Scrumptious Stocking Stuffers
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As the Christmas season approaches, Nebraska shoppers don’t need to look to the North Pole for gifts. Nebraska’s local food producers offer the perfect items to sweeten anyone’s stocking.
Java All-Purpose Seasoning
Holen One Farms, $7
It was the middle of the night in Loomis, and Michael Holen couldn’t get back to sleep. Resigned, he snapped on the History Channel. A Civil War show told the story through the eyes of the camp cook.
Sometimes spices weren’t available, so the cooks would rub coffee or chicory on the meat. After the war ended, many of these cooks went on to work on wagon trails and, later, cattle drives – and used the same ingredients.
Holen began experimenting with making his own blend. He mixed coffee, turbinado sugar, peppers and spices to create Java All-Purpose Seasoning, a sweet, zesty and earthy spice that not only tastes great on meat but also imparts next-level yumminess to vegetables and salads.
In fact, there’s not a Holen grandchild – among 25 – who won’t eat their veggies, so long as Grandpa’s “magic sprinkle” is on hand.
That’s a coffee product that can help parents sleep well at night.
Fat Head Farms
Killer Bee Honey, $18
The latest buzz in artisanal honey is hot, hot, hot. Spicy honey adds a sweet heat to flatbreads, fried chicken, sandwiches – even desserts.
Fat Head Honey in Clarkson offers floral and spiced varieties of the sticky stuff, but for those in search of something with more kick, there’s Killer Bee Honey. Infused with Carolina reaper pepper, it delivers a pleasant pow that’s perfectly balanced by sweetness.
Nebraska natives Kathy and Brian Suchan run Fat Head Farms in Clarkson. Brian is a fourth-generation beekeeper. Kathy was hooked as soon as she began keeping her first bees while living in South Carolina.
The two met when Kathy sourced honeycomb from Brian. They became friends – and then, their relationship blossomed into something even sweeter. They married and Kathy joined Brian on the Clarkson farm, where they raise their family bulldogs and a bounty of blissed-out, buzzing bees.
Now that’s bee-autiful.
Duck Fat Spray
7 oz can, $11
From the state that brought you food inventions like Dorothy Lynch and Kool-Aid, now there’s another yummy innovation set to take the nation by storm with much less damage to walls. Here comes … Duck Fat Spray. Yes, Duck Fat Spray.
Traditionally duck fat has played an enormous role in French cuisine – not Nebraskan dishes. But Omaha inventor Dennis Schuett thinks that may change. Duck fat has a high smoke point of 380˚ – meaning you can cook meats at high heat and achieve the ultimate sear – and a light flavor that adds a subtle richness.
Schuett is the first person in the world to figure out how to put that deliciousness in a spray can. And unlike other non-stick cooking sprays, there are no chemical propellants. Instead, the fat is in a bag in the can and surrounded by compressed air. Push the button and voila, the air squeezes the bag to release the spray. Spray it on potatoes, meats and vegetables galore and hit the grill as hot as you like.
Nebraska Life taste tests have revealed that this Nebraska invention is all that it’s quacked up to be.
Burbach’s Countryside Dairy
Eggnog, $5
During the wee hours of a cold winter morning on a Hartington farm, Lisa and Dean Burbach rise from their warm bed and get to work milking their herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. But the job doesn’t end there.
Since 2005, the Burbachs have bottled their own milk on the farm and in glass bottles. The freshness and the old-school containers (an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic) have created fans throughout Nebraska – especially coffeehouse owners who say Burbach’s milk elevates their brews. Baristas say the cream is much creamier, and the whole milk froths better. Kids gulp specialty flavored limited release milks like chocolate, blue raspberry, strawberry and banana.
In addition to producing and selling milk throughout the year, during the holiday season, the dairy also offers a creamy, slightly spiced eggnog that will even make converts of the egg nots.
Fuehrer’s Cheespred
16 oz, $8
For 60 years, Nebraska holiday tables have featured Fuehrer’s Cheespred. The family-owned product was the result of a pivot in a young World War II veteran’s business.
In 1946, after returning home from service in World War II, Eddie Fuehrer started a market in Sutton that offered fresh meat and, later, produce and German-style bologna and sausages. Then, in 1960, Eddie and his wife Laurie introduced Fuehrer’s Cheespred, a creamy dippable concoction made from American and cheddar cheese, green peppers, pimientos and garlic. Concurrently in the 1960s, food regulations for meat product processing became more stringent, so the Fuehrers decided to focus on their popular Cheespred.
After Laurie and Eddie’s deaths, their children, Dee and Jerry, took over. The recipe hasn’t changed but the business has grown. Today Fuehrer’s Cheespred is available in 75 grocery stores throughout Nebraska.
It’s a testament to a family business that navigated a challenge. And there’s nothing cheesy about that.
The Perennial Homestead
Elderberry Oxymel, $16-32
At their Omaha homestead, Ali and Scott Yahnke combine locally grown elderberries with Nebraska honey, apple cider vinegar and ginger to make their Elderberry Oxymel. The rich purple syrup livens up a glass of seltzer water or adds class to a cocktail. Nearby, their 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son play.
For the Yahnkes, nothing is more important than family. It’s why Scott decided, in 2020, to give up his full-time job to work alongside Ali at their business, The Perennial Homestead, an artisan food online marketplace.
It made sense to incorporate the diversity of farm-crafted products they loved. Before launching The Perennial Homestead, Ali and Scott had made and sold caramels under the name Snowshoe Candy Co. and run a market farm.
At home, they like to mix the oxymel with extra virgin olive oil and toss it in a salad with a handful of herbs and goat cheese. Family dinners are where their products taste the best.
Sandhills Elixir
Zero-Proof Spirits, $29
The holidays are a festive time to enjoy special food and drinks. But the drinks don’t need to be alcoholic to be celebratory. In recent years, zero-proof spirit offerings have surged in popularity.
Into this niche stepped Omaha couple Andrew and Erica Wassinger. Figuring out how to extract Nebraska fruit or herbs to make a zero-proof spirit and market it was a challenge they were particularly suited for: Andrew is a food scientist; Erica is a venture capitalist.
Andrew experimented with different Nebraska ingredients – sage, chokecherry and elderberry, among others. A nonnegotiable ingredient was water from the Ogallala Aquifer in the Sandhills. The Wassingers enlisted the help of Valentine Bolo Beer brewer Chris Herstrom to help make their product.
The Sage Zero-Proof Spirit is a good Christmas stocking choice because its tasting notes – peppery with hints of pine – pair nicely with rich seasonal dishes. Cranberry is also a classic.
Drinking these, there’s no chance you’ll end up on the naughty list.
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