There are lots of great options for organic, locally or regionally grown food in Chicago these days but there are still times when I'm out of milk and have to go without or make a special trip to a store for it. Since I have a caffeine habit (that I could break if I wanted to do so, but I don't, apparently), this issue comes up pretty regularly - and there's nothing like that caffeine-less headache to motivate me to get to the store.
The milk available at the area grocery stores, however, is not that great as far as taste or quality - at least not in the same ballpark as our farm share produce or eggs anyhow. Target and Jewel have brands that are supposedly organic, and maybe they are better than the average dairy products, or maybe they're not (that's for another entry). And, sure, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's milk "says" it's organic but it is still trucked all around the country to their stores, as far as I know.
We get the best milk from an Illinois dairy called Kilgus Farms - which is a family-owned farm that is organic and ethical and raises their cattle the way they were when I was a kid: on pasture land. Generally, we get this awesome milk delivered to our door via another amazing organic company, Farm Fresh Foodstuffs.
This amazing small company delivers organic food of ALL types TO YOUR DOOR! You can see what's available on their website, find great deals, seasonal and specialty items and learn all about the folks who make and grow the food on their website. They deliver twice a week in the city of Chicago as well as in the suburbs (and I'll write more about them another day as well).
My point is that I'm not always ready to put in an order (even though you only need a $20 order with Farm Fresh Foodstuffs to get free delivery) and I'm often SANS milk, which means SANS caffeine, which means SAD FACE.
So when I stopped into the nearby newly opened mushroom store and saw Kilgus Farms milk for sale in their cooler, next to lots of mushrooms, Nueske bacon, cheeses and other goodies, I was elated. I can now find the BEST organic milk only a few short blocks from home!
I picked up some mushrooms to put in a fried rice and grabbed some stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer this past Monday, as I had a friend coming over for dinner. The stuffed mushrooms were excellent and the bag of mixed 'shrooms were delish in the main dish too.
They grow mushrooms year-round, five different varieties to be exact: Portabella, Crimini (aka Baby Bella), White Button, Shiitake and Oyster.
River Valley Farmer's Table has MORE THAN just mushrooms - and I can't wait to go back and try some of their soups, sandwiches etc. - as they serve breakfast and lunch. What a great find - and just down the street from our house!!
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