November Meat CSA

The Winter CSA is finally here and we have distributed our first month's worth of shares to all our new and returning members! This month is an exciting one, because everyone got a little taste of all the different types of meat products that we have. This includes our lamb, goat, beef and rose veal.

Half Share:
1# of ground beef
1# of goat or lamb loin medallions
1.5# of rose veal scallops
1.5# of lamb or goat shanks

Whole Share:
1# of ground beef
1# of goat or lamb loin medallions
1.5# of rose veal scallops
1.5# of lamb or goat shanks
1# of beef cube steak
2# of goat spareribs
.5# of rose veal porterhouse steak
1.5# of lamb top round roast

Besides a great assortment of grass-fed meat, our members received an exclusive member newsletter full of recipes, wine pairings, farm happenings and more!

They also receive a Member Discount Card good for any farmers market purchases made during the duration of their membership. This card saves them 10% off all their purchases, including their Thanksgiving Turkey!

And if you are looking for a delicious and easy way to prepare your pasture-raised turkey this year, check out my favorite recipe on Bon Appetit. It is for a Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs and a Shallot-Dijon Gravy. Yum!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Trials and Tribulations of Turkeys

There is still time to order your Thanksgiving Turkey. However, due to the extremely cold weather that we had in October our turkeys have not gained the weight that we were hoping that they would. They are still plump and delicious, just a pound or two lighter than we would have liked. It looks like 16 lbs is going to be our maximum weight this holiday season. However, we still have plenty of birds in the 9-12 lb range. This size is great for dinner parties of 6-8 guests. If you would like a larger bird in the 13-16 lb range then we ask that you reserve your bird for pick up at the Logan Square Market (frozen) on Sunday November 22nd or for Home Delivery (fresh w/ $10 delivery fee). All turkeys are $5.25/lb and raised on organic pastures supplemented with non-gmo feed. If you have any questions, please call us at 815.256.2202.

Indoor Farmers Market Schedule

This is it. Fall is upon us and we are at the end of the outdoor Farmers Market season. Never fear, there are more Indoor Farmers Market opportunities then ever before. What is even more exciting is that Mint Creek Farm is going to be participating in these markets, so you can have your grass-fed lamb, goat, beef and rose veal all year long!!!!! Eating local has never been easier.

Sundays: Logan Square/Wicker Park
At the Congress Theater 2135 N Milwaukee Avenue
November 1st, 8th, 15th and the 22nd
December 6th, 13th and the 20th
January 10th, 17th, 24th and the 31st
February 7th, 14th, 21st and the 28th
March 7th, 14th, 21st and the 28th

Wednesdays: Green City
At the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center 2430 N Cannon Drive
November 11th, 18th and the 25th

Saturdays: 61st Street
At the Experimental Station 6100 S Blackstone Avenue
November 7th, 14th and the 21st
December 5th, 12th and the 19th

Saturdays: Green City
At the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center 2430 N Cannon Drive
November 7th, 14th and the 21st
December 5th, 12th and the 19th
January 16th
February 13th and the 27th
March 13th and the 27th
April 10th and the 24th

We look forward to seeing you at market this winter!

Updated Turkey Info

Online turkey reservations are NOW available! Click here to reserve your holiday turkey today.

We just updated our info on the original turkey blog posting. We now have all of the winter market locations for each of the Indoor Farmers Markets. Please check to make sure you know where and when to pick up your turkey! You can continue to order your turkeys at the farmers market, by giving us a call at 815.256.2202 or now online.

What's on Sale This Week at Market (10-24 and 10-25)

Sale Items: All items 15% Off
Rack of Lamb
Loin Medallions
Bone-in Lamb Loin Roast
Boneless Lamb Loin Roast

This is the last official outdoor farmers market weekend and we wanted to offer up a little something special, rack of lamb and loin roasts. So pour yourself a glass of wine and prepare to wow yourself with one of these simple and spectacular recipes.

Roasted Lamb Loin with Cabernet Sauce
Lamb Loin with Pomegranate Orange Compote
Medallions of Lamb with Leeks and Tarragon Sauce
Pistachio-crusted Rack of Lamb

Bon Appetit!

Winter CSA Pick Up Schedule

It's official, the Logan Square farmers market is moving indoors to the Congress Theater. Now we can move full steam ahead with our Winter CSA program. Besides having a complete pick up schedule with locations and dates, we can now extend our program to the Logan Square community for all 6 months! Originally we were only able to offer the first 3 months to the Logan Square community, now we can offer all 6 months to you because your indoor market is going to occur from November through March instead of just November and December!

Please note that plans have not changed for the Green City community. You will continue to have all 6 months delivered to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center.

Pick up Location: Logan Square/Wicker Park
Congress Theater 2135 N. Milwaukee Avenue 773.276.1235
Sunday November 8th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday December 13th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday January 17th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday February 14th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday March 14th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday April 11th* 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (only 2 hours)
*Pick up location for April will either take place outside the Congress Theater or at the location of the Logan Square outdoor farmers market (corner or Logan Blvd. and Milwaukee Ave.)

Pick up Location: Green City
Peggy Notebaert Nature Center 2430 N. Cannon Drive 773.755.5100
Saturday November 14th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Saturday December 12th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Saturday January 16th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Saturday February 13th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Saturday March 13th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Saturday April 10th 8:00 am to 1:00 pm

Turkey Time

That's right, time to think about the holidays. If you are the lucky one that gets to serve all your family members a giant roasted turkey, then search no more for that special bird! We have White Broad-breasted Turkeys that will be ready in time for your meal. Our birds are raised on 100% organically grown pastures and supplemented with a complete organic/non-gmo poultry feed. When they are ready to be harvested they will be averaging 12-15 pounds, the perfect size for your recipe. All birds are $5.25/lb and can be reserved at the farmers market.

This year we are offering 2 different types of turkeys: flash-frozen and fresh! We will be dropping off all frozen birds at our winter markets and all fresh birds will be delivered to your home the week of Thanksgiving.

Dates and Locations for FROZEN turkey pick up:
Logan Square- Sunday Nov. 22nd at Logan Square
Wicker Park- Sunday Nov. 22nd at Logan Square
(The Logan Square Indoor Market is located at the Congress Theater)
Green City- Wednesday Nov. 18th and Saturday Nov. 21st at Green City
(The Green City Indoor Market is located at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center)
61st Street- Saturday Nov. 21st at 61st Street
(The 61st Street Indoor Market is located at the Experimental Station)

Dates for FRESH turkey home delivery: (A $10 fee applies to all home deliveries)
Sunday Nov. 22nd, Monday Nov. 23rd or Tuesday Nov. 24th

If you have any questions please email us at hcarr@mintcreekfarm.com or call us at 815.256.2202