It's a tradition around our house each year to make a special "holiday blend" of warm, comfortable spices. Each year it's a little different although the major elements remain pretty familiar. This year the focus is on cinnamon and ginger... It just doesn't get more "holiday" than that now does it? Rustic Tart Sweet spices are the soul of Holiday Blend 2015: Two kinds of cinnamon (Saigon and Ceylon) are highlighted against a festive background of gingery freshness. The sensual fragrance of nutmeg, cardamom, and clove rounds out the experience in a comforting way. Ingredient list for Holiday Blend 2015 in alphabetical order: Cardamom, Green Cinnamon, Ceylon  Cinnamon, Vietnamese Saigon Cloves Ginger Nutmeg Looks simple; tastes rich, spicy, and complex. We're using fresh, whole spices to make this, and all our blends, so you get the complexity. Whole green cardamon, whole sticks of cinnamon, whole cloves, whole nutmeg... You get t

Herbs, greens, and similar items are sometimes a challenge to keep fresh at home. Here's a technique that works with most and keeps food fresh in the refrigerator for many days and even weeks. Really: This works. Fresh (really fresh) herbs We're illustrating this technique using fresh herbs but keep in mind that the technique works just as well using greens, lettuce, celery, green onion, radish, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and just about any vegetable. Fear not, this is simple! Black and soggy Many people throw their vegetables in  a plastic bag or leave it in the plastic bag-thing that came from the store. Maybe washed, maybe not, it goes in the fridge wrapped in plastic.  This results in a very disgusting scenario very quickly... A biological experiment gone awry. Black soggy spots, gray spongy mold. We've all seen that (shudder). Well we haven't seen it here at our place in years, now. Why? Because we treat our vegetables like the living plant t

A quick peek at some of the freshness. We're headed to the Canyon Farmers Market tomorrow morning with this stuff and it won't last long. Herbs: They're magic! Do you make pizza or pasta at home? You won't believe what happens when you make it with Smiling Coyote Farm's just-picked fresh herbs. Try some oregano, marjoram, or basil. It's magic, that's what it is. Your friends and family won't believe how good this tastes. Magic: Really. Chilies: Jalapeno, Tabasco, Cayenne, and Poblano If you make salsa, pico de gallo, tacos, burritos, nachos or any other Mexican or Tex-Mex specialty, our selection of fresh chilies will make yours really stand out. Impressive. Really. Your salsa will be like no other. Bring on the magic! The "Americas" selection Add a little dash of our Sizzling Southwest spice blend to an omelette and see what happens. Hint: It's that "magic" stuff again wink emoticon And, rub a steak or a ch

More than "garnish" There's an easy, and often overlooked, way to add flavor, color, and nutrition to just about any meal without adding a lot of extra calories. Add fresh herbs, other green or colorful vegetables, and edible flowers to the meal plan. Doesn't take much to make a huge difference as you can see in the photo above. Color is everywhere In your garden, at the farmers market, or in the produce department of your local grocer, color is everywhere. Take advantage of that and shop for color. Color is nutrition as well as eye candy. The pigments that determine color contain powerful nutrients. The red/purple antioxidants called anthocyanins are one such example. They're found in red and blue grapes, blueberries, strawberries, beets, eggplant, red cabbage, red peppers, plums and red apples to name a few. Orange pigments, found in carrots, mangoes, cantaloupe, winter squash and sweet potatoes, contain the cancer-fighter alpha carotene, along w

Smiling Coyote Farm will be on the square in Canyon, TX this Saturday morning from 8:00 am to Noon enjoying a lovely late summer day, seeing our friends and neighbors and bringing you our natural garden produce, artisanal spice blends, and Coyote Tea. Look for this guy at the Canyon Farmers Market Garden is looking great so we'll have fresh herbs and vegetables. Tomatoes (Sweet 100 and Roma), young, tender yellow crookneck squash, and a selection of several pepper varieties are among the expected vegetable offerings and there could be more. Roma tomatoes Fresh herbs include basil, parsley (flat leaf), chives (two kinds), marjoram, sage, thyme, and oregano. Fresh herbs have a different flavor profile than dried and these guys are really cranking out some flavor right now. Great in marinades for meat and vegys, salads, and cooked with vegetables like summer squash. Try a sprig or two in your favorite dish and, if you make pizza at home, you really (really) need some f

Market Days! That's me (Mr. Coyote), the booth, and some folks having a great time in Canyon, TX Smiling Coyote Farm , along with Honey's Farm Fresh , is proud and excited to serve you at the Farmers Market Under the Stars this Tuesday evening from 7 pm - 9 pm as well as on Saturday from 8 am - Noon for the weekly morning Canyon Farmers Market . Honey's brings their (always) farm fresh chicken and duck eggs. And, speaking of duck eggs, if you haven't seen this, take a look at what we did with a couple of duck eggs and some fresh herbs in our " Herby Morning Potato Frittata ." Smiling Coyote uses no chemical pesticides at all. Ever. We've been growing naturally in this location since 1983. We started our first garden at the ripe old age of 11 and sold our first lot of organic produce to a distributor in Ft. Worth, TX in 1973. We've been at it ever since and you can taste the difference. Cayenne peppers We have fresh and fla

Fresh herbs on a fresh morning after a fresh summer shower. Relaxing late breakfast--almost brunch--on the weekend. Easy to do; soul satisfying. Easy, in our case, to be casual about using fresh herbs, you might think. We grow, harvest, and sell fresh herbs as well as dried herb and spice blends so familiarity brings with it an easy going attitude. That attitude brings many delicious meals but some people don't share that attitude and are, consequently, a bit more reticent.  It's time to allay your fears and set aside that reticence. This is neither rocket science nor is it dangerous. Get friendly with your herbs. Your food, and family, will thank you.  This morning, as we went to the fridge for eggs and fresh herbs, we found broken off leaves and stems from several herb bundles laying about in their container. It's just something that happens when working with fresh things and nothing to worry about... Serendipity in this case. It struck us that the mix

From the Facebook page: I thought it was "two peas in a pod" but apparently it's two pods on a stem... We're talking chile pods, of course ;)... Posted by Smiling Coyote Farm on  Friday, July 31, 2015