(TV
- Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 18, 1972
20
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The Sahm Family has . . .
Year-Round Job to Provide Trees for Christmas
By Mrs. Charles McSparran
Farm Feature Writer
Mrs Jay H (Mary) Sahm,
Manheim RD4, is kept busy these
days answering telephone calls,
measuring, tagging and even
cutting a few Christmas trees for
their customers Many people
select their tree in October or
November. Mrs Sahm takes
people up in the hills, measures
the trees and tags them with the
person’s name and the price of
the tree In this way they can get
them nearer Christmas, yet have
a better selection
They charge by the foot. She
and Mrs Sahm do all the work
themselves so their price is quite
reasonable She says they could
sell lots more trees if they had
them She says “It’s nothing to
sell 15 trees in an afternoon. I cut
them and load them Weekends
we br-lh do.”
Twenty years ago Sahms
bought this nine acre farm which
Ladies,
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By Doris Thomas,
Extension Home Economist
About Turkeys with
Convenience Features
Today’s turkeys come with a
variety of convenience features
to please modern homemakers.
You may already appreciate
time-saving, self-basting
turkeys, ready-stuffed birds and
boil-in-the-bag slices with gravy.
But food researchers continue to
seek new ways to make cooking
easier. The very newest item is a
turkey that cooks in its own clear
bag. The package has a seam,
held together by special glue,
which breaks open a half-hour
before the turkey is done. This is
done to permit browning.
Since the packaged turkey
cooks by the steam method,
cooking time is reduced.
However, the packaging
prohibits stuffing the bird and
storing the giblets inside the
turkey.
Another convenience item on
the market is a turkey with a
built-m thermometer that pops
up when the turkey is fully
cooked. However, these ther
mometers aren’t entirely reliable
and you should use them only as a
guide
Pat Erway, Editor >'
is located on Elizabethtown
Road, about one and a half miles
west of route 72 Elizabethtown
Road is about three miles north of
Manheim and goes west to
Elizabethtown square. The farm
had several evergreen trees
planted on it when they bought it.
Sahms have been planting and
selling trees about 16 or 17 years.
They have about three acres
planted in evergreen trees. You
might say it’s a hobby with Mr.
Sahm. He orders seedlings and
transplants each year to replace
the ones which have been cut.
Then in April or May he digs the
holes and Mrs. Sahm plants
them. He does all the pruning and
sprays the trees for diseases.
They lose quite a few trees every
year.
They have all kinds including
white pine, Austrian pine, Scotch
pine, Douglas fir, blue spruce,
black spruce and Norway spruce.
They sell more Scotch pines than
any other kind. In spite of the
Have
You
Heard ?
People who like rolled turkey
roasts will appreciate the new
imitation skin that now holds the
roast together. Made of com
ponents of real skin, the imitation
skin doesn’t develop the rancid
taste that sometimes happens
with poultry if it has a fat deposit
under it.
Your Thanksgiving Turkey
doesn’t have to be traditional.
Try some of the new turkey
products on the market.
About Turkey Planned-Overs
Turkey that provided a
delicious feast on Thanksgiving
Day can become dull, unap
petizing fare when it reaches the
leftover stage. Instead of tiring
your family of turkey, freeze the
leftover meat for delicious dishes
later on.
You can prepare tasty
casseroles by combining cubed
turkey with vegetables, sauce,
seasonings, cooked spaghetti,
macaroni, noodles or converted
rice. Regular rice and potatoes
can become mushy after freezing
so you may not want to include
them in making your planned
over turkey dishes.
Prepare the casserole, cool
quickly and place in meal-sized
freezing containers or a casserole
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Notes
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Doris Thomas
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care given the trees Mrs. Sahm
says “There’s no perfect tree.”
Besides taking care of the trees
Jay is a junior accountant at
Warner Lambert Company,
Lititz. He has worked there five
years. Prior to that he worked as
a junior accountant for an in
surance company for 18 years.
Mrs. Sahm has been a
teachers’ aide for grades one to
six at Mastersonville Elementary
School for 12 years. She says “I
love it. I love kids. No two days
are alike. I do clerical work,
typing, mimeographing, keep
attendance records, sell lunch
tickets, am on the playground,
patch knees, take temperatures
etc.” There are 178 children that
she works with.
Sahms rent their f armable land
to a neighbor. For 15 years they
kept anywhere from seven to 12
sheep. They sold lambs and
butchered some for their own
use. Three years ago they sold
them to a neighbor. They also
dish. Cover tightly with moisture
vapor resistant wrap and freeze
immediately.
If your family prefers turkey
sandwiches and creamed turkey
dishes, you can freeze the lef
tovers in slices and small pieces.
If possible, cover the slices and
pieces with broth or gravey to
prevent contact with air. This
also lengthens storage life.
Package in air-tight, meal-sized
packages or containers and
freeze quickly.
Frozen tu’ icey doesn’t improve
with age, and it doesn’t retain
good eating quality for as long a
period as do other meats.
If you’re going to freeze turkey,
remember this freezing guide
one month for slices or pieces;
six months for slices or pieces
covered with broth or gravy; and
six months for turkey casserole
dishes.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving
turkey planned-overs by freezing
the meat in a form your family
will enjoy - it will be a time
saving dish for you to prepare,
too.
Know Your Turkey’s Name
Check the name when you
select your Thanksgiving turkey.
It’s your clue to tenderness
because the name depends on the
age of the bir. Young Tom, Young
Turkey or Young Hen indicates a
tender-meated bird. However,
Tom Turkey or Hen Turkey are
signs of an older bird. Moist heat
methods of cooking will make
these turkeys more tender.
All-American Bird
Turkey, the only native poultry
bird on die American scene, flew
up the continent of America from
Mexico before the Aztec Indians
domesticated the turkey from its
wild state.
used to have eight hives of bees
but quit when they got disease in
them.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sahm grew
up on farms. Mary is one of seven
daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Shreiner who live on their farm at
Oregon, Manheim Township.
Mary’s sister, Ida Risser and
husband, Allen, now own and
operate one of the farms Mr.
Shreiner owned and farmed. Jay,
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Sahm, grew up on his parents
farm outside Manheim. His
father is retired now but he and
Mrs. Sahm still live on the farm.
A neighbor farms the land.
Sahms have three children.
Harold received a Masters
degree at Rutgers University,
New Brunswick, N.J. He married
Georgette Hart of Lancaster and
they have one daughter. They
Mrs. Jay H. Sahm, Manheim RD4, goes up in the hills with
her measuring stick and saw to tag and to cut Christmas
trees.
Handle Holiday Bird Safely
Homemakers are again
reminded to handle the Holiday
turkey safely. These tips come to
us through the courtesy of the
Chester County Extension Ser
vice.
Store turkey safely before
cooking
- Fresh. Clean and wash cavity.
Cover, Refrigerate one day only.
- Frozen. Keep frozen until time
to thaw. Do not thaw com
mercially frozen stuffed turkeys.
Follow package directions.
Thaw frozen turkey safely
Keep in original wrapping for any
method.
- Refrigerator is best. Place
turkey in refrigerator, one to two
days for small, two to three days
for larger birds.
- Cold water method. Place
turkey in pan of cold water.
Change water often. Five to nine
pounds thaw in three to four
hours; larger birds take four to
seven hours. Cook turkey as soon
as thawed.
live at Scotch Plains, N.J. where
he is a teacher in Rahway State
Penitentiary. They have a unique
system of education there
whereby inmates who have not
graduated from high school can
get a high school diploma. They
also have a college professor who
comes in to teach them college
courses in the evenings.
Kathlene took a two year x-ray
technician course at the Lan
caster General Hospital and has
been doing this work at the J.C.
Blair Hospital, Huntingdon, for
three years.
Michael is a senior at Manheim
Central High School. He spends
half a day there and half a day at
the Mount Joy Vo-tech School
where he is taking a Distributive
Education course. It includes
store management, training in
(Continued On Page 21)
Paper bag method. Put
turkey in large paper bag on a
tray. Four to 10 pounds takes six
to 10 hours to thaw; 10 to 16
pounds takes 10 to 14 hours and 16
to 24 pounds takes 14 to 18 hours
to thaw. The paper bag insulates
and keeps the turkey cold enough
on the outer surface.
Stuff the turkey just before
roasting. To save time on the
busy Holiday, prepare
ingredients for the stuffing the
day before. Never stuff a bird the
day before.
Roast at 325 degrees F. If
using a thermometer, interior
temperature should reach 180 to
185 degrees F. Oven can be
lowered to 300 degrees F. if
turkey is cooking too fast or
browning too much.
—Remove all stuffing from the
turkey when serving.
—Refrigerate leftovers as soon
as meal is over. Store gravy,
stuffing and meat seaparately.
Cool as soon as possible.