For The Love Of Chocolate Milk

Organic. Pasture raised. Bovine growth hormone free. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Well, truthfully, it isn't all delicious. It isn't all organic or pasture raised or hormone free. In the dairy industry, there are various certifications and specifications and available loop holes to being labeled organic. Horizon brand hit a snafu when some people questioned whether they were stretching the loop holes a bit, awhile back. I've had their milk, it's fine. But it isn't delicious in my opinion. It's thin and weak as milk goes. Tastes like I'm drinking the old style grocery store skim milk that always had a blueish hue to it, back in the 70's and 80's.

When our restaurant wanted to start using organic dairy products in our cooking, we tested several options in the local and nationally available market. Quality was the highest priority, followed by cost, delivery options, and shelf life. None satisfied us on every count. Plus, I really wanted to support a local farm here in NC. So we kept looking and came upon Bowman Dairy in Julian, NC. Their milk is sold under the brand name Homeland Creamery. They couldn't have chosen a more perfect product name. Their farm reminds me of America's homeland, thru and thru. An idealic setting, with cows feeding in the pasture, tractors, milking facilities, silos, and a few goats, dogs, and other farm animals roaming around. And talk about creamy. Their product arrives daily with a thick head at the top of each bottle, just like when Irvin Weaver used to deliver to the milk box on my grandfather's back porch in Pennsylvania. They deliver butter, cream, half and half, buttermilk, whole milk, skim, eggnog, and ice cream. They also carry other products like free range chicken eggs, Tennessee cheeses, local sausage, and soap to clean up with afterwards.

But it's their chocolate milk that is to die for. Literally. Go make yourself a milkshake with thick creamy ice cream, milk, and chocolate sauce. Go ahead. I'll wait. ....... Okay, now that's what Homeland Creamery's chocolate milk tastes like naturally. It is the thickest, richest chocolate milk I have ever tasted. And tasted. And tasted. We don't serve chocolate milk in our restaurant. However, the good folks at Homeland Creamery know how much my staff enjoys their chocolate milk, and occassionally, a quart or so will show up in our service cooler. The first staff member to find it, gleefully breaks out cups and pours for everyone else. Aaaaaaaaah!

If you're ever passing thru North Carolina, it would be worth the side trip to Julian. The dairy offers tours an hour and a half tour at 10 am for $6 per person, Monday thru Saturday, March thru mid-November. The tour consists of a hay ride, visits thru the pastures, to the bottle fed baby calves, to the milking parlor, and ending at the creamery for samples of some ice cream. The tour is geared toward children with an emphasis on the fact that 'food is a product of a farm, and is not just a product of a local grocery store.' A corn maze is added in the fall. Phone ahead for tour reservations. http://www.homelandcreamery.com/dairy-farm-tours.html

Directions from Greensboro:(From I-40 E) - Take 421 South exit (Sanford), also called Martin Luther King Hwy -Go about 14 miles on Hwy 421 South-Take Hwy 62 N. Exit (High Point/ Burlington)-Turn left at end of exit ramp onto 62 North-Go 1/2 mile to stop sign-Turn right (which is still Hwy 62 N. ( which merges with Liberty Rd for 1/2 mile)-Go only 1/2 mile and turn left onto Hwy 62 again (follow signs)(people have missed this turn before)- Go about 4-5 miles and Bowman Dairy Rd. is on the left-Turn left (Homeland Creamery sign) onto Bowman Dairy Rd.

Directions from Winston Salem:(From I –40 West)- Take I-40 E towards Greensboro- Take 421 South exit (Sanford) also called Martin Luther King Hwy (turn right at end of ramp away from downtown)-Go about 14 miles on Hwy 421 South-Take Hwy 62 Exit (High Point/ Burlington)-Turn left at end of exit ramp (62 North)-Go 1/2 mile to stop sign-Turn right (which is still Hwy 62 North which merges with Liberty Rd for 1/2 mile)-Go only 1/2 mile and turn left onto Hwy 62 again (follow signs)(people have missed this turn before)- Go about 4 miles and Bowman Dairy Rd. is on the left-Turn left at Homeland Creamery sign onto Bowman Dairy Rd