I've been enjoying Keswick Creamery's products during my time at Fair Food Farmstand and I'd like to continue enjoying their products. And that is why I'm reposting a plea from one of my co-workers, Paul Lawler, who worked out at Keswick last year. Keswick is currently in crisis mode. From Paul…

I'm writing you with a really special request: one of our suppliers (and my former employers) Keswick Creamery from Cumberland Co. is in crisis mode trying to raise money pronto to keep their cows and most of their farm from being sold off—like as in $200,000 by mid month. Crazy right? I hope not, because after mid-month, their cows and machinery will be sold followed by the farm being put for auction. Once it goes for auction it will most likely not be bought right away but the family that has been running it for nearly 40 years may or may not be able to buy it.

If this farmstead goes off the map not only does the Farmstand (and Weaver's Way & Kimberton Whole Foods) lose delicious pudding, ricotta, quark and numerous raw milk cheeses but PA will lose invaluable members of the sustainable community in the Deitrich Cochran family. What Keswick is proposing is that patrons purchase Cheddar Notes, essentially shares that are like savings accounts or a CD, only with a better every 6th month interest return of 3.5%.

What the family is too shy to mention is that they are also awesome members of the sustainable community and buy supporting them we are helping support PA’s deliciousness and sustainability quotient manifold. Last year they founded a now thriving co-operative called Natural Newburg to help bring the goods of not just Keswick but all their immediate six sustainable neighboring family farms as well to the greater Philly area. Over the years Mark and Mel have pushed the development of raw artisinal grass-based dairy in PA and the region by teaching others farmers (and interns) how to get started. They have been very active organizers and donors for PASA (Pennslyvania Assocation for Sustainable Agriculture), who for many years have put on the largest conference on sustainability on the east coast. We feel the benefit of PASA as Philly area consumers every time we purchase from some new farmer who learned "x" new growing method or taste a new cheese from a dairy farm who took a cheese cave building class at PASA.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the farmers:
Dear Friends,
Would you like to make a profitable investment in a worthwhile (and credit-worthy) small-scale, local enterprise? Buying a "Cheddar Note" from Keswick Creamery is a great way to accomplish this. Since 1974, my parents have been dairy farming and milking registered Jersey cows.

In 1996, my husband, Mark and I graduated from Virginia Tech, his degree is in English and mine is Dairy Science. In 1997 we returned to the family farm to start Keswick Creamery. We made our first cheese in February 2001 and started selling at the Dupont Circle Freshfarm Market in late fall of 2001.

My parents are divorcing and my father wants to "cash out" his half of the farm, quickly. Mark and I would like to buy his share of the farm to continue farming and making cheese here, and are seeking investors to help through the sale of interest-bearing Cheddar Notes. Rather than paying all that interest to the bank, we would much prefer to pay it to you, our friends and customers. The relationship is mutually beneficial: we provide you a return on your investment at a rate higher than your bank pays you, while we receive financing for a lower rate than our bank would charge us.

A Solid and Growing Business:
We think we are a safe bet for investors. My mom has been dairy farming for thirty-six years and we have been operating Keswick Creamery and farming alongside her for ten years. We are family farmers in South Central Pennsylvania, milking dairy cows and producing a variety of cheeses, fresh and aged in our own licensed cheese plant right here on the farm. We are farming organically and humanely. We are in this business full-time and support ourselves (and our daughter) on it alone. In 2009 we sold over $250,000 of cheese. We currently employ (in addition to family) one full time and three part time people from our local community. We have deep roots here and intend to stay. The farm, equipment and processing plant and equipment have a value of over $800,000. We continue to become more productive each season and continue to diversify. Cheddar Notes will allow us to continue our vision here.

The Wax on Cheddar Notes:
A Cheddar Note comes in the form of a "demand note". This means that the money lent is payable at any time you request, in one lump sum. (The actual language on the face of the note is "On demand we jointly promise to pay…") Buying a note is easy to do: simply send us a check and we will mail you a signed note. To keep our bookkeeping manageable, we offer Cheddar Notes only in $500 increments. On December 1, 2010 and every six months thereafter we will pay interest—currently 3.5% annually—on the amount you have invested. The rate of interest we pay is tied directly to current money market rates, and will be adjusted every six months beginning December 1. Along with each interest payment, you will receive a new note bearing the adjusted rate. It's as straightforward and uncomplicated as we can make it.

If you would like more information about Cheddar Notes or about our business, feel free to call. We'd be glad to talk with you about all of this. We hope you see this as a great opportunity to invest in your local farmers, get a better rate than your savings account, and put your money to work for the cheese and pudding you love to eat. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely yours,
Mark and Melanie Dietrich Cochran
717-440-4650, keswick@pa.net
keswickcreamery.com

So we went and got ourselves a cool little gadget, a Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera. Picky took the opportunity to show off our awesome range and show how he likes to prepare an egg sandwich, in this case an egg sandwich like the one in this post with the addition of some double hickory smoked bacon from Gap, PA (the best bacon in the land). There's no narration, just the sounds of cooking and clanging in the kitchen. We might be doing some video stuff in the future, pending on how much Picky wants to render files.

What does one need to sip wine? A glass. There was no shortage of them in the giant hall. While there were rinsing stations at each winery, I guess one might misplace a glass or three after a few (okay, 15) samples of wine and champagne.

As fancypants VIPs, we got to go behind the velvet ropes and help ourselves to some extra goodies. All one needed (other than an event sponsor hookup) was a Chase Sapphire card to buy a ticket — that's what got you into the VIP section. They had these awesome plates with a cutout for a wine glass. Genius. Ah the life of a VIP.

Each of us got a spiral bound book, a solid half-inch thick. Each page featured a different winery highlighting the selections they brought to the festival, and extra room for tasting notes. Well done. But an easier way to take notes was via these 3"x4" cards at each tasting station. It listed the winery, the wines featured and PLCB numbers. Unfortunately, there were some wines there which are not available in PLCB stores. Picky checked off each wine we had and jotted down some quick notes. All in all, we hit up 8 wineries trying out 13 different bottles (along with some bubbly cocktails in VIP!).

The wineries were divided into regions — Italy, Germany, Spain, France, CA, US non-CA — but it seemed busiest in Italy. So busy that we didn't bother trying to muscle our way into more than one booth. But Picky chose wisely and went for the San Guido Sassicaia 2006 which was a VIP-only selection. It was a nice and peppery wine. Even though it was the last wine we tasted, it still stuck out, and that's saying a lot. It sells for $160 a bottle in PLCB stores, but it's not in stock right now.

While there were some stations of food around the hall (Garces Trading Company, Capital Grille…) we saw Walnut Hill College's pasty station and settled in. Little cakes, tarts and macaroons filled the table.

A shot of four of the five flavors of macarons. The raspberry was the best one.

We spoke at length with one vendor there, Gerry Catanzano, the Northeast Division Manager for Parducci, America's first carbon neutral winery. Parducci offers a 2006 Sustainable Red and a 2008 Sustainable White ,which are both available in PLCB stores for $10. These organic wines have a lot going for them in the area of sustainability. Check out the info on their Green section. The bottles have recycled paper labels with soy and water-based inks. They reclaim the water they use in their cellars. They have solar panels used for 15% of the facility's power needs, wind power purchased through the grid, bio-diesel vehicles on the premises and they purchase offsets to mitigate shipping pollution. From the website:

Parducci is locally owned and operated in California's Mendocino County. We are committed to sustainable wine growing practices that yield top quality grapes and wines while protecting the environment and supporting our communities and local farmers. Locally owned and operated Grapes from family farms Sustainable farming practices 100% green power Earth-friendly packaging 1st US carbon neutral winery

All that environmental stuff is great, but really, how does it taste? Gerry brought out a copy of The Wine Trials, which listed 150 top wines under $15 based on blind taste tests. The 2005 Sustainable Red finished #2 in New World reds. The 2007 Sustainable White was #1 in New World whites. Not bad, eh? Messy started with the whites while Picky tried the reds. We really liked all the offerings. The sustainables were nice, the 2005 True Grit Petite Sirah had some oomph to it and the 2006 Deep Red (Merlot) was Messy's favorite and of course, it's not available in PLCB stores. (On a related note, check out this article about the apparent stigma associated with organic wines.)

An interesting part of the festival was the PLCB store right in the middle of it all. You could take your cards with PLCB codes on it and buy what you liked right then and there. Easy moneymaker for sure.

Our merry group kept our eyes on the clock for the 7:00 Möet & Chandon Nectar Imperial tasting back in VIP. It's actually our favorite bubbly. It's sweeter and juicy instead of the extra brut that many like. The twist was that they were served on ice with a lime, a champagne cocktail of sorts.

Along with the champagne were chocolates from Antoine Amrani Chocolates based out of King of Prussia.

There were about a dozen different flavors of bit sized chocolates available. Here's a list of some of their signature flavors. Amrani offers tours and tastings at their facility — we think we're gonna have to take a trek up there soonish to see everything behind the scenes.

After a couple of hours, Picky had to get going for a photo gig down in South Philly so we had to say goodbye to all the wine and our velvet rope area. We didn't leave empty handed though. Our awesome gift bag — which was a 6-bottle wine tote — was filled with goodies. A rotary foil cutter, Built neoprene wine caddy, a wine stopper and the newest Philly Mag.

The ramps were foraged by a friend of mine and his friend, LJ and Lou, in Chester County. Where you ask? They could tell you, but then they'd surely have to kill you – perhaps even before they told you. Locations for ramps, which grow wild, are like old family recipes or locations for chanterelle and morel mushrooms. Closely guarded secrets which one can enjoy the fruits of, but never can the secrets be revealed. The asparagus from Buzby Farm in South Jerz. The shiitake from the mushroom capital of the world, Kennett Square. The eggs from the man with 16 heritage breeds of pastured hens, Mark Skinner of Natural Meadows Farm.

I melted some unsalted butter in a pan and dropped in the ramp bulbs (3 or 4) to cook for a minute and then added in the asparagus slices (3 or 4 spears). A pinch of fleur de sel and fresh cracked pepper are added to the mix. Let the ingredients cook for another minute and add in a handful of sliced shiitake (I have big hands and love the strong flavor of shiitake) and another pat of butter into the pan. Toss them around for another minute. Sometime around when you add the mushrooms to the pan, start up another flame for your eggs. I love cast iron for eggs and I cook them in unsalted butter, always. Lightly beat the eggs with some salt and pepper and few sprigs of chopped chives if you have them handy. Once the pan is hot, pour in the eggs and stir them around a bit to get them cooking. Slivered up some Hillacres Pride habanero cheddar with a veggie peeler and spread it over the cheese. Now I add in the ramp leaves to the pan of veggies to wilt them. Above is a shot of all the veggies removed from heat for a sec for me to get a pic in.

After a final minute of sauteeing, add all the veggies atop the eggs and let them warm up the cheese below. Fold over the other edge and presto, you've got an omelet fit for a king.

Vanilla cake with peanut butter buttercream.

Chocolate cake with Ghiradelli chocolate ganache.

Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

Banana cake with Nutella buttercream.

Chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream.

If you haven't had a cupcake from Kate, aka the Cupcake Lady, you're bonkers. Find out where to get them here. She'll be driving around town all week and her cakes are in stores. The Cupcake Lady is a goddess in M&P's heart of hearts.

Here's a duck egg, a chicken egg and duck egg in a row to give a sense of scale. It's the same size as a chicken egg. But there is a big difference: the feel of the actual egg. The exterior of the shell is a lovely satiny texture as if a chicken egg was sanded down.

The duck eggs are either a very light creamy brown or a very light greenish color with splotches of white throughout like in the egg above.

Side by side, the cracked eggs are the same size. The duck egg's yolk is just slightly bigger, but not by much in this case. I think it's just a slightly smaller egg and not proportionately bigger than the chicken egg. But the white is very clear, just like with goose eggs.

I fried it up just as I would a chicken egg: in a cast iron skillet with butter, salt and pepper. They taste exactly the same to me. I had two duck eggs in the last 2 weeks and I can't taste a significant difference in them to the über awesome Natural Meadows chicken eggs I've been eating for the last year and change, but those are some super eggs. I've had other people tell me they think duck eggs are the strongest out of chicken, duck and goose; not me. But the shells themselves are the prettiest by far. The mottled color, the silky finish…

Mallard duck eggs are available at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market for $6.50 a dozen.

Anybody out there have one of these as well? Any favorite things to make on it? Picky is not a fan of pancakes so he won't be making any of those. The griddle sits very low on our rage so it's hard to see just how high the flame is underneath. It's gonna take a little bit of getting used to, but given our experience with cast iron cookware, we should get the hang of this beast fairly easily. This is going to be a great alternative to firing up an outdoor grill and this one's all season!

Messy had an event that morning, but I trekked up to Liberties Walk (late as per usual) with a big container full of my take on Metropolitan's chocolate chip, sour cherry and sea salt cookies. Mine use regular dried cherries (I can't find sour cherries anywhere, have you seen them?) and they're much much smaller and chewier than the crusty and delicious original. I was also, of course, sorely unprepared and had no baggies for the cookies, but e was at the ready and gave me a bunch of bags to stuff while she twisty tied them shut.

Above is a shot of her incredibly delicious cookies n cream whoopie pies. They're eyes rolling back into your head good. I didn't have enough room in my bag to take along some Elvis cake, but I've had it before and can attest to their awesomeness. I did, however, have just enough room to take two whoopie pies home.

About 4 long tables held up a bevvy of baked goods. Cupcakes, cookies, cakes, pretzels, granola… everything! It was ridiculously windy and stuff kept flying off the table. Nothing was damaged though – soft baked goods can take a tumble and still be delicious!

These (sort of) Lithuanian Easter breads looked interesting. They were the most foreign item to me on the table, but I didn't have room for them in my stuffed bag.

Some people cheated and had graphic designers make up gorgeous cards for their treats to make them extra special looking. So what if the trained graphic designers were the actual people behind tastebuds and tidbits, that's still cheating.

Here's a look at Marisa's pints of granola. One lady exclaimed "I want just pour it down my mouth it looks so good!" as Marisa, e and I were standing not 5' away from the jars.

After an hour or so, the sun started to peek down Liberties Walk and brighten up those cold shadows. More and more people trickled in seeking out the bake sale along with the people who happily stumbled into it unknowingly.

Another Oreo-themed baked good.

Thank you to everyone who came out to help out, bake and of course, eat!

e's posted a rundown of bloggers who have already signed up to bake for the event and there are more on the list and more to come. Picky's going to bake some cookies for the event. They might be e's famous coconut, toffee, almond, crunch cookies a.k.a. the most delicious cookies in the entire world or some chocolate chip, dried cherries, sea salt cookies. While e's given her blessing to bake her cookies and hawk them in front of her own workplace, we'll see how comfortable we are to go ahead and do so .

See you there!

National Food Bloggers Bake Sale: Philadelphia
A Full Plate Cafe
1009 N. Bodine St Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 627.4068
Saturday April 17, 10a – 3p

I picked up two of these beauties at Fair Food in RTM last week. We got them in on Thursday and they're $3 a pop. The eggs are 4.5" from end to end (3" tall) and 7.5" around the waist. I don't have a scale handy, but it's roughly 0.5lbs or so, maybe a little more 0.40lbs. It's a little heavier than 3 chicken eggs in my unscientific kitchen test. The color of the eggs range from stark white to a scratchy light brown like in the photo above. I don't know exactly what kind of goose the eggs are from, but I'll find out and update the post.

Here's a chicken egg (from Natural Meadows Farm as previously posted about) in front of the goose egg.

After cracking a chicken egg and a goose egg, I compared the shells. The goose egg shell on the left is the bottom piece so the top piece is the narrower, longer part. Without a micrometer handy, I'd say the goose egg was fully twice as thick as the chicken egg and that chicken egg is pretty thick. When I hit the egg on the side of the bowl for the first time, it basically laughed at me. And this is coming from a guy who's now very very used to cracking an egg pretty hard from these much thicker shelled farm fresh eggs. A couple more clangs and I had it.

So here they are side by side. Yes, I know, they're not perfect comparison vessels, but I think many people are familiar with those small, glass prep bowls (4" wide) and your basic cereal bowl (6" wide). The goose egg's yolk is about the size of the whole chicken egg. The albumen of the goose egg was so remarkably clear. After seeing how cloudy an emu egg was [see here], I expected this egg to be closer to that. But it was just as clear, if not clearer, than a chicken egg. Based on how it tasted and the texture, I'd say it had more water content in the albumen, but didn't taste watered down.

A glory shot of the French table bread.

So here's your average Lodge Pro-Logic 10" cast iron skillet; my favorite cooking vessel. It takes up about 80% of the pan.

I broke the yolk and flipped it. The yolk bled out a little bit and took up even more of the remaining 20% of the pan.

Here's your basic egg sandwich I made for Messy. A fried egg with some cheddar and Oldwick Shepherd (mold ripened sheep's milk, cave-aged 3-4 months from Valley Shepherd Creamery). Note, her sandwich is on Metropolitan's multi-grain loaf which is a tad bigger than the French table bread, but basically the same size.

Here's the fried egg on your average plate (not a full sized dinner plate), with 2 smallish slices of bread. This sucker was huge. But how did it taste? It wasn't different from a chicken egg to me. If anything, it wasn't quite as tasty as the Natural Meadows eggs. I'm just spoiled by them really. I'm told that goose eggs are richer than your average egg, more sulfury, but the Natural Meadows eggs are just unreal. But that's not to say that the goose egg wasn't tasty – it was delicious. The albumen turned a very white white and fluffed up nicely. I have one more goose egg to try out (Messy vehemently refused to eat a goose egg) so I'll be scrambling one up soon. I hit this fried egg with a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to bring out the flavors. Then I dabbed a couple drops of El Yucateco for a little tingle on the lips which is how I love my eggs.

We got a bunch in on Thursday, but I have no idea how many are left for the next week. Call the farmstand to see if there are any for you: 215.627.2029.