Cows!

Saturday, we went to see the Happy Cows in Pelzer. The tour was pretty basic. We rode around the farm for a while on a trolley, while Farmer Tom (Tom Trantham) told us a little bit about the grazing system and the history of the farm. I wish that there had been a separate tour for kids and adults because the kids obviously didn't care about how he rotated the cows from one paddock to the next, or how much more nutritious grass-fed milk was, and I wanted to hear a little more about it. It was still fun though, and after the trolley, we got to see the barn where they milk the cows and the old silo, which they've converted into a bottling room. We spent a lot of money in the store because you can buy not only the Happy Cow dairy products and produce, but also some pantry-type things from other SC growers. So, we brought home two types of Happy Cow cheese (10-year cheddar and a very spicy "Flaming Pepper" cheese); a bag of rice from the lowcountry; a bag of asparagus; some Happy Cow cottage cheese, chocolate milk, and butter; some local free range eggs; a bag of grits; some bread from the Palmetto Baking Co.; and some local hot sausage. When we got home, Chris made us a delicious brunch sandwich, all the ingredients of which were produced within a 50-mile radius of our house. Unfortunately, yet again, I ate it all without taking a picture.

After lunch, we hit up the Greenville State Farmer's Market for the first time (for me -- Chris had been before). The selection was reasonable, for the time of year. They had a few imported things, to fill in gaps. For example, the G'Vegas area bell peppers didn't look so hot, so the bin also included some nicer ones from Honduras. We went ahead and took the wrinkly ones from here, though. I was happy to find that the farmer's market on Rutherford Road also carries the Happy Cow milk and cheese products. Earth Fare has the milk, but I hadn't found the butter or cheeses anywhere else, and I thought I'd have to drive back to Pelzer if I wanted more... so that was a pleasant surprise.

Since Chris had cooked lunch, I offered to make dinner. We found a good Beef Stroganoff recipe online, so I tried that. We omitted the horseradish because we didn't have any, but it was still very tasty. (Also, we just used olive oil). Here's how it came out:

We used the stew meat we got from Native Meats, the asparagus from Happy Cow, and some more of the parsley from our yard.  Also, both the wine in my cup and the wine in the dish were things we'd gotten for free, so they are not subject to my new eating rules... all in all, another successful dinner!