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What happened to Spring? Summer's here already! |
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Dear %%First Name%%,
There seems to be so much going on at the moment. As I write this we have a change in federal opposition leader, the talk on everyone's lips is the ETS (except in the butcher shop where it’s all about the hams), Christmas is around the corner, kids are talking holidays and Summer is officially here. It’s all left me wondering, where did Spring go? It was Winter then it was Summer; there was only about two weeks of Spring. This hot dry weather we have been having has wreaked havoc west of the ranges. It’s very, very dry. The benefits of the good rain I last wrote about have all but gone, as the farm has not been having the rain we have had in Sydney. Travelling from Tamworth this week, I can say the country was the worst I have seen for a long time. It will be an incredibly tough summer for farmers if good falls of rain don’t arrive soon. Follow up rain is essential this time of year to get a good body of grass before summer.
I’m pleased to say that orders are rolling in for Christmas, with many of you already making plans for your festive get togethers. As we’ll be taking time off from Christmas through until the New Year, we will only have limited stock available in the last week before Christmas. I encourage you to place an order for those items that you need for the festive season and we’ll make sure that we have them ready for you collect (or we can home deliver). We will definitely sell out of our free range hams again this year so place your order soon to avoid disappointment.
We are very much looking forward to spending Christmas at the farm. With the house full of both mine and Alison’s family it is a time of year that we all look forward to. Short showers and large meals is the name of the game, and sleeping after each meal is absolutely allowed. I can’t wait!
We're also planning to take a longer than normal break this year as Alison and I prepare for the arrival of our first child in February. More details on when we'll be back on board are included below.
From all of us at The Free Range Butcher we wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. Thank you again for your support this year and keep safe for the holidays.
See you next year,
Ben Clinch
Farmer/Director
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In this issue - Dec '09
:: What happened to Spring?
:: Orders for Christmas ham
:: Become a fan on Facebook
:: Cooking demo this Sunday
:: Festive season trading dates
:: Iron content of lamb and beef
:: Recipe of the month
(Glazed ham for Christmas) | |
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Orders filling fast for Christmas ham
If you haven’t already placed an order for your Christmas ham, we’d encourage you to do so as soon as possible.
Our free range hams are $17.99/kilo and are available as whole and half legs. You can place your order now and nominate either pick up or delivery for a number of dates between now and 22 December.
Click here to order your ham online now.
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Become a Facebook fan
We’ve recently set up a fan page on Facebook and would love you to join us! We’ll be posting photos, updates and general news on a regular basis if you’d like to keep up with what we’re doing.
To become a fan on Facebook, click here. | |
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Trading details for Christmas and the New Year
As many of you start planning your Christmas menus and preparing to do your food shopping, we wanted to let you know that we will be doing two extra home deliveries at the beginning of the Christmas week:
- Monday, 21 December for northern beaches
- Tuesday, 22 December for north shore, north west suburbs, city, eastern suburbs and inner west
If you are ready to place your order now, just include a note in the Comments section of your order whether you'd like your order delivered on Monday, 21 December or Tuesday, 22 December (the system will automatically specify the delivery date for the week that you place your order, so please ignore that).
As mentioned above, we'll be taking a break between 23 December and 25 January to prepare for our new arrival. We will resume Internet orders and home deliveries on Wednesday 27 January and start at the markets again on the following dates:
- Hornsby - 28 January
- Leichhardt - 30 January
- Frenchs Forest - 31 January
- North Sydney - 20 February
- Rouse Hill - 27 February
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Iron content of beef and lamb
At the markets recently we were asked by one of our customers whether beef or lam b had more iron. We knew they were very similar but weren’t absolutely sure which had more, so we went and found out:
Based on a 100g serving, lean beef has 1.9mg of iron, and lamb has slightly more at 2.2mg. For the full nutrient composition details of beef and lamb, click here. | |
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RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Glazed Christmas Ham
With the Christmas season upon us, we thought it timely to include a recipe idea for a glazed ham. Of course, you don’t need to glaze your ham, they’re beautiful served as they are, but if you’re after something a little different, this recipe will fit the bill. Cheers, Alison.
A whole leg of ham will serve 20+.
- Preheat oven to 160°C.
- Combine grated orange zest, orange juice, mustard, sugar and cinnamon.
- Remove skin from ham and score fat in a diamond shape.
- Press a clove into the centre of each diamond shape.
- Spread glaze over ham.
- Bake for up to 2 hours, basting the ham every 20 minutes.
For a guide on how to carve your ham, click here or download a copy of our PDF instruction sheet. |
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Ingredients
- 1 cooked leg of ham
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 2 tablespoons Dijon or grain mustard
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons dried cloves
Note: Keep an eye on the oven temperature as the glaze can burn quickly if the oven is too hot. | |
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our own product range and are very pleased to have their creator, Natalie Cavalli, joining us at 