A day on the farm

Boron Elgar said:

We discovered a small farm nearby that makes artisanal cheese from their own dairy herd and bakes
wonderful bread in a brick oven (for those of you who are familiar with such ovens, this one is by
Alan Scott of Ovencrafters).

The farm offers demos/classes and on this beautiful Indian Summer day we drove off into the
country to check it all out. (moon roof open)

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful demonstration
& talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful stories told by the
owner, Jonathan White.

The second part of the morning was spent near the wood-fired oven making rye levain epis and some
foccacia and with a bit of the aged cheeses, making mozzarella from the curds we had watched being
created in the morning and, of course, tasting our way through it all.

The farm was lovely, with children (the oldest daughter, 15, sells eggs from the absolutely free-
range chickens that wandered all over) around, cats & dogs lounging about and a charming herd of
cows (several varieties) lending their lowing in the background.

All in all, we had a wonderful day spent pursuing my favorite hobby (that being anything to do
with food) and came home with some terrific breads & cheeses.

I cannot recall how I stumbled on the web page for this place (it is

Quoted message said:

but heartily recommend a trip out for anyone who is in the area. (it is about 90 minutes from
Manhattan). The only flaw in the day was when we locked the keys in the car, but we were
rescued by AAA)

If anyone wants to see pictures of the place (including the oven!), just click below:

cowsoutside.comcowsoutside.comOpen ↗

Boron

That sounds like a wonderful resource, especially for urban/suburban types who think milk comes
from cartons!

Boron Elgar said:

We discovered a small farm nearby that makes artisanal cheese from their own dairy herd and bakes
wonderful bread in a brick oven (for those of you who are familiar with such ovens, this one is by
Alan Scott of Ovencrafters).

The farm offers demos/classes and on this beautiful Indian Summer day we drove off into the
country to check it all out. (moon roof open)

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful demonstration
& talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful stories told by the
owner, Jonathan White.

Jonathan was a partner of Charlie Trotter in another cheesemaking operation a few years back.
Amazing products, like the best of the cheeses I've had around the world. Many wild-ripened cheeses
and several US-legal raw-milk cheeses.

He was involved in a very cool program a couple years back where he went to Tibet and taught nomadic
yak herders how to make cheese from the milk. The resulting cheese was a very pale green and had an,
er, "interesting" taste. Everybody I gave some to said how much it was, um, interesting. They all
said they, uh, might eat more at some future date because it was, uhm, interesting.

Jonathan brought some of his cheeses to an exposition in Europe and got astonished praise from the
attendees.

Pastorio

Quoted message said:

The second part of the morning was spent near the wood-fired oven making rye levain epis and some
foccacia and with a bit of the aged cheeses, making mozzarella from the curds we had watched being
created in the morning and, of course, tasting our way through it all.

The farm was lovely, with children (the oldest daughter, 15, sells eggs from the absolutely free-
range chickens that wandered all over) around, cats & dogs lounging about and a charming herd of
cows (several varieties) lending their lowing in the background.

All in all, we had a wonderful day spent pursuing my favorite hobby (that being anything to do
with food) and came home with some terrific breads & cheeses.

I cannot recall how I stumbled on the web page for this place (it is

Quoted message said:

but heartily recommend a trip out for anyone who is in the area. (it is about 90 minutes from
Manhattan). The only flaw in the day was when we locked the keys in the car, but we were
rescued by AAA)

If anyone wants to see pictures of the place (including the oven!), just click below:

cowsoutside.comcowsoutside.comOpen ↗

Boron

Quoted message said:

I cannot recall how I stumbled on the web page for this place (it is

Quoted message said:

but heartily recommend a trip out for anyone who is in the area. (it is about 90 minutes from
Manhattan). The only flaw in the day was when we locked the keys in the car, but we were
rescued by AAA)

If anyone wants to see pictures of the place (including the oven!), just click below:

cowsoutside.comcowsoutside.comOpen ↗

Boron

Kewl! It's not that far from my BIL's. I'll have to contact them and see when during the Yule season
they're open, so we can check it out.

maxine in ri

Boron Elgar said:

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful demonstration
& talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful stories told by the
owner, Jonathan White.

... who used to post regularly on rfc, until about 6 years ago...

Victor

censored Margulis said:

That sounds like a wonderful resource, especially for urban/suburban types who think milk comes
from cartons!

I remember my daughter telling me that you pull the cows gutters and pick up the milk at Safeway. In
retrospect, she is probably closer to the truth than many kids today.
--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might bet-
ter stay home."
-- James Michener

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 09:57:17 -0500, Bob Pastorio <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Boron Elgar said:

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful
demonstration & talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful
stories told by the owner, Jonathan White.

Jonathan was a partner of Charlie Trotter in another cheesemaking operation a few years back.
Amazing products, like the best of the cheeses I've had around the world. Many wild-ripened cheeses
and several US-legal raw-milk cheeses.

He was involved in a very cool program a couple years back where he went to Tibet and taught
nomadic yak herders how to make cheese from the milk. The resulting cheese was a very pale green
and had an, er, "interesting" taste. Everybody I gave some to said how much it was, um,
interesting. They all said they, uh, might eat more at some future date because it was, uhm,
interesting.

Jonathan brought some of his cheeses to an exposition in Europe and got astonished praise from the
attendees.

Quoted message said:

With great modesty, he told us of these delightful happenings (didn't mention Charlie Trotter,
though) and I was suitably impressed that someone with such talent & expertise was within a 40
minute drive of my house.

They seem to all be raw milk cheeses now and each has a wonderful flavor. There were a few of his
specialties that were not available yesterday & I will take a few trips up there in over the next
months in hopes of trying more.

Oh...and he was kind enough to give me a vial of his starter. I was jazzed and guard it well. We had
some nice chats about different flours, too.

I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite taken with
the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as making decent bread.

Boron

On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 06:42:44 +0100, [email hidden] (Victor

Sack) said:

Boron Elgar said:

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful
demonstration & talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful
stories told by the owner, Jonathan White.

... who used to post regularly on rfc, until about 6 years ago...

Hmm... that is very nice to know. That was before I discovered it.

In a discussion of where each in the group had found out about the farm, I mentioned usenet and also
mentioned rfc to him in passing but he did not mention past participation.

Boron

Victor Sack said:

Boron Elgar said:

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful demonstration
& talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful stories told by the
owner, Jonathan White.

... who used to post regularly on rfc, until about 6 years ago...

Victor

Hey, what can we say. With his hands on the teat everyday, I guess keyboarding became difficult.
--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might bet-
ter stay home."
-- James Michener

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Barry "Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Pastorio said:

Boron Elgar said:

We got to watch (and taste along the way) the cheese making, from the fresh milk going into the
vat (yes, we met the cows) to the curds being put into molds, were given a wonderful
demonstration & talk about the entire process and were mightily entertained by the wonderful
stories told by the owner, Jonathan White.

Jonathan was a partner of Charlie Trotter in another cheesemaking operation a few years back.
Amazing products, like the best of the cheeses I've had around the world. Many wild-ripened
cheeses and several US-legal raw-milk cheeses.

He was involved in a very cool program a couple years back where he went to Tibet and taught
nomadic yak herders how to make cheese from the milk. The resulting cheese was a very pale green
and had an, er, "interesting" taste. Everybody I gave some to said how much it was, um,
interesting. They all said they, uh, might eat more at some future date because it was, uhm,
interesting.

Jonathan brought some of his cheeses to an exposition in Europe and got astonished praise from
the attendees.

Quoted message said:

With great modesty, he told us of these delightful happenings (didn't mention Charlie Trotter,
though) and I was suitably impressed that someone with such talent & expertise was within a 40
minute drive of my house.

They seem to all be raw milk cheeses now and each has a wonderful flavor. There were a few of his
specialties that were not available yesterday & I will take a few trips up there in over the next
months in hopes of trying more.

Oh...and he was kind enough to give me a vial of his starter. I was jazzed and guard it well. We
had some nice chats about different flours, too.

I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite taken
with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as making
decent bread.

Boron

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 15:43:42 GMT, "barry" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite taken
with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as making
decent bread.

Boron

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available on
line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in NJ, it
is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase directly.

Boron

Boron Elgar said:

barry said:

Quoted message said:

I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite taken
with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as making
decent bread.

Boron

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available on
line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in NJ,
it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase directly.

Boron

Thank you for the lovely story of A Day On The Farm. From your description, I almost felt as if I
had come along with you, seeing all the animals that were wandering around, tasting the cheeses and
smelling the aroma of the baking bread.

Thank you for sharing this pleasant day with us, Margaret

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

barry said:

Quoted message said:

I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite taken
with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as making
decent bread.

Boron

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available on
line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in NJ,
it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is autistic.
Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the blue we get 2
farm stories and they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 12:59:03 -0500, Margaret Suran <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Thank you for the lovely story of A Day On The Farm. From your description, I almost felt as if I
had come along with you, seeing all the animals that were wandering around, tasting the cheeses and
smelling the aroma of the baking bread.

Thank you for sharing this pleasant day with us, Margaret

Aw, shucks, Margaret...you make me blush.

Boron

Jack Schidt® said:

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

barry said:

> I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite
> taken with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as
> making decent bread.
>
> Boron
>
>

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available
on line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in
NJ, it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase
directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is autistic.
Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the blue we get
2 farm stories and they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

I blame Clinton.

Boron

"Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

barry said:

> I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> all, but was quite taken with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home
> were as easy as making decent bread.
>
> Boron
>
>

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available
on line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in
NJ, it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase
directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is
autistic. Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the
blue we get 2 farm stories

and

Quoted message said:

they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

There are no such things as conspiracies! Of course, they would want us to believe that,
wouldn't they?

Graham

"Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

barry said:

> I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite
> taken with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as
> making decent bread.
>
> Boron
>
>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available
on line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in
NJ, it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase
directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is
autistic. Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the
blue we get 2 farm stories and they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

Even stranger- my cousin with the autistic child also homeschools.

Someone cue Sting.

It does make sense for several reasons (the farm connection.) The rythm of farm life gives both
parents big blocks of time to spend with the child. The child can safely be in the workplace
(relatively safely, anyway.) No commute, no boss to give you a hard time if you have to jiggle
the schedule.

There's a deeper reason that may also apply to your cheesemonger (or is he a cheesemaker?) Whole
food, natural food approaches are popular complementary treatments for Autism. Not a cure of course,
but there seems to be some therapuetic benefits. I know my little cousin Alan has benefitted from an
improved diet. So farming is a good way to control the autistic child's food supply.

Greg Zywicki

Jack Schidt® said:

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

barry said:

> I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite
> taken with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as
> making decent bread.
>
> Boron
>
>

Quoted message said:

Check this site and the people behind it.

www.cheesemaking.com

Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available
on line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here in
NJ, it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase
directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is
autistic. Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the
blue we get 2 farm stories and they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

Hey! My friend has an autistic son. But she doesn't live on a farm. Ohmyghod! they're branching out!

paranoid in ri

Boron Elgar <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Jack Schidt® said:

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 15:43:42 GMT, "barry" <[email hidden]> wrote:

>> I must say, that I went up there primarily for the bread aspects of it all, but was quite
>> taken with the cheese part and only wish that making decent cheese at home were as easy as
>> making decent bread.
>>
>> Boron
>>
>>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Check this site and the people behind it.
>
>www.cheesemaking.com
>
Thank you for that mention. I have visited that site. Though the supplies are readily available
on line, one important ingredient never is... fresh milk. The best cheeses come from it. Here
in NJ, it is illegal to sell any raw milk so one cannot even go to a dairy farmer & purchase
directly.

Boron

Great narrative about the farm and the cheeses sound great.

I'm puzzled by this. Upon perusing their website, one finds that one of their children is
autistic. Then Greg Z posts his farm story that also features an autistic child. From out of the
blue we get 2 farm stories and they both feature autism. Coincidence? I think not.

Jack Conspiracy

I blame Clinton.

Boron

Hah, shows how much you know. Haliburton's grubby hands are clearly all over this. Bet they're
trying to take ADM down.

Greg Zywicki