One of my close childhood friends is now a large animal veterinarian assistant, working with cows, horses and other large animals. She lives on her family’s farm, where she’s recently begun bottle feeding a one-month-old, 200-pound calf named Bessie. Farmers don’t usually name cattle, but Bessie’s destiny is greater.

Cows have to bottle fed when their mammas die, so my friend has become a surrogate momma to little orphan Bessie. Bessie loves it when my friend gives her bottles.

Bessie also loves having the underside of her neck scratched. My friend figures that calves usually get nuzzling and other TLC from their mammas, so it’s only natural that a calf would enjoy getting a little bit of scratching and cuddling from her human mamma (and her human mamma’s smalltowngirl friend).

In this shot, Bessie’s getting her hips scratched by my friend. Seriously, how happy does Bessie look right here?

My grandparents had a cattle farm, but I was too young then to remember much about it now. Many thanks to my friend for teaching me so much about cows on Saturday, and for letting me come out to play with her and Bessie. Thanks to Bessie for the adorable photo opps.

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MORE Small Town Girl’s Guide writings about cows:

Milk and Cookies

Exes, Cows and Almondine

Baetje Farms Brie, photo by smalltowngirl

I met one of the owners on Saturday at the Apple Butter Festival in Kimmswick, Missouri, and was able to taste several flavors of Baetje brie before deciding to take home dark chocolate brie and brie with cranberry and oranges.

Tasting Baetje Farms Brie, photo by smalltowngirl

The owner of the farm suggested that the cranberry and orange brie would be great used in stuffed pork or chicken, and that the dark chocolate brie would be great with brownies. I spent my Sunday afternoon and evening experimenting on my parents with both suggestions.

The verdict: even my dad, who was raised on a cattle farm and is a good old steak and potato man raved about the chicken. Unfortunately, I was so anxious to eat the chicken that I forgot to photograph it. I’ll definitely be using the recipe again.

Dark Chocolate Brie brownies, photo (and brownies) by smalltowngirl

My mom, who didn’t care for the dark chocolate cheese on crackers, LOVED it in the brownies. I will, without a doubt, purchase more Baetje Farms brie, and it’s my recommendation that you do, too.

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For more information about Baetjie Farms, visit their website at www.baetjefarms.com.

You can find Baetje Farms cheeses at the Soulard Farmers Market, the Clayton Farmers Market, and the Kirkwood Farmers Market. Baetje Farms can also be found at many of Ste. Genevieve’s wineries and restaurants. See their website for a full list of vendors.

Dear FTC: Baetje Farms gives samples to everyone when they’re out at events like the Apple Butter Festival, so I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as a freebie to get me to blog about them.

Baetje Farms, photo by smalltowngirl