Here's to days gone by when we didn't worry about things like eating too much whipped cream, but simply enjoyed it!
November 14, 2005 (Press Release) --
COLFAX, WIS. — "When I was a kid growing up on our dairy farm in west central Wisconsin forty years ago, we didn't give it a second thought if we went out to the milkhouse at least a couple of times a month to get some cream to make whipped cream," said LeAnn R. Ralph, author of the third book in her Rural Route 2 series: "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" (September 2005; trade paperback; 190 pages; ISBN 1591138205).
"If Mom baked a pineapple upside-down cake or a pie or a pound cake, or if my big sister brought home ice cream and maraschino cherries and bananas to make banana splits, we made whipped cream to go along with it," Ralph said.
"We always had pie for dessert at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, too, and none of those holidays would have been the same without whipped cream from our very own cows," she noted.
"I really miss those 'good old days,'" Ralph said. "We were blissfully unaware that whipped cream wasn't very good for a person, although I still say that even if whipped cream isn't especially good for your arteries, an occasional indulge0nce is good for the soul!"
Wisconsin has lost almost three-quarters of its dairy farms since 1969. According to statistics from the United States Census of Agriculture and the American Farm Bureau Federation, forty years ago, Wisconsin had 60,000 dairy farms. In May 2004, the number of dairy farms in Wisconsin was 15,591, according to the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service. Statistics from the United States Census of Agriculture show the same trend for the country as a whole. In 1969, more than a half a million dairy farms operated in the United States. Today, only about 80,000 dairy farms are left.
"It used to be that you could drive up and down the roads in the area where I grew up and see dairy farm after dairy farm after dairy farm," Ralph said. "Today, most of those farms are gone, and in fact, in 2004, the last dairy farmer in my immediate neighborhood sold her herd of Jerseys. That's why I am writing these books — to help preserve a bit of our agricultural history for future generations."
"Cream of the Crop" contains 20 true stories appropriate for readers of all ages. Story titles include "What's in a Name," "She'll Be Comin' Round the Cornfield," "When It Rains, It Pours," "The Experiment," "Chance of a Lifetime," "The Day After Valentine's," "Gertrude and Heathcliff," and "Cream of the Crop."
Ralph also is the author of "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback; 195 pages; Sept. 2004; ISBN 1591135923 ) and "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" (trade paperback; 156 pages; August 2003; ISBN 1591133661 ).
According to The Midwest Book Review, Ralph's books are "highly recommended reading."
To read sample chapters, book reviews, and other readers' comments visit — www. ruralroute2.com
Contact Information:
LeAnn R. Ralph
E6689 970th Ave.
Colfax, WI 54730
(715) 962-3368 — e-mail: bigpines@ruralroute2.com
COLFAX, WIS. — "When I was a kid growing up on our dairy farm in west central Wisconsin forty years ago, we didn't give it a second thought if we went out to the milkhouse at least a couple of times a month to get some cream to make whipped cream," said LeAnn R. Ralph, author of the third book in her Rural Route 2 series: "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" (September 2005; trade paperback; 190 pages; ISBN 1591138205).
"If Mom baked a pineapple upside-down cake or a pie or a pound cake, or if my big sister brought home ice cream and maraschino cherries and bananas to make banana splits, we made whipped cream to go along with it," Ralph said.
"We always had pie for dessert at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, too, and none of those holidays would have been the same without whipped cream from our very own cows," she noted.
"I really miss those 'good old days,'" Ralph said. "We were blissfully unaware that whipped cream wasn't very good for a person, although I still say that even if whipped cream isn't especially good for your arteries, an occasional indulge0nce is good for the soul!"
Wisconsin has lost almost three-quarters of its dairy farms since 1969. According to statistics from the United States Census of Agriculture and the American Farm Bureau Federation, forty years ago, Wisconsin had 60,000 dairy farms. In May 2004, the number of dairy farms in Wisconsin was 15,591, according to the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service. Statistics from the United States Census of Agriculture show the same trend for the country as a whole. In 1969, more than a half a million dairy farms operated in the United States. Today, only about 80,000 dairy farms are left.
"It used to be that you could drive up and down the roads in the area where I grew up and see dairy farm after dairy farm after dairy farm," Ralph said. "Today, most of those farms are gone, and in fact, in 2004, the last dairy farmer in my immediate neighborhood sold her herd of Jerseys. That's why I am writing these books — to help preserve a bit of our agricultural history for future generations."
"Cream of the Crop" contains 20 true stories appropriate for readers of all ages. Story titles include "What's in a Name," "She'll Be Comin' Round the Cornfield," "When It Rains, It Pours," "The Experiment," "Chance of a Lifetime," "The Day After Valentine's," "Gertrude and Heathcliff," and "Cream of the Crop."
Ralph also is the author of "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback; 195 pages; Sept. 2004; ISBN 1591135923 ) and "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" (trade paperback; 156 pages; August 2003; ISBN 1591133661 ).
According to The Midwest Book Review, Ralph's books are "highly recommended reading."
To read sample chapters, book reviews, and other readers' comments visit — www. ruralroute2.com
Contact Information:
LeAnn R. Ralph
E6689 970th Ave.
Colfax, WI 54730
(715) 962-3368 — e-mail: bigpines@ruralroute2.com
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