Shepard's Pie

After buying groung veal this weekend, I was craving a meat pie. So I made a twist on a classic recipe. My mom always made Shepard's pie without a crust, but I wanted a crust without a lot of trouble. I made the JOC quick rolled biscuit recipe, and this was a perfect crust. I put in a layer of meat, cooked with garlic and onions and herbs, a layer of sauteed mushrooms, and a layer of mashed potatoes (the little blue potatoes from the farm). The crust puffed a bit, and the potatoes became golden on top. It was a very edible winter meal. Connie joined me and we both had seconds!

Yogurt maker!

In keeping with our dairy theme, I made yogurt for the first time this weekend. It was really easy, and the yogurt is tangy and a good consistency. I used Brown Cow whole milk yogurt as the starter, and incubated the yogurt for ten hours. Tasty!

Katia, the farmer from this weekend, used to work for Seven Stars yogurt. She said she makes yogurt without a store bought yogurt maker. After heating the milk and adding starter, she put a big container in a warm water bath in a cooler, closes it up, and monitors the water temperature occasionally.

Milk Mania!

Misty Brook Farm sells milk in half-gallon glass jars. They require a depost the first time, then customers just return their old jars when they come for fresh milk. It seems like it will be easy to skim the cream from these jars. After our farm tour and all of all farm-store purchases, it seemed fitting to have lunch at the Crystal Spring Dairy Bar, where two people can have drinks and lunch for less than $10, easy.

Misty Brook Farm in Hardwick, MA

Today we drove to central Mass to check out Misty Book Farm, a certified organic farm that sells raw milk, grass fed beef, poultry, pork, eggs, etc. The food is for sale in a self-serve honor system store at the front of the farm. The farmers, Brendan and Katia (their first baby is due in 2 months!), invite visitors to wander around and see the animals. So we did. Katia gave us a tour and told us about their farming experiences and the animals' stories.

The cows are beautiful and clean. Many of them were born on the farm, and they have several calves (destined to be milk cows, steer, or veal) in and outside the barn. Katia let us in the chicken coop to see the hens and roosters -- they have a sunny loft! They let the ducks out, and the ducks flew all about and were terrorized by the tiny dog running around the farm. It was a perfect winter morning.

We bought milk, ground veal, steaks, potatoes, and chicken eggs (they have duck eggs, too). Check back soon for pictures of the dinners to come!

Breakfast

I was about to post without a picture on dinner last night, but Connie beat me to it! See her comment below to read about our tasty dinner. Never travel without a digital camera, as food will go undocumented.

Instead we get today's breakfast. I made an omelet (sort of) with two eggs from a local farm. They yolks are bright and rich, more orange than yellow. I am running low on veggies, so I added sauteed onions to the egg mix, and put some mild gouda in the omelet. With toast and chopped tomatoes, it was a great breakfast. Lately I have been using a french press instead of my drip coffee maker. The clean up is easier, no filters, and it makes good strong coffee. Although it gets cold since there isn't a hot plate under the coffee. So drink up!

Burgers! Fries!

Guest Chefs! Sarah and Jim did the cooking (Sarah: fries, veggie prep, bun toasting; Jim: burgers, seasoning, DJ; MC: dancing, tasting, salting), and I just hung out and ate, pretty much. But Sarah made sensational fries and the dinner deserves a post. She boiled them first, then cooked them in a fry pan of vegetable oil, stirring and flipping the frites a lot. Her dad did some initial coaching over the phone, I don't know what he said. Jim seasoned our burgers with s and p, bbq sauce, and other stuff, but I didn't catch it all. I chopped some red peppers with the ulu. Edible!

Frothy!

I made a smoothie this morning with milk, a banana, and a handful of raspberries. The fruit was at room temperature, and the milk was cold. Usually I use frozen fruit, or put in a few cubes of ice, but I think I like it better this way, at least for breakfast. Something about the temperature (I'm guessing) made it really light and airy. Like foam. I ended up feeling really full - it was kind of a lot to imbibe first thing in the morning. I would recommend this to share with someone for breakfast, or have for lunch.

I have been craving milk like never before. When I am at work, all I want is a nice cold glass of milk. I am going back to the dairy farm tomorrow, and I stopped after work today to get some cheese for Terri, the farmer. I wanted to get her a little present since she was so nice last week and showed up around the farm. The cheese-man recommended two cool cheeses, and I got a little of each. One is a soft cow's milk cheese from Switzerland. He said most Swiss cheese is made in cooperatives of blended milk, but this is from a single farm, a dairy that wanted to branch out and make their own cheese. The second is also Swiss, a firm Gruyere make from the milk of cows that graze right at the highest pastures, right where the grass meets the snow. Sounds like a joke, right? But it is fabulous. And the first cheese is like butter, it's amazing.

Double smoked

I made a big pile of mini-BLTs for a Super Bowl party. I went to Russo's for produce, and at the cheese man's recommendation I got a big slab of double smoked bacon that I had to cut into strips myself. This was really fun. I was able to cut the bacon nice and thick. It was very flavorful, perhaps the best bacon I have ever purchased. I'm usually not much of a bacon-buyer, but I have never really said no to someone offering me bacon. I made a spicy mayo that was just so-so, a little on the salty side. All in all, I totally recommend a bite size BLT for your sandwich cravings.

Thank you, Miss Grandy

Dear Readers,

It has been busy in these parts, but that's no excuse. I fear I have left you on the edge of your seats, waiting for the milk tasting verdict. Perch no more! It is amazing. We got to the farm right as Terri, the farmer, had sold her last jugs of milk. So we got to go with her to milk Grandy! Terri had us pull on some plastic boot things to protect our pants and shoes, and we followed her around to the milk room to get the milking equipment, and into the barn where the cow was waiting. She took several steps to clean the udders, and then hooked the cow up to a suction machine that pulses, like a calf drinking. Terri stood by Grandy and scratched her back during the milking. Then she unhooked the machine, cleaned her udders again and rubbed them with bag balm. Terri poured the milk into jugs for us and that was that. Warm and delicious!

She has 4 cows that are milked for raw milk sales (the other three are pictured above). They eat all certified organic hay, are pastured on the non-winter months, and are very, very sweet. The rest of her milk goes to Garelick Farms. Terri said you can train a cow to fit your schedule. She gets out of bed around 7, and milks until about 10:30 most days.

I have lots more to say about this. I didn't want to make Terri uncomfortable by taking too many pictures, but I plan on going back basically every Saturday.

The milk is very clean, fresh, and crisp tasting. It is not as heavy as I expected, and is bright white. It tastes like the best whole milk ever, but lighter somehow. It has a shelf life of about 2 weeks, then it sours to buttermilk.

Raw milk (and honey)

Tomorrow I am buying 2 gallons of raw milk from a farm in Foxboro. Next week I am going to buy raw milk from a farm in central mass that is certified organic and milks cows that are 100% grass fed (the farm I am going to tomorrow feeds grass, hay, and grain in the winter). I am curious to see how I like the taste, and if I can taste the difference between the two farms. The FDA hates raw milk. This just makes me want to drink it all the more -- who knew you could stick it to the man by drinking milk? I enjoyed this article from the Washington Post.


This week has been busy, and I have been eating quick food, like peanut butter , bananas, and honey on toast. I am imagining that everything will taste better with raw milk. We'll see!