This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking, a meme hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.
In April we made the annual "big trek north" for 10 days and on our way home we stopped in Gray Court, South Carolina to visit our friends who had recently moved there from Florida. They had just heard about The Happy Cow Creamery from one of their neighbors so we decided to go for a visit.
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| Dinner time makes for some really happy cows! |
One thing that impressed us was that the dairy does not add any artificial vitamins, the cows are not given any hormones nor is the milk homogenized. The milk was delicious! It's obvious that not adding all those extras makes such a difference in the taste. After tasting a buttermilk sample, we came to the conclusion that that is an acquired taste. My friend, Phyllis, was brought up on it and she loved it. Her hubby, Ken, TBG and I grimaced as we drank the sample. It may be good for cooking but not straight out of the glass for this old Yankee!
Their little store had much more than milk; cheeses, cream, two pound rolls of butter, and a host of other goodies graced the shelves. I did pick up a bottle of apple cinnamon barbecue sauce and a bottle of Braswell's Select Praline Flavoring Mix. I thought the barbecue sauce would be great on pork but I have no clue what I'm going to do with the praline sauce. There are a few recipes (see below) on the tag that sound interesting. If anyone has any suggestions for other uses, please let me know.
Praline Harvest Crisp
Combine 1/2 c. Praline mix
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c. granulated sugar and drizzle over fruit and cookie crumbs.
Melt 1 stick of butter and combine with 1/2 c oatmeal flakes, 1 c. flour, 1 c. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg until mix is crumbly. Evenly spread mix on top of the crisp. Bake for 50-60 minutes until browned and serve with Praline whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Doesn't that sound good? Sorry, I didn't bake it to test it but it sounds more like a fall or winter dessert. This is not the time of year in Florida to be having the oven on just for a dessert.
There's also a recipe for truffles and one for praline cheesecake which I may try at another time. You'll probably see that in another Weekend cooking post.
For some interesting history of the Happy Cow Creamery and other sites in SC where you can find their products, please visit their website.
Praline Harvest Crisp
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cover bottom of prepared 8x8" baking pan with 24 crushed vanilla wafers. Cover crust with two peeled, diced apples and 4 c assorted fresh or frozen berries.
Combine 1/2 c. Praline mix
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c. granulated sugar and drizzle over fruit and cookie crumbs.
Melt 1 stick of butter and combine with 1/2 c oatmeal flakes, 1 c. flour, 1 c. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg until mix is crumbly. Evenly spread mix on top of the crisp. Bake for 50-60 minutes until browned and serve with Praline whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Doesn't that sound good? Sorry, I didn't bake it to test it but it sounds more like a fall or winter dessert. This is not the time of year in Florida to be having the oven on just for a dessert.
There's also a recipe for truffles and one for praline cheesecake which I may try at another time. You'll probably see that in another Weekend cooking post.
For some interesting history of the Happy Cow Creamery and other sites in SC where you can find their products, please visit their website.
I can't believe you were so close to me and didn't say hi!! The people in Gray Court shop in our little suburb. I've heard plenty about Happy Cow Creamery, but haven't gone there yet.
ReplyDeleteI love your photo! That praline mix would have been too much for me to pass by and the berry crisp sounds heavenly.
ReplyDeleteThere truly is nothing better than dairy-fresh, hormone-free dairy products. Yummers.
They do look like happy cows :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place, I'd have loved to taste some of the fresh milk and the cheeses. I'm with you, buttermilk for cooking. The Praline mix looks interesting. What about over ice cream?
I"m with Carol and would be pouring it over icecream
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting place to visit. That praline mix sounds good. I can't wait to see the truffle recipe!
ReplyDeleteOoh, the recipe sounds so yummy! I'm from the dairy state and agree that buttermilk tastes best in a recipe. Love the happy cows pic :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't think I've ever had non-homogenized milk... sounds like I'm missing out! Would love to spend some time in that store.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the happy cows are making lots of people happy. I'd love to know what's in the praline mix - pecan for sure, but what else. Pralines and Cream is my favorite ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I'm going to save the recipe for when the berries and apples are in season. It sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me so happy to know that places like this exist - that there are people around who are really thinking about what goes into our bodies. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds incredible and love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound wonderful!! All of it..I've never had fresh milk, would love to try it.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound yummy! I know what you mean about not wanting to have the oven on though. Why do I always get cravings in the summertime for things that have to cook all day?
ReplyDelete