Lehman's Country Life

In the fall of 1981, the bulldozer of an oil well drilling company cut into and partially destroyed an ancient stone tunnel not far from our store. Experts have dated the tunnel to as far back as 4000 years old.

Bob Murray, who owned the site when the tunnel was found, buried it to prevent children from falling into it. And, the strange stone tunnel was lost to memory for the last 25 years.

Recently, two of the archeologists who originally discovered the tunnel, Don and Nita

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We asked – and you answered. We received over 50 great recipes for our Cast Iron Skillet Recipe Contest. I tell you, it was a tough job, but someone had to do it. Narrowing down the stack of mouthwatering recipes was one of the most difficult projects we’ve tackled in months. After an inner-staff taste-test and vote, three recipes emerged as the clear winners.  However, even if these three don’t sound delicious (and we’re not sure how that could be…), we plan to publish the other 50 recipes in a future post, so watch for it! For now, read on…we promise you’ll be getting hungry very soon!

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And the FIRST-PRIZE WINNER is…

Mexican Casserole – Harriet Engle
Harriet will receive a $100 Lehman’s gift card. Congratulations, Harriet!

Here’s my recipe, passed down from my mom (who still does it better than I do!!)

2 pkgs Jiffy cornbread mix	2 eggs
²⁄3 cup milk	1 can cream style corn
1½ lbs hamburger	1 pkg taco seasoning
Water as needed for taco seasoning	8 oz shredded cheese

In a bowl, mix the cornbread as directed with the milk and eggs; add the cream corn, set aside. In a 12″ skillet, brown the hamburger. Drain the grease, then add the taco seasoning and water, simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the meat from the skillet. Pour half of the cornbread into the skillet, spread the meat and cheese on top. Finish with the other half of the cornbread mix. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes, serve with taco sauce. If you have your own cornbread recipe or taco seasoning recipe, go right ahead and use them. This is a quick tasty dinner that also freezes well. If your skillet isn’t big enough, you can do this in a dutch oven or 13″ x 9″ cake pan, too.

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The Runner-up!
Iron Skillet Fiesta Chicken – Jannine Fisk
Jannine will receive a $25 Lehman’s gift card. Congratulations, Jannine!

4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided	2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 tsp. salt	½ tsp. black pepper
1 large green pepper, cut into strips	1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into strips	1 large yellow onion, cut into strips
1 packet (1.25 oz.) taco seasoning (such as Old El Paso brand)	2 boxes (8.5 oz. each) corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy brand)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten	½ cup milk
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish	1 small jalepeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Preheat the oven to 375° F. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast and season with the salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown on all sides, 6 – 8 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to the cast-iron skillet and set back over medium heat. Add the green, red and yellow bell pepper strips and the onion strips and cook for 5 – 7 minutes or until softened. Add the reserved browned chicken back into the skillet and stir in the taco seasoning. Mix well and turn off the heat. In a large bowl, combine the corn muffin mix, eggs, milk, fresh cilantro, jalepeno pepper and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese. Mix until just combined, then spread the mixture evenly over the chicken, peppers and onions in the skillet. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese over the top of the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the cornbread is golden brown. Garnish with additional fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve warm and enjoy!

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And finally … A Very Honorable Mention:
Apple Gingerbread Skillet Cake – Mary Marlowe Leverette
Mary receives the deep admiration of our taste buds and bellies from tasting this rich, spongy, sweet gem of a cake. Thank you, Mary!

Topping
4 tablespoons butter	¼ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons molasses	½ cup chopped pecans
3 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced very thinly
Gingerbread
½ cup sugar	½ cup butter
1 egg	1 cup molasses
1½ teaspoon baking soda	1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cloves	½ teaspoon salt
2½ cups plain flour	1 cup hot water

Heat oven to 350° F. In a 12-inch cast iron skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter to begin the topping mixture. Stir in brown sugar, molasses and pecans. Evenly layer apples over the sugar mixture. To make gingerbread, cream butter and sugar and add egg. Add molasses. Stir together dry ingredients and slowly add to molasses mixture. Add hot water and mix well. Pour batter on top of apples. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until gingerbread springs back lightly when pressed with a finger. Remove skillet from oven and invert onto a heatproof serving plate. Serve warm or cold. Very good with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 8.

Once upon a time, about thirty years ago, we lived on twenty acres in western South Dakota.  My husband and I decided that these twenty acres would make a nice “homestead,” just about the time that the modern version of that word was becoming popular.

I have loved ducks for as long as I can remember.  I have WANTED ducks for as long as I can remember.  Once we got our homestead, I worked on Norm for a very long time to allow me to get ducks.
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Chocolate and roses are two words that seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.  They are the old stand-by for a romantic gift and can be a very expensive purchase.  What if there was a way to combine them together into a gift that didn’t put a dent in your wallet but still showed you cared?  Well, there is.  Kiss roses make special and unique gifts that don’t cost a fortune.

Begin the process by gathering your supplies.  For this project you will need:  floral stems, floral tape, foiled Hershey Kisses, plastic wrap, ribbon for roses, and foliage (optional).

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Lately, I am yearning to sink my teeth into something straight from the

But I’m not one for sitting idly by when there is a glimmer of possibility waiting to be cultivated. Sure, my outdoor garden may have to wait a while longer, but I think I’ll jump-start a little sunshine-inspired food right here in my very own kitchen. What do I have in mind? Carrots!

Yep, carrots are just the cure for my cravings. Growing them indoors provides a mini-gardening experience and a delightful dose of freshness and color — all in one countertop crop. Carrots will grow quite contentedly in containers because, unlike the ground, potting soil is perfectly loose and well drained; plus, there’s no competition from grass and weeds.

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Editor’s Note: This humorous story comes to us from Judith’s (wise and witty) husband, Jurgen F. Haver.

There are things we don’t identify as stupid until after we’ve done them.  We blindly act with no idea that disaster is approaching us at warp speed.  I learned this on a humid, mid-August day in 1946.  I was a city kid spending a summer vacation on his Unce John’s Nebraska farm.

Uncle John had just told me to get on the tractor.  “Drive the hay wagon up to the house.  I’ll take the truck and meet you there. We’ll have supper and then unload the bales. You do remember how to drive the tractor like I taught you, don’t you?”

Hey, does 14-year-old know how to drive a tractor?  “You bet!  No problem!”

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Local Amish families and other local folks, including some of my closest friends, were apparently defrauded by Fair Financial, which allegedly ran a Madoff style pyramid scheme.

Our local newspaper, The Daily Record, reported, “In court documents filed Nov. 24, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana filed a civil lawsuit, which was later dismissed, accusing Fair Finance co-owner Tim Durham, his companies and associates of defrauding customers by getting them to buy investment certificates, and that the money was used to make interest and redemption payments to earlier investors.”

Many of Fair Financial’s customers face devastating losses. One young Amish family I know of sold their modest home. They planned to live in an aged mobile home and while they built their new home. They parked their life savings at Fair. The company shut its doors the day after the basement for their new home was dug. Now they have nothing but the rusty old mobile home and a hole in the ground.

Another woman I’ve known all my life invested her retirement savings of $30,000 at Fair. When told of their problems, she said, “Oh I’m not worried, I’ll just go down and get my money back.” Her family had to break the news to her that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

It wasn’t too long ago that most Amish frowned on investing in the stock market or any other type of “outsider” business. But, times are a’changin’. Many Amish men (yes, in their community, it’s nearly all men) are leaving their farms and going into business. (For example, Pioneer Equipment and Homestead Furniture.)

A few now have real money to invest. And, most prefer to invest with someone they know and trust.

As it turns out, quite a few thought they knew and could trust the brokers at Fair Financial, outsider or not. Coincidentally or not, many of Fair Financial’s offices were in communities where many Amish lived.

Now it seems that a group of Amish investors might be trying to get their money back, at least according to Indy.com

A lawsuit was filed locally against Fair by a group of investors. (Who can blame them, right?) The unusual thing is that they used a Limited Liability Corporation, which allows them to keep their identities secret.

As it happens, Amish theology (based on Bible passages Matthew 5 and 1st Corinthians 6) teaches that going to court is wrong. Since the suit was filed by a law firm known for handling Amish legal needs (such as real estate transfers and wills), local wags are claiming that Amish investors are behind the suit.

I guess folks figured that out by connecting the dots. First, there is the unusual method of filing. Second, the work was done by a lawyer that has a lot of Amish clients.

It’s all pretty circumstantial, but it sets up a moral struggle for me. If it’s true that the suit was filed by Amish who wanted their identities to remain secret, a cynic could say, “I guess the Amish live by their faith unless it means they will lose money.”

On the other hand, most of the Amish I know would not have invested money with Fair Financial (or anyone else). Many have taken some pretty good-sized financial losses because they avoided going to court.

The whole story leaves a bad taste in my mouth. First of all, no one really knows who filed the suit. Maybe it was all non-Amish folks who were simply embarrassed that they got burned. Maybe it’s none of our business. And, maybe, just maybe, it ought to make each of us think, “If I were faced with a choice between something I believed was morally wrong and losing my life savings, what would I do?”

Galen Lehman, President, Lehman’s


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PS – To get the latest news on the Fair Financial debacle as it unfolds, click here.

Last year I blogged about how I might become Amish just because I love my horses. (Click here to read the post.)

I have a friend who grew up Amish. He’s not Amish any longer, but he still loves his horses! Here he is enjoying the winter weather with his wife and his horse (hopefully, in that order!):

You can see more cool pictures of Amish country here:

http://www.visitamishcountry.com/photo_contest_finalists.php

Hope you get to visit us and take some pictures of your own some day!

Galen Lehman, President, Lehman’s


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me on Facebook!

I sometimes feel like running is a business is little different from climbing the side of Mt. Everest. As each day passes, the air gets thinner and the stakes get higher. One false step, and we could plunge to our death, pulling our fellow climbers along with us.

A real mountain climber is kept safe by a strong nylon rope, hardened steel pinions and screw-lock caribiners. Here at Lehman’s, we’re kept safe in our “climb” by careful budget planning.

We just completed our 2010 budget. Yes, it’s a little late (since we’re already a few weeks into 2010). We’re late because budget planning is tough work. But, I believe strongly that running a business without a realistic budget is no different from climbing without any safety gear. Climbers can and often do succeed without using safety gear. But, climbing without it is a risk that can lead to death or a crippling.

The most important part of any budget, whether for your household or your business, is accurately determining your income. At Lehman’s, getting a good idea of the income we can expect means we must have a good idea what the economy holds for our future sales. A climber depends on having safety gear with the right load rating. We depend on a budget with accurate sales estimates.

As a result, I’ve been obsessed with studying economic conditions. The way I see it,
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It’s an ancient art that’s making a huge comeback: making your own cheese at home.

“Whoa – hold on there!” you exclaim. “I can bake bread. I know how to use a canner. But cheese making? That sounds pretty complicated … even dangerous!”

Take heart, greenhorns (or green cheeses): like many things, making your own cheese is not nearly as difficult as you think. Depending on what type you want to make, you probably don’t need a lot of fancy, expensive supplies -  just a few necessary ingredients, patience and time.
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