Purchased this Tuesday at the farmer’s market in Orthez:  organic butter from the farm Leit de Brunas.  In Béarnais, the name means “milk from the Brunes”, which is fitting for this family-run farm located south of Pau that raises the Brunes des Alps breed of dairy cows.  In addition to butter, their tiny stand in the market hall sells fresh milk, cow’s milk cheeses (their 16 month cow’s milk tomme is excellent) and riz au lait, a traditional rice pudding. And the little molded butters are too adorable!

Remember a post I wrote in January about making cauliflower gratin at the house in Orthez?  In that post, I mentioned that my inspiration for making that dish at that moment was a discussion with food writer Nancy Leson on the topic of crème fraiche  for an article she was working on.

If you do remember my post, thanks!  Your memory is better than mine.  I had forgotten it until a cook in the kitchen at Cafe Presse mentioned that they had seen the finished article in the Pacific NW Magazine section of last Sunday’s Seattle Times.  Check it out here.