From the Farm: Milk, eggs and DeMotte reader’s family travel history all noteworthy this week

Much attention has been given this week to the unfortunate news of Oberweis Dairy, headquartered at 951 Ice Cream Drive in North Aurora, Illinois, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to seek debt relief while continuing operations and looking at a possible sale.

Illinois and Indiana agriculture name Brian Boomsma, who founded Dutch Farms in 1987, has already discussed his bid to purchase Oberweis if approval is secured by the bankruptcy court judge.

For decades we’ve enjoyed the glass bottled milk from Oberweis, even including doorstep delivery throughout the years. We are also familiar with the egg farming name of Boomsma, including family roots of the same name located down the road in our neighboring Dutch community of DeMotte.

Tom Boomsma of DeMotte passed away at age 70 in June 2020 and was the owner of Boomsma Eggs and Produce in DeMotte for more than 25 years. He was the son of egg farmers Cornelius and Jenny Boomsma. Tom’s late brother Archie Boomsma is the father of Brian, while his cousin Steve Boomsma is the chief operating officer for Centrum Valley Egg Farms in Alden, Iowa.

Today, Dutch Farms has $450 million in annual revenue with nearly 250 employees working at the shipping distribution headquarters in the historic Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. Eggs and other dairy products are supplied to 40 states and 15 countries, a result of key egg and dairy farm partnerships for products that are akin to 25 million egg-laying hens!

I shared this “egg-citing” math of egg laying with our family friend Renee Giragos last week since she was fodder for this column in January, sharing the lament of her three slow-to-lay hens named Betty, Mildred and Gertrude. This week, Renee brought me proof that her hens are now laying by gifting me a courtesy carton of their colorfully hued eggs.

I also spent much of this month corresponding with DeMotte reader Randy Kooy about his own family’s history in Jasper County.

“Phil, I know you sometimes write about historic memories,” Randy wrote to me.

“I thought that I might mention something that potentially you may have an interest. In 1926, my grandparents, John and Winnie Kooy, took a trip (actually a move) from DeMotte to California. My grandmother kept a journal of this trip. They took 30 days in a Model T Ford with a couple of stops along the way. I shared this journal with a book discussion group that I’m a part of at the Rensselaer Library. As a result of that sharing, I have been invited to give a reading of the journal at an event sponsored by the Prairie Arts Council of Rensselaer.”

Randy shared his presentation on Thursday at the Carnegie Center in Rensselaer.

“My grandparents went to California with the intent to move there, but did not stay long and ended up moving back to DeMotte,” Randy said.

“As for me, I have lived here in DeMotte all my life except for four years at Purdue. I have several favorite recipes. One that is mostly mine (or at least greatly modified from the original) is for Light Whole Wheat Buns. I’m including it to share with readers. On a side note, my wife, Diana, was the librarian and branch manager for the Wheatfield Library until she retired in 2014. When your second book was published, you did a fall program and cookbook signing for her in the library on Oct. 25, 2007. She has good memories from your program. She says that the library still uses the scarecrows that you gave away as prizes displayed with their annual fall decorations.”

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.

Light Whole Wheat Buns

Makes 8 buns

3/4 cup warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in water – add oil.

2. Mix dry ingredients in a separate medium bowl.

3. Add egg and liquid mixture from bowl to the dry ingredients and combine until a “shaggy mass” consistency is created.

4. Scrape out bowl onto counter and knead at least 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

5. Lightly oil a bowl and return dough to bowl, turning to evenly oil top and cover with a cloth or towel.

6. Allow dough to rise until about double size, usually about 30 minutes (use proofing oven if available).

7. Butter an appropriate size baking sheet.

8. Turn out dough on counter and knead briefly

9. For buns, divide dough into eight pieces and form into shape. Place on prepared sheet and allow to rise for 20 minutes or until close to desired end size.

10. Bake buns in heated oven at 400 degrees for 8-9 minutes checking after 5 minutes or to desired brownness.