Well technically speaking, we bought a share of a cow through Two Sparrows Farm. Under our herd share arrangement, we let Dan and Whitney Belprez deal with the heavy lifting; boarding, milking, caring for the cow, sterilizing the milk jars, transporting the milk, etc. while Hanna and I focus our attention towards the high responsibility of consuming the milk. I must say that we are really enjoying holding up our end of the bargain!
If you aren’t aware of what a herd share is, my anecdote may be a bit confusing. A herd share is an agreement in which a person owns a share of a herd, which is cared for by the farmer. Herd shares are currently the only legal way to obtain access to fresh, unprocessed, whole milk in the State of Michigan. Participating in a herd share provides a delicious and simple way to shift your food dollars towards the local economy.
Our milk share has led to some creative additions to our cooking routines. Hanna started making her own yogurt, I infinitely improved my chocolate cake recipe, and we both have been experimenting with making paneer – to varying levels of success. The milk share is shaking up our cooking while offering us another way to connect to our environment and our community. We are pretty excited about this new adventure. Interested in participating? Learn more
The images above serve to document one of the more successful attempts at making paneer.
