Farmstead Ricotta - The fresh taste of Spring!

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April 14, 2021

IT'S BACK ~ Farmstead Ricotta

The fresh taste of Spring, available for a limited time only!

Spring has arrived, which means our friends at Mystery Bay Farm on Marrowstone are making their delicious Farmstead Ricotta Cheese. This is a seasonal specialty, only available in the early days of Spring, and usually only available direct from the hands of the farmer. We are so grateful that Rachael, farmer and cheesemaker extraordinaire, entrusts us to be her extended hands, delivering this truly fresh cheese from her hands to yours.

Here's what Rachael from Mystery Bay has to say:

"Our Farmstead Ricotta is a spring staple here on the farm and for a dedicated bunch of local customers. Its delicate, almost sweet, milky flavor highlights the essence of milk's simple transformation into cheese. Our all-time favorite cheese on the farm is fresh Ricotta baked in our cob oven. Eaten warm, each piece is quickly taken and extras are coveted. Thank you all for supporting our farm during this interesting time. We have a lot of milk and we're doing our best to turn it into nutritious, local cheese and yogurt for all of you. Be well and enjoy the essentials.” ~Rachael

So for a limited time we are excited to be offering this delicious, versatile cheese exclusively to you on the One Straw Farmstore. If you've never tried it, we can tell you that it is nothing like the tub of boring "ricotta" you're used to finding in the supermarket - it goes way, way beyond. You won't find this fresh, unique offering in any grocery store!

Recipes from the farm:

Bake at 350 on parchment paper for about 15 minutes. Broil at the end for a golden brown finish. Eat plain or drizzled with olive oil, honey or your favorite liqueur.
Slice on toast with an egg, pesto and/or...you name it!
Cubed on top of salad or stirred into curries.
Cubed and pan fried with toasted cumin seeds, sesame oil and topped with fresh tarragon. (This is a stand alone delight!)
Need more ideas? See MB Farm’s website under ‘Products’ (here) for two recipe collections.

Mystery Bay Farm is a mere stone's throw from One Straw, so your order is packed fresh specifically for you, just in time to be delivered with care. Order Farmstead Ricotta (here) and enjoy the fresh taste of Spring!

🎥 Meet the chickens behind your favorite eggs. [video]

I’m taking you behind the scenes today with a video🎥 to help answer the question: “Why are your eggs so good?” That’s a question we get all the time, and I’m not sure how to answer it. Not because I don’t know the answer, but because I don’t know where to begin. Because the actual boots-on-the-ground logistics of what we do is super complex. And every piece of the puzzle contributes to the health of the hens, and thereby the flavor and nutrition of the eggs. 🐓 moving hundreds of chickens outdoors on fresh pasture 🦅 while keeping them from getting eaten by everything else 🌾mixing our own feed so it’s always super fresh 🐤working with a nutritionist so each hen gets exactly what she needs at each stage of her life 🥚keeping eggs in stock year-round ⛈️ proper housing in the winter to protect the soil and the hens 📜 the list goes on It’s no surprise when someone asks me a question like that, I immediately start composing in my head a 5-paragraph essay 📝 - complete with introductory sentences, supporting evidence, and a compelling conclusion. All the time knowing it’s going to come out how Charlie Brown heard his teacher – “wah wah wah”. 😄 Luckily, I mentioned my problem to Farmer Martin and he boiled it down to TWO WORDS. Fresh. Feed. Ha! Why couldn’t I think of that? 🤷‍♀️ At this moment of the year, Fresh Feed means the most gorgeous grass on God’s green earth. 🎥 So, if a picture’s worth a thousand words, I decided to spare you the 5-paragraph essay and bring you a 48 second video instead. Farmhand Grace was happy to hop on the tractor with her farmer-daddy to make the trek out to the pasture and help show you around. I’m not making promises about the video quality. 🎬 I didn’t plan out what I should say (I would have managed to turn it into an unendurable 5-paragraph essay). And fair warning if you get motion sickness, there’s a moment at the beginning where I spun the camera a little fast because I had a premonition of approaching danger… I’m not going to spoil it by telling you what it was - suffice it to say my instincts were correct. And while I apologize for the poor filming and any queasy stomachs, it’s pretty much real farm life in action. 👩‍🌾🥰 You’ll meet the hens, some of the guardians who keep them safe, and catch a glimpse of your farmers, too.Click on the image at the top of this post to watch the video. And don’t forget to grab some eggs for this week. With its bounty, Spring’s a great time to add extra eggs to your weekly protein routine. I’ve got several family-favorite recipes linked on the egg page to bring you inspiration for breakfast or dinner, like Cheesy Egg Bites, Dutch Babies and Potato Salad. Click here to get the best eggs.