Raw Milk

On Saturday, we visited a local farm, Showman Farms, in Edinboro, PA.   The farm is a six generation dairy farm that is the only PA state permitted raw milk supplier in Erie County, PA. In addition to raw milk, the farms also carries cage-free and free-range chicken eggs, raw milk artisan cheese and grass-fed beef.

Upon arriving with our two grumpy 5 year old in tow, we were greeted and given a tour of the barn and got to meet the herd. We were introduced to the cows (each animal is named and is part of the Showman family), the family’s new dog and an abundance of cats and kittens.  There was even a calf named Reverend just born on September 23rd.  Is there anything cuter than a newborn calf?

The girls also got to see where the milk comes from the cow.  My daughter was a little freaked out when Laurie Showman squirted the milk from the cow’s teat right onto her boot tip – oh well!  Really country living!  I was especially impressed with how open and welcoming everyone was.  They invited us right into to see the animals and look around the barn.  Even more impressive was how clean the animals and barn were.

After our tour we sampled some of the cheeses.  Available that day were a Feta and Cheddar Cheese Curds.  Both were delicious – mild and extremely smooth.  My total purchase consisted of a gallon of raw milk, a package of cheese curds, two dozen eggs and 2 lbs of baby beef. (To transport your milk, you can bring you own container, buy a gallon container there for a $1 or buy glass milk jugs for to reuse each time.)

Sunday morning we sampled our products.  The eggs were brown speckled with bright orange yolks that, when scrambled with a little bit of the raw milk, were delicious – very light, fluffy and flavorful.   The cheese was creamy, light and very mild.  I admit I was a bit apprehensive to try the raw milk.  Pasteurized milk is all I’ve ever know and drank.  I’m not big milk drinker to start with, but I do like some in my morning coffee.  Plus, it’s not skim and that’s what I’ve been drinking for years.  The consistency is a bit thicker  and more creamy than my regular milk, but it tastes fresh and just like you think milk should taste.  It was great in my coffee and the husband and kids all agreed that everything was delicious.  We haven’t had a chance to eat the beef yet, but expect it to be just as good as everything else we purchased from Showman Farms.

~Lori