Benton Ag Plus - June 17, 2023

Pets, pickups

Our border collie was missing, and panic was digging his nails into my chest.

The evening had started out so nicely. It was one of those rare times where we were semi-caught up with the fieldwork, the chores and milking were done, and we were enjoying a moment of relaxation.

MARY BARRON-TRAUT

My step-granddaughter-to-be had brought her horse to the farm. While she brushed and curried him, my husband, son, friend and I lounged on the lawn in the shadow of our son’s pickup truck, watching and conversing with her. It was a rare instance of idleness, and Trixie rotated among us, soaking up as many rubs and scratches as she could.

Soon, the horse was saddled, and it was time for a ride. We had several four-wheelers parked near us, so we decided to follow the horse and ride on the all-terrain vehicles. My husband and son hopped on one together, so they could discuss the crops; I took another, and our friend took his. We rode south of the farm into a freshly baled field of alfalfa and sat for a bit talking. Our friend decided to head home.

I followed the others for a bit more and then realized Trixie was nowhere to be seen. She would typically run alongside our ATVs.

I quickly rode back to the farmyard calling her name. I drove all over the yard, stopped and checked the house, and finally jumped into a pickup. I thought maybe she had followed our friend home because he didn’t live far away. After driving through his neighborhood, I went to his home. No luck; he hadn’t seen her.

In the meantime, my son was using an ATV to search the pasture across the road from the farmyard. When we met up, he said he hadn’t seen her either.

It was then I had an idea. I drove our truck back to the yard where we had been lounging an hour earlier. I parked behind my son’s pickup, walked to the passenger door and opened it.

Ruminations page 3B

Stars in the ring

Smieja raises cows for show

BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE STAFF WRITER

Karla Smieja showed her first calf in 4-H when she was 9 years old. Now, 39 years later, she is still showing cows.

“4-H was really important to me because I didn’t know anything about showing when I started and started with nothing,” Smieja said. “I started showing, got bit by the bug and have loved it ever since.”

Smieja starts her day at 6 a.m. when she gets up and heads to the barn.

“It’s fun to come out here in the morning and milk two pretty cows,” Smieja said. “I know I need to have a real job to make ends meet, so I will always have that.”

Currently, Smieja owns eight animals – two milking cows and six heifers – at her Little Falls farm, Starlight Acres. All of her animals are registered, and all the heifers and cows are for show.

On average, Smieja and her animals attend four shows each year:

Minnesota Holstein Association State Show, District 8 Holstein Show, Minnesota State Fair and World Dairy Expo. Her two sons, Jacob Schaefer and Quentin Scott, assist with preparing and showing the animals of Starlight Acres. Quentin, an engineer in the Twin Cities metro area, comes home as often as needed, and Jacob, a senior at South Dakota State University, is home every summer.

“I love having my boys involved,” Smieja said. “I’m so glad the boys

enjoy it as much as I do.”

Smieja’s love of animals started at an early age. She grew up on a dairy farm near Cushing, milking registered Ayrshires. When she asked if she could show cows at the county fair, she said her parents did not know anything about the industry but said they would support her.

Smieja maintains a herd of Red and White Holsteins and Ayrshires.

“We will always have at least one Ayrshire around here because that is what I grew up with,”

Smieja said. “I lost my dad when I was young, so I do it as a tribute to him. Smieja’s affinity for the farm continued after college. She bought a dairy farm with her then husband and maintained a full-time job in town while her husband worked on the dairy. When the couple divorced, she kept the farm, downsized and turned it into a haven for her beloved bovine.

Smieja page 3B

Sauk Rapids Herald | Saturday, June 17, 2023

Serving rural Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties

“Trixie! Trixeeeee!”

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Karla Smieja (from left), Jacob Schaefer and Quentin Scott stand next to their cows after a show. The mother and son trio attend, on average, four shows a year to exhibit the dairy animals of Starlight Acres in Little Falls.

Wollak from page 7B

What keeps you going in this position day to day? I like interacting with the farmers and getting to know them, even the people at the milk plants you get to know pretty well. It goes back to the fact there are 12 people who depend on me every day to show up at their farms. Growing up on a dairy farm, I understand the producers’ responsibility to milk the cows, so it’s my responsibility to be on time, take a good sample and a good measurement. Essentially, their paycheck depends on how good of a job I do, because drivers are the link between the farmer and the plant. Milk is virtually worthless unless it gets hauled to the plant.

If you could tell readers one thing they may not know about the dairy industry, what would it be? Milk gets tested so many times before it ends up in someone’s refrigerator in the grocery store. We test the milk before we haul it, and then, once we get to the milk processing plant, the milk is tested again before we can even hook the hose up. Milk is a good product; there is no such thing as antibiotics in milk.

CHECK OUT THIS delicious Dairy recipe! delicious Dairy recipe!

Chocolate Macaroons With Raspberry Buttercream

Ingredients:

13⁄4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 cup ground almonds

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Put the confectioners’ sugar, ground almonds and cocoa in a blender or spice grinder and process for about 1 minute to refine the almonds and combine everything. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt in a clean, dry bowl until firm. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the almond mixture.

Carefully spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with the size 10 tip for small cookies, or size 12 for larger macaroons. Pipe twenty 21⁄2-inch macaroons or eighty 11⁄4-inch ones onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake with the oven door slightly ajar (to allow steam to escape) for about 8 minutes for the small macaroons or 12 minutes for the larger ones. Don’t overcook or they won’t be soft inside. Carefully

lift the macaroons off the paper and let cool on a wire rack.

Sandwich in pairs with a thin layer of raspberry buttercream. Arrange the macaroons in layers between aluminum foil or parchment paper in an airtight container and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. This will help them become chewy. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Rasperry Buttercream

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until pale and creamy.

Put the sugar and 1⁄2 cup water in a small pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil hard until it reaches 240 F. Immediately remove from the heat

and pour the hot syrup onto the egg yolks in a steady stream, beating continuously until the mixture is a pale, thick mousse. Cream the butter in a separate bowl then beat in the melted chocolate. Beat this into the egg yolk mixture. Take the frozen raspberries and thaw them in a strainer placed over a bowl. Press them gently with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the juice. Put the juice in a small pan and boil it hard until it has reduced to 3 tablespoons.

Press the raspberries through the strainer and mix the strained puree with the reduced raspberry syrup and the lemon juice. Sweeten with sifted confectioners’ sugar to taste. Beat this into the buttercream. Add pink food coloring if you desire a deeper shade of pink.