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!

a delicious selection of Serendipity Spreads

I am a strong supporter of everything local–I will do whatever possible to make sure most of my ingredients are locally grown.

With this said, once in a while I like to see what other people are doing with their local produce and ingredients.

My friends from Serendipity Spreads in Santa Cruz, CA are a great example. Family tradition, many years of experience and only the best ingredients are the components to these great products.

Kristen Cederquist sent me a sample of a few of their great offerings. Brandied Apricot Preserves; Spiced Tangerines; Spiced Carrot Jam; Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon Marmalade; Caramelized Onion, Fig, and Balsamic Spread; East Meets West Peach Preserves; and Salt Preserved Meyer Lemons. All of them look great and taste even better. These would make an excellent gift for any foodie.

CA spiced tangerines and PA red cabbage

I had so many options here that I didn’t know where to begin, so I went with the Spiced Tangerines. I was using red cabbage for one of my side dishes that night and I decided to finish it off with the Spiced Tangerines. Something so simple elevated this side dish to another dimension–my Pennsylvania red cabbages were touched by sunny California Spiced Tangerines and together they were delicious.

For more information on Serendipity Spreads, visit:

http://www.serendipityspreads.com/Home.html or

Kristen@SerendipitySpreads.com

That’s probably the shortest explanation you’ve ever read. I’m not saying any more about that either. OK, maybe I’ll say that what’s killing Americans is not the amount of beef we eat (other countries eat more beef) but what’s in the meat.

A cow is a herbivore and a ruminant. It likes grass. These animals eat grass and it turns into healthy delicious beef. Think of it as another miracle of nature.

I grew up on grass fed beef. I know what’s good for me and my family.

There are a few grass fed beef options around the Pittsburgh area. Golden Hill Farms is, perhaps, not one of the closest. It’s about an hour and a half drive northwest of Pittsburgh. Long drive, but it was a beautiful fall drive.

The farm sits on acres and acres of luscious green grass. The cows seem so happy with it, they don’t even care about your presence.

Bob and Saundra Rose have owned and operated this farm for over forty years. Nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Bob and I talked about cows, beef, farming in the area, cattle rotation for best grass use and much more. Bob is very proud of his cows. I learned many things about the grass fed industry. Things like, dairy farmers selling their day old Jersey/Holstein dairy calves that have been fed milk replacer, and then they are put to pasture and hay for two years. In this period of time and because these cattle don’t have as much muscle mass as the beef cattle, they only weigh around seven hundred and fifty pounds. The quality of the beef is poor and at best only good for hamburger.

We went inside the house where we met Saundra.

The farm house is tastefully decorated with many of those farm items, like pickling crocks, we city folk don’t know what they are for. We were told not to remove our boots when we went in. “This is a farm house,” Bob said. But, trust me, everything was kept very clean.

We sat at the kitchen table and had a slice of pumpkin roll while we talked about the life at the farm. I felt like I had known the Roses for a long time. They made us feel very comfortable. The Roses are very customer oriented, and they won’t let you go home with a cut of meat you don’t have use for.

On our way out, cheese graters made into light fixtures edged the walkway. It is indeed a special place, this farm.

We could really tell how much they care. We’ll be back.

You can contact them at:

Bob and Saundra Rose
20405 Lauderbaugh Road
Cochranton, PA 16314
(814) 425-7063 home
(814) 720-5864 cell
info@goldenhillfarms.com