Filed under: Organic dairy
Michael Pollan, the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” spoke over the past weekend in Madison, Wi, and protesters from Big Ag gathered to disrupt and derail the conversations. Blogger Jill Richardson gives us a view of the protests and the conversations in her post at Daily Kos, and in her own blog, La Vida Locavore.
Filed under: Organic dairy | Tags: pasture butter, pastureland, Runners World
We don’t like to refer to our award winning Summer Gold butter as “spread”, but hey, we’ll take it. Thanks Runners World!
Good for You
Fat-wary runners should give butter a second chance: Pasture butter is made from the milk of cows that graze on fresh grass in the summer. It’s rich in vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium. Studies have found it contains more cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and a healthier ratio of heart-protective omega-3 and 6 fatty acids than traditional butter.
Get the Best
Organic Valley produces an 84 percent butterfat pasture butter. “The low moisture concentrates nutrients and flavor,” says Organic Valley’s Tripp Hughes. PastureLand and Organic Pastures also sell the spread (find it in the organic aisle). Store butter in the fridge for up to four months or freeze it up to a year.
Kitchen Simple
Like most butter, pasture butter has seven grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, so use it sparingly. Try it in lightly seasoned dishes, where its rich flavor will be the focus. Add a pat to a bowl of steamed vegetables, like green beans, corn, or peas. Or brush melted butter on white fish fillets, like halibut, before grilling.
Filed under: Organic dairy | Tags: Anne Mendelson, butter, food, grass-fed, Inc, local, Nina Planck, organic, pastureland, Restaurant Guys Radio, The Surprising Story of Milk
One of our favorite podcasts is Restaurant Guys Radio. They’ve had everyone from fine dining and cocktail experts (cocktailians!), to people from our world like Nina Planck on grass-fed nutrition for nursing mothers and babies, and Andrew Zimmern, to the guys who made the new movie Food, Inc. These guys operate two fine dining restaurants in New Brunswick, NJ, Catherine Lombardi and Stage Left. Next time are even close we’ll be detouring there to check them out.
On the September 14 show they had the author of one of our favorite new books, Anne Mendelson, talking about “The Surprising Story of Milk”
If you are at interested in milk beyond the shelf at the grocery store you will love this book. Dairy trivia galore, tons of cool info on butter, and dozens of interesting recipes.
Oh yeah, and at the end of the podcast there is a little plug for PastureLand butter. We sent them samples earlier in the summer, and they talk about (well, laugh about) the lengths we went to get on their radar. It’s always fun to talk with people who are enthusiastic about food, and these guys are over the top enthusiastic! Very fun podcast.
Filed under: Organic dairy | Tags: butter, Chef Shack, grass-fed, MInneapolis, organic, pastureland, Tasting Table, Tim McKee
Tasting Table is a prominent New York City food blog that covers all kinds of cool/delicious food things all over the country. We smiled when this came over the wires the other day. 
Pretty heady company – these are some amazing butters. If you haven’t tried the Vermont sea salt crystal butter, make a point to track some down, it is amazing!
A couple days after this post, Tasting Table did a whole feature on “Hipness in the Heartland” mentioning some of our favorite places and chefs, in particular Chef Tim McKee, and the Chef Shack at Mill City Market.
So much good food, so few meals…
Filed under: Organic dairy | Tags: calf, cow, girl, Goodhue County Fair, grass-fed dairy, minnesota, organic, pastureland
One of the fun parts about PastureLand is watching the kids pic up farm skills as they grow up. Some of them have even gone on to farm on their own!
Emily had a great year at Goodhue County Fair, and brought in a zillion ribbons. 
The first pic is Emily showing her calf, Abby.
Calvin got in the act, too. The second pic is Calvin judging the ice cream, he gave it a blue ribbon.
The third pic is Emily ready to show here bull calf calf, Colors. Beautiful speckled cow! Colors is one of famous PastureLand cow Missy’s grandsons.
