiring student chefs a unique glimpse inside the world’s premier culinary college through the eyes and personal testimonials of our more than 2,700 students.

      “Insight From The Inside” also includes interviews with a variety of the CIA’s celebrity chef alumni that offer the listener a first-hand perspective when it comes to what it takes to become successful in the foodservice industry – as told by those who have paid their dues and have made it big.

      Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the subscription information. Don’t forget to check out their blog too.

      Food

      Feeding Cull Cows

      Laura McNamara

      North Dakota State University’s Hettinger Research Extension CenterCull cows and their feeding habits are at the center of research underway at North Dakota State University’s Hettinger Research Extension Center. The study is being done in cooperation with South Dakota State University. The Center’s Michelle Stamm says the multi-state southwest feeders project is monitoring the feeding of a group of cull cows for 100 days and then will send the cows to slaughter. The cows will be fed in one of three ways: some cows have a self-feeder type diet of commercial product with grain, some cows are being fed with local barley silage and barley grain and the last group of cows is being fed a corn and hay diet. Michelle says the project is tracking the input costs going into the feeding of the cull cows and is also looking at what the producer would earn when the cows go to slaughter.

      Cull cows make up around 16 percent of ranch income. Michelle says she has talked to feed industry producers in Iowa in the past and they indicated they finished rather well with the cull cow market.

      Agribusiness, Farming, Livestock, Research

      Urban Farming gives Chicagoans Second Chance

      Laura McNamara

      Growing Home Inc.Farming is hard, rewarding work and Growing Home Inc. is giving Chicagoans in search of a job a chance to reap the rewards of work in the field. But, this field will be farmed in the city.

      Hoop houses are erected on the site and collards, kale, mustard greens, salad mix and spinach are a good example of the crops that will be grown year round. Graduates from the job training program are working on site.

      Growing Home is a six-year old certified organic agricultural business with a social mission of providing transitional employment for homeless and low-income adults. Program participants are difficult-to-employ people, most of whom have criminal backgrounds. Growing Home also operates a 10-acre farm 75 miles southwest of Chicago at Marseilles, Illinois and a half-acre urban farm on the south side.

      In 2007, Growing Home harvested fifty crops (130 varieties) and four animal products — honey, worms, worm castings, and eggs and had sales of over $70,000. Growing Home’s current customers include some of Chicago’s most well-known restaurants: Bistro Campagne, Lula Cafe, Blackbird, First Slice Cafe, Green Zebra, North Pond, Soundings, and Vie.

      The U.S. organic sector is expected to grow from $13 billion in 2003 to over $25 billion in 2007. However, less than 3% of organic produce available in Chicago is grown locally.

      Environment, Farming, Food, Organic