A few years ago, a friend gifted me two sheet pans — one with ‘cake pan sides’ and one with ‘bar’ sides. Both came with lids. I never in my life thought I would use these to the extent that I do, and now I cannot imagine my life without them. In the years since I have purchased four more and can honestly say they are well worth the investment. A ‘normal’ farm lunch this summer consists of at the very least 10 hungry people, though most days we have a few extras and are known to count 14 for lunch. Needless to say, a standard 9-by-13 pan doesn’t cover the mouths I need to feed.
People always say that teenage boys eat a lot. This summer I have learned that lesson quite well. Ira eats the equivalent of three people most days and following close behind is his friend Nicklaus who also works for us. Dane is a two-helping kind of kid, and if Henry likes it, he can eat as much as Ira. Then you have Hunter — I haven’t found anything he doesn’t like. Peter, Marion, Cora, Dad and I eat the least on most days. I guess we are not growing quite as much as those boys are.
I would say cooking for the farm crew is a full-time job, but as any farm mom knows, cooking is relegated to a part-time job, squeezed in with making sure all the cows are healthy, giving vaccinations, drying off cows, and moving cows. The list goes on and on. I am a huge fan of the programmable oven feature. It allows me to put my lunch together the afternoon before and throw it in the oven the following morning. A few button pushes, the proper number of beeps, and ta-dah, lunch will be hot and ready when we all meet at the house around 1 p.m. The guys know that the first one to the house is in charge of counting heads and setting the table. Peter and I have made it a priority this summer to eat together around the table. The kids always have hilarious tales to tell, and going around the ancient farmhouse table and sharing “thankfuls” for the day is something even guests must take part in. It is an important thing that we stop working for a meal together. That hour or so of time refuels everyone.
I thoroughly enjoy feeding a house full of hungry humans. I admit, it is a challenge sometimes to come up with a meal idea, but I have a treasure trove of old cookbooks and delight in finding a gem within the pages. I even have started using the ‘giant’ pans for dessert making. This buys me an extra day that a dessert isn’t needed — most of the time. Ira and Nic usually sneak back in the house around 4 p.m. for a sweet snack, and a pan empties faster than I anticipated.
One of our favorite sheet pan meals is affectionately known as “Grandpa Ike’s Meal.” Grandpa Ike would request this almost every Sunday for months on end. I would put it together and program his oven to bake it for him for lunch after we had our breakfast date together. It is simple to build, and so lovely and tender when baked slowly. The smell is wafting out the farmhouse windows by the time we hit the porch door. The dessert that has us sneaking the crumbs from the corners comes from dear Arlene Obert years ago. My personal “Betty Crocker” of cooking help when I am in a pickle. Mind you, these amounts are specific to a giant pan — so if you are feeding small appetites, make sure to halve the amounts.
Grandpa Ike’s Meal
8 bone-in pork chops, thawed
3-4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
4-6 baking apples, washed and cut into quarters
1 red onion, sliced into thin rings
1 cup brown sugar
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease your sheet pan. Arrange pork chops. Distribute sweet potatoes and apples over the chops. Place the onion slices over the top. Crumble brown sugar over the entire pan (I dump it into my hand for ease). Sprinkle salt and pepper over all. Drizzle the whole works with a couple of passes of olive oil. Cover tightly with aluminum foil (they do make foil wide enough for big pans). Place in the oven. Bake for at least 2 hours, but it is quite forgiving if chores run long, and it cooks longer. It takes two of these to feed a hungry houseful.
Cherry Chocolate Cake
2 boxes fudge or devil’s food cake mixes
2 cans of cherry pie filling
4 beaten eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
Mix by hand until well blended, but still lumpy. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until a center-toothpick test indicates it is done.
Frosting
2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup milk
Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in two cups of chocolate chips quickly. Pour over cooled cake and add some sprinkles if you are feeling fancy. This is ridiculously easy and so divine. Peter and I have zero self-control when it comes to this cake.
Jacqui Davison and her family milk 800 cows and farm 1,200 acres in northeastern Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira, Dane, Henry and Cora, help on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos, and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.
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