Author-blogger honours her family's farm
Author-blogger feels `magical' connection to the seasons
With 75 millimetres of rain in the forecast, apple farmer Kelsey Siemens has a rare day off.
At her family's orchard in Abbotsford, B.C., she would have spent a typical, drier day preparing the fields for winter: pruning the 10,000 apple trees and recuperating after a busy harvest season. Siemens, who created The Farmer's Daughter blog a decade ago, credits growing up on Willow View Farms for helping shape her approach to food.
“Being so connected with the cycle of life and the seasons and getting to see each step of where your food comes from,” she says, “truly is magical.”
A reverence for seasonal fruit imbues her debut cookbook,
The Farmer's Daughter Bakes, with a distinct sense of place. Produce from her family's farm, as well as figs and berries grown by their Fraser Valley neighbours, play a central role in her recipes.
Her family grows more than 20 types of apples, including her personal favourite, the sweettart Elstar. Featured in her apple crisp cheesecake — a forgiving fusion of two classic desserts (“It can't crack because you have an apple crisp on top!”) — the Elstar softens during baking, yet still holds its shape.
Linzer cookies are often on the holiday platters her family makes as gifts. “I love that they're so versatile — you can use whatever jam you have on hand,” says Siemens. “And that dusting of powdered sugar reflects the season with snow. It feels like such a perfect winter cookie.”