Happy {snowy} Friday!

“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.”

– Mother Teresa

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Image by Lore Pemberton

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Welcome, December and the Season of Hope. We started Advent last week and I'm always grateful for the reminder of the need for quiet, peace and patience in this Season. On days where it's all feeling like too much, I try to stop and reflect on the real meaning of all of this. And also remind myself that whatever I have to give right now is enough. And that goes for you, too! Give what you can and call it good. It's not productive or helpful to compare (a statement on repeat in my mind). My hope for all of us is to enjoy this month of December, however simple or busy it is!

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In an effort to help simplify your Holiday shopping, we're extending farm shoppe hours through December. Because Saturdays seem to fill up so quickly this time of year, we're offering you a chance to stop by the farm shoppe on Sunday afternoons from 1pm until 4pm. We have so much available for your Holidays (including fresh eggnog with giftable glass quarts starting December 15) and want to give you the chance to get your shopping done without the chaos of filled Saturdays. Sunday afternoons are usually slower, so it's a better chance to look around and take your time. We can't wait to see you this Holiday Season.

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In speaking of the farm shoppe, we're so excited to bring back the gelato flavor that started it all: CINNAMON MASCARPONE PECAN. I posted this story to Instagram earlier this week, but we started all of our Microdairy journey in the most humble way. And the gelato was no different. In November of 2021, we didn't own a gelato machine and had no idea about churning methods. We found a friend in the ice cream world, Meredith at Brandy Camp Creamery in St. Mary's, who so kindly agreed to churn our gelato base in her fancy machine and guide us through the process of making our first ice creams. Besides vanilla and chocolate, I came up with the idea of cinnamon mascarpone pecan: a rich, flavorful holiday flavor perfect as a companion to a slice of pie. Though I was nervous to formulate a recipe in such a large batch, we went for it. And Meredith's reaction gave us the confidence to really go for it. She said "this is amazing, you guys" after trying a spoonful. And coming from a real ice cream maker, we knew we were onto something. So fast forward to now, and we're unveiling the flavor that started it all for the 3rd year in a row, and it's seriously as delicious as ever. Our creamy gelato base is flavored with mascarpone cheese and cinnamon, and the finished product is swirled with pralined pecans. It's a taste of the Holiday Season, and we're so proud to bring it back this weekend!  Oh, and we restocked our Biscoff cookie butter, too (I know how much you all love it)!

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We're excited to see you at the farm shoppe this weekend (Saturday 10am until 2pm AND Sunday 1pm until 4pm) and every weekend in December to stock up on all your Holiday dairy favorites and gifts for everyone on your list!

Links + finds from the week:

• It's the season, so let's make sea salt caramels!
• The sweetest podcast has an advent series! I'm listening right now.
• Did you see our cookies + milk for Santa preorder? It's the perfect sweet treat for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Grab yours before they're gone! Two beautifully decorate cookies and a pint of our milk will be available for pickup starting the week before Christmas.
• In case you think my farm kids are proper, one of them is asking Santa for a fart gun. Go ahead and add it, Moms: we're in this together.
• I shared this week my choice to make cinnamon bread bites (ie Monkey Bread) instead of cinnamon rolls and how much easier it was! The kids already requested it for Christmas morning.

Happy December, friends. We're so glad you're here.

xx,

Lisa