Buck Moon

This Friday, July 15th at 2:39:36 am (EDT) the moon will be in it's full phase. The July full moon is aka "Hay Moon' and 'Buck Moon'. You say you will be sleeping? Before you nod off under the brightness in the sky, you may want to consider the magical occurrences that take place during a full moon. I'm not talking folklore like werewolves or the loony effect on human or animal behavior—I'm referring to the making of a great artisanal cheese.

One Monday night in February under a full moon, using milk just coaxed from the cow, Tim Welsh and Pat Ford decided to skip the pasteurization process and stay up late to make cheese, while the milk was most fresh. After letting it age 60 days (a federal health requirement for unpasteurized milk cheese) and giving it a final approving taste test, they named the cheese Beehive's Full Moon Cheddar and hit the market running. The cheese is made with clean, raw milk from Wadeland South Dairy. Full Moon Cheddar carries earthy flavor undertones that reflect the unique four season climate of their farm in Utah.

Celebrate this lunar phase with a full moon late night picnic. Serve Beehive Full Moon Cheese—a Good Stuff pick—with my spiced nuts, a good crisp rose, and sliced crunchy baguette bread. Just kick back and enjoy the magical power of the summer solstice.

Meal Monday

Getting your oatmeal is a wee bit easier these days. The term Meal Monday originated in old-school Scotland to allow university students to return to their families farms and collect more oats for food. Today, it's as easy as a trip to the market and then the thirty minutes for it to cook. I'd say well worth the time and effort to make a good-for-you breakfast, starting a chilly Monday morning off on the right foot. Oatmeal, not just limited to Mondays.

Steel-Cut Oats are freshly milled from high protein oats and cut into neat little pieces on a steel buhr mill. Steel Cut Oats are one of the healthiest foods you can eat and they make a delightful, full-bodied hot cereal with an appealing texture. Bob's Red Mill

Authentically Greek

Opa! Great way to start your morning. Great quality ingredient. Chobani Greek Yogurt, it's the real deal. And the list of benefits are as long as the ingredients not added. 

All natural. No preservatives. No artificial flavors, synthetic growth hormones: No rBST-treated milk, includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics. Made with real fruit. Twice the protein of regular yogurts. A good source of bone-building calcium. Gluten-Free and Kosher-Certified. Safe for people with corn, nut and soy allergies.

Chobani's story begins with its owner, Hamdi, who was born and raised in Turkey; and is a third-generation maker of Mediterranean foods. He started AgroFarma with the vision of bringing high quality, all-natural products to the U.S.. After reaching quick success with Euphrates; authentic feta cheese, Hamdi launched Chobani and formed an expert team. Chobani's Master Yogurt Maker, Mustafa Dogan, custom blends special yogurt cultures just for Chobani.

"Mustafa's custom blends special yogurt cultures; we add these to the milk that we receive daily from local farms to make yogurt. We then strain this yogurt to make it outrageously creamy and ridiculously high in protein.

Did you know it takes three pounds of milk to make one pound of Chobani?"

Next the yogurt is strained to remove excess liquid. This magical step is what puts the ”Greek” in Chobani Greek Yogurt and makes the yogurt so outrageously creamy and rich.

It's made in the authentic Greek tradition, in New York State and available throughout the U.S.



Available at Whole Foods.