The Cream Cheese Saga

About a week ago I brought up the topic of Cream Cheese - specifically about the availability of non-Kraft produced cream cheese. We are gradually working all Kraft products out of our lives (see the list available of companies being held hostage by Monsanto) and while we don't count a lot of Kraft products as staples, this sure was one!

I learned that the blocks sold by the Amish people are Kraft; I learned that Breakstone is Kraft; and I learned that the cream cheeses sold with bagels at bagel shops are mostly Kraft.

I also learned that the French cheese, Neufchâtel, is very much like creamed cheese with less fat. But unless you buy it from France, the Neufchâtel available in the U.S. is - wait for it - made by Kraft!

Thanks to some friends, I do have a couple of pretty straightforward recipes for home made cream cheese, which I'll definitely be trying soon. But thanks to our Headhouse Farmers Market this past Sunday I have a couple of other - delicious - options.

Below is a picture of "Quark" produced by the creamery at Hillacres Pride in Peach Bottom PA. It is delicious and really just like cream cheese - I have already tried it in all my favorite preparations! Also, our friends at Birchrun Hills creamery (makers of Fat Cat and a number of other fabulous local cheeses) want me to try their "creamy cheese" - which they tout as a perfect substitute for the Kraft stuff. So next week will be the taste test for that.

I should have known to start with the folks who produce real food!