meeting baby goats at big picture farm

During the first weekend in May we went to Big Picture Farm for their meet the kids (baby goats) event. 

Big Picture Farm is a small hillside goat dairy and farmstead confectionery and creamery located in southern Vermont. Their award-winning goat milk caramels and farmstead cheeses are made with fresh, raw, creamy goat’s milk from our herd of 40 healthy and happy, free-ranging companions. An Animal-Welfare-Approved farm, the health and happiness of their animals is the center around which their farm and farm products revolve. 

There was live music, lots of samples of all Big Picture Farm's delicious products and we got to meet + hold the adorable baby goats. It was such a beautiful day and we all had so much fun!

 

 

They also have a beautiful farmhouse available to rent that sleeps 16+ people, check it out here.

*   *   *

I'm wearing a Christy Dawn dress. It isn't available anymore, but they have so many other beautiful options to choose from! Every Christy Dawn piece is made by local artisans in Downtown Los Angeles, sewn with longevity in mind. They use deadstock fabric to minimize their environmental footprint, and instead of creating thousands of garments at a time, they sew a limited number of pieces, numbering every dress they make. I make an effort to support clothing brands like this when I make purchases.

spice cake

Tessa's Spice Cake - from the baking & dessert cookbook Sweet

Ingredients 
*all organic 

3/4 cup plus 2 tsp unsalted butter, at room temperature 
3/4 packed cup plus 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 

3/4 packed cup plus 1 tbsp light brown sugar 

finely grated zest of 1 large orange 

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream 

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1 tsp mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp malt vinegar or apple cider vinegar

confectioners' sugar, for dusting 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 375 F 

Grease a standard loaf pan & line with parchment paper, set aside 

Place the butter, both brown sugars and orange zest in the bowl on an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat until lightented and smooth but not too fluffy, you don't want to aerate the cake too much.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs by hand. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk again until smooth. 

Sift the mixed spice, flour and slat together into a seperate bowl and set aside.

In alternating batches and with the machine on medium-low speed, add a third of the egg-sour cream mixture to the creamed mixture, followed by a third of the sifted ingredients. Continue with the second and third batch, continuing to beat until combined. Stir the baking soda with the vinegar in a small bowl; it will fizz up a little, but that's fine. Add this to the mixture and as soon as everything is combined turn off the machine. Scrape the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Transfer the cake to a wire rack for about 15 minutes to cool slightly before inverting onto a cake plate. Set aside until completely cool, then dust with confectioners' sugar.

Slice & serve at room temperature - Enjoy!

opening day of the farmers market + maypole celebration

The Brattleboro Area Farmers' Market is southern Vermont's premier farmers' market featuring over fifty vendors who offer agricultural products, handmade crafts, and delicious prepared food. The Market is in Brattleboro on Saturday (May to October) & runs from 9am to 2pm plus there is live music every Saturday from 11am to 1pm. On opening day of the farmers market each year there is a maypole celebration, it's so much fun & we have gone with Ava every year - she loves it & each year as she gets older she experiences it different;y which is so cool to watch. This was Autumn's first year & she loved watching everything & the music as well. We got delicious food afterwards & enjoyed the beautiful weather - I was a wonderful family day.