Cristen Clark is a FarmHer to be admired. If you follow along with her blog you know she is smart, funny and full of love for her family, agriculture (specifically swine), and food!
Set in the rolling hills of southern Iowa, Cristen’s farm and home, shared with her husband and two sons, is an inviting space for anyone. Like any good hostess, Cristen meets her guests at the door with a smile, ushering them into her home with a recipe waiting, usually a pear pie.
How to Make Pear Pie
Cristen makes even the most seasoned bakers look like a novice. She has perfected recipes for her family and her blog (Food and Swine), won cooking contests around the country and even has her own cookbook.
In her kitchen, Cristen’s pantry is lined with delicious ingredients ready to make her masterpiece. One thing you learn quickly about Cristen is butter is always the answer. Real butter.
Cristen effortlessly works her magic into a pie like the pro she is. She explains how she found her love of baking. It’s a love that has been handed down through her family and something she finds soothing. Once the pie is in the oven, she snags a quick kiss from her son. Then they head out to feed pigs.
Raising Hogs for Farrowing and the Showing
Cristen and her family raise a variety of pigs. From farrowing houses with pigs meant for commercial consumption to a growing group of hobby show pigs. She spends a majority of her time, when she’s not baking, with the show pigs. This includes cleaning pens and feeding the animals that she adores.
A Family Farm Centered Around Food and Swine
But her work isn’t done there. She hops in her truck and makes the quick drive down the road to her parent’s house. Cristen and her sister Tanna work with their father throughout their harvest each year. They each run a grain cart, a family tradition as long as the girls could help. While harvest is a busy time with a lot of moving parts and pieces, it is easy to see that these three love working together as a family.
As the sun sets on a harvest day, Cristen heads home where her family enjoys a meal together before the intensity of another harvest day hits- their dinner ending with of course a pear pie. From the outside looking in Cristen’s blog, Food and Swine, is only part of her story. Her story is written with a deep love of family, a desire to nurture and provide for them, a drive to succeed in farming and in life and to share that love with others through a sincere connection to her community. Her story is one of a FarmHer.
Hi!
I found a recipe for your pigged out patty melt, however my system crashed and no longer have it. Would you be so kind as to share one again?