Results tagged “home delivery” from Wicked Flavory

Crescent Ridge Dairy

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I'm not a huge chocolate milk fan, but Haven picked up some Crescent Ridge chocolate milk recently at the Whole Foods on Prospect in Cambridge -- and he loved it.

A blast from the past, Crescent Ridge does home delivery throughout the Boston metro area.  (When I was growing up in Des Moines in the 1970's, we used to get our milk delivered.  I didn't think any company still did this.)  They also bottle their milk in glass bottles, which are returnable, recyclable, or reusable. We're using ours as a vase.

crescent ridge milk bottle.jpgThe company's Web site says, "all Crescent Ridge milk is from cows not treated with the rBST growth hormone." Its homepage also has pictures of cows munching on grass out in a field -- but I wanted to make sure this wasn't just propaganda, so I emailed Crescent Ridge to ask about the cows' diet and access to pasture.

Marketing Manager Brad took the time to respond: "The cows are treated very well.  All of our whole milk comes from the Howrigan Farm up in Northern Vermont and is a very awarded farm.  The have 500 head of Holstein that are fed corn grown on their property.  The cows are also out in the Pasteur to feed on grass through the day.  None of the cows are treated with growth hormones to increase the milking.  Our Skim milk comes from various different farms in the Vermont area from a Coop called St. Albans.  Crescent Ridge Dairy pays a premium to receive milk that comes from cows that are not treated with growth hormones.  St Albans has many inspections to the farms that are part of the coop to make sure the quality is of the highest."  Thanks, Brad!


We received our first order from Boston Organics this week.  In the box: grapefruit, oranges, apples, pears, bananas, broccoli, spinach, sprouts, a butternut squash, a bell pepper, a tomato, and an avocado. Right now we're getting their smallest box, half fruit and half veg, every other week -- though we may change this to every week if we live up to our plans to cook more in the new year.

I'm excited by the prospect of not knowing exactly what's going to show up at the door with each delivery. It's almost like a little Iron Chef show right in my own kitchen: "Secret ingredient is... butternut squash!"  To make things easier, Boston Organics includes several recipes for the items in the box. On this week's menu? Spiced squash stew with couscous, spiced sweet potato fries (people ordering larger boxes received yams), and tangy broccoli.  We decided to take the stew for a test drive.

The raw materials from Boston Organics:

squash stew raw materials.jpgAnd the final product:

squash stew.jpgThe recipe definitely lived up to our expectations, so we'll be game to try the others.

The low down on Boston Organic's goods: "We buy locally as much as possible. During the late spring, summer, and fall, alot of the produce comes from Vermont, Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. However, because of a limited growing season, difficult growing conditions, scarce labor pool, and suburban development, the organic wholesale market in New England is limited. As a result, a large portion comes from California. Tropical fruit, such as bananas and mangoes, comes from organic farms in Central and South America."