The Farm Report

Tarragon Chicken Salad with Walnuts

The Farmer — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:09:06 +0000

I love a good Chicken Salad. My mom made it often when growing up and always served it on soft dark rye. So of course, I follow her lead. Our Chicken Salad is seasoned with fresh Tarragon, walnuts, green apples for some sweetness, and topped with red onions and fresh Arugula. Yummy. We serve it on a picnic plate lined with a pretty fabric napkins and served with Rainbow Dark Chips and house-made French onion chip dip and sweet red grapes. It makes a great lunch. We are now open for lunch Tuesday-Saturday 1130am-10pm, we do not close between lunch and dinner. Come and see us.

Farm fresh flowers

The Farmer — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:02:08 +0000

Flowers are blooming! First Tulips, then Daffodils, Lilacs, and in early June will come my favorite, Peonies.
Flowers are for sale in front of farms all along the countryside of Michigan. We have these beautiful flowers from Michigan here at Grange Hall. We will have them all Spring, Summer and Fall…each month featuring the flower in season. They are available in $2 bundles. Pick up a bunch on your next visit in.

Parsley buttered thick-cut grilled cheese & tomato soup

The Farmer — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:05:15 +0000

Chef Gary created this for our $10 DAILY FARM DINNER. It is a great example of some of the daily farm dinners we will feature.
They will be slanted towards the food that comes to mind when thinking of being raised in the rural mid-west. We enjoy that type of nostalgia of our childhood, our mom's kitchens, and our family's dinner tables. Come see us for a no fuse welcoming family dinner.

Sauteed vegetable and wild rice burger

The Farmer — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:52:43 +0000

This is our vegetable burger at Grange Hall. We get mixed reviews about it and I can tell you why. Those who are used to "meat filler" type of burgers are expecting a meatier texture they might get from a burger with a bunch of fillers. I just plain old refuse to use those! What we do here is something fresh and wholesome. We first sautee eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions in olive oil to release the water. These are mixed with cooked fresh corn and very thin slices of broccoli for texture. Then we blind it together with mashed potatoes, eggs, wild rice and bread crumbs. This creates a more wholesome true vegetable burger. I LOVE OUR VEGETABLE BURGER because it is intended for vegetarians, who simply love vegetables. It may have a "softer texture" but it is good for you - good!

Finally, Open for Lunch!

The Farmer — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:42:49 +0000

We finally feel we've established a rhythm and can swing lunch into the mix. For all those who wanted to visit us on your work week lunch hour, come see us. Tuesday – Friday 1130 a.m. – 10 p.m. That's right, we are open all day. Come for a late lunch meeting.

Old-fashioned chocolate pudding pie.

The Farmer — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:06:55 +0000

Today's weather forecast called for 5-7 inches of snow; so I decided to make it a day I would practice my upcoming February pies. We will feature Old-fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie and Tart Cherry Pie. Today is made both of these pies. I mistakenly tried a new recipe for a Cherry Pie and . . . shouldn't have . . . because it just didn't hold together the way my mom's recipe does. The Old-fashioned pudding pie was delicious! Truly amazing and I am excited to head into Grange and teach Laura, our pie maker, how to whip this up. There are indeed a few tricks to getting the perfect crisp crust and velvety chocolate pudding. Come by this next week to check it out…I'll be testing out some of this pie (yes late January) so that we have it well-executed for your lovey dovey February dinner…

Antonio and big Andy loading up Faygo!

The Farmer — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:42:41 +0000

When creating Grange Hall I wanted to have a soda that reminded many of their childhood. For me, one stands out; Faygo. My Grandmother always had a bottom shelf of her refrigerator filled with various flavors of Faygo Pop. I remember as a child staying at their fishing cottage on Coldwater Lake in Southern Michigan and sneaking a new flavor whenever I could. I can still hear the creaking screen door that I entered and how it slammed shut right behind me. Now as a mother, I am sure this was a clear give away that someone had just been in the fridge. So the story goes that I searched and searched for a Faygo dIstributor in Chicago and, believe it or not, there is not one that exists in the true sense of the word. Finally I called the Faygo headquarters in Detroit, Michigan to learn that Chicago "is not their market." I then decided to ask them if I committed to an entire pallet of Faygo, would they ship it to Chicago and allow me to pick them up at a warehouse where they shipped other brands. They agreed and that's how we get it here. For those who do not know about Faygo, it is the Original Soda Pop first made in 1907. It came to be called POP, because of the noise it makes…Our old-fashioned Faygo is made with 100% Sugar, rather than corn syrup. We are committed to providing wholesome and unique brands that represent the Midwest and a time of "yester-years." Enjoy Rock n Rye, Vanilla Cream, Orange, Grape, Red Pop (strawberry), and Root Beer. That's how we became the only place in Chicago selling Faygo.

Grange Burgers lined up to go.

The Farmer — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:21:53 +0000

Grange Burgers lined up on a Saturday Night. If you come see us please note we do not melt our cheese. We strongly believe that cheeses has more flavor and texture served a la cold…

Candy cane ice cream..dreamy.

The Farmer — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:16:31 +0000

Here is a few scoops of our creamy and dreamy candy cane ice cream. We just simple made our vanilla base and then folded in pieces of broken bits of candy cane. I am having a hard time deciding if I like the candy cane or the peanut brittle ice cream better. They are both dynamite.

Cold meatloaf sandwich and fresh green bean casserole.

The Farmer — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:13:08 +0000

We started on our daily specials this week, finally. We made yummy COLD meatloaf sandwiches, served on our toasted buttery bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and ketchup, of course. I personally think they are meant to be served cold, as that is the way I eat them at home. That is, taking the pan of meatloaf out of the fridge the day after, cutting a thick slice and putting it on bread. I means come on.. Its a meatloaf SANDWICH.. Oh and I also made homemade green bean casserole. Not the frozen bean and canned kind – but instead we used fresh green beans, sauted buttery-garlicky mushrooms, cream sauce and our own French fried onion rings on top. Really yummy. This week will be super duper sloppy turkey Joes.. Come and get them..