Be Brunch Ready!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you see lots of photos of the farm and of the food I cook. There’s a reason I spend so much time cooking up our products and showing them off, and it’s not because I want to brag to all of you about how great of a cook I am (and although I can roast a pretty mean chicken, I know a lot of great home cooks!)
I share those pictures because I have a goal for our business that I’ve never told you about. It’s pretty simple, but also feels really personal. My goal is that my posts inspire you to cook and eat one meal a week at your home with your friends or family, and that your meal includes something from our farm.
Obviously, I think the food we produce is pretty great. I think all of our pasture-raised products are the magic ingredient to knock your cooking out of the park. But – I also have a job, evening and weekend commitments, and two small-ish kids. In other words, I KNOW how much work it takes to sit down and eat together. I know that as my kids get older it will become more difficult! And I know that many of you have far less flexibility in your schedules than I do.
But I also know the reward of sitting with my family and eating a meal togetherl. Food is a powerful way to connect and form memories. I know you remember your favorite childhood meal, and I would also bet that you distinctly remember your LEAST favorite childhood meal (mine was beef stroganoff made with golden mushroom soup and any time we had boiled brussel sprouts [sorry, Mom]). I’m also certain that right now, if you closed your eyes and imagined Thanksgiving dinner, you could practically taste the dishes that HAD to be cooked every year and that you could smell your grandmother’s famous dressing.
You probably have memories with your family laughing over meals, arguing over meals, and rushing through meals. Do you remember first time you cooked a meal for someone special? Todd often reminds me about the very first dinner I ever cooked for him! You might remember little things like someone losing a tooth at meal time, or maybe someone losing their temper at meal time. That’s because when we are present at the family and friend table, all emotions happen and they’re all allowed! We strengthen our relationships over shared food and shared feelings – even the uncomfortable ones.
Let me be the one to tell you right now that if you made a meal and sat down with your family, but you were moody because humans get that way sometimes, and everyone fought and no one liked what you cooked and maybe your youngest kid gagged up green beans at the table – THAT MEAL WAS A SUCCESS. I’m not joking. You cooked and you brought people together. You were present. That is a success.
We’ve all read studies and articles on the internet about the importance of family meal time, and I’m writing this today with a fun solution for all of you, because I know how much work it takes to get a meal on the table during the week. But what about brunch? Brunch is obviously the most fun meal you can have, and really there’s no set timeline on getting it done. Want to eat together at 2PM on Sunday? Cook brunch. You can only all sit down together on a Saturday morning? Eat brunch!
I’m sharing a simple recipe below (sausage gravy!) that is always a hit at our house. I never tried making it before we raised our own pasture-raised pork, and didn’t realize how easy it was to whip up in just a few minutes. If you’re adventurous and have some time, you can make your biscuits from scratch (or just make canned biscuits! Save some time and enjoy your meal!). They don’t have to be perfect – you’ll notice my flat biscuits in the photo below. I forgot the salt! But, everyone still ate them. You’ll also see what I call a “normal serving” (my plate) and the “hungry farmer serving” (Todd’s plate).
Pair your biscuits and gravy with fresh fruit and some local coffee, and you have a great little brunch to enjoy at home with your chosen people. I’m sharing some links below for biscuit recipes and a great local coffee roaster in Waco that offers a subscription service so that your daily caffeine requirement is always met.
Tell me all about your favorite meals or what you like to eat for brunch!
Easy Sausage Gravy
3-4 normal servings
2-3 “hungry farmer” servings
½ lb pasture-raised pan sausage (go ahead and cook the whole pound and reserve the part you don’t use for another meal)
1 ½ c. milk
2 TBS flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook the pan sausage in a skillet. Keep a half pound of the sausage in the skillet, and reserve the other half for another time (you can try one of my recipes HERE). Drain most of the fat from the skillet. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage crumbles and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. Finally, pour in the milk and whisk the mixture over medium heat until it has thickened into gravy. Turn off heat, taste, and adjust to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over biscuits and enjoy!
Links to biscuits and coffee:
