Recipe Roundup

These recipes come from Black Leg Ranch in rural McKenzie, where six generations of the Doan family have built their lives in the cattle business. The ranch predates North Dakota statehood, having been homesteaded in 1882 by George Doan, and was the first to bring Black Angus cattle to the region. Today, the Doans raise Black Angus and bison, operate a 13,000-square-foot event space called the Copper Jewell Barn and even opened a microbrewery in 2018, which brews a line of craft beer using the ranch’s well water.

When my son was 4 years old and we were sharing a snack at the kitchen table, he looked up at me with his curious green eyes and asked, “What’s the name of this, Mommy?” to which I replied, “Almond Joy.” A big grin spread across his face as he exclaimed, “You eat the almond, I’ll eat the JOY!”

Carol Fey, a lover of cooking quick, simple meals, was raised in the small township of Coldwater, just 21 miles east of Ashley, on a grain and cattle farm.

Family life on the farm was quite typical for Carol: Being born into a farm family, you’re an automatic farmhand. Picking rocks, hauling hay and checking the cattle were regular chores. She recalls working in the field with her oldest sister for a time, before having to call it quits.

Thank you for faithfully sending the magazine from the local electric cooperatives. I especially appreciate the section on recipes.

That note was written by my grandma, Vivian Holten, in her recent Christmas card to me.

Bernice Duletski, a Capital Electric Cooperative member, was raised on a farm in rural Belfield, where the love to cook, gather and eat ran deep.

In the farm kitchen with her mom and grandma is where Bernice and her sister, Lydia, learned the skills and patience required to master the family recipes. Those same family recipes were compiled into a family cookbook, “Cooking with the Duletski Daughters,” which is still heavily used and cherished.

Stacy Nelson-Heising was a professional chef before operating her own orchard, cidery and restaurant on her family’s fourth-generation farm near Ayr, about 20 miles northeast of Tower City. These apple-forward recipes are perfect for fall, and trust us, Stacy’s apple cranberry crisp belongs on your Thanksgiving table!

Read the story here!

A garden in Verendrye Electric Cooperative’s service territory perfectly portrays the parable about the mustard seed: Sow a single seed and it can grow into a bountiful harvest.

A single idea planted into a single garden eventually grew into The Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry Garden, providing thousands of pounds of fresh produce to those in need in Ward County.

“How long can you keep dried herbs in your cupboard?” the workshop participant asked.

I anticipated where this was going. I replied with a question.

“How long have your dried herbs been in your cupboard?” I asked.

“I got them for my wedding,” she replied.

After a dramatic pause, she added, “Forty years ago.”

Everyone laughed.

I’m quite sure her dried herbs added little flavor to foods at this point, although they are likely “safe.”

Local farmers Jonathon and Hannah Moser, owners of Forager Farm near Mandan, are foraging more than food to feed their family and community. They’re foraging the life their dreams have sowed.

Those first dreams sprouted after the Mosers’ experience working on an organic vegetable farm in Victoria, Australia.