Dairy cookbook salutes farm families, their foods

Rita Kennedy and her husband, James, have roots that stretch a long way back in dairy farming.

If you count both sides of their families, they have been in the business for six generations.

“We must have done something right as three of our five children are dairy farmers,” said Mrs. Kennedy, 72, who coowns Four Seasons Farm in Middlesex, raising close to 200 brown Swiss dairy cows, heifers and calves.

Mrs. Kennedy’s Rita’s Easy Quiche is one of the 110 recipes that is part of “The Dairy Good Cookbook: Everyday Comfort Food From America’s Dairy Farm Families” (Andrews McMeel Publishing). The cookbook connects readers to farmers through stories, photographs and recipes that are from, or inspired by, America’s nearly 47,000 dairy farm families. Each chapter discusses a type of dairy cow and profiles a family who shares what life is like on a dairy farm. Recipes are organized around a typical dairy farmer’s day, beginning from sunrise, through afternoon chores, and nighttime desserts.

In the book, Mrs. Kennedy said she “is always looking for meals that are quick and easy, and that call for lots of dairy products, and makes anything with a lot of cheese.” So the biscuit-crusted quiche fits the bill.

The quiche stands out because it is easy to make, and it is different from the usual mac ‘n’ cheese, Mrs. Kennedy said. If there’s any leftover ham or bacon, they are tossed into her quiche, as well.

She and her family are serious milk devotees. Glasses of whole milk to be specific. “We drink more than a gallon a day, and always have it with our meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner,” Mrs. Kennedy said.

When her five children were young, Mrs. Kennedy used the farm’s milk to make vanilla ice cream, and served it with a chocolate fudge topping. She churned the ice cream in a 6-quart electric maker almost every weekend in winter “because it took lots of snow and/or ice to make it, along with rock salt.”

Her son, Jeffrey, daughter-in-law, Janice, and grandson, Jordan, now take care of the farm operations, but the older Kennedys still help out in the fields and run out for parts when needed.

The Kennedys do everything to keep their cows, which are milked twice a day, comfortable.

Apart from feeding them, giving them fresh water and a clean area to lay down, they use fans to keep the animals cool, and provide them mattresses to rest on.

“We do need contented cows,” Mrs. Kennedy said.