The day after Labor Day, I drove out to the dairy farm to pick up our three gallons and eggs. The dairy had closed down. No warning. Nothing, but a vague sign letting me know I wasn’t going to be able to get milk there. Talk about a shock. What happen to a good old fashioned notice? With no milk in the fidge, I was off to the store.

Let’s just say Sofia was not pleased with this latest turn of events that led us down the dairy aisle. She went straight from breastmilk to raw milk, and only had store milk occasionally when we were out of town, with mixed reviews depending on just how hungry she was. As the week drug on, she was not drinking much of the store milk, and getting grumpier by the day.

By the end of the week, I was starting to get desperate to get things back to normal and have my girls wanting to drink milk that wasn’t doctored. With desperation and dread, we located a dairy almost an hour away. I was not looking forward to the drive, especially since milk carpooling didn’t seem like it would work out.

This new dairy was like a revelation. Since the dairy provided milk for yogurt and cheese making, as well as herd shares, the dairy was USDA Grade A inspected. No GMOs. A cool little bonus. It was like another world. The whole milking and storage process was closed – from the cows to temporary storage to my jars. Their new barn is beautiful. The cows were so friendly. Our girls loved the cows and barn kittens. We were impressed with the operation and ready to get life back in order, so we went ahead and signed up for a year.

When we got home, Michael poured himself a glass of milk. Sofia begged. He shared. She smiled big and begged some more – completely with with the bouncing dance normally reserved for chocolate. Someone was happy. Not sure how much of that first glass Michael actually got to drink. Did I mention that this dairy’s milk tastes so much better the milk from the old dairy (which was yummier than store milk)? Well, it does. It was a happy surprise.

Things are getting back to normal. I’ve made yogurt and ricotta. We had breakfast for dinner last night featuring ricotta pancakes. Ana Maria ate more than I did. A win.

I’ve got to get back to skimming cream so I can make butter. And I might just try my hand at cream cheese soon.