Being a steady customer at a local business absolutely has it's benefits. Not only are you helping your local economy directly, they generally take awesome care of you as a customer.

Patrick and Tad at D&R Market have really been bringing in a lot of good, new stuff recently. One of the new lines they've added is Traders Point Creamery's grass-fed dairy products. We've been buying quite a bit of the milk and yogurt, and the stuff is seriously flat-out awesome. We'd been asking about grass-fed beef as well, but Patrick said the Traders Point guy told him they don't like to sell the beef at retail because people tend to overcook it and then blame the beef for sucking. Well, Patrick knows we know our beef, so...

... they scored us some. :D And, oh yes, it is GOOD STUFF. We received a pair of rib eye steaks, some New York Strip, and a 2 1/2# chuck roast. The strips and the roast went into the freezer and last night we scarfed down the rib eyes. Oh boy - if you've never had grass-fed beef, you definitely need to try it. It doesn't taste radically different than corn/grain-fed stuff, but there is a slightly sweeter taste, and the texture is heartier. The overall difference makes it, IMO, way superior to grain-fed - and this beef is very, very good. And of course, if you believe in the health benefits of grass-fed vs. grain-fed, well, it's even better.

Another thing is: Traders Point is also local - in fact, we're probably going to go to their restaurant soon and tour the farm too. I have to see what cows that taste that good look like. :D

Patrick also scored us some pork fat. Yeah, that's a subject for another post. :D