When Anita and Peter de Boer moved from the Netherlands nearly twenty years ago they found themselves missing the authentic taste of cheese from their homeland. Dreaming of recapturing that taste, Anita began tinkering with gouda recipes at home, but the cheese always seemed to be missing something. On a trip to the Netherlands, Anita met a cheese maker who taught her the secrets to making a traditional Dutch gouda. Armed with the knowledge, Anita was finally able to reproduce the cheese of her homeland and add a few unique twists as well!
 

In 2010 Anita and Peter accomplished a dream. They opened their small 36-acre dairy in Rochester and the even smaller Tunawerth Creamery, which is run out of a garage-sized structure behind their house in Tenino. Although not certified, their small, family-owned dairy and creamery are run in accordance with organics standards. Their happy cows graze on the pastures in Rochester nearly year round and in the coldest months they are fed GMO-free barley that Anita and Peter harvest themselves.
 

Their gouda is made from raw milk and aged for 60 days. Look for their nettle, red pepper, and cumin goudas, as well as their ultra creamy cream cheese! Tunawerth also makes a low-pasteurized milk. The bottles are held at 145 degrees for 30 minutes. The low-pasteurization process kills bacteria but keeps all the beneficial enzymes in tact. Their yogurts are made from raw milk and are later heated as part of the thickening process. They even have a Greek yogurt with no additives. It’s made the old-fashioned way where the whey is strained out to create a thicker, creamier texture.
 

Anita and Peter pride themselves on being a small family dairy and creamery. They pay attention to all the details that go into making a great tasting product from start to finish. And it really pays off in the final product. Tunawerth’s handcrafted cheese and dairy products are a favorite amongst staff and customers with good reason. The milk is rich and delicious, the yogurt is creamy with the perfect hint of tartness, and the hard cheeses are too good to believe. Give yourself a treat and pick up any of Tunawerth’s delectable products!

This is, dare we say, the perfect cup of hot cocoa. So rich and delicious you won't believe that it's dairy-free and has no refined sugar! Just the right treat for a cold winter night that not only warms you, but nourishes you too. 

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk

1 cup canned coconut milk

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey

Optional add-ins: dash of cinnamon, cardamom, or chili powder

Directions

​Add all ingredients to a medium sauce pan and whisk together. Bring to a boil continuing to whisk. Pour into cups and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.

Married for 12 years to her best friend, Jessie works full time caring for her family which includes homeschooling her 2 boys and tending to their pet chickens.
 

What do you do here at Farm Fresh Market and how long have you worked here? I’ve been working at Farm Fresh for 3 years. I put freight away and stock shelves. I started back when they were a stand. I worked in the warehouse receiving shipments from farmers and packaging orders. It’s changed mainly in the last year because we still received and packaged orders when we first moved to the Black Lake location and we were only open on weekends. So it’s been pretty cool watching it grow. 
 

What do you do in your spare time? We like to hunt & fish. I have two boys, so that is my life! I love being outdoors. I like to be around water, oceans and rivers. I find it calming. My son, Riley, helped train a friend’s dog for hunting birds. They had pigeons and Riley took care of the pigeons everyday and they would release them from their cages and the dog would point up at them. We also forage for wild fruit, like berries and apples, and hunt for mushrooms.
 

What drew you to natural foods? Raw milk! I had a nutritionist and decided I wanted to be healthier, raise my kids healthy, so that’s what drew me to natural foods. I went to Tom & Celia’s stand to buy raw milk and I kept asking Celia if they were hiring.
 

Are you a native Washingtonian? Yes. Born & Raised in Tenino. So is my husband, Steve. I knew him in school. What’s interesting is I was homeschooled and went to private school my whole life except for 2 years. I went to Tumwater High School my freshman year and the next year I went to Tenino and he was at both schools the years that I went. We reconnected after high school and were married 3 months later!
 

Do you have any products you absolutely love? Tunawerth Cream Cheese. It’s so much creamier and more flavorful than regular store bought. And I love the Wilderness Raw Pecan Butter in the small cups. I like to eat it with a banana for a snack. What winter produce do you get excited about? Delicata Squash! I cut them in half and cook it in the oven with butter.
 

What’s your favorite part of Christmas? Hallmark Christmas movies! I would watch a Christmas movie every night. They all end up in love and happy. Christmas movies are so happy!
​

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? The Christmas Card. What’s the best present you ever got or gave? I don’t know… A few times for Christmas our family has gone to serve meals to the homeless and given Christmas stockings full of socks and things like that. My kids enjoy it too.

Sometimes you just need comfort food. This paleo-friendly shepherd's pie is a breeze to make and is incredibly satisfying and comforting. It features hearty, winter root vegetables but you could easily swap them with your families favorites or try topping it with mashed cauliflower for something a little lighter.

Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients

For the Potatoes:

• 4 white or orange sweet potatoes, diced​

• 1/4 cup of butter or ghee​​

• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk salt and pepper, to taste

​For the Filling:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil ​

• 1 leek, thinly sliced

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced

• 1 small parsnip, peeled and diced

• 3 stalks of celery, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 1/2 lbs ground lamb

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

• 2 tsp tapioca starch

• 2 tsp tomato paste

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 2 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves ​

• 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves

​Directions

1. In a large saucepan, boil the potatoes until they are tender (about 10 minutes). Mash the potatoes together with the butter, milk, salt and pepper until they are fluffy. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. Add the coconut oil to a 10-inch cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the leek, carrots and parsnip and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir. Add ground lamb, salt, and pepper then cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with tapioca flour and toss to coat. Cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, rosemary, thyme and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

4. Top the meat mixture with the mashed potatoes starting around the edge and spreading inward to prevent the mixture from boiling over.

5. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown.

6. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Not sure what to bring to those holiday parties? Swamped by main courses and side dishes and not up to preparing appetizers? The perfect, easy, and always loved solution is the cheese plate! As a lover of all things cheese and cheese related, I always delight in bringing a cheese plate to the party, and watching as people savor (and usually devour) my selections!

The Cheese: We’ll start with the basics: what kind of cheese?! The key here is variety. While we all love a good cheddar, 3 or 4 different cheddars is going to feel (and taste) a little repetitive. Start with Something well aged and a bit sharp, like Domina Dairy’s 12 month aged farm cheese.  Add something soft, like chèvre (fresh goat cheese), or Marin French’s young brie. Something recognizable is always appreciated for the more timid cheese eaters in the crowd, like Kerrygold’s two year reserve cheddar or Beecher’s flagship cheddar. Something different, like Tunawerth’s nettle gouda or Golden Glen’s lavender cheese, can be fun! Add something with a kick, like Rogue’s Oregon Blue. Other easy crowd pleasers (no cutting required) include Beecher’s Cheese Curds or local Willapa Hills Blue Cheese Spreads.

The Vessel: Variety is key here too! Offer a variety of simple crackers, my suggestions are Late July Crackers and Edward & Sons Brown Rice crackers (gluten free!). Offer a crusty bread, like a cut up baguette.

The Accompaniments:  This is a great chance to get creative. Sweet items, like dates, fruit chutney, and even honey, go well with strong or bold cheese like blue or a tangy goat. Blue Cheese with a dab of honey is a revelation! Roasted nuts offer a nice texture contrast. Artisan salami and prosciutto are guaranteed crowd pleasers that pair nicely with the aged cheeses on your platter.

The Presentation: I have a couple of decorative cutting boards I like to use, but you have tons of options! A slab of slate is fun because you can label the cheese with chalk. You can also place a piece of butcher paper over a cutting or carving board and label the cheeses and even offer pairing suggestions. Provide a different knife for each cheese (No blue on the chèvre, please). And always, always serve cheese at room temperature. And yes, you can eat the rind. Happy Holidays!

Meet Celia!

Crazy couponer, sweepstakes champion, entrepreneur, globetrotter, wife and mother. And, let us not forget, the owner and founder of Farm Fresh Market! Celia and her husband, Tom, started Farm Fresh Market in 2009 with their own blood, sweat, and tears. Their vision and dedication has turned this once small farm-direct online market into a thriving natural food store.

Can you give us a brief history of Farm Fresh Market and it’s evolution?

Tom and I bought property in Chehalis and started poultry farming. We realized there weren’t many outlets to sell our products, so we came up with the idea of Olympia Local Foods, an online farmers market. It was an easier way for farms to connect with the community. For the first few years we were basically an alternative to a CSA. Farmers would post what they had available, customers would shop online and we would package it. It was good for the farms because they could harvest exactly what was sold and good for the customers because they could choose the farms they wanted to buy from. When customers picked up their orders they would want other products, so we just kept expanding our selection. It was customers requesting more and more products that they couldn’t find anywhere else. It just sort of developed into a local, natural, organic food store.

How would you like to see Farm Fresh Market evolve for the future?

More square footage! But I don’t want the store to get too big. I want people to be able to walk in and see the whole store. I’d like to offer more prepared food, organic fried chicken, fries cooked in coconut oil, a larger meat selection, organic soft serve, fresh cold-pressed juice, smoothies, a bulk department, books and magazines and a butcher counter where you can order sliced deli meat!

What do you do in your spare time?

Hang out with my kids, Sammy, who’s 7 and Jacob is 3. We cook together, and read a lot. Sam really likes mysteries and encyclopedias. I also love gardening when the season is right and watching TV…

What show are you into right now?

Dexter, I’m obsessed with it. I’ll stay up late watching it in bed on my phone!

What drew you to natural foods?

It’s funny, we didn’t start out as a natural food store. I was actually one of those crazy extreme couponer people. It wasn’t health food. It was packaged stuff. I feel like I’ve learned so much from my customers. I learned how to eat healthy and started reading more about it.

Are you a native Washingtonian?

No. Native Californian, from Sacramento. I moved in 2003 to go to Evergreen and then just stayed. I Met Tom at a party while at Evergreen and the rest is history.

What’s your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market?

I love the customer interactions. I learn a lot everyday. I love helping people learn how to cook healthy and teaching them about the different squash or how to cook vegetables they’ve never heard of.  

Do you have any products that you absolutely love?

Jalisco corn tortillas from Shelton! They are a staple in our house. We eat a ton of tacos and taquitos. It’s our go-to meal. Also, Dungeness Valley raw milk from Sequim and my kids love the Tunawerth Dairy yogurt from Tenino.

What is your favorite seasonal fall produce?

I really love delicata squash. I recently learned you can eat the skin!

Do you have a specific recipe for the delicata?

Yes! Cut it lengthwise into little moon shapes. Cover it with olive oil and salt, then roast it in the oven. You can just eat the whole thing with the skin and everything. It is so good! 

When life gives you cranberries.... 

make cran-raspberry chia jam!
 

I don't know how things are at your house, but cranberries are always the last lingering Thanksgiving leftover around here. Not this year, though! Things are going to be different for cranberries this year. That's because cranberries are my jam. Literally. 

If you've never made chia jam before, it's crazy simple. There's less sugar in it than regular jam and more protein and fiber. You can substitute other fruit for the cranberries, of course. What do I know, maybe cranberries are the first thing to disappear from your Thanksgiving table. All fruit will break down at different rates when boiling, so just adjust your cooking time as necessary. 

ps: It's absolutely delicious with leftover rolls!


 

• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup honey or preferred sweetener (coconut sugar or maple syrup would work well)
• 3 tbsp chia seeds

1. Add cranberries, raspberries and honey to medium-size sauce pan and cook over medium heat. You can add less honey to begin with if you want your jam to be more tart, then add more sweetener later to get just the right taste. 
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit begins to liquify, about 10 to 15 minutes. Allow the fruit to come to a boil, continuing to cook until the fruit breaks down to a sauce constistency. You can help the process along by mashing the fruit with a fork or whisk. This should take another 5 minutes.
3. Once the fruit has reached your preferred consistency, taste to see if you want more sweetener. Remember add only a little at a time. It's easy to add, but you can't take it away!
4. Add chia seeds and cook for another minute or so.
5. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. If the jam is too thin stir in another tablespoon of chia seeds and let sit for another 10 minutes. Remember the jam will continue to thicken as it cools. 
6. Spread your jam on a roll and give thanks!
7. You can store the jam in an airtight container in your fridge for two weeks or put it in your freezer to enjoy a taste of Thanksgiving for up to two months.

There are so many wonderful things to love about fall. The cool, crisp air has us reaching for cozy sweaters and scarves, lighting our wood stoves and baking comforting treats. Along with the changing weather we often find our lives slowing down from the hectic, packed schedules of summer. It's the perfect season to take a break with a warm cup of cider and reflect on all of the things we have to be grateful for.

At Farm Fresh we are grateful for so much this year! Our business keeps expanding with longer hours , an ever increasing selection of products, and our growing family of employees and customers! We're so thankful for each and every one of you and for your help making our business thrive. In the spirit of thanksgiving we would like to take the time to share with you what we are celebrating this fall!

Celia: My favorite thing about this time of year are the gorgeous fall colors and all the different colors of winter squash. I'm thankful for my family and for my health.

Allison: My favorite things about fall are hot toddys, pumpkin pie made from scratch, listening to the wind blow at night and netflix!

Jessalyn: I'm thankful for time spent with friends and family and I love all the fall colors!

Gavyn: Pie! Lots of family and all of the feasts involved with the holidays.

Stephanie: Thankful for my endlessly patient husband, and well-seasoned cast iron pans. I get excited in the fall for winter squash, long walks, and curling up by the fire.

Lucy: My favorite things this time of year are hot spiced cider, sweaters, haunted corn mazes, cozy wood fires, and squash.

Zach: I'm thankful for Thanksgiving leftovers!

Erin: I love walks on crunchy, colorful leaves and I'm thankful for so much love and support in my life.

                Meet Stephanie!

Natural food guru by way of kayak guide, park ranger, substitute teacher, science teacher, and cheese monger. Hoarder of maps, postcards and bike parts. Stephanie found herself in Olympia last year and has been a valuable part of our team ever since. Last month she married her partner of six years, Sean St. Marie at a rustic camping wedding in Idaho.

What do you do here at Farm Fresh Market?

A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I run the cash register, order, stock, and help decide what new foods to bring in. Most importantly, talking with the customers about food!

What do you do in your spare time?

Hiking, backpacking, kayaking, cooking, having friends and family over for dinner, traveling, camping with my shiny new husband...

What drew you to natural foods?

In college I started cooking more healthy foods and shopping at the local co-op.

Are you a native Washingtonian?

No, I'm from the greatest state in the Union, Idaho! But I do enjoy living in Washington, a close second.

What's your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market?

Talking about foods, trying new foods, and connecting customers with farmers.

Do you have any products that you absolutely love?

All of them. You should probably ask me if there are any products that I don't love, because the list would be shorter. I could not live without our rotisserie chickens.

What's your favorite way to enjoy the rotisserie chicken?

Eat it straight off the bone - in my car - in the parking lot. I also like to eat it on green salads or make chicken salad, and I always make broth.

Any tips for a good broth?

Let it simmer for a very long time and throw any and all vegetables in it - floppy celery, whole garlic cloves, whatever you have laying around in your fridge.

I'm also enjoying all of the fresh local produce right now.

What is your favorite seasonal fall produce?

Apples - all the varieties of apples