We go through a lot of milk at our house. (Babies are staying incognito!)

Of course I have always been interested in food, and as a chef it is a professional necessity to recognize and use quality ingredients. But becoming a parent gives you a whole new level of interest in food quality, especially nutritional value.

My girls have been eating “big kid” food for a long time, but each of them still drinks at least a pint of milk per day, so the quality of the milk they drink is very important. After a lot of research and discussion, we decided to feed them organic raw milk–milk that has not been pasteurized. Maybe you’re wondering–is this safe? I could say a lot about this, but the short answer is yes. We get our milk from Your Family Cow, a certified organic farm in Chambersburg, PA that’s run by Dawn and Edwin Shank. We trust the Shank family to keep our family safe and healthy.

We pick up our milk once every two weeks at one of Your Family Cow’s drop off points. We could also pick it up at the East End Food Co-Op if we wanted. This week, we heard that 3 new stores will be carrying Your Family Cow’s raw cow’s milk along with cheese, butter, cream, eggs, honey, and so on. This is good news. If you are interested in raw milk, one of these new retailers might make it easier for you to try it and see what you think:

Nature’s Pickins
464 Connellsville Street, Uniontown, PA 15401
724-438-4211

Nature’s Way Market
796 Highland Ave. Greensburg, PA 15601
724-836-3524

Eichner’s Farm Market
285 Richard Road, Wexford, PA 15090
724-935-2131

Congratulations to the Shanks on expanding their network of partners in organic food.

Buen provecho!

Fall is in the air! Time to make a little pottage (cabbage soup flavored with chorizo and blood sausage).