Telluride Inside... and Out

Christmas recipe: Telluride region's Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery

Winter at Indian Ridge

We at Telluride Inside... and Out hope to sweeten your Christmas with a recipe from master chef/baker Barclay Daranyi  of Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery in Norwood, active members of the Telluride Farmers' Market in summer. In winter, not so much.

Christmas Stollen is loaf-shaped fruitcake, with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts, and spices on the inside, powdered with icing sugar on the outside. Barclay's family has made this traditional German holiday treat every year for decades. "I can't  imagine Christmas morning without it," she exclaimed.

Barclay Daranyi of Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery digs into the soil

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Barclay]

Barclay Daranyi and husband Tony are now the proud owners/operators of the of popular CSA farm, Indian Ridge, in Norwood, Colorado – and regular contributors to Telluride Inside...and Out with recipes and words of wisdom about sustainable food practices.

This week, Barclay is digging in the soil, where her roots, literal and metaphorical, lie.

Barclay grew up on Caretaker Farm, started by her parents in 1969 and now one of the oldest organic farms in Massachusetts. Barclay's parents,Sam and Elizabeth Smith, are retired, but still live on the farm as part of the arrangement with the conservation trust, established to ensure the place remains  a working farm, affordable to future generations of farmers. Caretaker is now being worked by Don Zasada and Bridget Spann.

"Properly managed, grazing animals can actually reverse desertification and greatly increase the soil's ability to hold CO2.
Living soil holds the key to the future and our survival on this planet."

To hear more from Barclay on the subject, including the role meat plays in the Big Picture, click the "play" button to hear her podcast.

TIO introduces Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery and its owners

[Click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Barclay Daranyi about eating locally]

The New Community Coaltion has asked "Telluride Inside...and Out" to function as its primary mouthpiece for dynamic information about its many initiatives as Kris Holstrom and her team develop programs for the greening of the region.

Kris is a farmer, the owner of Tomtem Farms and the organizer of the Farmer's Market that begins in town in mid-June and lasts into the early fall. For our town's Earth Mother, food plays a major role in her overall strategy for regional resilience.  And in that world, locally Indian Ridge Farm and Bakery is a major player.

Indian Ridge Farm and Bakery was born in 1999 when Tony and Barclay Daranyi purchased 100 acres of land in Norwood, Colorado from Loey Ringquist. The land was sold to them below market value because Loey believed in the vision of sustainable agriculture and community supported farms.  Since then, the farm has grown into a CSA that feeds over 60 families, a pastured poultry operation, including a state inspected processing plant, and a thriving bakery.  The farm also raises pastured pork, several layer hen flocks, some beef and dairy goats. Every summer the farm welcomes 3-4 interns who learn hands-on the joys and challenges of small farming.

Winter Solstice

Driving home from a day in Telluride, I happened to catch the magnificent winter solstice Sun setting on the wild, west-end horizon of San Miguel County. Open spaces, magic places and the official season of ice and snow begins. Merry Christmas and may the grace of peace, joy and love find its way into your heart and hearth. Blessings...cz***