Vermont Trip

Summers at the cheese shop here in Chicago are busy. Tons of tourists, picnics for all of the live music festivals at the park and catering galore. Everyone's looking for tasty treats. There's a lot of work and with the heat and humidity you get exhausted before you know it.

I needed to re-charge.

My vacation took me to the east coast and the 2nd annual Vermont Cheesemaker's Festival at the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. There were over 50 cheesemakers representing some of the best cheeses that Vermont has to offer. Cheesemakers were set up in the barn offering samples and the opportunity to purchase their wares. From the nationally well-known such as Jasper Hill Cellars, Cabot and Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery to some local cheese heroes like Champlain Valley Creamery and Lazy Lady Farm. Most of the cheeses at the festival I can't get out here in Chicago so it was a real treat to go back home and stock my brother's fridge with cheesy goodness.

While the festival was a lot of fun and I stuffed myself with wine and cheese all day, one of the highlights of the festival for me is the location.

Created in 1886 as a modern agricultural estate in the 1970's Shelburne Farms became a non-profit with a focus on education. They have more than 100 milking Brown Swiss cows who are on a grass-based diet. The animals are fed on pasture (when possible) and are rotated through the fields to ensure healthy re-growth and renewal of the land.

In addition to farmstead Cheddars, Shelburne Farms has an inn, garden, a restaurant that offers farm-fresh dinners, and they offer fantastic tours and educational seminars. The best part about Shelburne Farms? It's got to be the view. They're located right alongside Lake Champlain and there is nothing finer than grabbing a hunk of cheese sitting down on the grass gazing across the water and listening to it hit the shore.

My suggestion to you is you get on the mailing list for next year's festival and snatch up some tickets as soon as they're made available. You won't be sorry.

Don't feel too left out, a lot of the cheesemakers represented at the festival will be participating in the ACS conference later this month which means...you can eat your way through Vermont at the Festival of Cheese!

Beautiful Lake Champlain


I couldn't pick my favorite cheese from all that I tasted, but this was my favorite t-shirt!


Some of the ladies who work at Shelburne Farms


-aa

What's That Smell?

Yesterday a customer came into the shop and remarked that he loves the way our shop smells. For a brief moment I though to myself "what smell?". Then it hit me. Oh yeah, the shop smells kind of funky, lactic and delicious. It's just not one those things I'm constantly thinking about as I'm at work.

Of course I smell all of the cheeses individually when sampling them to customers, or giving the cheese case some much needed TLC, but since I'm surrounded by the smells for hours at a time I grow accustomed to it-except for when we unwrap the washed rind cheeses of course. Especially a big, pungent cheeses like Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy in VA, or Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm in CT.

One of my favorite things to do while working is to play "Guess that cheese". A co-worker will be busy re-wrapping product for the case and I'll just shout out what I'm smelling. It's a bit of a cheese-focused verbal spasm. " Grayson!" "Winnimere!" "Hooligan!"
All of the cheeses have such distinct aromas. Sniffing cheese is one of the best parts of my job. Some days it trumps tasting.

One of the ultimate opportunities to smell and taste cheese comes once a year during the "Festival of Cheese" on the last day of the ACS conference. Every product that was entered for judging is there. Last year I believe there were over 1300 dairy products entered.Table after table of butter, yogurt jostle for banquet and tummy space with cheese tables that are packed and are put in displays bigger than my 5'5" frame. Fantastic smells of washed rinds, fresh chevre, tangy yogurts, earthy cheddars and peppery blues all come together and fill the senses with a symphony of smell.

This year the conference and Festival of Cheese is going to be in Seattle. Going to the full conference is a wonderful learning experience, but even if you can't make the conference you've got to get to the cheesy banquet that awaits you on the last day. Your nose will thank you.
-aa

Summer Cheese

I have been thinking about cheese that is great for summer. Mainly, burger and grilling cheese.

When selling the cheese I have been importing I have found a theme....flavor. People seem to love flavored cheese of almost any kind. I found that Carr's Valley Cranberry-Chipotle Cheddar has been very popular. It is great in a burger as well as in desserts! Personally, I can just eat chuncks of it...Thanks Carr Valley!

For other grilling cheese I have come up with a great grilled steak recipe. I use my favorite blue cheese; cut a pocket into a nice steak and then put it on a hot grill. While that is cooking I prepare a plum reduction sauce by combining plum jam, red wine, salt and pepper. Tossed into a sauce pan these ingredients combine and are ready when the steak is ready. Sometimes, I add fresh basil just for a change. Anyway I look at it; I just love this recipe!!

Happy 1st day of summer all!

Farm to Table

The slogan “happy cows come from California” has an entirely new meaning now that I’ve been to Marin County. On a recent trip to San Francisco, I made a morning excursion to visit the Robert Giacomini Dairy to see how Point Reyes Original Blue is produced. The countryside of this region is truly spectacular. As I entered the farm, those vivid 250 Holsteins are grazing along lush, springtime hillsides, overlooking Tomales Bay amidst a periwinkle sky. This farm is certified organic and produces much of it’s own energy through recycling processes.

Point Reyes Original Blue is produced shortly after the early morning milking in a facility adjacent to the milking barn. Raw milk, cultures, enzymes, salt & penicillium roqueforti are the only components of this handmade, farmstead cheese. The curds are cut, drained of whey, then poured into moulds where further draining occurs. The wheels are salt rubbed and cured for three weeks, then aged for about 5 months. The result is a great cheese for table, burger, or salad. With Memorial Day weekend approaching, you may need this cheese for all three.

Kuba, the cheesemaker, has begun producing fresh mozzarella that is sold locally in the Bay Area, as well as a fine, raw milk Toma. This Toma (I gladly accepted multiple samples) has a well balanced sweet & saltiness with light acidity and a semi-firm texture that will undoubtedly melt nicely with tomato, in-between two slices of sourdough, yumyum. I was pleased to hear it will be submitted to the American Cheese Society Competition this summer.

Thank you to the happy cows of Giacomini Dairy for closing the road when I tried to depart, and a heartfelt ‘dziekuje’ to Karen and Kuba for showing me around. MM

Wisconsin Cheese Tour 2010

I was fortunate enough to travel to Wisocnsin for a 4-day whirlwind (I've always wanted to use that word about my travels...) tour of several cheesemaking facilities.

We went from the simplest of cheesemaking at the Amish Salemville Cheese Co-Op to the latest state-of-the-art facilities of BelGioioso and Roth-Kase to the sustainable dairy farmers/cheesemakers of Crave Brothers. We visited with Kerry Hennings, of Henning's Wisconsin Cheese, a Wisconsin Licensed Master Cheesemaker and many cheese reps at a cheese trade show sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. We were treated to a gourmet-pizza lunch at Sartori Foods; in fact, every place we stopped, we were spoiled.

I learned a lot, including some great bits of trivia and thought I would share them with you:

Trivia: The largest mammoth cheddar wheel ever made by Henning’s Wisconsin Cheese: 12,000 pounds – and they made two of them for a grocery store chain in Texas.

Trivia: Milk is delivered daily to Sartori Foods from the 200+ farmers, all within 50miles of the cheesemaking plant. That milk is being made into cheese within 3 hours of its arrival.

Trivia: Mozzarella packed in water has a shelf life of about 30 days while the cryovac version has a shelf life of 60 days.

Trivia: It takes between 10 and 13 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese. The rest is water and whey, which is recycled and used or sold.

Trivia: BelGioioso wraps their Gorgonzola in foil and then in cellophane with tiny holes so that the cheese can continue to breathe. Cryovac wrap causes the cheese to become wet; the holes in the cellophane prevent that, making for a better product.

Trivia: The average size herd that provides milk to the Salemville Co-Op: 12 cows.

Trivia: The difference between blue cheese and gorgonzola is 30 days. Blue is aged 60 days and gorgonzola is aged 90 days (or more).

Trivia: 100 Pounds of cow milk fetches $12.00 these days… and the price of cow milk is set on the Chicago Commodity Exchange… 100 pounds of goat milk fetches $45.oo these days… 100 pounds of sheep milk fetches $95.00.

Trivia: Due to the outstanding treatment of their cows at the Crave Brothers Farm, the milk yield per cow is about 30K pounds of milk per yield, while the national average is 20K.

Trivia: The average size dairy herd in Wisconsin is 160 cows.

Dazzle your friends with your Wisconsin Cheese trivia… (MW)

The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe

I have never reviewed a book, even though I have literally read thousands of them over my lifetime. I began an Excel File in 2001 of the books I read and when I hit 1500 (in early 2008) I told my husband it was time for me to come out of retirement and return to the working world. Little did I know at that time, my new journey would allow me to spend five blissful days every week in the cheesemines.

My home office is cluttered with all kinds of “cheesy” things: books, cheese journals, logo aprons and hats, charts, photos, magazines. I even have a cheesy mouse pad…

A cousin and aunt gave me a gift card for Barnes and Noble last Christmas. I bought cheese books and one was The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe. Over the past three months (I only had time during my lunches), I have read and savored her journey discovering American Cheesemakers.

Because I had never written a review, I read several reviews of this book and was surprised at some of the garbage that folks decided to include. I even found comments criticizing Liz because she went to Yale… translation: “just a rich girl with parents to bankroll her cushy life”. The internet is a wonderful tool but it also gives the “tools” a worldwide canvas to be jerks…

I love this book. The excitement Liz feels when a new cheese comes her way is contagious. It’s an excitement that most dedicated cheesemongers feel. An excitement that hopefully will never go away for Liz, me and all the other cheesemongers who bring cheese to life for the everyday folks who love good food. It's an excitement that I try to convey when telling customers that No Woman is named after the song and is NOT a sexist cheese or how Roth-Kase convinced the FDA to let them use copper vats to make Gruyere.

I fell into cheesemongering and Liz did as well. When I heard about the cheese kiosk going into my store, I thought it would be “cool” to work there. Liz thought talking about cheese at cocktail parties would be “cool”. Absolutely!! At least two or three times a week, a customer will say to me, “You have the coolest job”… and they are right. Liz began on the counter at Murray’s Cheese Shop and has risen to Vice President and everyone (even those only remotely interested) in the cheese world know of Murray’s in the West Village of Manhattan. (When I die, I hope to have my ashes sprinkled over Murray’s… just kidding… sort of…)

Liz’s excitement carried me through the book; page-after-page; cheese-after-cheese. I loved her honesty in admitting she showed up hung-over to make cheese and lost her cookies when the smell of fresh milk and the warm humidity of the cheese room hit her “full frontal”. I love hearing how Ig Vella had her totally intimidated when they first met and her journey to the Amish country of Pennsylvania. Liz lays her heart out there and

There are so many favorite parts in this book; but my number one favorite is reading the stories of the ladies in the early 80s who started making cheese and how they made their marks and brought American Cheesemaking to the fore-front of America’s food culture.

Liz loves her job and you see it on every page of this book as she takes us through the challenging and fulfilling world of cheesemaking in America.

Liz is “cool” and so is her book.

(MW)

Last fall Noah and I spent 3 wonderful days celebrating a good friend's 40th birthday - at Disneyland of all places! I hadn't been there since I was very, very young and I was amazed to see how different the place looks through adult eyes. The rides were still fun, the shows were entertaining, and it was heavenly to escape the "real" world for awhile. But for someone as particular about food as I am, it was a culinary nightmare. I don't want you to get the idea that I'm a food snob, because I'm not. I've been known to eat a greasy cheeseburger and fries, or even a deep-fried something-or-other on occasion. But I seriously need to have my daily allotment of fresh veggies, not to mention the fact that I eat artisanal cheese at least once a day, and both of these items were missing from any of the menus I encountered. So after 72 hours of quitting cheese "cold-turkey," this junkie was delighted to get back to the cheese counter!

What was the first cheese I ate upon my return, you ask? It was Petaluma Creamery's Peppercorn Dry Jack Goat Cheese. YUM. This aged cheese is produced here in the Bay Area (not that far from where the original Vella Dry Jack is made) by Larry Peter who also owns Spring Hill Jersey Cheese Co. Its light beige paste is infused with whole pepper corns, and the rind is rubbed with olive oil, cocoa, and black pepper. One of my favorite things in all the world is a cheese which has a mildly sweet attack but has a savory, even spicy finish and this cheese hits the nail on the head. Although it would be great in cooking, I choose to eat Peppercorn Dry Jack by itself so I can fully enjoy the complexity of flavor brought about by the combination of high quality goat's milk and the traditional dry jack rub.

When you bite into this cheese you can just imagine happy goats frolicking across the rolling hills of the North Bay, feeding on nutrient rich grasses and breathing fresh ocean air. Perfect....

SH

Getting fuzzy with Twig Farm's Fuzzy Wheel

Occasionally I'll buy a certain kind of cheese just because it has a fun name. Such is the case for Twig Farm's Fuzzy Wheel. I purposely did no research and asked no questions when I sent my order for this fun sounding fuzz from Formaggio Kitchen. I wanted to be totally surprised...and I was.

Twig Farm is a small goat farm in West Cornwall, Vermont and has been in operation since 2005. Owners Michael Lee and Emily Sunderman use traditional equipment and techniques to make their varieties of farmstead cheeses, forming them by hand and aging in their cheese cellar.

At first glance, this Fuzzy Wheel has an unassuming look, similar to a Tomme with its flecked edible rind and graduating paste. Unlike a typical Tomme, this semi-hard cheese has a "fuzzy" white mold covers the rind giving this cheese its name.

Moving in for the smell test may not have been the best idea. I am not sure if it is the fuzz or the blending of cow and goat milk, but this cheese produces a stench that is beyond stinky. To be honest, the rotting mushroom aroma almost kept me from tasting it, and I love stinky cheeses. Had I allowed the funky fragrance to deter me, I would have missed out on a truly tasty treat.

Getting past the funk, I took a small bite and was pleasantly surprised to find the flavor was nothing like the smell. Initial taste on the tip of the tongue is fresh and grassy, yet as it hits the taste buds toward the back, the assertive, earthy flavor wafts in one's mouth and builds to a savory peak. Light and creamy on the tongue, each bite gets better and better and paired with some red raspberries and a hefty glass of Cabernet, it is a fantastic fromage find.

Admittedly, I lucked out in this quirky find in Fuzzy Wheel. With the price of some cheeses costing as much as a three-course meal, playing roulette on selections can truly be a gamble. I was lucky this time and will probably do it again. I encourage everyone to give the wheel a spin sometime and see what the fates bring. (RK)

Cheese Resources I Recommend

As I wander through the ever-growing and expanding "World of Cheese", I discover websites and books that I find worthy of second looks or sharing. Here are a few of my favorites:

Websites:

American Cheese Society

Cowgirl Creamery Library of Cheeses

Murray's Cheese Shop

Artisanal Cheese

Pacific Northwest Cheese Project


Books:

Cheesemonger: Life on the wedge by Gordon Edgar

In a Cheesemaker's Kitchen by Allison Hooper

The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe

Cheese Primer by Steve Jenkins

World Cheese Book by Juliet Harbutt

Mastering Cheese by Max McCalman

Cheese Essentials by Laura Werlin

Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest by Tami Parr

(MW)

It's time to fire up the panini press

April is National Grilled Cheese month and Wisconsin is leading the charge with this great website showcasing WI cheeses. They've got a bunch of different sandwiches listed including some pretty interesting ingredients like cauliflower and pineapple.

Does the grilled cheese sandwich deserve it's own month? For me the answer is a resounding YES! Grilled cheese and tomato soup are like salt and pepper or peanut butter and jelly, but I think that grilled cheese by itself has a deeper connection in our psyche. At least it does in mine.

Below:Asiago+Cheddar+oven roasted tomatoes=deliciousness!
For me it was the first thing I was allowed to cook on my own. My mother taught me how. I would get up on a stepstool and toast them in a skillet that had been liberally buttered. It was the perfect food. Warm, toasty, melty, gooey, salty and buttery. On nights when my mother was working late I would make grilled cheese sammies for my brother and me. We would sit in front of the television like zombies, him on the couch, me in the recliner eating our sandwiches and for a brief moment in time, I wasn't the older sister who tortured him and he wasn't my "stupid-head" "smelly" younger brother.

As I got older I expanded my culinary repertoire, but kept the grilled cheese sandwich in my top ten. And why not? It's a ridiculously easy to make lunch/dinner/hangover cure and is gentle on the wallet as I learned in college. To me, cheap ramen noodles could never be tastier than a grilled cheese made with an illegal hotplate and a cast iron skillet.

In culinary school the grilled cheese kept me going. When cramming for a bakery final that's going to start at 2am you need brain food. Grilled cheese to the rescue. The dining hall is closed and you're starving? Grilled cheese comes through once again.

Nowadays I work in a cheese shop. I feel it's my personal duty to find out which of our cheeses melt well, what they go well with and of course, how they taste. I use my hours of dedicated research and pass it along to our customers. Even though I love the stinky punchiness of Grayson I can tell you that even though it melts nicely, if you apply heat to this cheese your apartment will smell rather funky for several days. Fresh chevre may not melt quite the way Cheddar does, but you get a warm, squishy, goo that makes eating it messy, but immensely satisfying.

So what's your favorite grilled cheese? One of mine is pictured above. Asiago, Cheddar and oven roasted tomatoes. Who needs soup?

-AA

Representin' ACS!

On a recent trip to visit my sister and her family in Athens Ohio, I had the good fortune of meeting Chris Chmiel, Cheesemaker (among other things) at Integration Acres. My sister and brother in-law assured me that great cheese was being made in Ohio, and to prove it they took me to the Athens Farmer's Market on the first day of our visit. You can imagine how delighted I was when I saw a guy manning his booth and wearing an American Cheese Society t-shirt. Way to represent, dude!

That guy was Chris, and not only was he giving a shout-out to ACS via his t-shirt, but he was offering a selection of fresh goat's milk cheeses that would make anyone stand up and take notice. If you're a Euro cheese snob - which you probably aren't if you're reading this blog - but if you are, take a trip to Athens Ohio and try Integration Acres "Smokey Goat." I think you'll find it's as good an example of craftsmanship, creativity, and science as can be found.

Chris tells me he and his wife were recipients of an ACS scholarship to attend a previous annual conference, and I can honestly say that if his work is an indication of what a small Cheesemaker can achieve with a little support from ACS, then the scholarship program really is a huge success. Keep up the good work Chris - I look forward to a time when your cheese can make its way to Northern California!

Velveeta is Dead and Evidently It’s Mary Keehn’s Fault…

At least at one home in Portland, Oregon...

I work as a Cheese Steward and one of the best parts of the job is working with customers; especially the youngs ones who are our next generation of "foodies". I have met several who have left fond memories behind for me.

Mason and his parents were regulars in the first cheese kiosk where I worked and Mason was the cheese hound in the family. His parents let him sample and make the cheese choices every week. It was quite interesting to watch his reactions to the various cheeses he sampled. This kid had fearless tastebuds. One of his favorites was Rembrandt Aged Gouda and he proudly told me that he had asked Santa for a light saber and a wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano. On another occasion, his mom stopped by to buy Pecorino Romano becasue it was featured in a recipe on the Food Channel and Mason decided that was what he wanted for dinner. But my favorite memory of Mason happened when he decided he wanted to check out the Bries. We started with Fromager d'Affinois, then moved on the Brie de Nangis. Next we tried St. Albray and ended with Le Chatelaine. After a thoughtful moment, Mason chose the St. Albray. As he sat in the child seat of the food basket, I decided to ask the burning question, "Mason, how old are you?" He proudly replied, "Two and a half." I looked at his father who shregged and said, "He also likes caviar." Definitely a budding foodie.

Another young patron is Chadd, whose favorite cheeses are the blues; the stronger, the better. When he stops at the kiosk, I always ask him to try a new cheese and give me his opinions. For a sixteen year old, his palate is quite sophisticated. He knows what he likes and why; but he can also articulate quite well why he doesn't like a certain cheese. A recent email from him inquired if I knew where he might buy fresh goat milk. He had decided to make his own fresh chevre.

Last week I was assisting a mother in putting together a cheese platter for her twelve year old's slumber party. The daughter had requested cheese for snacking rather than junk food... my kind of kid. We began with Fromager d'Affinois, added Smoked Applewood Cheddar and a wedge of Beemster Vlaskaas. For the blue, we went with Oregonzola. As we were wrapping up our transaction, the mother stopped, looked at me sternly and said, "By the way, I don't like you." I was stunned... I thought things were going so well... then she laughed and added, "A few weeks back, you gave my daughter a sample of Humboldt Fog and ever since, it's been 'No more Velveeta in this house, Mom'".

We added Humboldt Fog to the platter. (MW)

A Day in Cheese Heaven: Experiencing a Formal Cheese Service

From New York's Artisanal Fromagerie, Bistro and Wine Bar to San Francisco's Gary Danko, more and more restaurants throughout the country are hiring fromagiers and offering luxurious cheese services.

What is a cheese service? The simple explanation is an offering of various farmstead and artisan cheeses served by an experienced fromagier who not only serves, but educates the guests on the selections, makes suggestions based on tastes and pairings.

I had the opportunity to experience a formal cheese service at L'Albatros Brasserie in Cleveland, Ohio and it was amazing. Open since 2008, owner Zack Bruell has created a simple yet inviting atmosphere of stark white table settings against exposed brick walls. Minimalist decor to say the least, but not cold.

General Manager, Brandon Chrostowski, is also a sommalier and fromagier and has a knowledge of cheese that can rival even the most experienced cheesemonger. When he presented a wooden tray with over fifteen selections of the most exquisite cheeses I had ever seen, I thought I had died and gone to fromage heaven. They all looked so amazing, I had no idea where to start.

While a good many of the cheeses were from across the pond, there were two stand-outs that had me at hello. Not surprising, both were Jasper Hill creations. The first was the Caspian, a goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves soaked in ice wine. The beautiful presentation was only the tip of the iceberg, as it were. The flavor of this rare little round was fresh and sweet, capturing all the wonderful qualities found in the best chevre and taking it to the next level. The second was the much praised Winnimere (pic above) which completely lived up to it's hype. Tangy and nutty with a bit of an assertive bite on the back of my tongue, I am completely in love.

Perfect wine pairings, witty conversation, and a surprise visit from Mr. Bruell were the icing on this exquisite experience. I will certainly be back again.

For those fortunate enough to be in the Cleveland area, I highly recommend experiencing the cheese service at L'Albartros Brasserie. For those sad souls outside the area, check the local restaurants for similar offerings. RK

Raining Cheese

Greetings from the flip side, I am now a married woman. Despite what I thought, I do feel different. However, my appetite is still the same.

Our wedding took place during the pinnacle of a nor’easter; driving rains, 70mph winds, power outages, and coastal flooding. In retrospect, I would not have changed the weather. The storm added to the memory. It made the indoors of a 19th century church-turned-restaurant, full of candlelight and fiddles, that much more cozy.

Earlier that day, my fellow cheesemonger and I created the display as we would at the dozens of fundraisers that we have worked together before, just three-fold. Nine cheeses, four cured meats, seven accompaniments, and assorted breads and fresh fruits were set up smack dab in the middle of the bar. It may sound like overkill, really though, it was impressive.

After the ceremony, the “mountain of cheese” as I lovingly call it, was “unveiled.”
Eventually, some of the cheeses were completely consumed because they were delicious, soft and spreadable. Others, I simply served too much, knowingly, because the scale was visually important to the display. There was one cheese in the mix, though, from a tasting standpoint, that “took the cake.”

Boucher Blue from Green Mountain Blue Cheese was the shining star on the mountain. It is an aggressive looking blue, a mottled cave-aged rind, thick rigorous blue veining, and straw colored paste. The texture is semi-firm, moist but not creamy, and cuts easily into both solid pieces and crumbles with a firm knife stoke. The flavor is balanced and complex. The initial zip of pockets of blue is then surpassed by the lengthy finish of sweet toasty nuts. Smack a morsel of this jammy on a dried fig, or soon enough, a fresh fig and you’ve got flavor satisfaction. Green Mountain Blue Cheese is a part of the Boucher Family Farm located in Highgate, Vermont. Check out their blog to learn more about their cheeses and the interesting history of their farm. http://boucherfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/
MM

World Cheese Championship Contest

Every other year the WCCC is held in Madison, WI. A few of us from Chicago drove out last week to see what it's all about.

The competition has 2000+ cheeses from around the world which was interesting to experience, but my favorite thing was the event that Jeanne Carpenter of Wisconsin Cheese Originals had put together. On the outer ring, were a few select cheeses from around the world, and in the center of the room were tables filled with Wisconsin cheeses.

Chicago is so close to WI, but there are a lot of cheeses we don't see on this side of the border. This celebration was a great opportunity to meet up with some cheesemakers and taste some fabulous cheeses. One cheese that we don't get in the Windy City was the Reserve Bandaged Cave Aged Cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy. Aged for three years in a cave where the temperature doesn't vary more than six degrees all year round gives this cheese a complex flavor profile that is absolutely addicting.

If you find yourself in Madison at the Dane County farmer's market, look for the Bleu Mont Dairy stand. It's one of the few places you'll be able to find Willi's cheeses.

Did I mention that the man can yodel? -AA