Cheese Is Alive

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T10:22:00.003-06:00

First new cheese of 2012 is conundrum from Jasper Hill. A washed rind cheese very similar to Moses Sleeper. Very buttery on the palate with a little funk on he nose. A good whey to start the new year! More on Jasper Hill to come.

*this post is brought to you by the letter "i". I wrote this on my brand spanking new iphone and realized a little bit in that although I like the fact that I can blog from the phone, the virtual keyboard makes it impossible to type as fast as I think.*

I want goat cheese

2011-12-17T22:44:00.001-06:00

As you know by now, I have an obsession with goat cheese. Unfortunately for me-but good for the goats- many of my favorite cheesemakers let their goats take time off during the winter while they carry their kids. I know that winter has hardly started yet, but I'm already missing one of my favorite cheeses.

Roasted garlic chevre from Rollingstone Chevre in Idaho. This cheese combines two of my favorite things: creamy, tangy, milky goat cheese and sweet roasted garlic. Not only is there a garlic clove on top of the cheese, but it's also blended into the chevre giving it a mild-yet lasting- flavor. the cheese is wrapped in a grape leaf and makes a delightful little cheese present.

This cheese is great to eat with a few crackers, when spread on a bagel or to cook with. I love using it in macaroni and cheese, crumbling it on top of pizza or turning it into a garlicky, goaty sauce for pasta. If you can get your hands on some, please do, it's divine!

Writing a Blog Gets Me In Trouble

2011-11-29T08:50:00.000-06:00

*I first wrote this post almost two weeks ago. At the time I was emotionally raw and angry. Instead of posting it right away I sat on it. I needed to be sure that I was ready to share and that I wasn't writing angry. Since writing this I have found a job, and have started working on a long-term goal of mine (to be shared at a later date).*

I started this blog almost three years ago as an outlet for my fast-growing love of cheese. In that time I have been very careful to keep my blogging life, and my work life separate. In the interest of full disclosure, I have let the two employers I've had since starting this venture know about my blog. I have been very upfront about it, and have let them all know that I don't "name names". I have not mentioned where I've worked, or any co-workers or bosses by name. I even gave my brother a code name in a post I created in 2010. I am not sponsored and I rarely accept promotional items from cheesemakers, or authors.

By being a somewhat anonymous blogger I can be freer with my words. I can write a post about a cheese that was so bad it hurt my soul and I don't have to worry about offending the advertisers, or getting my boss into trouble. It's been a good run.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about being a goat. I was venting my sadness, how I miss the cheese, and my general ennui. I thought long and hard about writing that post because it was so personal, perhaps something that would be better shared with a shrink. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the people I really wanted to share it with were the people who read my blog. I wanted to let people know the reason for my infrequent posts. If I am honest about cheese, I have to be honest about myself.

So I posted it.

Shortly after the post went up I was called in for a talk with my boss and I was fired. Although we had had pleasant email exchanges just two days prior, my boss let me know that one of the reasons I was being let go was because I was "writing nasty things about us".

To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. I've never been fired before. I was angry, and if I'm going to be honest, confused. For a brief moment I even thought about shutting the blog down.

That's not going to happen.

So yeah, like millions of other Americans I’m unemployed. Instead of looking at this as a negative, curling up in bed and watching endless episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while living off of diet coke and chocolate I'm going to turn this into a positive. The post I wrote about being a goat was about me feeling out of my element, floundering and being lonely without my herd. It's time for me to go back to that world.

When life gives you lemons, use the citric acid as a coagulant and make a fresh cheese.

Culture Magazine Weekend!

2011-11-12T18:56:00.000-06:00

Last week I was invited to join a group of cheese lovers for a brainstorming session for Culture Magazine. It was a great mix of journalists, cheesemakers & retailers. Oh, and I got to meet Paul Kindstedt who wrote American Farmstead Cheese -one of the most in depth books on cheese on my bookshelf.

I was decidedly nervous about going to this get-together. Was I really going to share my ideas in front of Kate Arding (ridiculously knowledgeable cheese geek)? Somehow I managed to put on my big girl pants, and speak up-a bit. I tend to get nervous in those types of situations, and have a then I go all blushy on my ears. I'm not going to recap the ideas, all I can say is that the magazine and website are going to be even better in the months to come. All in all, it was a fun time, and it was great to get a behind the scenes look at how the magazine is put together.

If you have any suggestions, critiques or compliments I know they'd love to hear them. Follow the link and let them know what's on your mind.

I am a Goat

2011-11-03T13:09:00.000-05:00

Last night while I was trying to find some type of visual entertainment to help me ignore the fact that I'm swimming in a sea of melancholy ick I finally figured out the underlying cause of my ennui and sadness.

I AM A GOAT

I'm not talking about my astrological sign*, I'm talking about those super cute milk-giving quadrupeds that I love. In addition to being smart, clever and cute, goats are social animals. They need non-human (preferably goaty) friends to play and live with**

I think that it's the same with cheesemongers and other cheese folk. We need to have other geeks to talk to about cheese. We need other people to get really excited about new cheeses on the market. We need to share photos and stories from festivals and conferences. We need our herd.

Since leaving Chicago and moving back to Vermont I have been without my people. Instead of being surrounded by cheese-lovin' fools I have a boss who says "It tastes like cheddar" every time she tries a cheese that she doesn't like. There is mockery over my cheese excitement. No one else has turned one of their veggie crispers into a cheese box.

I miss my herd.

Then in august I went to the ACS conference and was surrounded by people who love cheese. Almost every meal had cheese, the seminars were full of cheese, I even volunteered to help set up the "Festival of Cheese". There were cheese events, pairings, and chatter. I went out to eat with other cheese-minded people and even though we didn't always get the cheesiest dish, it was great being surrounded by my people.

Upon finding out what I was doing for work in Vermont, one of my cheesemaker friends asked me a simple question "why?" We spoke about "why" and I tried to answer the question not just for him, but for myself also.

Since coming back from the conference I've been listless, sad, depressed, filled with ennui and unable to write. Each time I tried to write something I would think about how much I miss the cheese-filled part of my life, or how much I missed my cheesy Chicago friends.

I miss my herd.

Last night it occurred to me that nothing is wrong with me, I'm just a goat who needs other goats to frolic with. I am going to attempt to get myself out of this funk. One of the ways I'm going to do this is by writing again. Every week I am going to write something about cheese. I am not going to obsess about it. I am not going to get hung up on the imperfections of my grammar or the fact that I like to make up words that don't exist in the english language. I am not going to worry about making sure it's polished, and then getting so o.c.d. about it that I end up not writing anything. I'm just going to write.

Hopefully this exercise will help me recapture my cheese joy and will give me a virtual herd of cheese enthusiasts.

*My astrological sign is capricorn, but this blog is about cheese, not signs or planets. Although I don't read my horoscope, or put much stock in astrological signs, it is pretty clear that the traits associated with my sign can also be attributed to my favorite barnyard creatures.

**One of my girlfriends had some pet pygmy goats a few years back. While the three goats enjoyed playing with each other, one of the goats developed a strong bond with my girlfriends' big boxer dog. I've also heard that goats will bond with horses and other farm animals, they just need more than what we humans can give them.

ACS in Montreal part 1

2011-09-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

Last month I went up to Montreal for the ACS Conference. Before I go any further I have to give a great big thank you to Christine Hyatt for the generous offer of sharing her hotel suite. If you don't know, Christine is the current President of ACS, and the awesomeness behind the website Cheese-Chick. I shared a room with Kirsten and Kathleen and really enjoyed meeting those cheese-loving gals in person.

The ACS was formed in 1983 and held it's first competition in 1985 where a total of 89 cheeses were entered. This year there were almost 1700 different entries. What really made this year different was that it was the first time that the ACS has been held out of the U.S.A. Even though I've been a member since 2008, this was only my second time attending a full conference and it was a blast!

The seminars were educational, provocative (the debate between raw milk and pasteurized is never-ending) and fun; seeing and chatting with people I haven't seen in months or years was great; but of course I spent a lot of my time

Since the conference was held in Canada it was a great opportunity to try cheeses that you can't find in the States-including the world famous Oka cheese. While tasting cheese is fantastic there are two events people I get most excited about: the awards ceremony and the festival of cheese.

The awards ceremony is when a cheesemaker gets to find out how well their entry fared. Unlike many cheese competitions, there is no guarantee of a first place winner in a category. The ACS grades cheese on a "must have" point value. If it take 95 points to be a contender for 1st place and none of the cheeses in that category gets 95 points, there's no first place winner. With this point system in place it means that sometimes there are ties for second or third place, and still no blue ribbon handed out. Rogue Creamery won Best of Show (for the second time) this year, making that the second cheese to ever win Best of Show twice (Pleasant Ridge Reserve is the other, having won three times)

The festival of cheese is an overwhelming night of cheese, wine and beer. Every single product that was entered in the competition (from kefir and yogurt to farmstead bandaged cheddar) is available to taste. With almost 1700 entries this year you had to plan my tasting strategically-I usually start with the yogurt and feta and work my way to the strong, peppery blues and funky, stinky washed rind cheeses. Walking into the room where the festival is held is always a bit of an olfactory overload, but I love it.

This year I volunteered at the conference and was one of many who helped to set up the cheese displays for that nights' festival. This was my first year volunteering and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm a quick learner, listened to what some seasoned volunteers told me, and have some tips to help you all should you decide to volunteer.

1. Try not to get the cheddar table. When cheesemakers submit their cheeses they have to submit it in the original form. Many cheesemakers make 40# block cheddars. Cheddar (generally) is white or orange. Creating an asthetically appealing table from huge block of white and orange is a substantial challenge.

2. The soft-ripened table is awesome! Bloomy rinds as far as the eye can see. Since these cheeses don't do as well sitting out for hours before consumed, you've got to have some fast hands and team coordination in order to make the display.

3. The table of blues is by far the messiest. You'll be picking blue cheese crumbles out of your pants, shirt and bra.

4. Unless you want to attract all the dogs in the neighborhood with your new scent, try to stay away from the smoked table. The table I worked on was right next to the smoked table and it just made me want kielbasa all day long.

I was on the flavored cheese table. A lot of flavored cheeses are things you would expect like pepperjack and cumin studded goudas. We tried a lot of different cheeses while setting up. Some were good, and some were bad, but there's one that stood out in my mind and mouth as one of the weirdest things that's happened to my taste buds in years.

PINA COLADA CHEESE

It was bad. Really bad. Now to be fair, it DID taste like its name would have you believe. The first bite was mild, and I didn't get much pineapple or coconut flavor. Then it hit me. Since I'm used to pineapple and coconut being put together in a large glass with an excessive amount of rum this was a shock. It's solid form made my mouth unhappy and confused my brain. I have been trying to think of how one could use this cheese, or even if one should. I've come up with no answers. I won't tell you to never eat it, but I will caution you to think twice. If anyone has had this cheese, and knows a few tasty ways it can be applied in a recipe please let me know.

Stay tuned, part two will have photos, new and tasty cheeses and the most overwhelming plate of poutine that I could find.

Vermont Cheesemakers Festival

2011-07-25T20:42:00.003-05:00

I love Vermont. I love Vermont cheese. I love Vermont beer. I appreciate Vermont wine.

Yesterday was the 3rd annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival up at Shelburne Farms. I've gone for all three years, but I don't think I'll be going next year.

Here are the problems I had and possible ways to solve them. I am going to mention ways that the festival could improve, and also things I could have done to make the experience better (hindsight is 20/20).

Problem: Too many people + Too small a space = neurotic Cheesewench on the verge of a full-blown panic attack all day long.

Solution: Have the festival go for two days. Space it out. Don't try to cram 1700+ people into a really small space for 6 hours.

Cheesewench solution: Go towards the end of the day when less people are typically at events like this. This year I had to go early because I was doing a cheese course at a benefit dinner.

Problem: Too much beer and wine ( I can't believe I'm saying that) It's a Cheesemakers Festival and I allow for some leniency. Beer and wine are delicious with cheese. The problem was that there were so many breweries and wineries there. That made for a lot of long lines, which cut off the flow of the rooms. I was pushed, shoved, and had beer spilled on my shirt. People thought it was a bar, and more than a few people had "sampled" too much.

Solution: less beer and wine vendors

Cheesewench solution: start a fight with someone who has been drinking. Tell them Budweiser is the best beer in the States, goad them until a fight breaks out and the cops are called. Be the only person sober and avoid prosecution and jail time.*

Problem: Value for money. This year I felt that people were purchasing tickets to go to a very large cheese and booze based farmers market.

Solution: more seminars and to include more of them in the price of your ticket

Cheesewench solution: Don't spend more money on buying cheese than you did on your ticket. I acknowledge that this is virtually impossible.

The festival is a good opportunity to taste some new cheeses, show off Vermont goodies to tourists and perhaps get to meet and chat with a cheesemaker. Overall it's a good showcase for Vermont cheese, wine and beer, I just don't think it's for me anymore.

That being said, there were a few cheeses that I hadn't had before that stood out for me.

Fat Toad Farm-makers of ridiculously tasty caramel and goat cheese- had a cheese I'd never tried before. Ginger cilantro sesame. I was a bit nervous about trying it, but it was/is fantastic! I wanted to stuff eggplant with it, or do an Asian inspired version of stuffed peppers.

Grafton Cheese Company came out with four new and non-cheddar cheeses. I tried all four of them and the one that I found to be best was the Vermont Barn Dance. It's a washed curd, sheep-cow blend cheese that has a rich round mouthfeel along with a slight tang. Grafton has also changed some of their packaging. You may start seeing the Grafton Tavern label on your cheese. Don't worry though, it's still the tasty cheddar you know and love.

I waited in line for about 3 days just to try this cheese

Crowded room of people getting their cheese and booze on

*Clearly this is not a viable solution, and I don't recommend it. PBR is obviously the superior beer.

Fat Toad Farm Visit

2011-05-10T13:34:00.000-05:00

For years now I have been going on and on about the goat milk caramel (cajeta) being made at Fat Toad Farm. It's a sexy sauce of deliciousness that I used to have my Ma send to me in care packages when I was in Chicago.

They also make some really tasty fresh chevre that I'm hoping to carry in the store. A week ago I was sitting in my room on my day off and trying to see which cheesemaker I wanted to go to next. I was thinking about Fat Toad. I was messing round on facebook and saw an update from them with photos of the goats. It was a sign. Fate had intervened and I was going to play with goats.

The next day I headed out on the road, took the "scenic route" (got a bit lost) and went looking for goats.

I know I say this every single time I visit with goats at any farm, but they are just the cutest things ever! Like dogs, but not as slobbery. All the girls and kids were sitting in their little greenhouse-esque dwelling, looking very hot and uncomfortable. One of the farm workers (whose name I can't remember now and didn't write down because it wasn't really that kind of visit) let all the goats out and lead them into a cool and shaded area full of trees, stumps to jump on and plenty of things to nibble.

I followed them.

She let me hold their newest kid, Venus. You know what's cuter than a two week old goat who is all wobbly and small and cute? Nothing. I fell in love and when I came back to work the next day asked my bosses if we could have goats at the farm. I want goats. They are my precious.

One of the dams came over and gave me a little nibble. Then another trotted on by, and another. Before I knew it I was surrounded by dams who were giving me the once over by nibbling me everywhere. Usually when a stranger nibbles on my earlobe I don't succumb to hysterical giggling. A few of the mothers got a bit bored doing their taste-test and went over to the trees to get some bark.

That made room for the little ones.

One kid came at me full speed, lowered her head and got me in the shin. It was one of the cutest things I've ever experienced, although the third time she did it I realized that I was getting a bit sore, and shooed her away.

Even though there was no cheese acquired on this visit (production will be going on later in the month) I got some of their caramel sauce and had my spirits raised considerably by the antics of all the animals on the farm. In addition to goats, chickens, 1 rooster, a few boy goats and some pigs, there are several dogs who want to play with you. Seriously. Throw the stick. They really want you to throw the stick. THROW THE STICK!

Spending time with goats is one of the most relaxing, blood pressure reducing, laughter inducing ways to spend part of your day, and the kids and goats at Fat Toad Farm are some of the nicest goats I've ever met. I went home that day dirty, smelling a bit musky (boy goats leave their funk on your hands and anything else they touch) and with a big smile on my face.

I wonder if Fat Toad Farm would just let me stop by when I need a little pick-me-up. Much more fun than drowning your sorrows in ice cream and old Meg Ryan movies.


Here comes Venus...and the person whose name I can't remember because I'm a jerk.


Trees are tasty


Headbutt a Trois


My little Venus has the racing stripe down her back


The goats hear something in the distance...


...super fluffly cat, up too high in this tree

National Grilled Cheese Month is Over

2011-05-03T08:37:00.001-05:00

That's right folks. It's now May, so grilled cheese month is done. Of course I've never needed a pre-determined month to tell me that eating a grilled cheese sandwich is the right thing to do. My tummy knows best; that you should have a grilled cheese sandwich every month of the year.

Before I left Chicago I was spending a lot of time with my nephew. He's going to be four in July and he's the cutest thing in the world. Not to be a big jerk about it, but my nephew can totally out-cute your nephew. This winter, after watching him for the afternoon I made dinner for everyone. Grilled cheese sandwiches were on the menu. The adults also had tomato and chickpea soup.

Little Kian asked me to video tape him. I told him I would do it while he ate dinner (a great way to get a toddler to eat.) This video is from that night. His sandwich was made of Grafton 1 year Cheddar. The adults had a mix of Comte, Taleggio, Grafton 1 year Cheddar and some odds and ends that were in my cheese box.

Enjoy the video!

A post about my cat.

2011-04-30T23:45:00.001-05:00

Like the title says, this post is about my cat. It is not cheese related, and for that I do apologize. I promise the next post will bring us back to the wonderful world of cheese.

Remember back at the end of February when I told you that I was moving back to Vermont, and then in March I did, but was living at my brothers' house and didn't have a job or car and was thinking that moving without a job or car or any real $$ in the bank was one of the most impulsive (and stupid) things I'd ever done, and I'd lost all my pants somewhere in Ohio or Indiana (long story) and I was pretty sure that that was a sign that I shouldn't have moved back to Vermont, but then things got better because there was an opportunity for me to work on a farm store and I could move out of my brothers' place and everything was going to be okay, and it was a good thing that I'd gotten out of Chicago? Remember?

Well, one of the things that I hadn't really considered was how the cat was going to adjust. After living with just me (or me and one other person) for the past 7 1/2 years she was a bit freaked out about moving into my brothers' house. Lots of people going in and out, and another cat was living there. She hates cats. I thought that moving out to a quieter part of Vermont, and living in a quieter house would be good for her. I even had the dream that she be an indoor/outdoor kitty and would find her inner wild kitty. She would hunt and chase things and then there would be rainbows and unicorns and glittery sparkly stickers!

I was wrong.

A few days ago I took the cat out to walk around the farm. Everything was okay. She was a bit timid, but was starting to enjoy following me around the farmhouse. I had high hopes that she would become a wonderful outdoor kitty and would kill the voles that have been terrorizing the tomato plants in the greenhouse.

That didn't happen.

Someone pulled into the driveway. And a super friendly and curious dog (she usually likes dogs) came around the corner. To my cat that meant one thing; time to panic.

She fled to a corner of the workshop filled with all sorts of solvents, an air compressor, and tools that could poke out an eye. I had to drag her out of that hole two times. After being in the workshop I gave her a little bath to try to get any gunk off of her. I shold've known something was wrong when she just sat there with huge, green, bewildered kitty eyes and let me give her a bath. Not a good sign.

The past few days she's been living in a state of fear and nervousness. I don't know if she's afraid of the outside, of the other employee who lives in the house, farm tools, gravel, grass or a combination of all the sounds and smells of springtime in Vermont. All I know is that she's taken to hiding in a bag of clothes, or in the bathroom cupboard which startles me every time. I squeal, she freaks out and goes to hide under the bed.

I'm pretty sure I broke the cat.

Dinner on a budget

2011-04-24T10:44:00.001-05:00

The other night I was hungry. Hungry and broke. There was no ramen in the cupboard, no leftovers, and if I had to make one more round of scrambled eggs for dinner I was going to lose it. It was time for a plan. It was time to "play the six"*

Looking through the cupboard I saw some pasta, chicken stock and beans. Awesome! Rummaging through my brothers' side of the shelf in the fridge and I found some tasty looking sausage. I went through my cheese box and uncovered a wedge of Orb Weaver cheese. Awwww yeah. That's when the sh#@ got real.

Orb Weaver is a delicious cheese that comes to us from Orb Weaver Farm in New Haven, VT. Yes, the farm and resulting cheese take their name from the orb weaver spider *shudders*. I don't want to write about spiders, so I'm going to lift this part straight from their website

...An orb weaver is a spider that makes delicate, symmertical webs. For us, she is a metaphor for the cyclical rhythms of the farm, sowing, harvesting and enriching the soil to grow new pastures and gardens season after season.

And that's the last time I'm going to mention eight-legged creepy crawly creatures on my blog.

So what's the cheese like? Imagine if gouda and havarti got together and had a baby. It has that kind of texture, soft and creamy with a nice open airy paste. The flavors are milky, with a buttery sweet cream flavor, a hint of tanginess and just a tiny smidge of brown butter and hay. So good. She's also a great melting cheese.

Here's what you'll need for my poor man's resourceful pasta dish-this is going to feed two people really hungry people (with huge bowls full) with some leftovers for lunch the next day.

2/3# of pipette pasta. I'm sure you can use penne, or any other grooved pasta shape.
1 can cannellini beans
1 onion-sliced thin (julienne)
2 cloves garlic-minced
two links of sausage (optional it if you're having an herbivore day)
16 oz. chicken (or veg stock)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your pasta until it's about 3/4 cooked. Drain it, but reserve some of the starchy water-you can boil the pasta while you're doing all the skillet work. Don't forget to salt your water when you cook the pasta.
Take the sausage out of the casing and break it into little chunks. Brown it in a large skillet
Before the sausage is completely cooked, take the onion and cook it in the sausage fat (or if omitting sausage, use a little grapeseed oil)
When the onion is just starting to caramelize, add the garlic-be careful not to brown it too much. Garlic that's too brown=bitter ickiness.
De-glaze your pan with the stock. Be sure to scrape up any brown bits on the pan-that's where the tasty stuff is. Reduce the liquid by about 1/2
Pour in your can of drained canellini beans to the mix
Add your pasta and pasta water to the skillet-the starchy water is going to help thicken the sauce
Grate a whole bunch of cheese (I used about 1/3# because we're serious caseophiles) and start adding it to the sauce in small increments, allowing each addition to melt before you add more. You may not need 1/3# of cheese, but since you're probably going to nibble while you make this I would advise it
Toss the whole shabang in the pan to make sure all of your noodles are coated
Eat it.
Congratulate youself on coming up with a super tasty dish in almost no time flat.

Now, it would've been awesome if I had some kale, swiss chard or even spinach to add to this dish. Mmm...chard. The next time I make it I'll be sure to have some greens in the crisper.

It's a little beige, but super tasty. Chiffonade some leafy greens to add color and numminess.

*I don't usually do this, but "playing the six" is a joke between me, my good-ish brother (not that brother**, the other one) and my sister-in-law. I don't miss Chicago all that much, but I miss you guys.

**I've got two brothers. Usually I identify them by calling one the "good" brother. That wouldn't make sense to you, so I'll just say that the current good brother is the one who drove out to Chicago, and drove 20hrs non-stop back to VT, is letting me borrow his car, and let me stay in his room for 6 weeks until I found a job and place to live.

April is Grilled Cheese Month!

2011-04-05T12:23:00.001-05:00

Every April I go to the cheese counter looking for new combinations of lactic goodness, searching for tasty answers to the question, "will it melt?" This year I'm starting the month off with something a little sweet.

Usually grilled cheese is for lunch or dinner (or breakfast), but I wanted to try for a dessert-ish sandwich. My inspiration was the New England classic, apple pie and cheddar cheese. For those of you not familiar with this tasty treat, typically the cheese (white cheddar) is melted on top of the pie. The pie is all warm and nummy and the cheese is just melty enough. I wanted to see if I could do a recreation of that in sandwich form.

I'm not going to give you a recipe per se, but I'll tell you what ingredients I used.

Nummy goat cheese with ash.

I almost always have a hunk of cheddar in the fridge and for this sandwich I used Extra Sharp Cheddar from Cabot. For cheese number two I went for Lake's Edge from Blue Ledge Farm in Vermont.* This is a young mold-ripened cheese with ash and filled with tangy, creamy, salty, goaty goodness. Usually I do a little shmear of this on toast with a bit of honey, so it seemed like a good idea for a grilled cheese.

For the spread I used jam from Elmore Roots Nursery. They're a local VT business and have wonderful spreads. Although all of the jams I've had from them have an apple base, for this sandwich I went for the super appley crabapple flavor. The sweetness of the jam was a perfect pairing for sharp acidic cheddar and salty, citrusy, goat cheese.

So here's the "recipe".

Take two pieces of bread and do a light smear of crabapple spread on one side
Put a few slices of cheddar on top of the jam
Add a few slender slices of goat cheese-with the rind
Put second piece of bread on top
Put in pan until toasty, melty, goodness occurs
Put it in your tummy

It's a little bit sweet with a nice tanginess from the goat cheese. So good! So how are you going to celebrate this month?

*If you don't have access to Blue Ledge Farms' cheese you can substitute Humbolt Fog.

Cashel Blue and Leek Soup

2011-03-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

As you know from my previous post, I've been ill lately and spending time at my folks house being pampered with such luxuries as hot and cold running water, free laundry, awesome old cookbooks to pour over and more television than I've watched in the past three years.

Since I was as weak as a newborn kitten, Pa's been doing the cooking. The other night he made a delightful soup with leeks and Cashel Blue cheese. It's easy, fast and delicious and he's given me leave to share it with you all today.

Cashel Blue is a delicious, creamy blue cheese from County Tipperary in Ireland. This is one of my favorite blue cheeses. There's a nice balance between the creamy, salty, peppery and sweet flavors. Mild enough for the novice blue cheese eater, flavorful enough for a die-hard blue advocate.

You don't have to use Cashel Blue for this recipe. I can think of a few other blues that would do the job quite nicely:

Gorgonzola (try going for the slightly more aged Mountain, Dolce could be just too sweet)
Saint Agur-a triple creme blue from France that tastes like butter and blue cheese got it on and had a baby
Blue D'Auvergne-another French blue, a bit more bite than the other two. Could be a bit strong for some blue cheese scaredy-cats.

Really you can use any blue cheese you want as long as it's a cheese that will melt well, and is mild enough to let the numminess of the leeks shine through.

According to Pa, this recipe serves 6 for a main course. I think it's 6 for an appetizer/starter or 3 for a main course, but maybe I was just really hungry that night.

· 3 large leeks *

· 2 oz. butter (1/2 stick)

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 4 oz. Irish blue cheese, such as Cashel Blue (or any melting blue-veined cheese like Gorgonzola)

· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

· 1 tablespoon mustard, or to taste

· 6 1/4 cups chicken stock

· Ground black pepper

· 1/2 cup blue cheese and chopped chives to garnish

Thinly slice the leeks. Heat the butter and oil together in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently cook the leeks, covered, for 10 - 15 minutes until soft but not brown.

Crumble the cheese into the pan, stirring over low heat until completely melted. Add the flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Add the pepper and mustard to taste.

Gradually add the stock, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer very gently for 15 minutes.

Serve garnished with additional cheese crumbled on top, along with chopped chives. Serve with crusty bread and a cold Riesling.

*How to clean leeks so your guests aren't eating a soup full of grit (Pa's directions):

Take off the very tough green leaves of the leeks. Slice the leeks into 3-inch long sections and halved those long wise, then let the "semi-cylinders" soak in cold water. The idea is for the layers to loosen up any grit/sand/dirt hiding within to float out and sink to the bottom. You bet. Rinse the hell out of them.

I decided to add a little bit of crumbled bacon to my bowl. Quite nummy. Be aware, it's going to bring the saltiness of the soup up a bit. Go easy on the bacon if you go this route.

Bread and butter, bacon and chives. All acceptable for crumbling into soup, or for sopping up the last little bit.

The frozen yogurt that almost cured my pneumonia

2011-03-23T08:10:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while I have to tell you about something super awesome that isn't about cheese. And that brings us to today's post.

One of my favorite cheeses ever is Ascutney Mountain. I've talked about it before on this blog; the super melty goodness, the nutty, clover, grassy butteriness, how Ascutney Mountain is one of the best cheeses you'll ever put in your mouth etc.

Well last night I was at the Coop with my Ma looking for some ice cream and lo and behold what do I see, frozen yogurt made by the fantastic Cobb Hill people. Awesome! There were three flavors available: vanilla, chocolate and maple. Since it's sugaring season I had to go with the maple flavor.
A few things I should tell you

I love maple syrup.
I love maple cotton candy and have made 4 hr round trips to sugar houses just to get it.
I don't really care for frozen yogurt. Ice cream and gelato are much nummier.

Upon first glance the fro-yo* looks fine. There's a strong maple-y smell, and a few ice crystals on top, but I blame the Coop and their weird freezers (I've been struggling with that for years now) not Cobb Hill.

So what's this frozen yogurt all about? It is super awesome and rad? Did I want to eat the entire container until I got a full bloated dairy tummy and ice cream headache?

Not quite.

The maple flavor was awesome. After my first bite I exclaimed "It tastes like maple cotton candy, but cold and awesomer"! It has a slight burnt sugar flavor, and almost finishes a bit like roasted coffee beans. Yum! Then I had a few more spoon fulls. I developed three cavities, got a huge sugar rush, crashed and got diabetes. I actually had a vanilla ice cream chaser to get some of the super sweetness out of my mouth. **

No decision has been made yet, and I think I'm going to have to try the vanilla or chocolate flavor to decide if I'm ever going to be a frozen yogurt convert. Until then, I'm going to stick with their cheeses, Ascutney Mountain and Four Corners Caerphilly.

*I hate the word "fro-yo". It's right up there with "jeggings" and "frenemies". "Fro-yo" is just so...blech!

**I'm an adult, and know that ice cream is not an appropriate chaser for sweet frozen yogurt, but I've been sick lately, so that's what happened.

This post is for Ma who knows that the only thing that really helps you get over a hospitalization is ice cream. Antibiotics are a distant (and not nearly as tasty) second.

Montasio Vino Rosso

2011-03-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love most about cheese is that there's always something new to discover. Today we're taking a look at Montasio Vino Rosso from Italy.

This cheese is made of cows' milk, aged for ten months or so and is covered in Cabernet and Merlot must. This is also one of the more interesting rinds I've encountered in my cheesy travels.

No, this isn't some alien skin under a microscope, it's the super cool rind of the cheese.

Very similar to Drunken Goat from Spain this cheese has a nice sweetness to it, and the aroma is...winey.

Reading that just bored the pants off of me. Let me try again.

Here goes. So you're out on a second date with this guy/girl, and the first date was pretty good, but you're still kind of nervous and trying to figure out what you're going to say because you've already talked about your respective jobs, pets and hobbies and so you decide to get a glass of wine and you end up spilling some of it on your shirt, but luckily its a dark color so it's not noticeable until the next day when you go to do laundry and you smell a faint, sweet hint of wine from the night before.

Although subtle, in this cheese the wine is noticeable in the paste as well. Since it is made from cow milk it has an additional sweetness and some dry hay notes. it's absolutely delicious! I would use this on a cheese plate, or shaved over a salad of greens (arugula would be fantastic).

Animal Animation is Fun!

2011-03-11T17:42:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Culture Magazine for bringing the funny!

Mini-Grayson

2011-03-07T12:00:00.000-06:00

It's official! I left my job, packed up the apartment and moved back to Vermont. I've been in town for just a few days and I thought it was about time I checked in with everyone.

One of the things I loved best about working in the cheese shop was I had fantastic cheese at my fingertips every single day. The negative was that even though I got an employee discount, I ended up blowing a lot of my income on cheese.

A little while back (pre-Vermont move) I splurged on some nummies to share with some friends. Today we're talking about Grayson (wedge with deep russet coloring) and a brand new cheese Mini-Grayson (isosceles triangle in the front)

Both cheeses come to us from Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia. In fact, I wrote a post about Grayson here if you want to check it out.

Grayson comes in a large 4# format, is made of raw cows' milk and bathed in a brine solution. The wheels have developed a strong, mammalian odor mixed with hay and barn stall. Mini Grayson on the other hand is a wee little thing coming in at about 1# per wheel. The other big factor in this cheese is that it is washed in beer from Highland Brewing Company.

So how does a beer wash and a smaller wheel change the flavor and texture profile of the cheese? Since both cheeses are made from raw milk they have to be aged for 60 days before they can be sold to the public. In the smaller wheel, this means that the cheese is ripening a bit faster, and when we get it in the stores it's not just creamier than the regular sized Grayson, but has developed more of its flavor by the time it reaches us.

While Mini Grayson definitely brings the funk to a party, it's milder than her big cousin. Now, part of that is because it's wintertime, and the cows have a different diet going on, so you're not getting those big grassy, sunshiny flavor components that can be found in summer and autumn wheels. What it does have is a nice yeastiness that comes through, and some flavors of hay, licorice, hops and a very faint browned butter aroma. Quite yummy and a must for spreading on toasted bread.

So which one is my favorite? I'm sticking with the original, preferably the wheels that we get in the late summer. Those wheels might not be as creamy in texture as those made with winter milk, but the depth of flavor and stinkiness is right up my alley.

Widmer's Cheddar

2011-01-31T11:42:00.000-06:00

I can cross one thing off of my resolution list. Right here and now I declare that orange cheese is no longer the devil. Yes, milk isn't orange, and there's a part of me that still doesn't get the orange Cheddar thing found so much in the Midwest, but I have found a tasty tasty cheese that has proven to me once and for all that orange Cheddar can be, and in fact is tasty.

This miracle cheese came to me courtesy of Widmer's Cheese Cellars in Wisconsin.

Joe and his family have been making cheese for 80 years. He has also gone through the Wisconsin-only Master Cheesemaker class, coming out of it not just a Master Cheesemaker of Brick Cheese but also of Colby-both cheeses with origins in Wisconsin.

His cheeses are delicious, but that's not what we're here for. We're here because his 8 yr. Cheddar has blown my cheesy little mind.

If you told me a year ago that an orange dyed Cheddar that was pasteurized and aged in plastic would be one of my faves I would probably respond by kicking you in the shins, or maybe by forcing you to eat generic processed cheese slices until you begged for mercy. I would have been wrong, and I apologize for doing those hypothetical things to you.

I love this cheese so much. It's tangysharpsaltysweetmilkycrystals of crumblyfudginess are fantastic. How does he do it? How does he turn years of my "cheese shouldn't be orange" stubbornness into "Schnicklefracks! This is some dang good cheese!"

All I can say is that this man (and everyone who works at the cheese plant) have got some serious cheesemaking, Cheddar-crafting skills.

Kudos Joe, you've made a believer out of me!

I Resolve to Eat More Cheese

2011-01-04T17:51:00.004-06:00

It's a new year which usually means making a resolution, keeping it for a few weeks, breaking it and then feeling bad about yourself for not having the willpower to continue going to the gym. In the grand tradition of my family I've decided to make resolutions I know I'll be able to keep.

I resolve to eat more sheep milk cheese. I have been loving on the goats for years now. It's time to bring more Baa Baa to my life.
I will accept orange Cheddar (I'm already halfway there)
I will cook more cheese-centric recipes.
I will renew my membership to the ACS in a timely manner, not wait until I get a second reminder letter like I did last year.
I will visit cheesemakers outside of Vermont. (Maybe Maine?)
I will never watch Sex and the City part 2 ever again. My eyes, ears and soul are still recovering.
I will convince my once cheese-loving nephew to stop being a wicked beastie and to love cheese again. He's 3 1/2 so this could be an uphill battle.
Fondue.
I will finally clean out the fridge.
Battlestar Galactica is awesome!

Okay, so number 10 isn't really a resolution, but seriously, it's so good. Just thinking about watching another episode right now has got me thinking that maybe I should stop writing and just take 45 minutes off. So tempting. All I have to do is press "play". Fine. I'll continue with the post.

Hopefully you all had a fantastic holiday season and are having a great start to the new year! I spent the Christmas holiday with my brother, sister in-law and wicked beastie. For dessert we had a traditional-ish cheese plate.

You've just got to have a blue for Christmas and I brought back some Stichelton. A raw milk delicious blue that tastes like Stiltons' wilder, more flavorful cousin. Next up is the Kunik from Nettle Meadow Farm in upstate New York. I have been pushing to get this cheese into our store for at least six months. Finally, my boss relented and agreed that this would be a fantastic cheese to bring in for the holiday season.

Kunik is a triple cream cheese made with goat milk and Jersey cow cream. It's also one of my favorite triple creams.

Founded in 1990 Nettle Meadow Farm primarily raises goats, although they have some sheep, some guard llamas (don't mess with a llama they will frack you up real good) and a rescue sanctuary filled with older goats, horses, and other farm animals.

When you first open the wrapping of the cheese you get notes of grass, herbs, pepper and mushrooms. The paste ripens from the outside in which means you get a nice creamy layer of cheese right under the rind and a more dense middle. On their website they call this cheese buttery, and while I agree I would like to add some more descriptors. This cheese is mushroomy, acidic, slightly salty, silky and is a bit like raw broccoli on the rind. A fantastic cheese good for a holiday, special occasion, or really any day that ends in the letter 'Y'.

Our final cheese on the plate is Ardrahan. Oh man, I really want to talk about this cheese with you right now. The problem is that talking about Ardrahan is more complex than just mentioning a cheese and what it tastes like. If I talk about Ardrahan I have to talk about Irish farmstead cheeses. If I talk about Irish famstead cheeses I have to tell you about how the industry had all but disappeared, and the people who helped bring it back, and how I want to go to Ireland and how washed rind cheeses are particulary delicious and it becomes it's own post all together.

For now I'm going to stop here and start working on the Irish farmstead cheeses post* in which I'll hopefully be able to do justice to lush green land, hard work, beaurocracy and deliciousness that all comes together to make some of the most delicious cheese on earth.

If you manage to see any Irish washed rind cheese at your local cheese counter or shop in the next few days, buy it, then when you read the upcoming post you'll have first-hand experience on the tastiness of Ireland.

*Truth is, I'm going to take a break just for 45 minutes to watch an episode of Battlestar Gallactica. Dang it! I just can't lie to you guys.

Rush Creek: Tasty Cheese or Dirty Sin?

2010-12-19T10:43:00.010-06:00

It's hard to talk about Rush Creek without also talking about Winnimere and Mont d'Or (AKA Vacherin Du Hauts-Doubs) and maybe even Forsterkase as well. I'll do my best to tackle all of them today.

Every fall customers call on the phone to ask one very important question:

"Do you have Vacherin Mont d'Or?"

Every year I give the same answer:

"Unfortunately, sir/ma'am, we don't carry raw milk Vacherin."

I loathe having to give any customer a "no" and so after hanging up with the customer I go into the back of the shop and weep salty tears.

*shakes fist at the ceiling*

"Why isn't there an American made artisan cheese that has the silky, naughty texture of Vacherin Mont d'Or but is more accessible to me and my customers?!"

Finally this year there is a very good representation of the custardy cheese from France (and Switzerland).

Her name is Rush Creek and she's my precious.

To the uninitiated Rush Creek might look a lot like one of my favorite seasonal Vermont cheeses, Winnimere. Lets compare and contrast.

The following are my notes from a side-by-side tasting conducted with both cheesemakers when they came to Chicago in early November.

WINNIMERE: A raw cow milk cheese, belted in spruce bark, washed in beer and seasonally made from autumnal and winter milk*. It weighs about one pound per wheel. Wheels are creamy, though not runny, and have aromas and flavors of smoked bacon, toasted nuts, cured meat and savory flan.

RUSH CREEK: A raw cow milk cheese, belted in spruce bark, brine wash and seasonally made from autumnal and winter milk. It weighs about 3/4 of a pound per wheel. Wheels are uber creamy, runny and gooey like a ready-to-eat fondue. Flavors and aromas of smoky bacon, campfires, custard, sweet milk and a bit wheaty. Perfect for a 9 1/2 Weeks movie re-enactment.

So what is the cheese commonly known as Vacherin Mont d'Or all about and why do people go crazy for it? Although we usually attribute this cheese to France, truth is due to the location of the mountain that the cheese is named for both France and Switzerland make a version of this cheese. The raw milk French cheese is also called Vacherin Du Hauts-Doubs or just Mont d'Or while the pasteurized cheese of Switzerland is usually called Vacherin Mont d'Or.

The cheese is made seasonally. According to AOC regulations set in the 1980's, can only be made from September through early May. She's belted in bark and is a creamy dreamy fondue-esque cheese that people go just gaga for. Or so I've heard. Although I've has pasteurized versions of the cheese I've never had raw milk Vacherin before.

Before Rush Creek came onto the scene people would compare Winnimere to Mont d'Or, but to me it's always been a bit more like the Swiss cheese Forsterkase. Creamy yet solid paste, woodsy aroma, a bit baconish.

For this year, Mateo has changed the consistency of the Winnimere somewhat. It's not as creamy as in previous years. The cheese also looks darker than in previous years, and doesn't have the right funkatude to it. I usually wait for the wheels that arrive in March when I think the funky aromas and creamy mouth feel are at their peak.

No matter which cheese you manage to find in the cheese case, they're all delicious. We're in the best part of the year, WASHED RIND SEASON! Nom nom nom.

*autumn and winter milk has a higher butterfat content and the structure of the milk makes it especially good for making washed rind cheese like Winni, Rush Creek, Forsterkase and Vacherin.

When I promise you an overwhelmingly mediocre video I deliver! This week is Christmas and I'm wondering, what's going to be on your cheese plate?

Thanksgiving Day Cheese

2010-12-13T12:31:00.001-06:00

Now that it’s almost Christmas I’m finally going to write about our Thanksgiving feast. I celebrated with my 3 yr old nephew, my brother and sister-in-law (both vegan*) and two other friends. There was a tofurkey that word just looks really dirty in print for the vegans and a big ol’ bird for the omnivores. I made my world famous sweet potato pie with pecan butter crust and a veganized version that was bereft of the richness that can only be accomplished with two whole sticks of butter but was tasty nonetheless.

But you don’t care about that stuff do you? Of course not, you wanna know about the cheese. Before dinner we had a lovely little cheese course. The crackers were from 34 Degrees. The Apple Butter comes from Seedling in Michigan. The Fig and Black Tea jam from the amazingly awesome, super-cute and nifty husband and wife team, Matt and Clare of Quince & Apple.**

On to the cheese. First on the list is Bonne Bouche. You know my love for that cheese; my obsession with it’s silky, creamy, goaty goodness. I’m not going to expound too much except to say that goat cheese + fig and black tea jam = super awesome happy tumminess.

Next up is Quadrello di Bufala. You know that cheese from water buffalo milk is delicious right? Of course you do. You also know that water buffalo milk has a high butterfat content and makes everything super tasty right? Imagine if you a will a cheese made from the rich, fatty goodness of water buffalo milk, washed rind and inspired by Taleggio. What you get is this cheese that has a rough looking rind (a bit like tree bark), a soft (not gooey) paste and an almost indescribable taste. It’s a bit like butter and cream and sweet almond milk came together and had a delicious baby. It’s not as stinky as my beloved Taleggio, but it sure is delicious.

Here in the States you don’t usually see a lot of water buffalo cheeses, and when you do it’s usually Mozzarella. Tasty, but boring considering what is out there. Do yourself a favor and the next time you’re at the cheese shop/counter/auction ask your monger for a taste of anything with water buffalo milk . Delish!

Next is a cheese you won’t find for sale. A “Reblochon” aged for less than 60 days. Yes, it’s contraband cheese. I don’t care. A cheesemaker friend is experimenting and one of the benefits of having chesemaker friends (or in this case a friend of a cheesemaker friend) is that you get to try all manner of cheesy treats. Sometimes they’re delicious and your friend lets you cut a big chunk of treat and you share it with your friends on Thanksgiving. Some days I’m positive that I have the best job in the world.

While I’m not going to talk about this particular attempt at Reblochon (the flavor was there, but the texture needed work) I will tell you a bit about the actual AOC protected Reblochon from France.

The story behind the cheese is that back in the medieval days farmers were taxed based on how much milk their cows produced. In order to “mislead” the inspectors the farmers would milk the cows partially and then when the coast was clear would milk the cows again. The word reblocher loosely translates to the practice of the second milking. The second milking was used to make Reblochon.

Reblochon reblocher. Reblochon, reblocher. Uma. Oprah. Pretty nifty hu? Reblochon is also one of the most popular cheeses of France that you might never try in the States due to it’s raw milk, aged for less than 60 days status. If by some chance you get the opportunity to taste its luscious, creamy, paste please do.

Then there’s the BIG DADDY. My new bestest friend in the cheese world. Weighing in at approximately 12oz, coming from the rolling hills of Dodgeville Wisconsin from Uplands Cheese it’s RUSH CREEK!

About a month ago Rush Creek was released to much acclaim, and a frantic elbow-throwing desire by the public that I haven’t personally experienced since the Cabbage Patch Doll craze of the 1980’s. Yes, I'm that old. If you don't know what Cabbage Patch Kids are, think about the Tickle Me Elmo craze and you'll be on the right path.

What makes this cheese so special? I will try to speak of it critically, not emotionally.

It's made by Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin. The folks who in the eleven years of entering the ACS conference have won 'Best of Show' an unprecedented 3 times including on their first time out.
It's made of raw milk
It is super uber soft and creamy almost like ready-to-eat fondue
It's belted in bark
Andy Hatch and his wife are nifty
It's a seasonal cheese (come March nary a round shall be found)
It's made from the fall and winter milk which is richer in fatty goodness and gives the cheese a sexy, slightly naughty feeling in your mouth
Nom nom nom

Okay, so not completely without emotion, I can't help it, Andy and his wife (Mike, Carol and everyone associated with the farm and creamery) are super nice. Why does that matter to you? Here's my "logic".

People who are nice to people are also often nice to animals

Happy animals give you better quality product

Better milk = better cheese

Better cheese = happy people

Happy people are usually nice.

Nice people are nice to people

People who are nice to people are also often nice to animals

And that is my totally sciencey way of explaining why this cheese is so frickin good.

But wait! There's more! At the risk of making this my longest post ever and boring the stuffing out of you (that joke would've killed on Thanksgiving) I'm going to tell you more about Rush Creek in another post this week. There will also be a pooorly constructed video on how to remove the top rind. The video will also have unfortunate music to accompany it.

*Yes, they're vegan. Normally I would shun those who don't eat fromage, but they trust me and the cheeses I bring over and so cheese is the one exception in their otherwise vegan world.

**Matt & Clare are super awesome and their preserves are delicious. They make seasonal nummies, are very creative with new flavors (gala apple and sparkling wine is one of their newest), are wicked nice, bust their butts in their tiny workspace and are primed to be the next big thing in jam.

Raw Milk Cheese Isn't Scary

2010-11-27T22:11:00.000-06:00

Over the past ~~few weeks~~ months the cheese world has been going through some shit. There have been cheese recalls due to e.coli and listeria. The government has been "protecting the public" by appearing to go after small cheesemakers, shutting them down and condemning their cheeses. The "E.Coli lawyer" is suing Costco and Bravo Farms because a family got sick from tainted cheese. There are a lot of rumors, questions and fears about raw milk cheese and if it is safe.

*I am NOT medical doctor. I'm simply giving you some information. Talk to your doctor or nutritionist if you have any concerns about anything you eat.*

I can tell you that I often purchase raw milk cheese. When I visit a farm I drink the raw milk that is offered to me, eat cheeses that aren't at the 60 day mark, and pretty much will try anything from a cheesemaker that I visit. I've gotten a few questions from readers about raw milk cheese, so here are some answers for you courtesy of cheese authority Janet Fletcher as shared by the ACS.

The Myths about Raw-Milk Cheese

-by Janet Fletcher

Parmigiano-Reggiano, Roquefort and English Cheddar are among the most sought-after selections in any cheese case. But are they also among the most dangerous?

Along with dozens of other raw-milk treasures—Fontina Val d’Aosta, Swiss Gruyère, Comté, Vermont Shepherd— these classic cheeses bear the weight of the myths and misperceptions surrounding raw milk. Some advocates suggest that raw-milk cheese is as safe as corn flakes—people aren’t dying like flies in Europe, are they? Yet others preach caution. With some physicians advising pregnant women to avoid all raw-milk cheese, consumers are

wondering where the danger lies. Does your cheese department staff know the raw-milk facts? Let’s examine some of the commonly held beliefs about pasteurization and its impact on milk, cheese and health. Anyone in the business of selling cheese needs to be able

to tell the myths from the truth.

Myth 1: Pasteurized milk is sterile.

Not true. If pasteurized milk were sterile, an unopened carton wouldn’t spoil. Pasteurization kills a lot of bacteria, including all the pathogens (disease-causing organisms) like Listeria and Salmonella and some but not all of the bacteria that make milk spoil. So pasteurization does make milk safer while it also increases the shelf-life. There is more than one way to pasteurize. You can heat the milk to a high temperature (161 degrees F.) for a short time (15 seconds). Or you can heat the milk to a lower temperature (145 degrees F.) for a longer time (30 minutes).

Most cheesemakers would say that the high-temperature, short-time (HTST) method does less damage to milk quality. A third heat-treatment procedure, known as thermization or thermalization, stops short of pasteurization. This method preserves the milk enzymes while significantly reducing bacterial counts. The FDA considers thermalized milk as raw

milk, so cheeses made with thermalized milk must still be aged at least 60 days.

Myth 2: Raw milk has more nutrient value than pasteurized milk.

Not significantly. According to Moshe Rosenberg, food science professor at the University of California at Davis, vitamin loss from pasteurization is either too small to measure or less than 10 percent. The exception is vitamin C, which drops by about 20 percent. Many people believe in the health benefits of raw milk’s enzymes. Pasteurization does denature enzymes, but

according to Rosenberg, milk enzymes can’t withstand the low pH in the human stomach anyway. They don’t do anything for our digestion or health.

Myth 3: Pregnant women should avoid all raw-milk cheese.

The concern here is Listeria, which can harm a fetus. So do physicians have science behind them when they tell pregnant patients to forego all raw-milk cheese? Studies suggest not. Although high-moisture, unripened cheeses like cottage cheese and queso fresco and soft

cheeses such as Brie and Camembert can support Listeria growth, aged raw-milk cheeses like Parmigiano- Reggiano, English Cheddar, Gruyère and Emmenthal cannot. They’re too dry, too low in pH, too high in salt. When Listeria turns up in cheese, it’s almost always in moist, soft cheese made with milk that was improperly pasteurized or contaminated after pasteurization. There have been several large outbreaks of listeriosis associated with Hispanic-style cheeses prepared under non-commercial conditions. The FDA’s own risk assessent puts hard cheese last in Listeria potential among 23 common foods, including produce (www.foodsafety.gov/~dms/lmr2-toc.html). From the standpoint of Listeria risk, it would make more sense to warn pregnant women away from fruits, vegetables or deli meats than to caution them about aged raw-milk cheese. Aged raw-milk cheeses are excellent sources of calcium and protein, needed by pregnant women. The law requires raw-milk cheese—domestic or imported—to be aged at least 60 days at 35 degrees F. or above. By that point, most cheeses are no longer soft or moist, and are highly unlikely to harbor Listeria. (Some underage raw-

milk cheeses do enter this country illegally, and pregnant women should avoid them.)

Myth 4: Raw-milk cheese tastes better than cheese made from pasteurized milk.

That widespread belief comes under fire once you taste a Colston-Bassett Stilton, Spain’s luscious Nevat, a mountain Gorgonzola or the washed-rind Red Hawk from California’s Cowgirl Creamery—all from pasteurized milk. In the hands of a good cheesemaker, pasteurized milk does just fine. Pasteurization does destroy some of the microflora in milk—the “bad bacteria as well as the desirable flavor- and aroma-producing enzymes. Without these enzymes, cheese made from pasteurized milk has less potential for flavor development. In one study, researchers at France’s Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique made the same cheeses from both raw and pasteurized milk. The raw-milk versions developed flavor sooner and the flavor was richer and more complex. The researchers’ conclusion: Pasteurization alters the biochemistry and microbiology of ripening and thus the texture and flavor of the cheese. All things being equal, raw milk will produce a more complex cheese than pasteurized milk. Nevertheless, most

cheesemakers would agree that fresh, high-quality pasteurized milk is better than low-quality raw milk any day.

Myth 5: Raw-milk cheeses aged more than 60 days are risk-free.

Nothing we eat is risk-free. Cheese can be contaminated at any stage from farm to table: in the milking barn, in the dairy, in the aging room or at the retail counter. The 60-day rule, which dates from 1949, derives from the belief that pathogens can’t survive the low-pH, low-moisture environment of an aged cheese. In fact, scientists have since shown that some pathogens—strains of Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli—can survive in cheese beyond 60 days. In most of these so-called challenge studies, they have inoculated pasteurized milk (not raw

milk) with large quantities of pathogens—far more than you would find in quality milk—then made and aged the cheese. Lo and behold, in some cases, pathogens survived beyond 60 days. Catherine Donnelly, a food microbiologist at the University of Vermont and an international expert on Listeria, believes that pathogens may behave differently in pasteurized-milk cheese than in raw-milk cheese. Says Donnelly, “Having lots of beneficial bacteria present is a good way to combat pathogenic bacteria. Once you eliminate all those good organisms, there’s nothing for the pathogenic bacteria to compete with. What do these challenge studies prove about aged raw-milk cheese, which has a remarkable safety record? In more than 50 years of scientific literature, there are virtually no reports of illness outbreaks from aged raw-milk cheese that can be blamed on the raw milk.

Myth 6: Mandatory pasteurization would make cheese safe for all.

It’s true that pasteurization puts all known milk pathogens out of commission, but it doesn’t prevent milk or cheese from being infected downstream. In fact, it may make it easier, as Donnelly suggests. Not only can pathogens get a foothold when there aren’t any “good bacteria to outcompete them, but dairies may relax their sanitary procedures when they know they’re working with pasteurized milk. One recent study of European washed-rind cheeses found

almost twice as much Listeria in the pasteurized samples than in the raw-milk samples.

“The greatest threat posed to the safety of cheese is due to post-process environmental contamination, writes Donnelly in a scientific paper. In that light, mandatory HACCP plans in dairies would probably do more to safeguard public health than mandatory pasteurization.

*****************************************************************************

Janet Fletcher is the author of The Cheese Course and a staff food writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. This article from the November 2004 issue of Specialty Foods Magazine is made available with their express permission.

Hopefully the article I've shared with you all will help you in making educated decisions at the cheese counter.

Spending Saturday with Cheesemakers

2010-11-11T08:43:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was the second annual Wisconsin Cheese Festival put on by Jeanne of Wisconsin Cheese Originals. At the last minute I had my time off request approved and was super excited to spend three days in Wisconsin gorging myself on cheese.

Unfortunately (for me and everyone else who waited until the last minute) every single seminar I wanted to go to was completely sold out, including the 'Meet the Cheesemaker' event on Saturday night. Fortuntately, Jeanne read the desperation in my email plee and had a ticket waiting for me at the door. Huzzah!

One of the reasons I was so excited for this event is that Uplands Cheese was going to be offering samples of their brand new cheese called Rush Creek. I'm not going to talk about that cheese in this post except to share with you a poorly taken picture of the packaging, and to let you know that one of the benefits of working in a cheese shop is that a wheel is already set aside at the store for me. I am going to buy it, bring it home, turn the lights down low, light a few candles, pop on some Barry White and...well you know what happens when you put on Barry.

Okay, enough about Rush Creek. One of the great things about an event like this is not just getting an opportunity to taste those cheeses that you love, but to meet some new cheesy friends as well.

One of my favorite cheese experiences came at the Chalet Cheese Cooperative makers of both Limburger and the cheese recently resurrected from extinction, Liederkranz*. Both cheeses are very similar. They're both smear-ripened, soft, creamy cheeses that bring the funk to any party. Due to a different bacteria added to the Liederkranz, this cheese ripens a lot faster than Limburger. I did a taste comparison with a cheese sample of each that had been aged for two months. The Limburger was a bit chewy, very milky, a bit salty, and had just started to get stinky. The two month old Liederkranz on the other hand was already turning into a silky, creamy funk-bomb. It was beefy, a bit fruity, sweet and absolutely delicious. Just writing about it is making me wish I'd brought some home with me. Dammit.

Another new cheese I tried was from a company I'd not heard of before. Harmony Specialty Foods had a 1 year aged Caerphilly. Sooo good. Crumbly, lemony and yoghurty it was just a perfect little nibble of goodness.

Meinlese is a still-in-the-works cheese from Seymour Dairy that is being billed as a Cheddar Blue. Aged for 5 months it has a big saltiness upfront, but then it mellows into a sort of buttery blue with a Cheddary acidity. If the first batch is any indication I'll absolutely be adding it to my ever-growing list of nummy cheeses.

All and all, Saturday was a great evening. I gorged myself on cheese and good company. Congratulations to Jeanne for another successful festival. See you next year!

*Liederkranz is made at the Chalet Cheese Cooperative, but DCI Cheese Company actually owns the name and from what I understand does all the distribution of one of my new favorite stinky cheeses.

Vermont Cheese for Breakfast

2010-10-20T09:02:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Things in Chicago are getting a bit stressful. We're coming upon the holiday season which means that I'm working more and sleeping less. On top of that, I'm trying to find a job and apartment in Vermont so that when I move in the new year I don't have to live on the air mattress at my folks' house.

Last week I was back in Vermont supposedly checking out the job and apartment scene. On Tuesday however I was being a lazy gal, sitting on the porch watching Netflix streaming video and tempering my cheese for breakfast.

First up is from Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, Vermont (although on their packaging it says they're in Leicester.) Blue Ledge Farm is a small family farm making farmstead seasonal cheese for ten months of the year. According to their website they have around 75 milking goats who produce enough milk to make approximately 11,000 pounds of cheese. I know that sounds like a lot of cheese, but it's really not. Let's compare Blue Ledge to another artisan farmstead goat cheese producer and let's use really round numbers.

Let's say that you have 1000 goats on your farm. Each of those goats produces 1 gallon of milk a day. It takes about 10 gallons of milk to make 1 # of cheese. That farm could potentially make 100 pounds of cheese a day. Blue Ledge on the other hand, with their small herd would make less than 10 pounds of cheese a day. Of course there are variations to consider such as what kind of cheese the cheesemaker is creating that day, the composition of the milk they're using (butterfat is soooooo important*) and how long the cheese is going to be aged but that just gives you a rough number to look at.

Enough with the math, back to the cheese.

Crottina is a young bloomy rind cheese aged for less than 30 days (that means it's pasteurized) that looks similar in shape to Constant Bliss or a slightly bigger (than I'm used to seeing) Crottin. The outside is super fluffy and white like chalk. It smells a bit like mushrooms before washing, and a bit like watercress. The interior of the cheese has a very soft and creamy appearance and tastes goaty, vegetable-y, with just a wee kick of salt and a nice mushroomitude that makes me quite happy. Fantastic farm and delicious cheese.

They also do a lot of flavored fresh chevre. One of my absolute favorites is the maple chevre. What do you do with maple goat cheese? You can make stuffed french toast, pancakes, crepes, flan, cheesecake, swirl it into a brownie, napoleon, salad, stuffed in a chicken breast, or pork loin. I mean...there's so much you can do with that little package of tastiness. Next time I get some I'll make a tasty recipe and share it with you. Promise.

No trip to Vermont would be complete without me getting a tasty treat from Lazy Lady Farm. Today's treat is called Sweet Emotion and is a mix of goat milk and cream from a nearby cow dairy. This cheese has a very stong mold aroma to the rind. The paste itself is very different. It has a slightly sour tang like sour cream, has a mild goaty flavor and tastes the way a bell pepper smells when you cut it. Interesting, very mild and another unique offering from Laini and her goats.

Me, sitting on my brother's porch on a rather overcast day. Just eating cheese.

*Milk that has a higher butterfat content means that you can make more cheese, with the same amount of milk. Again, it depends on what style of cheese you're going to make, but butterfat is a very good thing.

Mozzarella Company

2010-09-13T09:27:00.001-05:00

I know almost nothing about Texas. What I do know is based on my visit to Austin for the ACS conference last year and what I've read on the back of cars:

1. Texas summers are too hot
2. The tacos weren't as fantastic as I was lead to believe they would be
3. Although no reason has ever been given I believe I'm not supposed to mess with Texas

4. They make some tasty cheese

Today we're talking about a delicious goat cheese from the Mozzarella Company in Dallas. Inspired by the French cheese, Banon Hoja Santa joins my ever-expanding list of cheeses I adore.

Hoja Santa (translated it means "sacred leaf") is a plant found locally in Texas. It has a heart shape and can grow to be 1 ft in diameter. The best thing about the plant is the flavor profile. Sassafrass, eucalyptus and mint are all characteristics of this incredibly versatile plant that can be used as a wrapping for tamales, in sauces or in today's focus as a wrapper for cheese.

Fresh goat cheese usually has a citrus acidity to it, but I've noticed that goat cheeses from Texas seem to have a bit more of a peppery piquant flavor as well. This is where terroir comes into play. The grasses that animals are eating in dry areas is going to be different than the ones in New England or Wisconsin, so instead of a fresh grassiness, you get more dried hay, and toasted, flavors.

This slightly peppery goat cheese, when combined with the Hoja Santa leaf makes for a fantastic cheese treat. The texture is soft, creamy and moist while the flavor just explodes in your mouth. If you're thinking that root beer, pepper and mint sounds like it might be a weird combination in your mouth you're so wrong! Eat this cheese straight up, turn it into a savory flan, or pair it with horchata and a crust of bread. Any way you slice it, your tummy is in for a taste sensation!

I stink!

2010-09-08T08:35:00.003-05:00

Overheard on the bus the other day:

"That girl stinks"

This statement was issued by a fellow bus rider who had sat down next to me and got up within a few minutes to move to another section of the bus. I wanted to shout out,

"It's not me, it's the cheese!" but instead I sat there quietly listening to my ipod, pretending I hadn't heard the comment.

What was this stinky bomb of funkiness that had people fleeing?

Trou du Cru.

You're all familiar with Epoisses right? No? Well, it's that big funky stanky cheese that's actually illegal to take on public transportation in France. It comes in a small wooden box to keep it from turning into a big gooey mess . This cheese is a miniature version of that cheese.

Epoisses, made in the Burgundy region of France dates back to at least the sixteenth century. The cheese is made from cow's milk, and as you can tell by it's orange hue, it is a washed-rind cheese. The Epoisses is washed several times a week in a mixture of water and Marc de Bourgogne.

At the beginning of the 20th century the cheese was still popular, but then started to die off until it was nearly extinct. Fortunately, in 1956 the Berthaut family started making authentic farmstead Epoisses, and the cheese gained in popularity once more, eventually gaining AOC status in 1991

Trou du Cru was developed in the 1980's by Robert Berthaut. In essence it is a miniature Epoisses, but in my opinion it is the tastier of the two.

So what are the differences with the two cheeses? First off is the obvious size difference. The Epoisses most common in the U.S.A. comes in at a bit under 9 ounces. Trou du Cru comes in at about 2 ounces. Epoisses is aged for at least five weeks, Trou du Cru for about four. The biggest difference has nothing to do with size, but pertains to the flavor profile.

Epoisses, when ripe gets an ooey, gooey, creaminess that's almost unreal. It is smooth, sweet, slightly stinky and delicious-If you like salt licks. A fully ripened Epoisses is just way too salty for me. Just so you don't think I'm a salt wimp I'll tell you that one of my guilty pleasures is eating kosher and sea salt as a snack. I love salt. It's one of my favorite foods groups. Epoisses is just too salty for me.

Trou du Cru on the other hand is very well balanced. It has the strong smells of cheese, body odor and slightly soured milk but the paste is just soooo good. It's super creamy, sweet and lactic, a bit beefy and fruity with just a smidge of floral notes. It is one of my favorite new cheese friends.

If you love Epoisses, you have to try Trou du Cru. Just avoid public transportation.

The cheese is pictured with some balsamic marinated onions, country pate, whole grain crackers and a bit of mustard. The cheese was so ripe I had to scrape it out of its paper doily that it was wrapped in. It just oozed onto the board in a silky mess of cheesy goodness.

Blogging and ACS Update

2010-08-28T20:57:00.004-05:00

Hey there fellow turophiles. If you're at all like me you've been following the ACS conference by stalking those fortunate conference attendees who tweet, blog and do regular Facebook updates about it. My boss just texted me the winners and here they are:

Best of Show:
1st Place Pleasant Ridge Reserve
2nd Place Bonne Bouche pt 2 can be found here
3rd Place Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise

I'm going to have to change my tune at work. No I'm going to have to start saying

"Pleasant Ridge Reserve is the only cheese to have won 'Best of Show' three times at the ACS conference."

Congratulations Vermont!

On an unrelated note, I am in the process of moving my blog to Wordpress. The url will stay the same, but the overall design, and gadgets I get to play with will be 100% more rad. Stay tuned!

Vermont Trip Epilogue

2010-08-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

I realized there were a few things I didn't mention about my Vermont trip.

This picture was taken on the way back from Lazy Lady farm. It was a beautiful day to for a road trip. Also a beautiful day to avoid border patrol. My brother has a car that is not completely legal. Westfield is close enough to Canada that there is border patrol with check points up and down the roads. In order to not be pulled over and have the car impounded miles and miles away from anyone we knew we took the "hopefully not crawling with border-patrol" route back to Montpelier.

When I move back to VT one of the first things I'm going to do is get Thors' car legalized.

The most important thing about this trip to Vermont is that we had a macaroni and cheese contest at my folks' house. Pa, my brother Thor* and I went in a macaroni and cheese throwdown of epic porportions. Since I have access to a lot of fancy cheesy goodness, the number one rule was that I was not allowed to bring any cheese from Chicago, or to have it shipped either.

Pa was the heavy favorite. The man makes a fantastic mac n' cheese. For my birhday dinner I usually ask for macaroni and cheese. When I go back east to visit I ask for macaroni and cheese. I was sure that he would win. My brother is just getting into making mac n' cheese and according to his friends had been practicing some different recipes out.

In the end, just like in Highlander there could only be one winner. That winner was me. It was awesome. I believe this is going to be a new tradition that's going to get bigger and bigger within the family. I hope to wipe the floor with each and every challenger!

Thanks go out to my brother for spending hours upon hours in the car driving me hither and yon.

Special Thanks also to Arnaldo** for letting me use your shower, this would've been a funkier trip without your help.

*Thor is not that name of my brother, just a super cool code name that would be way funnier to you if you knew my brother.
**Arnaldo isn't his real name either, I just love coming up with code names. It's super fun!

Lazy Lady Farm

2010-08-23T18:44:00.011-05:00

I have been having a lot of trouble writing this post about Laini, her farm and her general awesomeness. The problem is that I've wanted to meet her for so long and visit her farm that I wrote a few early drafts with my "celebrity goggles" on. Kind of what happened when I met Allison Hooper at ACS last year.

Laini's Lazy Lady Farm of 40 milkers is certified organic and is off the grid. The kids have a nice little wooded area where they can romp and play and get all the nutrients that help to keep their immune systems happy. Her power is all solar and wind generated. Does any of this make the cheese taste better, or is it something else altogether?

Laini started out as a shepherd in the early days, selling lambs for meat and doing a rug business using sheep's' wool for felting. Shearing a sheep ran between $3-6 each and unfortunately the price of processing a lamb became very expensive as well. When Laini started out it was about $8 per lamb, more recently the price is $70+ per lamb.With such high prices Laini would have to charge a ridiculously high price in order to make any type of profit or even just recoup the expenses paid out to raise the lamb, or she could choose to set her price too low and go out of business all together.

Neither one sounded good so she switched to goats. Lazy Lady Farm started with 1 Nubian goat and a few sheep, but she soon got rid of raising sheep, and made the change to the heartier Alpine goat which has a shorter gestation period and a larger milk yield.

Laini's farm is settled on one of the most beautiful and picturesque parts of Vermont. She has two cows and is also uses cow's milk from a nearby neighbor who supplies milk to Organic Valley as well.

Being off the grid doesn't slow down work on the farm although it does make doing chores a bit more taxing physically. When we got there they were adding a door to the new cave that's being built 15 feet underground. Having an underground cave helps maintain the temperature and humidity and generates a natural airflow. In the winter time the cave is at about 40 degrees and 55 in the summer. Having that constant temperature is crucial when aging cheeses. Not all cheeses want to be aged at 55 degrees though. Luckily, Laini has a number of cheeses that are available on a seasonal rotation.

Happy little boy goat with a fantastic beard. Hipster boys around the country should hang their heads in shame when they gaze upon his goaty greatness.

Hello ladies! Lazy Lady employees enjoying a shady spot on the farm

When Laini first started making cheese she did so using four 5 gallon pots and that tiny stove. Each batch of cheese was started at a slightly different time and she would have all of the batches going at once. Things have improved. In 2003 she got a loan from the Vermont Community Loan Fund which enabled Lazy Lady Farm to build a bigger cheese plant (originally cheese was made in the kitchen) and there's room now for a bigger kettle (50 gallon) to make the cheesemaking process more efficient.

Laini talks about her goaty pursuits and cheesemaking endeavors.

Laini's cheeses have won numerous awards, she has kicked butt at ACS conferences, and is one of the most respected cheesemakers I know. She, like many others in the industry learned her craft by spending time abroad.

One of the things I enjoyed most when talking with Laini was her business sense. As a society we are in love with the romanticism of farming and making artisan products. The reality is that this is ridiculously hard work, and not every farmer is going to succeed and make a tidy profit. Laini is the only cheesemaker I've visited who talked about the financial aspects of the job. Sure, goats are adorable, but the bottom line is a farmer needs to make money in order to sustain their land, animals, and lifestyle. Being poor is not romantic. You have to have a good head for business to be a successful cheesemaker.

One of the biggest challenges in a cheesemakers' world is getting paid. If the retailer or distributor doesn't pay, they are jeopardizing Lainis' ability to stay in business. There are a lot of cheesemakers who will continue working with someone who isn't timely in their payments, but Laini isn't one of them. She pulls no punches and isn't afraid to name names of people who have tried to take advantage of her.

It is her blend of breeding and cheesemaking talent, creativity, passion, environmental concerns, no bullshit taken or given approach and practicality that makes Lazy Lady Farm and the woman behind it truly remarkable.

Laini runs a goat breeding program. If you're interested in acquiring a goat or two please check out her website here.

I spent hours with cows and didn't get trampled. Yippee!

2010-08-20T12:54:00.014-05:00

There are two more Vermont oriented posts coming your way and then I promise to pepper in some non-Vermont oriented cheese love although I am planning on going back in October, so be prepared!

Today is about the first part of the Vermont Farm Tours. The first farm we went to was Crawford Family Farm in Whiting.

The Crawfords have been farming in Whiting since 1950 with the women in the family taking the lead roles. There are 300 acres of land and 50-60 Ayrshire (air-sheer) cows on the farm. Out of that number, only 18 cows and 6 heifers are milked for cheese with the rest of the milk going to fluid milk sales.

While Sherry makes a number of cheeses that are each tasty in their own right, the cheese you want to get your hands on is the clever and aptly named Vermont Ayr. This Alpine style cheese is made in small batches, brined and then put on ash wood planks in their aging room for anywhere from four months to a year.

During our visit Sherry played an educational game with us that she usually uses with school children to help them better understand what it is a cow does and how milk comes to be. While it was a little bit silly talking in a circle about how grasses "mooove" from the mouth through the digestive system it was fun too.

Then came the tasting portion of the tour. We were given tastes of three different batches of Vermont Ayr. I made my tasting notes on a piece of paper towel since my notebook and pen were foolishly left in the other room.

March '10- Butterscotch, hay, sweet, creamy in the paste. Rind has notes of stone, minerals and cut grass

Nov '09- Earthy, white button mushrooms, hayed grasses, slight sweetness but more savory. A bit like 1 year Gouda and Comte had a baby

July '09- A bit flat, slight ammonia in the rind, higher acidity like lemon zest, dry and a bit like an American Parmesean.

The above notes are why you should ALWAYS TASTE BEFORE YOU BUY! I don't care if you think you've had a cheese a million times before, a few months can make a huge difference in the flavor profile.

One cheese with 3 different ages and three completely different flavor profiles. Although in the minority, my favorite batch (and my brothers'as well) was from March of 2010, while the majority of the other tour participants went for the November 2009 batch.

Here Sherry is showing us her "high-tech" milk quality checking equipment. If the milk is funky here, she checks it out further before turning it into cheese.

Sherry offered everyone a taste of raw fluid milk. I proudly stepped forward along with some others to try a taste of something that causes controversy in the cheese world and among fluid dairy farmers alike. It was delicious and tasted more buttery and creamy than that stuff you see in the supermarket. It had flavor instead of just tasting like cold dairy. No one died and no one got sick. We also got to taste some of her yogurt which was yummy too.

My brother LOOOOOOVES cows. Seriously. He is a big ol' cow-loving freak. As you know from a previous post, I have a bit of a fear of cows. Luckily my brother was there to keep the calves from trampling me to a pulp.

Cows are beautiful and sweet. I know this in the logical part of my brain. They have stunning lashes, big brown eyes and super soft muzzles. They will give you big sloppy kisses with their tongues, and mouth your hands. They'll also crush you with their hooves of fury as soon as you let your guard down. Here I am protected by fencing but you can see that the calf is giving me the hairy eyeball right? That little moo-cow is just waiting for me to relax.

After Crawford Family Farm we went to Dancing Cow Farm in Bridport. From their website,

Dancing Cow Farm
At the end of a Vermont country lane, sits a farm with red barns and a small white house. It's centered in the middle of 243 acres of organic pasture and hay fields. With views of the Green Mountains to the East and the Adirondacks to the West, this is home to a herd of blissful bovines. These wonderful cows of all sizes, stripes and colors eat the grass, share their milk, and live their lives peacefully.

The farm is just as beautiful as described. So why is it called "Dancing Cow Farm"? Here's the cliff notes version.

When the cows are finally out on pasture after a cold Vermont winter of snow they are so excited to go out that they jump and frolic and play. After searching for a name for the farm during a conversation with a friend after describing the dancing cows the question was asked

"Oh, so is that the name of your farm? Dancing Cow?"
"Yes" replied Karen-a woman who knows a good thing when she hears it.

If you've never seen a 1000 pounds of moo-cow playing, you're missing out. It honestly does look like they're dancing.

While I love all of the cheeses they make, my favorite, hands-down is the Sarabande. I first tried Sarabande at my last trip to Vermont last summer. Unfortunately I didn't see any Sarabande out for sampling or for purchase. I asked Karen where my favorite cheese was and she told me that it hadn't gotten to it's 60 day age so she was unable to sell it. I must have looked pathetic because she went into the aging rooms and got a wheel out for us to taste.

I still love Sarabande, although since it was young, the flavor profile was a bit different. Instead of this creamy stinky, fudgy, smoky, grassy, milky bomb of funkiosity it was a mild, buttery, fresh grass cheese that was just developing a bit of smoke and tasted like sunshine. I know that's an odd description to give to a cheese, but I don't know how else to describe it. It tasted like a nice warm day in summer. I was ready to bribe her to part with some of the cheese, but I thought that might cause a riot among the others, so I kept quiet and happy by eating most of what had been cut for sampling.

New Cheese Alert!

Her name is Lindy Hop and she's the first blue from DCF (I'm getting tired of writing out the whole name of the farm, although logistically speaking it took longer to do this explanation). The sweet and supple paste has a flavor almost like clotted cream. It's so rich and creamy-although not gooey spreadable like a Brie. With notes of clover and a slight saltiness in the rind and I have found another favorite cheese to add to my always growing list.

When looking to sneak another taste of cheese I find that Legolas is right. We needed "a diversion". "Hey! Look over there quick!" That totally worked.*

lunch during the VT Farm Tour was underneath a few trees near their contented cows.

Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time at the farm and soon we had to be on our way to Twig Farm. Hopefully I'll be able to go back soon, spend some more time talking to Karen and her family, get over my irrational fear of being trampled by cows and get some Sarabande for the ride home.

*Okay, that caption is totally misleading. This is one of those photos that just kind of happened at the right time. Karen's' husband had just walked in. We weren't tricking her into giving us more cheese, although someone in the group clearly decided to take advantage and swipe another morsel of yumminess. Oh, and if you don't know what I'm talking about with the Legolas reference you need to re-watch the Return of the King Extended Edition right now!

Twig Farm Visit

2010-08-08T08:48:00.001-05:00

Some of my favorite cheeses come from Twig Farm in West Cornwall, Vermont. This small farmstead creamery is making some phenomenal stuff.

Why are their cheeses so rad? I've decided to write a list for you.

1. It's seasonably made. Michael encourages his goats to follow their natural breeding cycle. They mate in the fall, take the winter off to gestate, and in the spring "kidding" season starts, and fresh goat milk is available once again.

2. All of their cheeses are raw. I'm a huge fan of raw fluid milk and raw milk cheese. Why does raw milk make a difference? Many people believe that raw milk cheese has a more complex flavor profile. Yes, it's true that pasteurizing cheese kills off all of the bad bacteria like listeria, but it also kills off the good flavor-producing bacteria that add depth of flavor and a sense of terroir to the cheese. The cheeses from Twig Farm-especially square- taste very much like the natural flora that is part of the goats' diet.

3. Cheesemaker Michael used to be Cheesemonger Michael at South End Fromaggio in Boston. I think that it's beneficial for a cheesemaker to know what's going on in the retail world. Knowing what happens in the shop can help a cheesemaker out in terms of what size and shape of cheese is easy to distribute, what price point the markets can bear, how best to merchandise their cheese, and gives them a complete picture from milk to consumer on what happens to their product. It is also beneficial for a cheesemonger to learn more about the scientific and labor intensive processes that go into every delicious wheel that we sell, but that's another post for another day.

4. Michael knows the names of all of his goats and it is clear after meeting him that he loves his employees.

5. The land is beautiful. To get to the pasture we walked through a rocky little foresty area which is perfect for playing with your goaty girlfriends or for climbing with your little goaty hoofs. Then we got to the fields. Thistle, Queen Anne's Lace, clover and yummy grasses are all there ready to satisfy any of your nibbling needs. Twig Farm is a goat paradise.

6. The cheeses all have very simple names which is appealing and comforting in a way that I can't actually describe. While the names of the cheeses (Square, Fuzzy Wheel, Goat Tomme) almost sounds generic (like the "Acme" company that always come popping up in road runner cartoons) the cheeses are phenomenal. My favorite of the Twig Farm cheeses is Washed Rind. This buttery, creamy, slightly funky, definitely goaty cheese is washed in a whey brine solution and aged for just under three months. While you should absolutely buy any of their cheeses if you see them, the Washed Rind is required eating.

Goats hanging out in the pasture. Eating green stuffs and being happy.

My brother confessed to me that he isn't much of a goat lovin' man. The Twig Farm ladies changed his mind though. They just surrounded him and made him pet and fall in love with them. See bro, I told you. Goats are good.

Okay yeah it kind of looks like this goat is either burping, coughing or has a furball.

Goats are herd animals and love playing follow the leader.

These are the Twig Farm bucklings. So cute. All they wanted to do was nibble and nuzzle our hands.

This was the last stop on our three farm tour with Vermont Farm Tours, and it was one of my favorite. I've been a fan of Twig Farm for quite a while and meeting Michael and his lovely ladies was one of the highlights of my trip. If you're going on a cheese trip through Vermont, you MUST make a stop here to play with the goats.

My Brother Is Awesome

2010-08-04T22:35:00.008-05:00

My most recent cheese journey was just last week when I went back to Vermont. I used the excuse that I wanted to go to the Vermont Cheesemaker's Festival, but in all honesty I just wanted to go "back home".

I know, I know, I've written posts about going back home to New York as well, and on some level I'll always be a girl from Queens, but Vermont is my soul. My most favorite thing to do when back in the Green Mountain State is to hang out with my brother. No, not that brother, the other one. The "good" one. The one who let's me crash on his bed while he takes the air mattress. The one who picks me up at the Boston airport just so we can go to a cheese shop and then drives me all over Vermont looking for tasty cheese. The one I haven't seen in a year. My best friend and emotional twin.

The next few posts are all dedicated to my fantastically wonderful, bad-ass, kick butt drummer, illegal-car driving, border-patrol avoiding, can't grow a full bushy beard to save his life brother. Thanks for making last week awesome!

On day one I landed at Logan airport with a GPS and an address of a cheese shop. Located only 10 minutes away from Logan on a tiny quiet little street is South End Formaggio. This shop might be small, but it is jam-packed with goodies. They have a lunch counter where you can get a huge ham and butter sandwich or even half a roasted chicken. There's a great array of cured meats and pate, craft beer, artisan wines, jams, mustards, crackers, some seasonal fresh fruit, frozen treats, tons of delicious chocolate and of course cheese. They are a cut-to-order shop with no minimum cut and let you taste just about everything. That's my favorite kind of shp to visit. I don't like being forced to buy a certain amount of cheese. I like to pick and choose, using measures such as "a smidge" and "sniglet". I forced my brother to try everything with me-even things he wasn't terribly excited about. We ended up with some Taleggio, Selles-sur-Cher and some especially fruity and nutty Comte.

Selles-sur-Cher is one of my favorite goat's milk cheeses. It's just a small disk of fresh chevre from France that has been rubbed in ash. This cheese is sublime. It has a firm texture with a bit of a sour, salty sweetness and barnyardy notes too. Unfortunately, since the AOC cheese is made from raw milk and the cheese is aged less than 60 days, in the U.S.A. we can only get pasteurized versions. The "authentic" cheese is very similar to the pasteurized version except it has a bit more goatiness to it. Although very similar to Bonne Bouche in size, this cheese is a bit more mellow, and tame. It's the "Cathy" to Bonne Bouche's "Patty" We ate it while watching Meg Ryan movies and mocking her precocious "acting skills".

The next day we took the "scenic" route (some might say we got lost) to Shelburne for a Vermont Farm Tour. Our guide was Chris and 14 of us set out to visit three artisan cheesemakers in Addison county. Doing the tour with Vermont Farm Tours was awesome. Two of the cheesemakers I'd wanted to visit on my trip to Vermont were on the tour: Twig Farm-makers of obscenely delicious cheese and Dancing Cow-cheesemakers who name all their delicious cheeses after dances. Taking the tour meant less driving for us and a more relaxed atmosphere.

Chris from Vermont Farm Tours

There were people of varying experiences there. One couple from Canada who are putting together an artisan cheese festival in June. One couple from Mexico who had a small herd of goats and were embarking upon their own cheesemaking journey-even though they don't like goat cheese. It was interesting being surrounded by so many people and having a chance to look at the cheese world through the eyes of others.

Of course we did the Vermont cheesemaker's Festival as well. I decided to splurge this year and buy the wine glass so I could taste and get...happy. The bro was stuc as the designated driver since it doesn't take much for me to be unable to drive. My favorite things from this year's festival were the Eden Ice Cider, Triple Cream and Cream Cheese from Champlain Valley Creamery, and this wicked awesome cheese I'd never had before from Cricket Creek Farm called Tobasi. Tobasi is a seasonally-made semi-soft raw cow's milk cheese, aged for about 3 months. It looks like tree bark, and it tastes a bit like a mild Taleggio. Full of grassy, nutty, creamy, earthy, lactic notes. No, I don't' know why a cheese from MA was at the VT Cheesemaker's Festival.

Tobasi is delicious and looks like tree bark and cheese had a baby.

They had a little pen with a sheep and two snow white little goats who like to play.

I love this t-shirt from Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery.

I love going out to breakfast. Especially when I'm in Vermont (real maple syrup on everything). If you enjoy deliciousness you have to make sure that you stop at the Penny Cluse Cafe in Burlington and get an order of gingerbread pancakes. They are light as a cloud, full of flavor, and hearty. I love them year-round, but can't wait to have them in the winter when it's really cold outside. I forced my brother to make a stop on our way to the festival. They also have fantastic juices made on premise. The grapefruit is especially divine.

If you're in Montpelier stop at Kismet Kitchen on Barre street. Fresh juice bar, local and organic foods, vegetarian and vegan options and specials that truly are special. My favorite was the fried green tomato Benedict. Oh, and thanks to the awesome server who let me go on and on about my slight obsession over duck eggs and then offered to poach some as a substitution for chicken eggs. It was the last thing I ate on this trip to Vermont, and one of the best.

Oh Vermont I miss you already, but not for long. I have decided to leave Chicago this year. When I first moved here to work at Spiagga I planned to be out here for one year and then move back to the East Coast. This summer was my sixth in the Windy City. I have had great experiences working in fantastic restaurants, and of course getting to work in a great cheese shop for the past few years, but I'm not a big city girl, and every time I go back to Vermont I'm reminded of that.

Dear reader this is where you come in. If you know of anyone looking for a cheese-passionate, slightly off-center, cheesy lass who can sing, plays the tambourine* and adores Vermont let me know. My email is cheeseisalive@gmail.com

Things that I will be addressing in upcoming posts:

My Brother Is Awesome but not as cute as goats
I am the macaroni and cheese champion
What's that smell? Oh, it's coming from my suitcase.
Farmstead cheesemakers are awesome and raw milk didn't kill me
Lazy Lady Farm and avoiding the border patrol

*Technically I don't actually play the tambourine, but it doesn't look too hard. I'll learn.

Caveman Blue is Good Food. Seriously.

2010-07-04T23:11:00.005-05:00

Cheese is a basic food. It really is. Of course there are different ways to classify cheese: industrial, commodity, specialty, artisan, farmstead,and others terms that exists now and are will be created in the future. At it's core though, cheese is a basic, primitive food.

Cheese is milk that has"gone bad" in a controlled environment. It can be made with very few ingredients. All you need is milk, salt and a coagulant. You can make cheese with lemon juice, buttermilk, animal rennet, synthetic or true vegetarian rennet. It amazes me that all the same ingredients can be manipulated into so many delicious ways.

A great example of taking just a few ingredients and turning it into a variety of products comes to us from Rogue Creamery in Oregon. In addition to a few other cheeses, they make a slew of different blue cheeses, each with their own distinctive flavor profile.

Seasonally made Rogue River Blue is one of the most anticipated cheeses on the scene. Wrapped in grape leaves that have been soaked in pear brandy this cheese is moist and supple with earthy and tree fruit flavors.

Echo Mountain is one of my favorite blues in all of the cheesey kingdom. Earthy with a slight tang brought about by the blending of cow and goat milk make this a complex, subtle, salty piece of heaven.

Then of course is their newest cheese: Caveman Blue. Aged up until one year this cheese is a bit like eating butter. ~~A compound butter made with vanilla.~~ That sounds like such a passive way of describing this cheese. Saute some bacon in a pan. Drain most of the bacon fat and put it in a glass jar in your fridge for use later on down the line. Then take a grass-fed beef patty and cook it up in that wee bit of bacon fat. Put that patty on a toasted hamburger bun that had VT Butter and Cheese Creamery cultured butter with sea salt on it and eat it outside after mowing the lawn. That's a much better way to describe what's going on in this cheese.

Beefy, salty, grassy and buttery with a whiff of bacon. There's also a bit of sweetness to the milk, but I couldn't think of how to add that to the hamburger description. This cheese is obscene. Another fantastic addition to a great line! Don't be jealous Echo Mountain, you're still my favorite.

I love my job!

2010-06-16T14:16:00.000-05:00

As an assistant buyer I have the opportunity to try all the samples that come into the store. Usually it's one or two new things a day. Yesterday was different.

We tasted at least a dozen potential new cheese case residents, including an old friend I haven't had in years: Berkshire Blue. I spent a summer cooking on Nantucket Island and one of the chefs' favorite cheese was the soft and supple blue from Massachusetts. I grew to love this cheese and put it on everything. Omelets, salad, toast, burgers, even mashed potatoes. By the end of the summer I had a great big cheese crush.

Berkshire Blue is a handmade cheese with a natural rind. The cheese is made with the raw, unpasteurized milk of Jersey cows. Why does the breed of cow matter? Butterfat my friend. It's all about the butterfat. Milk from those beautiful Jersey girls is richer in protein, calcium and sexy butterfat.

Oh yeah.

Upon first taste, you are seduced by the flavor of sweet, clean milk. Then in comes the blue. Mild, not too overpowering with just a smidgen of that peppery goodness that comes from the mold. Subtle. So far you may think that you've had very pleasant eating experience, but hold on to your hats because here comes the finish. The finish on this cheese is huge. The rind has got a bit of an earthy quality to it and the cheese finishes with a kick to your taste buds of greens. Swiss chard stems. Slightly bitter, salty, earthy, buttery, clean sweet milky goodness in a little cheese from MA.

Oh sweet Lord I love this cheese. I want to make out with it. I want to kiss it and whisper dirty things in its ear.

Oh Berkshire Blue you make me want to write ridiculously awful poetry in your name:

I know it's not right
To have relations with cheese
You're the exception

Come here you sweet thing
I'll do naughty things to you
Make you my supper

Awww yeah sexy beast
Come to mama, come here now
Must devour you

Cheese, you consume me
Now it's going to be my turn
Mouth, meet Berkshire Blue

All these Haiku are horrific. I will not apologize. Since this post is bordering on cheese porn, I do apologize for making this a bit dirty. To be honest though, when you taste this cheese you too will want start creating your own dirty homage to this sumptuous fromage.

Yogurt and butter had a baby. That baby is Creme Fraiche.

2010-06-09T11:13:00.011-05:00

For about a week it felt like my most hated season of all: summer. To be fair, it's more love-hate than hate-hate. I hate the summer because it's ridiculously hot and humid and gross, and the cheese and I are always sweating. On the other hand, there's the produce. Spring and summer veggies and fruit make me gloriously happy. Asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, fresh peas, plums, cherries, blueberries and wild strawberries.

Every year I promise that I'm going to buy tons of strawberries and make jam. Every year I eat all the berries before they can be jammified. So far this year has been no exception. I've bought strawberries from this one stand at the Green City Market for the past 2 weeks. They are glorious. Sweet little berries just begging me to do something wicked with them.

So I did.

I opened the fridge and there it was like a beacon. A tub of creme fraiche from Bellwether Farms. I was so excited! It's hard to find their products here in Chicago. In fact I don't think I've ever found their cheese in the city. I have to wait for the ACS conference to get a taste of Carmody or San Andreas. The funny thing is that I didn't even remember buying it, or what I was going to use it for but none of that mattered. All I cared about was that it was waiting for me. For me and the berries.

You might be asking yourself what is creme fraiche, and why does this post read like a tawdry romance novel? It's not my fault. Creme fraiche is just a sexy beast. It is the brazen hussy cousin of sour cream. It's the Rizzo to sour creams' Sandy.

What makes it so scrumptious? To make creme fraiche you start with cream. Heavy, high fat, delicious cream then you add some starter culture and let it sit for a day. At the end of the day you have a thickened, luxurious, silky, buttery, melt-in-you-mouth sweetness that is just sexy and delicious. That's it. It's super easy to make. While working in a Virginia restaurant we made our own creme fraiche. Heavy cream+a smidge of buttermilk+24 hrs=creme fraiche.

If you search online you'll find articles where people describe it as being thinner than sour cream. It doesn't feel thinner to me. Saying it's thinner kind of gives it a negative connotation. Creme fraiche tastes airier and lighter than sour cream. The fatty, silky, naughty goodness melts on your tongue like butter. Sour cream just sits there. Heavy, sour, and tangy.

While there is a bit of nuttiness and some sweetness in the creme fraiche it's not a very sweet product. So I added a little bit of Savannah Bee Company honey. The rest of the "recipe" is simple:

wash and hull strawberries
cut the berries in 1/2
put the berries on top of the silky puddle of lactic goodness
crack fresh black pepper over the berries
drizzle on some black current balsamic vinegar-regular balsamic works nicely also but you should use a good quality balsamic with some body (thickness) to it.

In addition to being a great partner for berries, creme fraiche has one more trick up it's sleeve. It doesn't curdle. This makes it a fantastic way to finish off sauces, bisques, or soups.

Right before we had devoured everything I realize I hadn't taken a picture yet. Think of this as a miniature of the the portion size you want.

I Have a Huge Crush on Madison, WI

2010-05-28T17:57:00.004-05:00

From time to time Chicago gets on my last nerve. There are no stars. No mountains. No hills. I love my neighborhood here in Chicago. Great bookstores, terrific architecture, one of the most beautiful University campuses I've ever seen and fantastic gelato are all within walking distance, but every once in a while I feel like I can't breathe.

I decided to get away and brought my brother, sister-in-law and nephew along for the ride. "Ready the credit cards, we're going to Madison!"

First stop on my weekend was the farmers' market. Unfortunately we picked a super crappy Saturday to do outside activities. Cold, gray, rainy ick. We got an obnoxious amount of pastries in addition to a tasty plumbarb jam, and two tasty cheeses: 6year Cheddar from Hook's and a 2yr. bandaged Cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy are absolutely delish! More on those two cheeses during another post.

We had to take a break from the farmers' market to grab some lunch. I had such high hopes for this quiche. Made with Hook's Cheddar, morel mushrooms and ramps. All local ingredients. Three of my most favorite things to eat. Unfortunately instead of tasting quichey it tasted more flannish.

There is a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. just off of the square on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.. This is the most disturbing thing we saw in Madison. My suggestion for why the bust (is it still a bust if it goes to the torso?) looks like that is that MLKjr. has just turned into a zombie-hulk monster. He stares at his abnormally large for his frame and ridiculously veiny hands in horror. "What have I become?!"

Thanks to Hotwire.com this was the view from my hotel room.
There are two non-cheese related stores in Madison that you MUST go to. The first one is Mango Boutique. Located on 124 State St., not only does this store have the coolest clothes, but the woman behind the counter was very jolly.

She was also very drunk. It was 1045 in the morning. How do I know she'd been drinking? She told us. Oh yeah, and I have the sense of smell, sight and hearing. I've only been there once. I can't promise you that she'll be drunk and kiss your (2 3/4 yr old) nephew, but the clothes are awesome and the woman behind the counter is insane.

The other store is Pop Deluxe on State St. They have the cutest, snarkiest, most clever and sarcasticy things ever. I puffy heart them with glitter and ribbons and unicorns.

Of course, if you're going to Madison and need cheese, you have to go to Fromagination. They're closed on Sundays though. Don't be like me and not do it Saturday because you want to get your cheese on Sunday before you head back to Chicago. You'll be disappointed. And will irrationally take it out on your brother. And sister-in-law.

What I did get was a visit to Uplands Cheese in nearby (40 minutes in a fast car with the windows down and the ipod pumping) Dodgeville, WI. Yes, technically I got a wee bit lost on my way there, but a quick call to cheesemaker Andy Hatch, and I was in the right spot.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a fantastic American cheese. Similar to a Gruyere, this cheese is cooked and pressed and has a nutty, grassy, and sometimes slightly oniony taste to it. It's the only cheese to win the Best of Show award twice at the ACS. Currently the only cheeses they make and sell are Pleasant Ridge Reserve-and on wheels that show promise and are selected for extra aging- Pleasant Ridge Extra Reserve.*

Salted Pleasant Ridge Reserve wheels.

This is what a cheese looks like after it's been sampled with a tool like this a few times. Since cheese changes every day the cheesemaker is able to see how a cheese is maturing. Andy gave me tastes from several different wheels. When I tell people to taste cheese since every wheel is different I'm not just saying it to be a smart ass. Every wheel really is different.

When you're talking about a cheese like Pleasant Ridge Reserve-a cheese that is made seasonally from animals who spend a lot of time frolicking in lush fields-the differences can be huge. Some wheels are nuttier than others. Some wheels have more tang. Some of the wheels I tasted were months apart, some were just two weeks. Although delicious, each batch of cheese had its own personality and flavor profile. If you take nothing away from all the posts I've written please believe me when I say that tasting is the most important thing you can do as a cheese consumer.

One of the things I absolutely loved was tasting the batch that had gone bad. In the 2 1/2 years I've been working at the shop we've never gotten a bad batch of cheese from Uplands. Ever. There are very few cheeses I can say that about. Andy asked me if I wanted to try some of it. Of course I did. It was bad. Really bad. Awfully bad. Not the worst piece of cheese I've ever eaten, but if someone had given me a piece of it without telling me it was PRR I never would have guessed.

Why would I want to taste bad cheese? As a gal who buys and sells cheese for a living I get to taste all manner of product. Some of it is really really good. Some of it is crap. Being good at my job means I have to be able to tell the good stuff from the shit. I looked at this as an opportunity to grow and learn. Really cool.

I could go on and on about how nice it was to talk to Andy, or how cute calves are when they're jumping around and playing. I could talk about how adult cows still kind of scare me even though I know they're the sweetest animals (childhood trauma involving my foot, my knee and two hoofs). I could go on and on about all the things that the people at Uplands do to make their cheese great like how their milk is pumped from the milking room through some awesome piping right into the creamery, or how the pigs they have that are fed on whey are probably some of the tastiest piggies in the Midwest but none of that is as important as the one line Andy said,

"It's all about the milk."

In the end it's all about the beginning. What is in your milk? It doesn't matter the skill of the cheesemaker, the milk you start out with will show in the cheese you make. You can't make a great cheese from bad milk. The cheese will tell. Luckily, for our tummies the cheese made at Uplands Cheese is made with truly sublime milk.

Okay so it's not my beloved Vermont, but the rolling hills at Uplands sure are pretty.

Look at that grass. So thick. So lush. So green and tasty. This is the base for all good cheese. Good food for animals=good milk. Good milk+stellar cheesemaking skills=excellent award winning cheese.

Moo.

Finally when I got home I was able to eat some cheese. Nutty, milky, slightly sour, tangy, floral and just a wee bit earthy. A perfect ending to a great weekend.

*Andy showed me the new cheese that they're working on. A brined soft cheese belted in spruce bark that is similar to Forsterkase. It should be ready for tasting later this year.

Two New Cheeses

2010-05-12T10:26:00.002-05:00

Return of the biased, Vermont-loving, Green Mountain State adoring Cheesewench. Today I'm going to talk about two new cheeses from two of my favorite cheesemakers.

Remember when I fell in love with this cheese? I wrote about it in March 2009

"And so, with crusts of homemade bread this cheese was devoured. The paste is mild. There are some mushroomy, straw and musty qualities to it. Everyone at the table (every one of us spent quality years in VT and NH) agreed that it felt as though we were taking a walk through the woods when eating this cheese. A bit poetic sure, but it's true.The rind had just the right amount of bitterness and tang to make this a really well balanced cheese. I'm going to have a hard time not buying another round today."

Weybridge is now a small disk of cheese. It's maybe 1/3 the size of the previous Weybridge. The rind is thinner. The foresty, mushroom-osity isn't really there anymore. I get a little bit of earthiness and some salty creamy goodness. It's just not the same.

And now the Weybridge looks like this when you cut it in half. Is it tasty? Yeah. It's not as creamy as before, and has a bit of a heavier mouth-feel. Good cheese, but I miss the old stuff.

New cheese alert! New cheese alert!

From Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, Cremont is a combo of three tastes flavors: cow milk, goat milk and heavy cream. The end result is a delicious, heavenly, light, fluffy, airy round of cheese that tastes a bit like a Bonne Bouche and Ricotta had a baby. Lucky for me, we're going to be getting this new cheese in at work. We don't have the Bonne Bouche, but the Cremont will satisfy me until I can get back to VT.

My (upcoming) Summer Vacation

2010-05-07T09:37:00.002-05:00

So what are you doing for your summer vacation? My time off this summer is centered around cheese. Shocking isn't it?!

I'm getting ready for my summer starting this weekend with a trip to the Madison, WI farmers market. Goal: 3 yr bandaged cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy. Yes, I am renting a car and driving 2 1/2 hours each way to Madison to get cheese. It's a sickness.

The rest of May I spend my time busting my hump and saving money. What do I need money for? Plane tickets and hotel rooms.

June- Besides "busting out all over" that one is for you ma June is also time for the Fancy Food Show in New York City. The Fancy Food Show is a wonderful opportunity to see new products and taste taste taste! A list of some of the exhibitors can be found if you look here. Now yes, it's true I haven't officially gotten my time off approved yet, I'm just hopeful.

July-It's time for the 2nd annual Vermont Cheesemaker's Festival! This gives me the opportunity to go back to my favorite state, visit some farms and gorge myself on fantastic, delicious, soul-pleasing cheese. My goals for this visit to Vermont is to go and visit Laini at Lazy Lady Farm and to get my goat cheese on at Blue Ledge Farm. It sold out early last year, so you're going to want to get your tickets straight away!

August-I'm Seattle bound. You should be too. Why? It's time for the ACS conference! I am super excited about this one for two reasons.

I get to go to the conference, meet new people, try new cheeses, go to educational seminars, taste cheese, and taste cheese
I've never been to the Pacific NorthWest. I am so excited! Of course a stop at Beecher's is going to be necessary, but there's so much to do out there. Cheeses to eat, farms to visit!

So what are you doing for summer? Are you going to a festival? Cheese eating competition? Cheese art sculpture contest? I'd love to hear what's going on in your neck of the woods.

My virgin Costco trip.

2010-05-01T08:10:00.008-05:00

I started my day Saturday with a huge breakfast bowl of rice, beans, avocado, corn, eggs and cheese. Took a shower, put on a super sweet Threadless t-shirt and waited for my brother to come and pick me up so he, my nephew and my sister-in-law can go to Costco.

For the record, I've never been to a Costco before. I was completely unprepared for the sheer ginormity of the place. When I was a kid my biological mother, brother and I were poor and would go to the food shelters once a month with a voucher to get staples. Usually those were 10# cans of tomatoes, peanut butter and jelly. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed every time we went in.

Costco is just as overwhelming. Especially for a single gal. I mean, I love soy sauce but gallon jugs of the stuff is just too much.

Our plan is to go to Costco quarterly for all our bulk needs. My personal mission was to get ridiculously large amounts of paper products, vitamin water by the case and to check out their cheeses. Budget: $150

There are some truly great deals in that store. 2000 straws for less than $6?! I love straws! 500 paper plates for $8? Yes please! Four pounds of K***t American Cheese Slices for $9.99? Um...suddenly I don't want to play anymore.

The ridiculously large quantities of things didn't change once entering the cheesy area.

Processed cheese portions.
Weird and partially creepy.

The weird thing about going to Costco is that it's the complete opposite of what I do on a day to day basis. The shop I work in focuses on small artisan producers. People who work off the grid, people who call their animals by name, people who work sustainably, seasonally and humanely. Looking at the cases of processed "cheese" just weirded me out. I felt like at any moment I'd see someone from work and have to explain what I was doing ogling the little individually waxed wrapped cheeses that I secretly love.

Yes, that is a pie in the cheese case. It was a a peach pie. By my judgement, that pie was a 12" monster of canned peaches in syrup in a pie shell with a fake lattice top. And by the way, it's sitting on top of the Mexican style cheeses.

Pop quiz! What's the better deal: The $3 per pound price I paid for a 2lb. block of cheddar from Cabot, or $2.50 per pound for the "American Cheese" singles? If you answered "American Cheese" singles please stop reading this post right now and instead read either this one or this other one.

Even more disturbing than the 3lb. bag of shredded mozzarella or the 4lb. log of processed cheese singles was this. Brie slices. Based on the packaging it looks like the "Brie" has been formed into some obscene shape so it can be sliced on a deli slicer. This was the creepiest thing I saw.

My first trip was a success, but I think that going quarterly is going to be enough big bulk warehouse shopping for me. It's just too weird looking at non-restaurant food in that volume.

Cheesewench goes to Madison pt.2

2010-04-18T18:29:00.004-05:00

So, what's the deal with the World Cheese Championship Contest? Here's the thing. This is a competition based on technicality. Every entry starts with a perfect score of 100. Doing this guarantees that you will have a winner in every category. Points are deducted and at the end of the day winners are chosen based on the highest score.

Compare this to the way the ACS judges cheeses. Every cheese starts on a level playing field-zero-and is awarded points based on merit. There are minimum scores that must be reached in order to have a winner declared. Every year when the winners are announced at the conference (being held in Seattle this year) there are categories where there are no winners, or maybe there's a third and second place winner, but no one in first place.

So how does the judging at the WCCC affect cheesemakers? Here's the big thing: industrial-and even to some extent specialty-cheeses are often going to fare better than their artisan counterparts. Why? Artisan cheese often has more variation to it. Polly-O mozzarella-which won first place in its category-tastes the same. Every time. Every state. Every day of the year. It will never change, unless they change the recipe. Artisan cheese by nature will have a variation, and while I am certainly not saying that artisan cheese is automatically better, someone who produces on an industrial scale is going to have a bit of a leg up in my opinion.

Although there were quite a few specialty and artisan cheeses that won awards, I felt that this was a competition that awarded industrial cheeses a bit more. It also looked like there were a lot more winners from the U.S.A. this year compared to last. Are we really kicking everyone else's butt?

The bottom line for me is this: if cheeses from every cheesemaking country were entered in this contest, and K***T really does make the best Mozzarella and cream cheese, so be it. After all, what I really want in the long run is for American cheeses to be highlighted and recognized around the world for their fabulous deliciousness. But really, Sarge**o makes the best ricotta? In the world? Really?*

So what did I learn during my trip to WI?
1. Madison likes to party on St. Patrick's Day
2. Matt & Clare can boogie down
3. Willi can yodel
4. Bradbury's has the best morning crepe in the world
5. If I were to leave Chicago but stay in the midwest I would move to Madison
6. The capital building is gorgeous
7. The people at Fromagination are a bit odd-like most people involved in cheese-but are very friendly and love their cheese
8. Apparently, based on my morning after I also like to boogie down on St. Patrick's Day
9. You can make a lot of tasty product with two burners and a campstove AKA To make ridiculously tasty food what is importatnt is not the size of the kitchen, but the passion for your product.
10. I need a car so I can make more trips to Wisconsin

*You should take a look at the winners list for yourself. There are definitely artisan producers in the winners circle, but I wonder if the judging started at zero and went up if we would see different cheeses at the top.

Cheesewench goes to Madison pt.1

2010-03-30T21:19:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month a few co-workers and I went to Madison, WI for the World Cheese Championship Contest. The contest is held every year, although Madison is host only every other.

The first stop was to Quince & Apple where I got a chance to meet with Matt and Clare. This husband and wife super-duo make some of the tastiest preserves on the shelves of any store, and are winners of my highly coveted and completely made up "Holy Moly This Stuff Is Fantastic!" award for best orange marmalade I've ever had. Seriously.

When they say that they make small-batch preserves they're not kidding. Two burners and a camp stove. That's what they've got for cooking all their lovely preserves. During the Christmas season the two of them were making do with just two camp stoves. M & C of Q & A use local and seasonal ingredients whenever possible. They also have a wonderful creativity that goes into their flavor combinations, I mean who else do you know combining fig and black tea? They are friendly kind people who make exceptional product and I'm really glad I got a chance to meet them both.

Luckily our hotel was on the same block as Fromagination. Owner Ken and his crew do a great job of showcasing local fare such as delicious cranberry relish by Quince & Apple, and carrot graham crackers which taste like carrot cake in cracker form- minus the frosting -from Potter's. I ended up with some Q&A pear, honey ginger spread, volume 4 of cheese slices and some delicious Cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy.

Madison is a very beautiful town. We spent some time walking around the city and spent some times just hanging out on the capital steps. It was a beautiful warm sunny spring day and for a brief moment I felt like I was on vacation. If I were to leave Chicago but stay in the Midwest I would surely try to find a place to live in Madison. For some reason it kind of reminds me of Vermont.

I love the Capital building on the square in Madison. Absolutely beautiful.

Moments after walking into the capital building we were asked by a woman if we wanted to sign her petition. Being Chicago residents and not quite understanding what she was chanting we declined.

Later that day we went to the event put on by Jeanne of Cheese Underground and Wisconsin Cheese Originals Fame. It was called Wisconsin vs. the World, and I have to be honest and say that in general, Wisconsin kicked the world's butt. My journey started in Japan and ended in the rolling hills of Wisconsin.

This was the first cheese I tasted at the event. Also the first time I'd ever had the opportunity to try a cheese from Japan, and well, I was a bit underwhelmed. For a Gouda I expect a bit more flavor, more oomph, more pizazz. The representative at the table told me that the cheese is made for the Japanese palate which likes cheese milder than their American counterparts.

It was St. Patrick's Day so I had to try the Kerrygold Cheddar. Yes, I would've rather had Coolea, or Ardrahan, or Cashel Blue, but the Kerrygold is what was there, so I tried it. Firm, aged for about 12 months, creamy and a little moist. Tasty little cheese. Side note: did you know that Kerrygold sells milk powder?

No. Nonononononononono. Here's what I know of New Zealand: LOTR, Flight of the Conchords, sheep, and based on LOTR gorgeous countryside. Yup, I know almost nothing about the country, it's people or it's cheese. I was very excited to taste the blue from New Zealand. Then I was sad. Very sad. And had to take a swig of my friends' beer to get the taste out of my mouth. It smelled like barn. It tasted like an unmucked sheep's stall. When I asked about the cheese, I was told that it was cow's milk, not sheep. I remain unconvinced. The cheese smelled like manure and old wet wool, tasted like a barn and old wet wool, and had a big fatty mouthfeel. In any case, it was a cheese that made my mouth sad, and a little angry.

Luckily, one of the best Cheddars in the world was also at the contest. Keen's Cheddar. This is a raw milk, farmstead cheese from Somerset. Nutty and a bit buttery with a finish that just won't quit this cheese made my mouth happy again. When I first started working at the cheese shop in Chicago we were getting Keen's and Montgomery's. Now we only get the Montgomery's. I'm trying to get that changed. I miss my Keen's. I miss her dearly. Yes, I went back for thirds.

I tasted a lot of WI cheeses that I loved. Some Gouda from Holland's Family Farm, Bohemian Blue from Hidden Springs Creamery, a lot of Hook's Cheddar, and a Brick cold pack cheese spread from Widmer's Cheese Cellars that knocked me off my feet. My favorite new to me cheese was from Bleu Mont Dairy. A three year bandaged wrapped Cheddar. Vibrant, staw, pasture, acidity, butter, and a long finish with subtle caramel notes made this cheese a first place winner for me. Unfortunately, Willi does not ship his cheese to Chicago. Yet. Our senior buyer is working on it. For the time being I'll have to go to the Dane country farmer's market, or to the source itself to taste his aged Cheddar. I think I see a road trip in my future.

Oh yeah, the man can yodel. I think everyone who was at Jeanne's event until the end got a video of this, but mine has really bad lighting so there! More on the actual contest in part 2.

Fair Oaks Farms Cheese Review

2010-03-11T19:04:00.006-06:00

Disclaimer
All of the cheeses written about in this post were sent to me as free samples. While I appreciate getting cheese in the mail, it has absolutely no effect on what I write in my review.

I'm going to be honest. I'm not the "send me free cheese" kind of gal. True, I like free, and I like cheese, but when it comes to my blog it's just not something I do/did. When I got the review request email from Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana I thought about it for a few days. In the interest of not being a cheese snob and opening myself up to new cheese experiences I figured I'd give it a shot.

The first thing you should know is that Fair Oaks Farms is HUGE. On their website they say Besides 30,000 cows being milked three times, four million glasses of milk being produced and 80 calves being born everyday

That sounds big. Really big. Way too big. 80 calves born every day? That's really big. In addition to being the official milk for the Indiana Colts which would mean more to me if I weren't from the East Coast-Go Pats! Go Giants!, generating enough fluid milk to give everyone in Chicago a glass, making cheese and ice cream that there's also a gas station. Hello random.

In an article dated from 2007 they had 3000 cows. Based on everything I've read they do take very good care of not only their animals, but of the land and their waste. Going from 3000 to 30,000 cows is a lot of growth (Jacqueline did correct me on this point. The article was speaking of just one of the families that contribute to the cheese production. Each family has 3000+/- cows. ) and a lot of poo. But the waste doesn't go to waste. That manure is going towards generating not just electricity for the farm, but also helps out local families.

So, what are the cheeses I tasted and how tasty were they?

First up is the young Asiago. It was nice. All of the cheeses had a very plasticine taste to them so I faced them all and let them sit out for a while. After doing that the Asiago tasted okay. It was creamy and milky, but was a bit bland. I like Asiago Fresco, but this was not as creamy or milky as I normally encounter.

There was a blue in the package also. Royal Blue. Did not like. When you cut into a blue cheese you should start to see color change happening in front of your eyes. Faint veins become more prominent, blue-green molds get darker. It's like your own little magic show. That didn't happen with the Royal Blue. It wasn't even very blue. It had more of a slightly sour feta that had some molds growing on it.

Next is the Emmentaler. This was probably my favorite of the five cheeses. Personally I like the holes in my Emmentaler to be deeper and wider, but it had that slightly sour sharp flavor that I was looking for. A faint nuttiness was there when I broke the cheese in between my fingers.

Sweet Swiss. I have got to stop tasting cheeses that have sweet in their names. It tasted to me and the other people tasting that the cheese had perhaps been made with condensed milk. Or fallen into a vat of condensed milk. Too sweet. The representative who sent me the cheese said that the higher moisture/higher fat content helps to contribute to the perceived "sweet" taste. I will take Jacqueline's word for it. It was just too sweet for me.

Finally we come to the Aged Gouda. I love an aged Gouda. A five year Gouda has a nice crystallization and deep cognac-esque caramel flavors. This cheese did not have that, so it was a bit of a letdown for me. When asked about how long the Aged Gouda is aged for the answer is between six months and one year. Technically speaking it is aged, but I still felt a bit disappointed. There was a very faint smell when the cheese was rubbed between my fingers that was kind of hazelnutty.

I'd like to thank the folks at Fair Oaks Farms for sending me samples of their products. With the exception of the blue, nothing went to waste. When we were done tasting them I made a macaroni and cheese (without the blue) with Smoked Pepperoni from Vermont Smoke and Cure and mushrooms. Delish!

Cheese from Georgia

2010-02-25T17:52:00.000-06:00

When you think of cheese, chances are you don't think of the south. You sure as heck don't think about Georgia. But you should.

Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia makes a wonderful cheese called Green Hill. This is a pasteurized cow's milk cheese done Camembert style. Green Hill is super hot all over the cheese world right now, having just gained a surge in popularity due to a showcase on the Martha Stewart daytime talk show. I found this little cheese at Zabar's when I was back home last month.

This is one of my favorite cheeses-and it doesn't even come from VT! When I first started working at the shop over 2 years ago we carried it, but since we try to rotate our cheeses, we had to make way for other American cheesemakers.

This is a double cream cheese. The young ones are soft, a little sweet and have a slight grassiness. I like them best when they're super ripe. Then it becomes this runny, gooey, sweet, creamy, salty, flowery, white mushroomy, spready mess of goodness.

Mmmm...gooey cheesy goodness

Side note: If you've never been to Zabar's on a trip to NYC, I advise you to go. I hadn't been to Zabar's in years, but as a kid I loved going. My bio mom would get my grandmother to give us a ride into Manhattan from Queens. We'd spend all day in the city doing my mother's errands. She needed fabric, yarn, fresh filo dough, cheap clothes for us kids who kept growing and of course, as a treat we'd go to Zabar's for bagels and black and white cookies.

Zabar's has the best brunch supplies ever. They are also one of the few places in NY I've found where you can still get a really good black and white cookie. To me Zabar's is New York City. It's loud, crowded, pushy, kind, fast-paced, tasty, homey and has a lot of stuff crammed into a really small space. It's always changing while staying exactly the same.

It's one of my favorite places in New York, and finding one of my favorite cheeses there just made my trip a little bit better.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T13:52:00.005-06:00

Today is all about love. Flowers, chocolate, champagne and cheese. This year I have two Valentine's and this post is dedicated to them.

Russ. Has it really been less than two weeks since we met? I came into the Apple store, scared cold, and clutching my little 13" MacBook Camembert in my arms. I gave her to you. I told you the problem and you took charge of the situation. You saw all the cheese stickers on my computer and asked me about them. Calming me with your Wisconsin cheese talk and distracting me from the possibility of computer heartache. Last night when I came back to the genius bar you greeted me with a broad smile, telling me that Camembert was going to be OK. I heart you.

I am writing this while I eat my lunch of Bijou, Water Wheel crackers and spiced sour cherry spread from The Gracious Gourmet. Thank you Russ.

My second Valentine is my grandma. She's 92 year old and I love her more than anyone in this world. Nana loves cheese, and whenever I go back to NY I pick up something tasty for her to try. On my last visit we tried a "Goat Brie" from Montchevre in WI called Cabrie.

Yes, I know Brie is a protected name. I know it's not made from goat's milk. I did a whole little rant about it in a post last year.

I am familiar with Montchevre's fresh goat cheese. We use it at work on our sandwich menu and I've had it at home as well. I was pretty excited when I found this little round at the cheese case in a Long Island Whole Foods. My Nana loved it. She thought it was a nice mild, creamy cheese, and she kept asking for more. I mostly agree with my Nana, the problem for me was that it wasn't goaty enough.

As you know, I love goat's milk cheeses. They make me uberhappy. This cheese has a pleasing milky quality to it, but was just too mild for me. There was a whisper of goat, but not enough for my goat loving palate. I also found the rind to be too rindy. The rind to paste ratio was good, but with such a mild paste, for me, the texture and bitterness of the rind overpowered the cheesy goodness.

Okay, so the cheese isn't goaty. What is does have going for it is a mild sweetness with a faint wildflower aroma. While it's okay on it's own, my suggestion is to try it with a little bit of honey on some warm crusty bread. The cheese melts into the bread like butter. Put a few grains of kosher or sea salt on it and you've got yourself a tasty yum treat.

Wishing you all a day filled with love, and a happy #cheeseSunday!*

*Cheese Sunday is an ongoing thing with some of the cheesy people on twitter. If you have a twitter account check it out and participate!

California Crottin and Book Giveaway Winner!

2010-01-28T10:56:00.004-06:00

By this point you all know how I feel about goat cheese. My passion for the goaty goodness borders on the ridiculous. Today it's all about Redwood Hill Farm from California and their tasty little Crottin.

Before we get into the tasty cheese, let's talk for a minute about the actual farm and the cheesemakers behind some of my favorite goat products. Redwood Hill Farm is sustainably farmed. They are also one of the few certified humane-raised and handled and were the first goat dairy in the U.S.A. to be named such. That's all well and good, but what does it mean to be "certified humane"?

For Redwood Hill Farm it means

The label assures consumers that a meat, poultry, egg or dairy product has been produced according to HFAC's precise standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet free of antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space that are sufficient to support natural behavior.

The standards can be found here if you're interested in reading more about it. Remember when the label "organic" meant something? Now it feels like everyone is doing "organic" food. Organic used to be a word primarily used for small farmers doing small production, not anymore though. Anyone with enough money can become certified organic.

I think that having the humane raised and handled label is a good idea-at least right now. When I see this label on a product I will know that the animals were taken care of from conception to slaughter. One of my favorite regulations is

Cages, crates and tie stalls are among the forbidden practices, and animals must be free to do what comes naturally. For example, chickens are able to flap their wings and dust bathe, and pigs have the space to move around and root.

What that means if you're a goat is that you get to be a goat. You can nibble, play, jump, be mischievous, get shelter from the elements, and chat with your goaty friends.

While I am happy for the new labeling, I am also saddened that it's necessary. Shouldn't all animals be raised humanely?

Ok, enough of my soapbox spewings, let's talk about the cheese. While I have enjoyed a few of their products before like their Camellia and Kefir, the Crottin remains my favorite. When young it is a creamy, acidic, citrus zesty, slightly earthy cheese. As it ages and becomes more firm (perfect for grating over pasta) the saltiness is brought up and the goatiness becomes more pronounced. Hay, barnyard and white mushrooms are more prominent as well.

Cheese is one of my favorite things for breakfast. Take a few slices of the crottin, put it on a crusty bread and put it under the broiler. The cheese melts into an ooey, gooey pile of earthy, milky, goaty goodness. At 3oz. you could share with a friend, or you could be like me and keep it all for yourself.

Now, for the winner of the Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin book giveaway. And the winner is...lucky #26, Nickolay! Thanks for all of you for telling me about your favorite cheese through comments and email. Some of them I'd written about before and some of them are going to be featured in upcoming posts. If you have any suggestions for me, cheesy books you love, a cheese I've just GOT to try, send me an email: cheeseisalive@gmail.com

Wisconsin Cheese and Book Giveaway

2010-01-21T18:35:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was National Cheese Lover's Day and I celebrated with slightly stinky cheese from Wisconsin.

Since last year I have been having a rather tricky time finding perfectly ripened, stinky, creamy, gooey Les Freres from Crave Brothers. As luck would have it about 6 weeks ago I found a Petit Frere and decided to hold it for a while.

Like a good girl I kept the cheese in my crisper, and periodically would check it for any weird molds, or funkiness. Every few days I would open up the package, let it breathe, re-wrap it, flip the cheese over and put it back in the crisper.

Yesterday it was time. My inspiration was Brie en Croute. Something I've heard about, but never had. Essentially you take some soft-ripened, bloomy rind cheese, top it with something yummy like a fig jam, or fruit and nuts, wrap it in puff pastry and pop it in the oven.

So, yesterday at work I took the Petit Frere, put it in puff pastry, I forgot eggs for the egg wash popped it in the oven for 10 minutes on 425 and then bumped it down to 350 for 15 minutes more. When I opened the oven door I was knocked out by the smell. Sooooo good. The cheese which had a slight funk before going into the oven came out smelling a bit funky and a little flowery. It had also squirted out of the bottom a bit, so we opened up the top and put all that cheese right back in. The cheese had a sweet slightly tangy milk flavor with a little bit of a white button mushroom thing going on. We noshed on this with some balsamic onions and a bottle of wine made by a friend of one of the crew. Perfect way to end a day of work.

So, this all leads me up to the giveaway. This Christmas Santa got me a bunch of books, including the book The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin. I got a lot of cheese books this past Christmas and this one is a lot of fun to read. Look for a background on Jeanne from Cheese Underground on pg. 52 One of the things I like most about this book was learning about cheesemakers I didn't know before. The cheese world in general for good or for ill has a category for "Celebrity Cheesemakers". This book does a good job of talking about cheesemakers you might not have heard of, and how they started on the path to the tests, and commitment it takes to become a Master Cheesemaker in WI. One of my favorite quotes from the book comes from Joe Widmer

You saw my guys out at the vats flipping the cheese--a lot of that's done with machines now at other plants. We're still leaning over the vats. What do you want, Grandma's doughnuts, or Dunkin' Donuts?

Full Disclosure: Shortly after putting up the Limburger post I got an email from a representative for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board asking if I'd like to get a copy of this book and do a review of it. I told her that I'd already gotten a copy, but would pass it along to my readers if they wanted to send me one.

So, now I have this extra book and I want to send it to you. But how will I choose? If you want to enter all you have to do is tell me about either one of your favorite cheeses (hopefully not one I've already written about), cheesemakers, or cheese shops. That's it. Send me an email with your pick, a brief description why your pick rocks and your name. I will assign numbers to the entries based on the order I receive them, and pick the winner from a hat. I can't wait to read your suggestions!

p.s.
Yes, I will ship outside of the U.S.A.

p.p.s.
Yes, I still wish there was a Master Cheesemaker title that included and was available to all cheesemakers in any state.

Cheese Sunday!

2010-01-17T14:35:00.004-06:00

Thanks to CurdNerd for helping set off the cheese love for today. So how is Cheese Sunday different from any other day? I guess it's because we're all getting together to do cheesy things. Today is my day off, so I had to come up with cheesy things on my own. With some help from the twitter cheese community here are some fun way to enjoy Cheese Sunday

Sing a song

Visit a cheesemaker (Jasper Hill Farm sounds good)

Read a book on cheese. Don't have a book on cheese yet? Well, conveniently enough,there are some suggestions at the bottom of my blog page.

But above all I hope this Cheese Sunday finds you in the company of good friends, and good fromage.

P.S.

I will be announcing a contest this week. The prize is one of the books on my shelf.

p.u.

2010-01-02T08:03:00.001-06:00

There is a man I know. He's a good man. A bread-baking man. A macaroni and cheese loving man. A stinky cheese fan. One of his favorite cheese concoctions is Limburger with raw onions on toasted bread that has been spread with butter.

In the effort to understand what makes Pa so enamored of this stinky beast I purchased some Limburger a few days ago. It has taken me this long to be able to write about it without reliving the experience olfactorily yes I know it's not a "real word"

This Limburger is from the Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, WI. Besides being a ridiculously stinky cheese, it is also a time-consuming one. On page 45 of the book "The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin" thank you Santa Myron Olson-a master of Limburger says

"You have to salt the cheese by hand, you have to smear the cheese by hand, and then the wrapping is done by hand, the weighing out is done by hand, labeling is done by hand."

Such a hands on intensive process for a cheese that is ridiculed and hated more than any other cheese I can think of can only mean that the folks at the Chalet Cheese Cooperative have a passion for it. Since they are the only true makers of this cheese in the U.S.A. I decided that if I was going to go Limburger I'd go authentic.

The cheese has various stages of funk. In it's infancy the cheese is rather crumbly and feta-esque. As a teen a bit of earthy flavors come in. As an adult this is a big, agressive, stinky, hair-curling barnyardy funk bomb. I went with the mature cheese.

The cheese we tried was only 2 months 3 days away from the code date. There is a promise of a stink once opened.

I tried to entice my sister-in-law to get up close to it and take a whiff. She claimed that she could smell it from where she was. I followed her with cheese on a plate taunting her like a 6 year old.

Remember the show Miami Vice? Crocket and Tubbs never wore socks with their leather loafers, even in the sweltering summers of Miami. Imagine what odors would assault them when they took off their shoes after a hard day of drug lord busting. Now add with that a barn that hasn't been cleaned out quite yet and top it off with sour milk.

So yes, this cheese stinks. It stinks big. It smells even stronger than I'd anticipated. I cut a slice and took a bite. Here's a tip for you. When you bring the cheese up to your nose, start breathing through your mouth. The first time I went to take a bite my nose revolted and caused an abrupt halt to my movement.

Finally I popped the cheese in my mouth. WOW! The flavor profile isn't as stinky, but it is a funky cheese. Flavors of sour milk, dried hay, barn and a bitter bitter rind. Even as I sat there thinking of how I was clearly going to be defeated by this cheese, I started coming up with other ways I might eat it. Obviously I'm going to have to try it when it's a bit younger to get a clear sense of all that this cheese can offer. I also think that applying heat to it might bring out more of the milky flavors, and maybe even more pasture floral notes. Unfortunately I am not ready to do that. I'm going to have to wait a while for the apartment to air out before I bring "the Beast" back into the house.

I love cheese. I love my friends and family and they love me. I ~~force~~ encourage my loved ones to try cheese. All the cheese. From the mild Fromage D'Affinois to the insanely stinky Fromage D'O' Cow and Limburger. Cheese after cheese after cheese. Cheeses that should be eaten right away. Cheeses that should have been eaten two weeks ago. They all suffer for it and I am ridiculously grateful for their love and strong constitutions.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T15:11:00.003-06:00

The past year has been an awesome whirlwind of super rad cheesiness. I really loathe top ten" lists, so I'm not going to make one. Instead I'm going to mention a few of my cheese highlights from the past year.

Having a chance to interact with you all during the "cultural exchange" post. Thank you all once again for sharing your goodies. Mary (who makes the yum cheese studded chocolate) has moved on from her job at Marion St. Cheese Market. To where? I dunno. Keep your eye out for her and her delicious confections.
ACS conference. Totally intimidating and surreal to be surround by all of that knowledge and years of expertise. Can't wait for this year.
VT Cheesemakers Festival. A chance to see my New England family, eat cheese, meet water buffalo, go to Jasper Hill and be insanely happy. Going back for year two this July.
My blog quel surprise!. What a great therapy this has become. I've become even more passionate about my work, slightly obsessive about cheese, and interested in photography as a result. Best idea I've ever randomly put together on a whim.
Comments. I love hearing back from you all through comments and email. A lot of you agree with things that I say, and there are just as many out there who don't. I love hearing all feedback. They help me be a better writer, and help me advance my cheese education.
Being tickled by Judy Schad of Capriole. Yup. Tickled. Yes, I did giggle like the poppin' fresh dough boy. Telling Allison Hooper that meeting her was like meeting Elvis, and then acting like a 15 year old girl when I asked her to sign my book on the Bonne Bouche page. Embarrassing moments in my cheesy year.
London. There were three contenders for my vacation last year. London, Madrid and Frankfurt. After weighing the options and realizing that my vacation was to start in 7 days, I picked London because I would be able to go to Neal's Yard Dairy. Stayed in a shitty hotel, had a wonderful time! Met great people, tasted ridiculously tasty cheese and conquered my fear of heights and enclosed spaces for 30 minutes so I could ride "The Eye".
Brooklyn. As a Queens kid growing up, I didn't' explore Brooklyn. When I went to visit my Aunt it was a home visit filled with food, check-pinching and food. When I got older we'd take the LIRR to Manhattan. Now a trip back home isn't as fun unless I make a run to Brooklyn for cheese exploration. If for some reason I had to move back to NYC, I'd find a place in Brooklyn to call my home.
Working my butt off. Yes there are days when I hate my job. All I want to do is curl up, and stay at home, eating take-out and watching LOTR. There are some days when I don't even want to look at cheese much less sell it. But, then I go to work, and look at the case. Who needs re-wrapping? When was the last time I tasted this cheese? Who needs to be faced? What needs to move? What's coming in? What are we selling? What are we sitting on? At the end of the day I love my job and as exhausting as the past few months have been (with the holidays and trying to figure out what I do as assistant buyer, and how to do it well) when I have my day off and I realize that I'm just reading about cheese, or thinking about cheese, or tasting new cheese, I know that I'm in the right job.

I am very excited just thinking about the past year, and look forward to this coming one as well. There's so much more cheese out there to read about, taste and write about.

What I leave out for Santa

2009-12-24T23:59:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas! Or, for those who don't celebrate, Happy Friday December 25th!

Time Flies

2009-12-16T23:22:00.002-06:00

On December 3, 2008 things were different. I had a t.v., cable* and a cool job selling cheese. Thanks in part to Arianna Huffington and Jon Stewart I started this blog kind of as a hobby. A way for me to catalog new cheeses, and to share cheesy goodness with my friends and family. You see, as a cook they could see and taste what I did for a living. As a cheesemonger, there just wasn't the same kind of recognition or appreciation.

I started with this post. The early days had a few photos (mostly done at work) and were short brief snippets. The first couple of weeks just my family and friends were checking out the blog. They'd ask me questions, and I'd delve into research. After all, learning more about cheese could only help me be better at my job.

Then a few people started checking it out. From the Midwest, East and West Coast and abroad. The first time someone from Australia commented I freaked out. I mean, with all the gajillion pages on the internet, how the heck anyone found my blog is a still a mystery to me. I'm just some chick who writes about cheese.

The most surreal moment of the past year was a phone call I got at work a few months ago. I'd written about a cheese and someone called up looking for it. I told him we'd sold out but would be getting some in shortly. He mentioned that he'd read about it on some blog and when I asked him which one (thinking I might make a new cheesy friend) he said "Cheese Is Alive". How fricking cool is that?!

Since starting this blog I have gotten way more into cheese, and it's because of you guys. You guys asking me questions, sending me emails and reading the stuff I write. Every question is something that I think about before I answer. Sometimes for a few hours, or for a few days while I research and double check things. All information which I then am able to share with customers at the shop.

Fast Forward, and one year later I am the assistant buyer and one of the managers at the store. I am busting my hump like crazy and all for cheese. And rent I'm so excited and am looking forward to another year of writing, tasting and learning. Are you guys ready for year two?

*I currently spend too much on cheese and cheese related books, trips, conferences etc. to get the t.v. fixed or to pay $60 a month in cable fees. That's why there's Netflix.

I Smell a Smelly Smell That Smells Rather Smelly

2009-12-14T19:59:00.004-06:00

Here it is, December in Chicago. Cold, rain, freezing rain, snow, wind and washed rind cheese. For those of you who weren't with me last winter let me catch you up. I LOVE washed rind cheeses.

The washed rind category is huge. It includes cheeses that have been rubbed, painted, or otherwise coated in either some type of alcohol or in a brine solution. Washing the cheese in addition to a certain strain of bacteria gives you an orange colored rind.

Yes, there are the obvious washed rind cheeses like Grayson, Taleggio, Langres, and Hooligan: All of them cheeses that you can smell even before seeing, but not all washed rind cheeses have that big beefy funk to them. Comte, Raclette and Pleasant Ridge Reserve are both good examples of washed rind cheeses that don't have a "hoof".

But today is about my new stinky friend. Pave Henri is a new to me cheese from Fayette Creamery which is the artisan cheese line of Brunkow Cheese in Wisconsin. It is a big and beefy with some slight smokey, nutty, goodness. A super creamy paste with a creamy, buttery, rich mouth feel. Perfect cheese for the upcoming cold winter. I haven't done it yet, but I was thinking about taking this cheese and melting it on the top of some roasted potatoes and onions-Raclette style. Yes, it would stink up the apartment, but just like with the Grayson I plan on doing it at my brother's house and letting his neighbors suffer instead.*

Oh washed rind season how I adore you!

*Hey bro, I'm only kidding about this. Pay no attention to what I'm saying here. It's just a...um...a...coincidence that I have a little brick of this cheese hiding in the crisper and I'm coming over this Sunday to cook for you guys. Total coincidence.

Cheesewench answers your questions

2009-11-24T11:22:00.005-06:00

I got an email from someone asking me if I thought that Carr Valley Cheese Co. was an artisan cheesemaker. I hesitated in writing back because I have very strong feelings about CVCCo. Hopefully I will be able to write this from a critical point of view and not an emotional one. Before I even start to get into this post I'm going to do a bit of a disclaimer:

Sid Cook and his family have been making cheese for ages and deserve respect for their years of dedication.
You should always try a cheese first. Of course I want you to try the cheeses I love they're frickin' awesome! but you should be sure to try the cheeses I might not like as well.
If I haven't stated it before, this blog is purely written based on my opinions. In no way do I represent every cheesemonger, cheesemaker or cheese enthusiast. I have not been in the cheese world for very long, I have a lot of opinions and I have a big mouth.

I'm going to grab a glass of water and get started.

The short answer to the question is no. No, I don't think that Carr Valley Cheese Co. is an artisan producer. Why? Well, it's their products*. Look at the website and see if you can find the several things that make me sad. Or instead of exploring the site you can cheat and look here**. I found this gem while in the section "aged or selected by owner Sid Cook". That means that Sid Cook himself, a Master Cheesemaker has himself selected and makes a processed cheese and cocoa product. That is not an artisan product, nor is it made by an artisan producer. What it is is an abomination. It makes me sad, and looking at it literally turns my stomach.

I know what you're thinking, if Sid Cook is a master cheesemaker, how could he do something so clearly against the standards and principals or artisan products? My answer to you is I don't know. I do know that to me, being a master cheesemaker doesn't mean that much and part of the reason is because of this product. In addition, being a master cheesemaker does NOT mean you're an artisan cheesemaker.

"Today, fourth-generation owner Sid Cook is one of a small handful of certified Master Cheesemakers in the United States. It's a distinction awarded only to veteran Wisconsin craftsmen who complete a rigorous 15-year advanced training and education program."

I do not understand how not living in Wisconsin means you can't be a Certified Master Cheesemaker. It appears to be an award created for the promotion of Wisconsin cheese, by the interested Wisconsin parties, and has very little to do with cheesemakers themselves.***

The culinary world has a designation for chefs called "Certified Master Chef". Anyone in the country is able to take this test, and if they pass they can go back to work with a CMC embroidered on their chef coat. It bothers me that Wisconsin promotes it's cheesemakers with an assignation that no one outside of the state can get or govern. Tricksy.

Back to the subject at hand. Is Carr Valley Cheese Co. an artisan producer? No. Calling a few products artisan in your line of over 70 different cheese does not make you an artisan producer. Making a rolled log of processed American cheese with cocoa and calling it chocolate cheese does not help your cause.

There are a few cheeses**** from Carr Valley that I enjoy, but artisan? No. No. No. NO! That being said, you do not have to be an artisan cheesemaker to make good cheese. There are plenty of commodity/industrial/specialty cheeses that make for a good snacking/cooking/baking experience. I will do my best to start showcasing some of them in the future.

*I really do enjoy the Billy Blue from Carr Valley Cheese Co. There's something about goaty blue sharpness that makes me happy on three levels.

**For a delicious chocolate cheese, look to Indiana. Judy makes a bourbon chocolate torta that I find to be a bit too strong when eaten alone, but is phenomenal in baked goods. I also have a recipe for a cheesecake I made with it.

***One of the sidebars on my blog has a small list of some of the cheesemakers that I love. I have over 50 names on that list. The majority of them will never be Certified Master Cheesemakers, not based on a lack of experience, but because they don't live in Wisconsin.

****I don't want to be snarky, but I have to tell you a little story. This summer at the ACS festival of cheese I was walking around talking into my little recorder to give myself reminders of what I'd tasted. I saw one of CVCCo.'s cheeses sitting there. It was called Sweet Vanilla Cardona. The memo I left myself goes as follows "Sweet Vanilla Cardona from CVCCo. Tastes like it was brined in table sugar and has an addition of artificial vanilla flavoring. Never put this in your mouth again". Even with that being said, I still try every cheese I come across and will probably try that one again. Every wheel is different, maybe the cheesemaker changed the recipe, or my tastes have changed. As a child I hated "stinky cheese" but look at me now!

Flaws

2009-11-21T06:36:00.000-06:00

Most of the time when I post I'm telling you guys about some fabulous cheese that I absolutely adore and love and how you should try it because only then will you reach cheese nirvana. Today is different. Sometimes bad things happen to good cheese.

Every once in a while we get a flawed cheese. Most of the cheeses we carry are made by hand, and sometimes human hands mess up. The other day I opened a wheel of cheese from an artisan producer in Vermont and this is what I saw.

Eww right? Well, kind of. Somehow when the cheese was being formed something went awry. It looks like there was an air pocket in the curds, so when the rind was forming it found the air pocket and started to develop into the paste of the cheese. Everyone else at work thought it was gross, but not me. I got a knife in there, dug out some of the excess rind and tasted it and the cheese just to make sure the paste wasn't affected. It wasn't.

I know it's a flaw. I know that no one, cheesemaker or cheesemonger want this to happen, but for me there is something kind of beautiful about this. It reminds me that cheese is a finicky, delicate thing with a mind of it's own and that even the most skilled and experienced cheesemaker is still a human being and has imperfections. It reminds me to appreciate the thousands of gorgeously formed cheese wheels that come into the shop every day and the skill it took to get them that way. Honestly though, isn't it kind of neat?

Mmm...cheese

2009-11-10T22:34:00.000-06:00

Hi there cheese lovers,

I have been looking forward to Jeanne's cheese festival for Wisconsin Originals since I got my tickets months ago. I've already planned out the cheesemakers I wanted to ~~pester~~ talk to and was going to try to wriggle my way into farm visits. Unfortunately a family member back on in NYC has become very ill, so instead of a cheese festival this weekend I spent a lot of time in a hospital. There's no better place to hear about the festival than from Jeanne herself, so take a gander at her blog and see how it all went down this weekend.

As I mentioned I have recently been promoted to assistant buyer at work. One of the perks is that I get to do cheese tastings. Yesterday we did a tasting of 28 cheeses and 2 butters.

I love tasting cheese, but I have a favor to ask of cheesemakers/distributors, send good product. Dont' send us the stuff that's been sitting in the fridge for months, vaccuum-packed in plastic, or "aged" almost beyond recognition. We can only judge your on the product you sent us, and if it's crappy, there's no way we're going to buy it.

Out of the 28 cheeses we tried there were maybe five of them that were deemed acceptable. Will we actually end up getting them in? I'm not sure. I do know that it was rad getting to taste all these fun cheeses.

So for part of dinner tonight we had a few cheeses laid out. Three were from the tasting and two were just some "everyday" cheeses.

My favorite from the tasting and a cheese I've had in the past was the Camilla. A soft-ripened goat cheese that has qualities of a Robiola or LaTur, but is so much more. Creamy, tangy and a bit grassy this cheese has an unexpected and moan-inducing aroma and flavor of honey and flowers. When the 4 of us were sitting around the table my girlfriend asked me "what are they feeding these goats?" I can only imagine that these goats are nibbling on some sweet grasses and flora. So good. I ate 1/4 of the wheel for my dinner tonight.

So, starting on the right with Camilla, the cheese underneath it is the Cabot Private Stock Cheddar. The cheese is aged for 16 months and is quite tasty. It's acidic, and dense without being heavy or greasy. I love a sharp Cheddar, and this block cheese from Vermont hits the spot.

Next up is the Baby Swiss from Boggy Meadow Farm in Walpole, NH. I found this cheese when I was in the supermarket in NYC and was floored. I just didn't expect to find cheese from a small producer in the Stop & Shop. Pleasantly surprised by this little cheese full of acid, salt, grass,and robustness.

The one with the natural rind is called Salva Cremasco from northern Italy. It's a soft-ripened cheese with a semi-soft paste. It reminded me of a Ricotta Salata with it's salty, crumbly paste but with the rind giving off a little bit of an earthy, stone flavor.

Last up is the Pecorino Calabrese Reserve. A nice sharp, nutty, sheepy and gamey cheese. You get a full, round mouth feel from the sheep's milk cheese, but without the greasiness that some Pecorinos can impart.

Next up, the ACS, and why you should care

Making Cheese and Cheesewench Rant

2009-10-29T09:34:00.009-05:00

I love cheese. Shocking! I also am insanely biased and think that Vermont has some of the best cheese in the world. Another revelation! Consider Bardwell Farms is offering two classes that combine learning about cheese, and the Green Mountain State. Consider Bardwell Farms won 3rd place in the all-around competition for their cheese Rupert at this summer's ACS competition.

Unfortunately for me, the cheesemaking and affinage class is the week before Christmas or as I like to call it the "Sweet mother-of-pearl! It's the week before Christmas and we're so busy and I'm doing so much overtime that I've been existing on food I nibble at work and frozen pizza." But maybe I'll be able to get out there for the January class.

If you're in N.J. or close by, there's Valley Shepherd Creamery that does cheesemaking classes as well. Located just an hour or so out of Manhattan they offer a 1 day class, do the aging for you and then you can pick up the cheese you made 90 days later. They sell out super fast, so look at the schedule NOW, not a few weeks before you go to N.Y.

If you really want to get into it (which I do) and you've got the time and money (which I don't but I'm working on it) you can go to the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese. What is the VIAC?

"The Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont is the nation`s first and only comprehensive center devoted to artisan cheese."

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to become a cheesemaker. I'm happy as a monger. One of the best ways for me to learn more about how to care for cheese and to find out why it does what it does, how it does it, how to help it be better, and how to tell when something has gone wrong and possibly prevent future problems is by learning about cheese, not just in a hands-on making sense, but also learning more about the science of it.

This brings me to the topic of making cheese at home. I absolutely encourage people to make cheese at home. I've made Mozzarella, Ricotta and Farmer's Cheese while working in the restaurant industry, and have been thinking about doing some fresh cheese at home. My biggest hurdle is not having access to the kind of milk I want to work with.

Let me just rant about Mozzarella for a moment. This cheese when made well is a soft, milky, creamy, fresh cheese that makes me happy on four different levels. It is also really hard to master. I recall throwing my white lumpy piece of cheese at the walk-in door after my frustration level had risen to three inches above my head. When I had finally figured it out and made my first ball, and then my second, third, fourth and all that followed I had a ridiculous amount of pride. I conquered the curds! I made them do what I wanted them to do and wouldn't take no for an answer. That first bite of soft milky goodness made the previous anger and frustration I was actually swearing and yelling at the curds at one point totally worth it.

If I hear one more story about someone using their microwave to make Mozzarella I am going to freak out and lose it. Making cheese, any cheese ~~isn't~~ shouldn't be about shortcuts. It's not about microwaving curds.

This part of the post had a rant about using the microwave to "make cheese" and how I'm sure it's one of the signs of the Apocalypse and how people who do this need a swift kick in the soft fleshy part, but I deleted it. You don't need me to tell you it's wrong. You know, deep in your heart that using the microwave to make cheese is WRONG! EVIL! AND AN INSULT TO CHEESEMAKERS AND THE LOVING CARE THEY PUT INTO THEIR CHEESE, LAND AND ANIMALS! IMHO.

I hate ending on an angry, all caps rant so I'm going to be positive instead. Next weekend I'm going to Madison, WI for two days for a cheese festival. I am super excited to meet new-to-me cheeses and cheesemakers. Of course, I will be reporting back on my experiences and showcasing any especially tasty treats.

Uplands Cheese Co.

2009-10-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

So many new cheeses have been coming into the shop lately. Of course we got the 1st place Best of Show ACS winning Rogue River Blue from Rogue Creamery. We've got some Beecher's Cheddar, and one of my favorite cheeses, Pleasant Ridge Reserve Extra Reserve. from Uplands Cheese in WI. Rumour has it that Uplands is coming out with a new cheese. A washed rind, stinky, gooey, soft wheel of yum. For right now though they only make one, Pleasant Ridge Reserve.

This is a farmstead artisan cheese. The animals are grazed on the land and the cheesemaking process starts mere minutes after the animals have been milked. The cheese is only made seasonally from spring through the fall. Why? Here is Uplands answer:

"Cows don't produce milk until they have a calf (a fact that may be obvious to you but you'd be surprised how many people don't know that). All of our cows have their calves in the spring and produce milk through the summer and fall. They are dry for most of the winter and then the cycle starts again the next spring. This spring calving, pasture feeding regimen is the way cows evolved and is no doubt more consistent with the rest of their life processes than the typical practice of confinement and machine harvested feed that most cows experience. We are sure our cows are more happy and content than their confined peers."

Letting cows be cows is such a simple idea, but in our current food climate, it feels almost revolutionary. Following the nature of the animal, and their commitment to their animals and land are some of the reasons I love Uplands Cheese.*

The other is the cheese. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a washed rind cheese (it's been brined), aged for 6-10 months that has a lot of the same characteristics as a fine Gruyere or Comte. A bit nutty, grassy, milky and sharp it's good as a table cheese, or added into a hot dish like macaroni and cheese. The best recipe in the world can be found here. The Pleasant Ridge Extra Reserve on the other hand is aged anywhere from 12-18 months (the wheels in the store right now are 17 months) and is a taste explosion.

A bit drier and nuttier than the younger version it has a flavor like toasted nuts, wild grasses and clover. An acidity that gets your mouth watering for the second bite and a slightly soured milk aroma. Because of it's age it also has little crystals in the cheese don't worry, it's just crystalized lactic acid that pop just a little bit when chewing. I like eating this as a table cheese, or applying just enough heat to make it melt mmm...lightly toasted cheese.

The Extra Reserve should (according to their website) be around through the holidays. I would strongly recommend that you get some Extra Reserve, and some of the younger Pleasant Ridge Reserve to compare and contrast. Same milk, same cows, same land, but aging a cheese makes a world of difference.

*This year in Austin I had the opportunity to meet Mike and Carol Gingrich. They were beyond kind and hospitable. In my first year of membership and my first conference, not knowing anyone other than the 3 other people from work they made me feel at home. Super nice people who treat their animals and land well and make ridiculously tasty cheese? Yeah, I have a total cheese crush on Uplands Cheese Company.

Cheesewench Gets A Day Planner

2009-10-22T04:29:00.003-05:00

Dear Fellow Turophile:

Yes, it has been a while since I've updated. I'm working on a few posts now, but I had to drop you all a note.

I got a promotion at work! Woo Hoo! I am now the Assistant Buyer for the store which is pretty effing awesome. I mean, yeah I'm going to be ordering cheese and doing cheesy field trips and tasting cheese and making decisions (with the other Assistant Buyer and the Senior Buyer) about what we're going to carry in the store. That's the super rad part.

Being a buyer means I also get to order the paper towels and toilet paper. Not as exciting, but I look forward to the 1 ply vs. 2 ply debate. It's buying everything for the store. A daunting task, but I'm totally up for the challenge.

I'm also doing a lot more internal PR for the shop too.

Oh yeah, and I'm on an ACS committee.

So what does this mean to you my fine fromage friends? It means that instead of writing when the mood strikes me I am now going to be scheduling time to do posts so they will be happening on a more regular basis instead of the haphazard scampering squirrel way I've been doing.

I even bought a day planner. I think this means I'm officially a grown-up, although I'm still fighting it.

Some topics coming up:

Beecher's Flagship Cheddar
Rogue River Blue
Pleasant Ridge Reserve
ACS

Now I just realized what time it is so I've got to go to bed. A big cheesy day is ahead of me.

-Cheesewench

A Wench Shops in Brooklyn

2009-10-12T23:41:00.004-05:00

One of the things I like to do when I go back home to Queens is to go to other boroughs to find tasty treats. You see, when I was growing up everything was soooooooo far away from where I lived. Trips to Manhattan were to go to plays on Broadway, a celebratory meal, or to get some bootleg tapes in Harlem after having lunch at Sylvia's. I'd been to all the boroughs even Statten Island,*shudder* but I was a Queens girl. Why go to any other borough when Queens has everything you need?

Now when I go back home I find myself drawn to Brooklyn. This time I decided to go to a cheese shop called Stinky Brooklyn.

I started out in the p.o.s. rental car and headed out. Wonder of wonders, I found parking right across the street. It was 11am and I was ready for cheese. Unfortunately the Stinky Brooklyn-ites were not ready for me. They weren't ready for anyone. There was some scaffolding right outside their door where a man was spraying water and schmutz all over the place and S.B. was taking the brunt of this "cleaning". Water was coming into their store, and they were clearly-and justifiably-upset. I was advised to come back at noon.

Now what? I know nothing of the area. I only know where the cheese shop is. I went up to Court St. and started strolling. First stop was Sweet Melissa Patisserie. I got myself a few madelines the best I've ever had a bag of cinnamon marshmallows and continued my stroll. Then I smelled it. A smelly smell that smelled smelly. Coffee. I followed my nose past the gelato stand, past the ridiculously priced baby store until I found it. D'Amico. I entered and was transported to a world of smelly coffee goodness.

The only thing better than the smells was the passion of the people working there. I got information on how they roast, where they get their beans, how the roaster works, and by telling him what I like in a bean had a perfect love match made for me. I now longer have to bring my coffee beans from Chicago to NYC when I go visit. I just have to go to Brooklyn.

What's better than the smell of 25# of coffee beans being roasted? The 1/2 # of Jamaican whole beans that I took home with me. My coffee guys in Chicago have got some serious competition.
With a tummy full of chocolate hazelnut goodness, and a bag of beans I headed back to Stinky Brooklyn for some cheese. I popped in and was pleased to see that the store hadn't suffered much damage, although their daily breads had been ruined by the "cleaning" outside. I tried a bunch of cheeses, and found some new friends.

This is usually the part where I would put up a picture and talk about the cheese. Um...well...I forgot to take pictures, so just more blabber for now.

First up is San Joaquin Gold from Fiscalini in California. Nutty and firm this cheese was OK by itself, but really shined when melted into grilled cheese. It had a round richness like browned butter. Quite yummy.

Next is another California cheese-Tulare Cannonball from Bravo Farms. This cheese is made in the Edam style which makes it a cousin to Mimolette in my mind. Slightly salty this cheese kind of tasted like the love child between a sharp Cheddar and a Gouda. Another good melter.

I picked up some tasty chocolate from Mast Brothers Chocolate. I got the dark chocolate with dried cranberries which was phenomenal. I also picked up the dark chocolate with salt and pepper. The pepper wasn't really noticeable, but it was a tasty treat.

Lastly, I picked up a wild boar cacciatorini from Salumeria Biellese which was gamy and chewy and spiced just right and so good I didn't want to share. They've got a write-up in the October issue of Saveur.

All in all, my outing to Brooklyn was very satisfying. Yes, I did take the scenic route home I got seriously lost but I had yet another tasty experience it what is fast becoming my favorite borough.

California Cheese pt. 2 (with added pizza bonus)

2009-10-06T08:41:00.001-05:00

Do you know how hard it is to find cheese from California in Chicago? After a vigorous search I found something new-to me. It's from Vella Cheese Company and it's called Dry Jack.

Technically it's called Dry Monterey Jack Cheese, but this isn't at all like the rubbery Monterey Jack found in your grocery store. Aged for less than a year with a rind that is rubbed in cocoa and oil the flavor profile is more akin to Parmigiano-Reggiano. Dry, a bit salty, nutty and tasty.

A better angle of tasty cheese.

This pizza has some sun-dried tomato tapanade, Mozzarella from New Jersey, Applegate Farms pepperoni and of course, some Dry Jack from Vella Cheese.

This pizza has some basil-fennel pesto, Parmigiano-Reggiano, red and ridiculously ripe tomatoes topped with heirloom tomato fresh chevre from Prairie Fruits Farm.

Speaking of Prairie Fruits Farm please read about the proposed "improvements" for the Champaign-Urbana area. If you know anyone living in the area, please ask them to sign this petition.

This is one of the frickin' coolest photos ever. I was flying into JFK Monday night and took a few photos of the moon and the lights of Queens. My hand must've jerked or something because I got this shot too. Frickin' awesome!

Cheese Pairing

2009-09-29T12:10:00.002-05:00

I have a head cold. Specifically a nose cold. I feel fine except for the sneezing. Unfortunately, this means I can't taste a dang thing, so instead of a cheese tasting, today I'm going to talk about cheese pairing. I recieved an email at work from a customer asking about how to pair cheese with fruit and greens. After sending the email I realized that this would be a great post and would give me a little more time to get my nose back too 100%.

*Fresh goat and sheep cheeses (Prairie Fruits Farm, Feta, Capriole): figs (fresh,dried or stewed), honey, fresh peaches, plums. Although fresh goat cheese has a slight citrus zest flavor profile, we do not recommend eating citrus fruit with it. Great with peppery or tart greens like arugula or dandelion.

*Soft-ripened/ash goat cheese (Bucheron, Sofia, Humbolt Fog) do well with honey, figs and nuts like toasted walnuts or toasted almonds. Some light fruit jam like strawberry or blueberry can add to the cheese plate.

*Double and triple creme (Brie, Nancy's Camembert, Picolo): Try some dried fruit like apricots, cherries or cranberries. Most nuts try to overpower the cheeses, so I would stick with fruit; dried, fresh or preserved.

*Washed rind cheeses (Mont St. Francis, Ardrahan, Tallegio): these can be a bit trickier. Ardrahan has a bit of a peanut, smoked bacon, caramel flavor to it. You could try a few shavings of chocolate, some juicy pears, or We might suggest a big fruit jam or compote like spiced cherry.

*Blue cheeses (Stichelton, Rogue River Blue, Gorgonzola Naturale): Most blue cheeses have a natural sweetness to them and go very well with honey and fruit jams such as membrillo, apple, or cherries. If using fresh fruit I would stick with stone fruit, grapes, apples or figs. When using dried fruit your options are almost limitless. In particular we like dried apricots, cranberries and figs. They also pair well with caramelized walnuts or hazelnuts and toasted almonds.

*Cheddars (Cabot Clothbound, 6 yr Cheddar, Montgomery's): are a great category for cheese pairing. For fruit, apples (honey crisp are glorious this time of year), pears, apricots. Nuts are also nice (toasted or caramelized). Jams/compotes such as quince, apricot, fig, blueberry can be a great addition.

*Young Unsmoked Gouda and other semi-firms (Marieke, Chaubier, Lancaster Duet): These cheeses often have a buttery, creamy flavor and texture and can get overpowered by accompaniments. Stick with apples, quince, pears (fresh, dried or spiced and preserved).

*Smoked cheeses (Fiore Sardo, Smoked Mozzarella) Toasted hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts are nice. Tomato jams and vegetable tapanades also do well.

*Firm cheeses (Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino, Manchego): These can go with a multitude of things. Membrillo is a great pairing for a firm Spanish cheese like Manchego or Idiazabal. High quality Parmigiano-Reggiano has a tropical fruit flavor profile to it that we love with pineapple pepper confit, or anything with some sweetness and a little bite.

*Aged Goudas (5 yr, Golden Goat, Coolea): These cheeses already have some nice caramel flavor profiles. They do very nicely with apricots, apples, pears, cherries.

Whenever Using nuts on a cheese plate remember that nuts have a slight bitterness to them that is enhanced when served raw. The best way to use them is either when they've been toasted or candied/caramelized. Pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds or pine nuts are usually best for cheese plates.

As far as salad greens go, arugula is one of the nicest greens for cheese. It has a nice peppery flavor that lends itself very well to cheeses like fresh goat or sheep cheese, earthy Camemberts, Cheddars, or blue cheeses. Taste your greens first. If they are very bitter, you need a cheese to help balance that out. When in doubt, a bag of mixed greens does very well in any situation.

California Cheese pt. 1

2009-09-24T17:03:00.003-05:00

As you know I recently entered the Oregon Bounty contest for a cheese and chocolate cuisinternship. If you haven't seen the video, given me a bunch of stars for being awesome and written a comment, you should do so.So did quite a few other people. I was looking at everyone's video and came across one that made me angry. In this video the applicant talks about how when people think of good cheese they don't think of California.

I was shocked and appalled.

Of course people think of California when they think of cheese. Yes, Cali, like Wisconsin has a lot of good commodity cheese, but there are also some really good artisan producers as well. I mean come on guy, Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery (CA) won second place in the all around competition at this years ACS.

My response to this man is to do a few posts about cheese from CA. Today I'm starting off with Truffle Tremor from Cypress Grove Chevre in the NW part of the state.

Truffle Tremor won the golden Sofi (think of it like a food Oscar) at the summer Fancy Food Show in the Cheese/Dairy product category. This is a soft-ripened goat milk cheese studded with truffle bits. It has a tangy, goaty flavor that then mellows into an earthy mushroomy tasty morsel.

Eaten straight on a cheese board it's good, but it can be a bit overwhelming for my mouth. I prefer to cook with it. My plan was to use it in risotto for dinner, but this morning when I woke up I had eggs on the brain, so into an omelette it went. When melted this cheese turns into a delightfully silky smooth luxuriously saucy feeling on your tongue.

Here she is. Lovely, creamy, truffley, earthy, salty, tangy and tasty Truffle Tremor.

When the eggs are just starting to coagulate, add a little bit of cheese. A little goes a long whey I know it's a bad pun. I think this is about 1T of chevre for two eggs.

Okay, so you guys don't care that I made an awesome omelette without any color, but this was part of one of my practical exams at NECI years and years ago and I'm super excited that I can still rock it!

I ate breakfast in about 4 minutes today. Soooo good.
By the by, Mary Keehn is one of the women who helped bring goat cheese into the forefront of the American cheese board. She was also named Small Business Person of the Year. No good cheese in California? If I had the opportunity to do so, I would take off my glove and challenge the man who said that to a duel!

It can be hard to find artisan cheese from CA here in Chicago, but I'm going to do my best to showcase some tasty treats over the next few posts.

There is a great company called Bellwether Farms from CA and they got a great write up in Saveur. It is very very hard to get their cheese out here, but I will do my best.

If you're in Chicago and planning on going to the Chicago Gourmet festival I'll be working a cheese tent for work on Sunday morning. Stop by and say "hi".

Caprese Salad

2009-09-20T07:19:00.001-05:00

I love yogurt. I know I've mentioned this before (type yogurt into my blog search box and watch the drama unfold), but it bears mentioning again. In my fridge right now I have some cheese, condiments, wine and yogurt.

Traderspoint Creamery makes some of my favorite yogurt. It's made from milk from their organic grass-fed herd of happy cows right next door in Indiana. It has no stabilizers, so instead of being thick like a custard it's fluid like a smoothie. I was familiar with their milk and yogurt, but not the cheese.

This past weekend I went to the farmer's market for some grapes. Yes, grapes. I will travel 11 miles away from home for grapes because the market 5 blocks from my house has mediocre ones. Don't you judge me. While at the market I happened to walk past their stand and saw the Mozzarella. I realized that while I've had a few tasty tomatoes this year I haven't had a caprese salad yet. Thus lunch was born.

Here's what you need to make this lunch:

1. tomatoes-I got mine from the market.
2. mozzarella
3. basil
4. salt-kosher or sea don't you dare use iodized you need big fat flakes
5. pepper
6. olive oil (the good stuff that you bought on a whim and has been sitting in your pantry, neglected for too long)
7. the great balsamic vinegar that you bought the same day as the olive oil

Slice the tomatoes
Slice the cheese
Chiffonade (very thin ribbons) the basil
add s &p, evoo and balsamic to taste

It's one of my favorite meals, and I can't believe I almost let the summer pass without having it.

Traderspoint Creamery Mozzarella. I wish I could wax poetically about this cheese, but I can't. It was just a well made ball of mozz. Absolutely better than the b.s. in the supermarket, but not spectacularly outstanding. Good. Solid. I'll buy some more when I get to market this coming weekend.

The thing is, people don't realize how hard it is to make a simple product. Mozzarella, on the surface is a simple product. Making a good mozz is not easy. Knowing how hard it is to make this cheese well, I am very happy with their results

And here it sits in it's very own milky bath

I made enough salad for more than just three adults, but with fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market and nice mozz, no one was complaining.

All you need is some olive oil and some good balsamic vinegar to make this perfect.

Crater Lake Blue

2009-09-17T22:22:00.002-05:00

Well, what did you expect? I did the video submission with Crater Lake Blue, so now I'm going to talk about it.

As I mentioned last month, Rogue River Blue from Rogue Creamery won best in show at the ACS competition this year. Great cheese. This post is not about that cheese. This is about Crater Lake Blue from the same guys in Oregon. Before you go any further, click here and read about this great creamery. I'll wait...

Okay, so now you know just how rad these guys are. Now let's get down to it. The cheese. I find that a lot of blue cheeses aren't well balanced. You get either a lot of blue, a lot of salt, or a lot of blue salt. This cheese isn't like that. It's a harmony of salty, blue-y, crumbly goodness with a milky, slightly sweet flavor.

Really good just eaten with some fruit, or in our case on top of some buffalo burgers.

Egads!

2009-09-17T21:51:00.005-05:00

I can't even believe that I'm doing this. I love have the anonymity of no one knowing just who I am. I can write what I want, how I want, and no one can come into the shop and say "I know you don't like Roquefort!".

Well, I've decided to put my video entry on the blog.

You should go here and vote my video as the awesome-ist thing you ever did see by giving it 5 stars. If you do, I might win a gift basket. there will more than likely be cheese in said basket. Cheese that you can eat vicariously through me. I put my dorkiness on view for everyone to see. Come on, vote for me!

A great big thank you to my brother for helping me put this together, my sister in-law for taking my 2 yr old nephew out while this happened, and my nephew for being the cutest little cheese eater in the entire world.

Vermont Cheese 4 little cheeses

2009-09-16T09:43:00.007-05:00

There were four little cheeses. The dark green is a little button from Lazy Lady Farm. Underneath that is the Four Corners Caerphilly from Cobb Hill Cheese. On the bottom left is Dorset from Consider Bardwell Farm. Closing out our game of four square is Organic Champlain Triple from Champlain Valley Creamery.

The cheese on the left is the Dorset from Consider Bardwell Farm it's a washed rind, buttery, creamy, sweetly grassy, stinky lovely cheese. Congrats go to CBF for their third place win for their cheese Rupert. Luxuriously smooth mouth feel. On the right of the above photo we have the Four Corners Caerphilly from Cobb Hill Cheese. They make one of my favorite cheeses ever, Ascutney Mountain. They do a very good job of honoring the Welsh cheese Caerphilly. It's crumbly, salty, assertive and tangy on the tongue, leaving the tip of your tongue just a bit numb. I like putting it into a grilled cheese with a more mellow companion like Asiago Fresco or instead of a button of goat cheese, shave some of this onto your salad. For this wedge, my friends and I added a wee bit of honey. Delish!

I bought this at one of the co-ops in town and it was listed as a cow/goat blend button from Lazy Lady Farm. Anytime I see something from Lazy Lady Farm I am inclined to buy it, Laini makes such good cheese. This cheese was a bit hard to eat however. The cheese, or the leaves had been soaked in either too much alcohol, or the cheese had been aging in the leaves too long. There was a sensation of eating an alcoholic dairy product, but not much on the cheese itself.

It's like a little flower of cheese. Very similar in looks to the French Banon but about half the size. That cheese is a raw goat cheese that is aged for a few weeks, then dipped in fruit brandy and wrapped in chestnut leaves. I would imagine this little button cheese would be very good in something like a salad, or flan, but on it's own I didn't think it was very well balanced. That being said, the next time I'm in VT, or NYC I'm still going to buy Lazy Lady cheese. She is always coming up with new cheeses, tweaking recipes and forever finding inspiration. I love trying out her new additions.

Last one up, was the most surprising for me.
Organic Champlain Triple from Champlain Valley Creamery was sooooo good. You all know that I'm not a big triple fan, but this was different. I mentioned to a friend that it was like having a rockit compound butter on top of mushrooms. Rich and creamy with a slight peppery bitterness and an earthy quality to it, for a brief moment in time I forgot about my prejudice against the triples and found happiness in this cheese.
That's it for Vermont for now. I finished my entry for the Oregon cuisinternship contest, but haven't decided if I'm going to post the video. The words have not been invented yet to describe the supreme dorkiness that is me on a video tape.

Vermont Cheese 3 little cheeses

2009-09-10T06:12:00.003-05:00

One of the best parts of my cheese vacations is when I get to come back with a cooler full of cheese. Going back to VT for the cheesemaker's festival was one of my favorites, because I got to come home with some of my favorite cheeses and I got to make some new cheese friends.

Today is all about the three little cheeses. The little round white one is Crottina from Blue Ledge Farm. the white square is from Willow Farm and her name is Alderbrook. Finally, the big orange mama up front is from Dancing Cow and her name is Sarabande.

Sarabande. I've never had this cheese before although I have had others from Dancing Cow. One of my favorites is the Bouree which spends some time in the JHF cellars. I was very eager to try this stinky pyramid of goodness.

Raw cow's milk cheese it is stinky on the outside and luscious, creamy, sweet like caramel, smokey, buttery, and is frickin' fantastic! It had quite a hoof on it, but I didn't care. We ate it up. Sooo good.

Why Willow Hill Farm? Why?! Usually all of their cheeses are delicious. I've had Alderbrook before. My memory tells me that it was buttery creamy, a bit grassy and had that wonderful fatty mouth feel that sheep milk cheeses tend to have. Unfortunately the piece I had didn't taste like that. The paste was...ok-ish, but the rind! It tasted like soap!

Was this an off batch? Had the cheese turned? Had the people behind the cheese counter ignored it for too long? Who knows. If I'd been back in VT I would have gone back to the Co-Op I'd bought it from and return it. Since I was in Chicago I had to throw it out.

Crottina. This was hands down my favorite cheese. I've never had a bad cheese from Blue Ledge Farm, and the Crottina is another one of their outstanding goat cheeses. Creamy, slightly sweet, a little bit of that green vegetal-grassiness that all VT cheeses have with a nice fudgy texture.

I have a few more cheeses from VT to talk about for next time. Right now I'm looking for some new cheeses to bring into the house. I'm thinking blue.

BTW guys, there are only a few days left to enter the Oregon Cuisinternship contest. I've got a few ideas for my video, and I'm doing it on Sunday. In an act of maybe foolishness I'm going to post the video on this blog for you all to see. I am a complete dweeb on film, but I'm okay with that if it means I get to make cheese at Rogue Creamery.
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Jasper Hill Farm

2009-09-09T22:44:00.003-05:00

I apologize if you've read this before. Today (9/9) I was deleting all of the drafts , and I deleted it like a moron/tool/stupid/technologically inept/stupid-head. Gone. I can't tell you the stress, panic, and fear I had at something I'd worked on for so long being gone. I've found it, and am posting it again, but I did lose comments. Sorry guys.

Jasper Hill Farm is one of my favorite businesses in the cheese world. Yes of course, they make phenomenal cheese but it's more than that. It's all about the cellars. Years ago they had a choice. Take Cabot up on their offer to collaborate, or stay small and independent. Some would say that they are still an independent company, and yes, on the surface they are, but they are partially dependent on Cabot to maintain and propel their growth so I don't know if that's independent really.

A lot of cheesemakers would and did say no when Cabot came knocking on their doors. JHF was not the first farm that Cabot approached. JHF was the only one who said yes. Now, because of that collaboration JHF has one of the most innovative aging facilities in the country.

How is the partnership with JHF and Cabot beneficial? For one, having seven vaults with 5600 wheels of Cabot in each vault means that you've got a financial portfolio that banks like. You can be a great cheesemaker with phenomenal product, but in order to get it out into the cheese buying public you need financial support. This largess allows the folks at JHF to help other cheesemakers in the state.

How do they help? To answer that you have to know the difference between aging and affinage. A lot of people use the word affinage, but are really not doing it. Aging is taking a cheese putting it in your warehouse for 'x' number of days, months or years and then selling it. Affinage is so much more.

If left to it's own devices, cheese will do what it wants to do. Affinage is trying to convince the cheese to do what you want it to do. Affinage is turning the wheels, brushing them, washing them, brining them, rotating and working with that cheese during every stage of it's age, using techniques to make it better, not just relying on the passing seasons to do the job for you. Affinage is recognizing that being a cheesemaker isn't just about making a cheese.

Since they are keeping such a close eye on the cheese, if a wheel isn't acting the way it should the folks at JHF can look at everything and every hand that has touched that wheel, they can call up the cheesemaker and ask them questions, or as Mateo related one story, they can go out and do water samples to see if the brine solution has a different component because of something in the water-which it did.

The folks at JHF are not just great cheesemakers, but they are excellent affineurs and through their hard work and dedication are helping other cheesemakers in the region to make better product, and get a bigger audience for their cheese. For a small state like Vermont I think this is incredibly important. Vermont has all sorts of wonderful cheeses, not just Cheddar. Getting those cheeses out of the state and into more mouths has to happen if the VT artisan cheese movement is to progress.

Take Hartwell for example. Ploughgate Creamery is a very small company. They make a few kinds of cheese and have only been making their cheeses for a little over a year. Normally this is a cheese that would just be local. With JHF behind them they are able to age more wheels, and get a wider distribution than if they were just going it alone.

The folks at Jasper Hill Farm are continually working on ways to improve and progress. Coming up with easier ways to read stat sheets, bringing in a robot to turn the cheeses for them some pros and cons to this but that's for another time or changing cheese formats to get better results for the cheesemaker. Is Jasper Hill Farm and the Cellars at Jasper Hill the American version of Neal's Yard Dairy? Only time will tell, but I think they're well on their way.

Periodically while driving through the most beautiful state in the union a sign will appear indicating a "scenic view". In my opinion this is redundant, and I rarely stop. I mean after all, almost the entire state qualifies as scenic. This particular time my brother and I stopped. Seriously scenic.

Cabot Clothbound sans cloth-binding

In the caves all the cheese is put onto wheeled speed racks that are rolled in and out of grooves similar to railroad tracks. Very efficient.

Mateo is certainly a rock star in the cheese world. My brother took the tour with me and afterwards we were pondering exactly which rock star Mateo is. At first my brother suggested Frampton. I strongly opposed the comparison. After a debate that lasted the entire trip back to home base we came to a consensus. Mateo is David Bowie.

Weybridge. I've written of this gorgeous, luscious cheese that tastes like Vermont and happiness. Apparently they're changing their format. As long as the taste is the same they can do whatever shape they want to.

View from Jasper Hill. Didn't I tell you that Vermont is gorgeous?

Wheels of Bayley Hazen Blue.

The newly formed wheels of BHB are sitting in their molds on the table. High tech bucketry catches all the whey as it drains.

Bayley Hazen Blue has a natural rind. In order for this rind to occur evenly the wheels must be smoothed out. Otherwise the rind would find all of those lovely nooks and crannies and start developing inside the cheese instead of outside.

Rack upon rack of Constant Bliss.

Right outside of the Constant Bliss aging room was a question. The answer to your question is yes. Yes it does.

This post has been kicking my butt for the past few weeks. Every time I sat down to it I would get all jumbled up in my head as to what I wanted to say. Unfortunately, I'm also insanely neurotic and so rather than go and talk about the fantastic cheeses I ate, I would worry about this post. Then I discovered the show Dexter on DVD. Whenever I got stuck on something I would put in some Dexter and pop open a Coke Zero. I'm now in season two of Dexter. Finally, after a ridiculous amount of tv on DVD, I've got my Jasper Hill Post down.

One of the things I'm goign to try to do in the future is to not get hung up on a post. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, I'll just move on to something else. Putting so much pressure on myself for a post just doesn't make sense. In addition to making me cranky, it also means that instead of a post, you get a week or more of silence. Sorry about that. I'll try not to do it again.

-Cheesewench

Wanna go to Oregon?!

2009-08-27T12:25:00.006-05:00

Wanna go to Oregon? Wanna win an opportunity to make cheese at one of the awesomeist creameries in the country? Of course you do! There's a great contest that's been announced here. As a cheesy wench, of course I will be trying to come up with a video that doesn't make me look like a total dweeb fat chance and sending it in within a week or so. What about you? Do it! Do it!

ACS Housekeeping

2009-08-26T08:19:00.000-05:00

I can't even believe I forgot to mention a great cheese that I tasted at the ACS. There is was, a little plain, unassuming log of goat cheese. I stopped because it was from Utah, and I thought I'd give it a shot. So frickin' good. Goaty and acidic and salty and creamy and goooood. There's no way I'm going to see it out here, but if you happen upon Shepherds Dairy Products from Erda, Utah, please give them a try.