A box of Dairy from Daiwa Farm in Kobayashi City

The other day I received something amazing in the mail. It was a box of dairy products from Daiwa farm in Kobayashi City, Miyazaki Prefecture, via a campaign on City-cost.  I can't say how grateful I am for this for so many reasons.

This lovely box of cheeses and yogurt is probably the highlight of this spring. Confined to our home as we are, I loved having the chance to try some new things and to learn about a lovely little town in Miyazaki Prefecture.

Just a quick look at the promotional website for Kobayashi City shows things like hiking, ceramics and even a farm homestay (wish I was still single because I would do it in a heartbeat!)

This town seems like it was meant for me. There is also stand up paddle boarding, however, I have tried this before and it is not my thing.  Neither is the paragliding! That cafe (Yohzangama) where you can paint your own mugs and plates though, I think I might have to have a tiny vacation there just to enjoy it on my own.

The best thing that I found about this place though is probably the Karukaya lodging in Suki village, near Ono Lake. You can stay in a thatch-roofed house. How cool is that? 

I looked at the floor plan for them and it seems so nice and spacious for a family vacation. I would love to just enjoy nature in the mountains and come inside to the irori, the old school fire pit. 

Anyway, back to the cheese. There was yogurt, mozzarella cheese, a hard cheese and a soft cheese inside the box that was sent.

The first thing that I tried was a yogurt with my son.

This lady loved it!  My son was a little less than impressed though, giving it a polite side thumb. I think the thick texture threw him off because he usually loves yogurt.  I was so glad I got to drink the rest of his and I still had another bottle to enjoy for breakfast the next day.

They sent two. It was a tad sweeter than plain yogurt but the flavor was great. It is hard to explain the texture because yogurt tends to be thick. This was thicc with two C's. Yet it was still drinkable. It was kind of amazing. 

That same day I decided to make pizza with the fresh mozzarella because i had never had the opportunity before and also because I had some leftover handmade pizza dough in the freezer. 

I also decided to grate some of the hard cheese on there as well because you can't have too much cheese on a pizza. If I was going to make a good pizza I might as well go all out.

The hard cheese surprised me though.  Taking a little nibble before grating I found that it didn't have a strong flavor at all. If you don't like a strong cheese flavor but love a good cheesy texture,  this is the cheese for you. 

It had a nice stretch to it. The mozzarella was perfect --  it had a great texture and brilliant flavor. 

Some lunchtime later I finally cracked into the soft cheese. I melted it on top of some vegetables and ground meat I had leftover. I also used the remainder of the hard cheese in chunks (seen on the left). I was expecting the soft cheese to follow suit with the hard cheese and only have a mild flavor. Japanese cheese tends to be like that.

Nope, nope, nope. This was the strongest flavored cheese of them all. It was similar to brie. Perhaps it was brie. This cheese-loving lady still loved it. The toast on the right ended up having fun chewy bite like squeaky cheese (if you know what that is), and the left had full flavor cheeeeeeeese.

Honestly I am pretty impressed with this box of goodies. If I ever do get to take a small vacation and stay in that thatched hut, I guarantee you my breakfast will include that yogurt.

This post is supported by Kobayashi City Promotion Company Inc., one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.