Apron's Optional Meets Princess Kay Brenna

Our daughter Sara has a cooking show on our local TV station. It's called Aprons Optional, and it's filmed right here in our kitchen on our farm. 

I agree with Sara when she closes each episode with, 

"Remember, the apron is optional, but the flavor isn't."

Aprons Optional had a special guest at last weeks filming. Princess Kay (Minnesota's official goodwill ambassador for the dairy community), Brenna Connelly stopped by to share her recipe for Cheesy Hasbrowns. All the recipes featured in this episode are posted below. #DairyGoodness #Yummy!

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients 

3lbs chicken pieces, rinsed and patted dry
½ cup melted butter
½ cup flour, heaping
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoons paprika

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a plastic bag. Dip chicken pieces in melted butter and then coat evenly with flour mixture.
Place in a single layer on a greased shallow baking pan (skin side down – if you’ve left the skin on).
Bake 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.

Creamy Corn Salad

Ingredients

2 lbs. frozen corn, thawed under cool running water

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced purple onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Combine the corn, red bell pepper, onion and jalapeño in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the yogurt, mayo, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Gently stir into the corn mixture. Add in the chopped cilantro and stir. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cheesy Hash Browns

Ingredients
Hash Browns:
1 (20 ounce) package Shredded Hash Browns
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
Topping:
1 ½ cups corn flakes, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 quart glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl combine all hash brown ingredients; mix well. Spread into prepared baking dish. In small bowl stir together topping ingredients. Spread topping evenly over hash browns. Bake 45 minutes or until hash browns are tender.

O is for Optional

Once a month our kitchen becomes a TV studio as Daughter Sara films the next installment of her cooking show Aprons Optional for our local television station. Each episode features three recipes, most of which have dairy ingredients. Way to go farmer's daughter! Sara concludes each episode with these words- "The apron is optional, but the flavor isn't." So true Sara, so true! 

Each June, for National Dairy Month, Sara invites Princess Kay of the Milky Way,  goodwill ambassador representing Minnesota's dairy farmers, to our kitchen. Let's see what Princess Kay Rebekka Paskewitz is cooking up.

You can find more dairy delicious recipes on Sara's Apron's Optional Facebook page and also at Midwest Dairy.

Learn more about Princess Kay of the Milky Way on her Facebook page too!

Royalty Visits Bremer Farms and Aprons Optional

Daughter Sara's TV show, Aprons Optional had a special guest at last weeks filming. Princess Kay of the Milky Way (Minnesota's official goodwill ambassador for the dairy community), Emily Annexstad stopped by to share her recipe for Creamy Cheesecake. 

The show will air on Hastings Community TV as well as Youtube for June Dairy Month, but I couldn't wait until June to let you try this yummy cheesecake recipe.

Creamy Cheesecake

Crumb Crust:

• 11 whole graham crackers (22 squares)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Filling:

• 5 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:

• 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1/2 cup raspberries

Directions:

1. Crush the cracker crumbs. Add butter and sugar and mix. Press onto the base of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill. Beat cream cheese on medium-high for 2 minutes. Blend in sugar. 

2. Add the flour and beat until combined. ON low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, just until blended, scraping the sides of bowl often. Add the sour cream, lemon peel, and vailla and beat just until blended. Pour over crust in pan.

3. Bake at 325F for 1 1/4 hours. Turn the oven off and place a wooden spoon in oven door to keep it open. Let cheesecake sit one hour. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a knife around sides. Cover; chill for 6 hours or overnight.

4. Remove the pan sides. Slide the cheesecake onto a serving plate. For the topping, overlap the strawberries in circles on the cheesecake. Fill the center with raspberries.

Secrets of success:

• Let the cream cheese soften on the counter for 2 hours or unwrap and microwave each package 15 seconds.
• Don't over bake. The cheesecake will firm as it cools.
• A sudden change in temperature can cause a cheesecake to crack. Let it sit in a turned-off oven to cool gradually.
• Cheesecakes are ideal make-ahead desserts. Wrap the undecorated cake in foil and refrigerate for up to 4 days, or double wrap in plastic and foil and freeze for up to 2 months.

Source: Great American Home Cooking Made Easy

Sara and Emily tried out some other dairy good recipes too. You can find them at Midwest Dairy

Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year from the Bremer's.

(Our son Michael is the author of this year's holiday letter.)

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a…. WAIT A MINUTE. Did you seriously think I was going to start the Bremer Family Christmas Letter with this lame starting line?!  And before I go any further, Christmas is over, so technically this is our “Bremer Family New Year’s Letter.” With that being said, let us now go through the Bremer dynasty and see what kind of incredible accomplishments we have achieved in 2017.

Janet at the MN State Fair chaperoning the dairy princesses.

Janet has all the free time in the world these days now that she is retired from her Title 1 position at Pinecrest… Oh wait! She’s now somehow MORE busy after retirement! Janet has kept herself more than busy in 2017.  Starting with her successful blog, My Barnyard View. If you’ve been living in a cave and are not familiar with it, it features her thoughts and stories about life on, and off the farm. Check it out at mybarnyardview.blogspot.com. She has also occupied much of her time with her position as the Minnesota Dairy Princess Coordinator through Midwest Dairy. Janet is like the mother hen (Oops, wrong animal industry!) for all of the Dairy Princess finalists at the State Fair. She also works hand in hand with the Dairy Princess all year long. That’s not the only feat Janet has accomplished... Speaking of feet, on day 1 of the State Fair Janet broke her foot! Luckily, Sara came to the rescue to help oversee the Dairy Princesses the first few days at the fair. In other news, it has felt like Janet has been on the TV show “This Old House” this past year as she has been fully engrossed in preparing Grandma and Grandpa Brown’s houses for sale. We popped the champagne in 2017 as the childhood house she grew up in was successfully sold!

TLC from Farmer John.

John, the don, considers 2017 a success. When I asked him what he wanted in the letter about him, he shrugged and smiled. John is a man of few words, so I consider that a success! John was delighted by some dandy purchases on the farm this year: a new drag, a sprayer, a silage bagger, AND a round baler! These pieces of machinery make life on the farm smoother, and a heck of a lot more fun! There has also been some primping to our parlor recently, as we updated the milking parlor’s ceiling, and lights. Now we can see better while we milk cows, and more effectively put on tours (like the tour we did last summer to a group of over 100 German students!). Serving as Trustee on the St. John’s Church Council, and being the Chairman of the Nininger Planning Commission keeps dad more than busy!

Sara hosts "Aprons Optional."

As most people were counting down the 12 days of Christmas, Sara has been counting her 12 YEARS of teaching at the Hastings Middle School! Nouns, verbs, adjectives… Sara teaches it all (and is a pro at Mad Libs because of it!). Always pushing the envelope, Sara is now in charge of the Fuel Up To Play 60 club after school. This program educates students on the importance of fueling up with dairy, and getting 60 minutes of physical activity each and every day. It’s never a problem for Sara getting 60 minutes of go-time a day, as she milks cows every evening. She also has been walking countless miles this winter setting up her enormous Christmas light display! Sara’s light display was so good this year, she was able to convince Santa and Mrs. Claus to come out for a fundraiser that collected food for Hastings Family Service and monetary donations for The Great American Milk Drive. We were thrilled to have over 400 people attend our Santa on the Farm event this year! If Sara’s plate wasn’t full enough, she has also literally had her plate full with her cooking TV show, “Aprons Optional.” Check out all her delicious episodes by searching for it on YouTube and Facebook!

Michael is a national winner!

And then there’s me, “Take a Hike, Mike!” also known as Michael. My TV show has had a gangbuster year! My show was nominated again this year for a NATOA award in the humor category. This pitted me against other TV stations across the country. I was able to impress the judges enough to bring home the bacon as I came in FIRST place in the country! I got to spend a week in Seattle for a video conference and the awards ceremony. You can search for my show on Facebook and YouTube! Along with my TV show, I have been engrossed with many other things at Hastings Community TV. I have been directing weekly live sporting events, and filming countless other shows. I also get to play teacher as I am the Technical Advisor for the Broadcast Journalism Class (The Ekko) at  the Hastings High School. Though I love my full time job at HCTV, I refuse to miss out on the fun at home on the farm. Milking cows, cleaning the cowyard with the Bobcat, and working in the field are all part of my repertoire. The sky was the limit for me this year as I jumped out of a plane 13,000 feet in the air and underwent a 60 second freefall! That’s right, I was nutty enough to go skydiving!

Cheering the Minnesota Vikings on to victory. 

Other Bremer bulletin board worthy mentions include going to cheer on the Vikings at US Bank stadium as a family, and living out our rockstar dreams at the Guns N’ Roses concert! We also have been playing Extreme Makeover Home Edition as we have remodeled our kitchen, and downstairs bathroom. We’re excited for you to try them out! While you’re here, stay for a bonfire at our new fire pit while you observe the fact that we recently removed several of our massive trees!

Like every year, 2017 has had its ups and downs. But to quote the 90’s one hit wonder band, Chumbawumba in their song Tubthumping: “I get knocked down, I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down!” From our family to yours, Merry Christmas! ...Oops! I already forgot Christmas is over! Happy New Year!

-Michael & the Bremer Family

A Halloween Spooktacular

We love Halloween at our house. We decorate the inside of our house and the yard outside. Heck, we even decorate our food to get in the spirit of this spooky season. Daughter Sara went all out with these ghoulish recipes on her TV show Aprons Optional. You can watch her latest episode on YouTube, but first here's a sneak peek.

Whether you are entertaining friendly ghosts or goblins, or serving up a frightfully good meal to your family, I know you will enjoy these recipes.

These "Jack O'Lantern Stuffed Peppers" are filled with ground beef, brown rice, and PARMESAN CHEESE. I love the colored peppers!

"Tator Terrors" are a fun addition to a meal or as appetizers, and your young little prince or princess can help you decorate them! They are stuffed with MOZZARELLA CHEESE.

Don't be scared by these "Halloweeno Poppers" made with Jalapeno peppers, CREAM CHEESE, and PEPPER JACK CHEESE. These little mummies are delicious.

Show off your artistic flair with "Spider Web Dip". It's taco inspired flavor pairs perfectly with the cute black olive spiders. It can be eaten year 'round if you spread the SOUR CREAM and SHREDDED CHEESE rather than making the web design.

This one is my favorite! The "Pumpkin Cheese Ball" is dairy delicious with CREAM CHEESE, SOUR CREAM, and SHREDDED SWISS and CHEDDAR CHEESE. It will make another appearance after Halloween since I think it will look perfect on our Thanksgiving table too!

And now- on with the show!

Aprons Optional

You can find the recipes on Sara's  Aprons Optional Facebook page.

As you can see, we at Bremer Farms use a lot of dairy foods when we are cooking. Our refrigerator is always chock full of dairy because of its flavor and flexibility. 

What dairy foods are in your fridge right now?

Meet Sara...and Bella

School's out for summer! School's out forever! 

Just ask Alice Cooper...

It's not just the students (and Alice) that are excited for summer break. Our daughter Sara is ready for a little time off too. 

Sara taking a selfie as she is speaking at 8th grade graduation.

Sara is an 8th grade language arts teacher who loves teaching, but even a great teacher needs a break...but not for long, as in just one week, she will be back to teach summer school.

But Sara is more than a teacher-
Sara is a passionate, hard-working farmers daughter too.
Each night you will find her in the barn milking cows, along side Farmer John.

Here she is with Bella. Bella has an interesting history, as she was named by past Minnesota Viking player Toby Gerhardt when he visited our farm.

Sara also helps Grandma Karen with the calves, and names and pampers all our cats and kittens.

When she is not at school or in the barn, you may find her hosting her cooking show, "Aprons Optional" on our local television station. Here is a sample- her Mother's Day episode when I got to make a guest appearance.

Teacher, farmer, local TV celebrity- what more can she do? She can make decorations and adorn our farm for the holidays like you wouldn't believe! Take a look-

Farmer John and I are so proud of Sara and her commitment to school, community, and farming.

S Is For Sweets

S should really be for Sweets and Sara. Thanks to Sara for the inspiration for today's post.

Our daughter Sara made this Double Chocolate Cookie Tart on her TV show, Aprons Optional. She often makes recipes using dairy on her show. Yep, we brought her up right, and yes, it is as delicious as it looks! 

You can see the entire Aprons Optional episode right here.

 

Double Chocolate Cookie Tart

(recipe found at Yummly.com)

Chocolate-Chip Crust

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 11-inch tart pan with nonstick spray.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
3. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and mix to combine. Add the chocolate chips and mix just until evenly incorporated.
4. Press the dough into the prepared tart pan, creating an even layer in the base and up the side. Use a paring knife to remove excess dough from the edge.
5. Bake the crust until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely before filling and serving.
Note: To bake this crust in a 9-inch tart pan, remove 1 cup of the finished dough from the mixture before pressing the remainder into the tart pan. To make use of that extra dough, divide it into 6 pieces and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes.

Tart Filling

Ingredients

Tart

1 recipe Chocolate Chip Crust

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place the prepared chocolate-chip cookie tart crust on a flat baking sheet.
2. Make the ganache: Place the chocolate in a medium heat-safe bowl. In a small pot, bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 15 to 30 seconds undisturbed.
3. Stir the ganache gently to combine until it’s totally smooth. If there are still pieces of chocolate, microwave the mixture in 10-second bursts until smooth.
4. Pour the warm ganache into the crust and use a spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill until set, 20 to 30 minutes.
5. When the ganache is set, prepare the whipped cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla extract to medium peaks.
6. Spread the finished cream on top of the tart. Serve immediately.

You can follow Sara and Aprons Optional on Instagram @apronsoptional14 

 Visit Midwest Dairy. Click here.

Aprons Optional- Starts With Bread

I don't know why it's taken me so long to share this with you... 

 Our daughter Sara has a cooking show on our local TV station. It's called Aprons Optional, and it's filmed right here in our kitchen on our farm.

 Like Sara always says, "Remember, the apron is optional, but the flavor isn't."

 This is last months episode where she makes 
3B Mac and Cheese 
and also 
Bread Pudding.

 I hope you enjoy watching. I know you will enjoy eating if you try the recipes!
 

Sara from Aprons Optional

We are proud to say we produce the healthy dairy foods that go into these recipes.

D Is For Delicious

I'm taking you on a journey from A to Z throughout June Dairy Month.

So come on in...the barn doors are open!

  D Is For Delicious
Once a month our kitchen becomes a TV studio as Daughter Sara films the next installment of her cooking show Aprons Optional for our local television station. Each episode features three recipes, most of which have dairy ingredients (way to go farmer's daughter)! Sara concludes each episode with these words- "The apron is optional, but the flavor isn't." So true Sara, so true!

Sara and I hope you enjoy this recipe from her June Dairy Month episode...
 Very Dairy Chocolate Cake 

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2- 8" round pans with vegetable spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and butter together in microwave. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into electric mixer bowl. Add sugar and beat until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add remaining flour and water; mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 40-45 minutes or until cake tests done. Place pans on cooling rack. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup chocolate chips over cake; let stand 2-3 minutes or until chips have softened. Gently spread melted chocolate over top of cake. Cool completely in pans.

Frosting
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon strawberry extract
red food coloring
1 cup chocolate chips, chopped in food processor
Instructions
In mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, cream, and extract. Beat on low until incorporated. Then beat on medium until light and fluffy. Add coloring and mix until desired color is achieved. Add chocolate chip bits, and stir to combine. Frost cake.

You may also want to read my previous years posts for June Dairy Month...

D Is For Dairy Makes Sense 

and

D Is For Doo-Doo 

Sum-It-Up Saturday

"That about sums it up." 

Have you heard this phrase, or is it a Minnesota thing? 

"Crazy busy!" That sums up our week.

We finished combining corn this week. You can  learn about the process here. It is a huge job to cross off our to-do list. Now Farmer John is baling corn stalks to use for bedding.  Learn about stalk bales here.

Daughter Sara's community TV show premiered this week too. Aprons Optional is all about preparing 3 recipes; one easy, one medium difficulty, and one more time consuming. By the look on Sara's face, this is not the easy one!

Speaking of TV, my other local television star, son Michael (aka. Take A Hike, Mike!) and I handed out candy to over 550 kiddos at a local Halloween Community Event. So fun, and lots of Frozen costumes! You can see Michael's show Take A Hike, Mike visits Bremer Farms  here.

Our week began with my mom having colon cancer surgery. Through God's guiding hand, mom's surgery went well. Thank you Lord for giving me a mom who is stubborn, and always willing to fight whatever battle is set before her. Love you, Mom!

Our week ended with an addition to our family. A big welcome to the family to Porter, my mom's first Great-Grandchild, and my first Great-Nephew, and Mommy and Daddy (Dena and Aaren's) first child. I'm hoping to hold him, and spoil him real soon!

Lastly, congratulations to Cindy Q. You are the winner of my latest giveaway, and this addition to your herd, cow bank, will be in the mail next week.

So that about sums it up. See you soon!

Follow-Up Friday 2

This week on Bremer Farms...

 

This week our kitchen turned into a television studio as Sara and Mike filmed the first three episodes of daughter Sara's new show for Hastings Community TV, Aprons Optional. We have been enjoying many yummy samples! Apron's Optional premieres in early October.

The hollyhocks are in full bloom near our calf barn. 

Grandpa Roy says they are his favorite flower and they remind him of the farm he grew up on.

Sara is gearing up for her biggest Holiday Outdoor display in the history of Bremer Farms. I'm thinking UPS and Fed-Ex is looking to the amount of packages Sara is receiving as their job security.
Santa's reindeer stable arrived this week.

We pride ourselves on keeping our farm neat and organized. This week our  metal recycler paid us a visit. We have been working on many projects; replacing our feeding system (blogging about that next week) re-purposing a shed (blogging about that when it's complete) and replacing gates and water tanks. We are all about recycling, not only because we like our farm neat, but we care about the environment. Reduce, reuse, recycle... priorities every day here.

It's sweet corn season on the farm, and although we do not grow sweet corn, we get a lot from a very generous neighbor. 15 quarts are already in the freezer with more to come. I shared my recipe on my blog post 

Santa Lives In Our Neighborhood

We made our first visit to the Minnesota State Fair on Wednesday night.

We were greeted by Fairchild, our state fair mascot, as John, Sara, and I attended the coronation of the 61st Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Our neighbor Gabriella Sorg was one of the 12 finalists. You can learn more about her, and the princess program by clicking on her name.

Gabriella (in the pink) was selected as Miss Congeniality. That was no surprise to us, as she is one of the friendliest and sweetest girls you will ever meet! One of these 12 "milkmaids" will be crowned Princess Kay and will represent Minnesota Farmers and the dairy industry for the next year. 

And the winner is...

Jeni Haler

Congratulations Jen!

The Princess Kay program is sponsored by Midwest Dairy