Holy Cows

It’s been a crazy month or so here at Rockhill. On the Saturday before Easter we got a call from our friend who’s been keeping Heide, Opal, and Bell at his place. We were sure that they were all open (not pregnant) when we took them over there in October. He told us that Opal (Ruby’s daughter) was ready to calve any day. That’s either the fastest gestation ever, or we missed something last fall. So we went and got her on Easter Sunday. She calved that next Wednesday (snowing and cold). We were scheduled to go to dinner at Deer Valley that night, but she went into labor just as we were getting ready to leave. We hung out for a while, and it became apparent that we needed to cancel for that week. After several hours of pretty intense labor, we realized the calf’s front legs were not where they belonged. After some adjustments (the calves front legs were wrapped up and behind his head), we helped her with the delivery of a tiny little bull calf. The calf was not doing well. It took us a week of tube feeding before we could get him to stand on his own. Then, at exactly one week old, he decided to get up and drink on his own. He’s been doing great ever since. 
 
 
 
Flint under the heat lamps. 
 
Iggy (Ingrid’s daughter) was next. She was due April 6th. We had rescheduled our Deer Valley dinner for April 2nd - again, snowing and cold, and were fairly sure that something would mess it up again. But Iggy held off. Then last Wednesday, the 9th, we had a very strong storm come in and it left 3 or 4 inches of snow. We were sure she’d be calving that day. But she waited until yesterday the 15th. We woke to a brand new calf laying beside her mother just outside our window. It was 42º and fairly calm. We got the calve dried off a bit and then Iggy took care of finishing the job. By 11 am it was snowing like crazy, again! Enough already! But we had a very healthy, beautiful heifer calf.  
 
 
 
Iggy taking care of her new baby girl.

We are happy to have some very committed wholesale customers who order significant amounts of cheese throughout the year. This spring we have been able to take a little time to get off the farm (yoohoo!) and visit a couple of restaurants that feature our cheese on their menus.  
The Mercury Cafe in Denver was our first stop. In early March, we were in town visiting family and took the opportunity to dine at the Mercury. Owner Marilyn Megenity has spent the last 25 years creating and sustaining her cafe. She is committed to creating a community gathering place with quality food, good music, theater, poetry and dance. Wow! It’s an eclectic, relaxed, delightful spot. If I could recognize a restaurant owner who walks the walk, it would be Marilyn. She is truly committed to supporting local food producers.  
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Marilyn and her staff. Being a couple of farm kids, we didn’t stay for Tango dancing which began after our bedtime.  
Last week, we were happy to visit the folks at Deer Valley Snow Park and Empire Canyon lodges and enjoy a fabulous fireside meal including Raclette cheese melted over the fire and served with traditional accompaniments of pickles, mustards, sausages and potatoes. Mmmmmmm. 
Jodie Rogers, executive chef, and her staff have got to be the nicest (and I think happiest) chefs I’ve ever met. They clearly love their work. But, hey, with a view of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains and access to the best skiing in the world all winter, who wouldn’t love working there? The people (and the food) are top notch.  
Jodie and Shane Symes, Empire Canyon Lodge chef, were nice enough to share their recipe for “Mountain Macaroni” featuring our Wasatch Mountain Gruyere. I love this macaroni. Thanks Jodie and Shane! (You can see a video of Jodie cooking the recipe on “Good Things Utah” at abc4.com. Just type “Mountain Macaroni” in the search window.) 
 
Mountain Macaroni 
 
10 1/2 Oz. Penne Half Cooked  
4 Oz. Unsalted Butter, Cubed  
1 Yellow Onion, Sliced  
5 Oz. Bacon, Diced  
7 Oz. Cream  
1 Bay Leaf  
Black Pepper, Fresh Ground  
4 Ounce Rockhill Gruyere Cheese, Grated  
2 Ounce Raclette, Grated  
Homemade Mustard to taste  
 
Boil the penne pasta in plenty of salted water until half cooked.  
Drain pasta and put into a buttered ovenproof or cast iron dish, dotting with 1 oz. of butter so the pasta does not stick.  
Sauté onions in 1 oz. of butter until soft.  
Add the bacon and cook until mixture starts to color.  
Remove from heat for a minute or so, add the cream, bay leaf and a ground of pepper.  
Return to the heat and gently simmer for a few more minutes.  
Remove from heat, discard the bay leaf.  
Add the cream sauce and the grated cheese to the penne pasta and mix.  
Add some Homemade Mustard to taste.  
Dot small pieces of butter on top of pasta.  
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until it bubbles and starts to turn golden brown  

Yep, we ended up getting another cow a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Chloe. She is a first calf heifer, she had calved the day before we picked her up from the same farm that Elsa and Ruby came from. It never makes for an easy first milking when the heifer calves before she gets a chance to get used to her new herd mates and surroundings, but we were really worried about our milk production coming into March. So we jumped at the chance and bought her anyway. We brought her and her new calf to our farm two weeks ago yesterday. And as we expected, had a real time of it getting her in the milk parlor that evening. But we did, no one worse for the wear. She calmed down and began coming in a bit quicker over the next 10 days and then last Sunday had a bit of a relapse. I was having a lot of trouble getting her in the head lock and I reached up to push her head down to go in, and wham, she got my hand between the top notch of her head and the cross bar of the head catch. That broke the 5th metacarpal of my right hand and did result in her learning a few new words that I’m hoping that she will not repeat. She has returned to good behavior though, and has moved into second place just behind Elsa as our best producer. We think that she will be a wonderful addition to the “girls” of Rockhill. The Xray tech at InstaCare said I had a “boxer’s fracture.” I told her I liked that much better than a “stupid farmer’s (who is plenty old enough to know better) fracture.”