Happy is the man that has his quiver full...

Our trip was starting to feel a little anticlimactic since we had such a rigorous farm schedule in the beginning and now our visits were thinning out. After Bonnie Blue Farm we had a little vaycay within our big vaycay. We drove to Memphis for a day where I was intent on seeing Graceland. This didn't happen (not too dissapointed though) because we had the best strawberry cake I have ever had and BBQ ("So Good Yull Slap Yo Mama!") at The Germantown Commissary. We then high-tailed it to New Orleans for 2 days. Luckily, some friends had given us recommendations on where to go. We had beignets at Cafe du Monde, Hurricanes at Pat O'Brians in the piano bar (definitely my favorite part), and seafood at Acme Oyster House. We took it easy our last night in the French Quarter because we had to be up and out
early the next morning to visit Debbie and Michael Sams of Full Quiver Farm in Kemp, Texas.

The farm that we originally intended on visiting in Texas, aside from Mozzarella Co., either were not accepting visitors, or didn't return our calls. So we counted ourselves lucky when we stumbled across information on Full Quiver Farms. We found their name in a book in called "The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese," by Jeffrey P. Roberts, that was sitting on a shelf in Capriole's little cheese library. Despite our diligent, prior research on cheesemakers in the U.S., we NEVER came across this book until Indiana! WOW! HOW? OMG! It's like the YellowPages for U.S. cheesemakers.

Our trip from LA to TX was slow going. An intense storm that stayed with us for probably 200 miles slowed our pace. We were concerned that we wouldn't make it in time. Debbie said not to worry (even though they were quite busy, we found out why later) when we called which eased our minds.

When we arrived in Kemp the rain had stopped but we witnessed what it left behind. Many homes no longer had front yards, only newly formed natural ponds. Full Quiver, though not totally deluged, was extremely soggy. Debbie greeted us and then Michael took us on a tour.

We began in their modest country store where they sell their cheese, eggs, chicken, pork and even kombucha, AKA "The Booch"as it's called by some of our dear friends. They also sell some other staples including Bragg's apple cider vinigar (which reminded me I was running low.) Prominently displayed on the check out countertop is a 8 x 10 family photo.

Michael explained the cheeses they make at Full Quiver. The biggest sellers are actually their flavored cheese spreads which can also be found in some local Texas Whole Foods markets.

We moved onto the cheese making room and a large commercial mixer was spinning away. Oops! He accidentally left if running when he came to meet us. Inside the mixer was one of his delicious creamy cheese spread concoctions. We talked a bit about how he got into making cheese. Surprisingly, Michael hadn't actually milked a cow until he was 30! Until he was nearly thirty he was a "city boy" and owned a general store. Later he realized he wanted to find way that the whole family live and work together, so he decided to get into the milk business.

For a while, milk cows could support his growing family until, like we have heard from many other farmers, milk prices were dropping and it got harder and harder to make a living selling straight milk. But there was always another option to consider. For 2o years, Debbie had been making cheese. 17 years ago when they moved onto the farm she started taking excess milk and cream and making butter and cheese for the family. They agreed to put her talents to work and invest more of the milk into making cheese to sell. It seemed to them that selling cheese was more profitable so ultimately they switched their whole operation over to cheesemaking.

The transition was fairly easy. They just utilized the existing equipment they already had and continued milking their herd of Holsteins. When production became too high for Debbie to on her own, she passed the cheesemaking cultures over to Michael who took their cheese to the level it is today which sells at Whole Foods, farmers' markets, and at the Full Quiver Farm store. They have been selling cheese successfully for 7 years now.

We didn't try any of their cheese spread but Michael did send us home with their fresh mozzarella, their 2 month aged raw milk cheddar and their raw milk colby. Now, we were both raised on cheddar. My mom used to make homemade nachos and instead of that oozy, not-really-a-cheese-product cheese, she would grate cheddar. It never melted quite right. But when we tried Full Quiver Farm's cheddar and colby we were certainly impressed. The colby was mild and smooth, the cheddar moderately sharp, and when mixed together and sprinkled on corn tortilla chips, utter perfection. They melted nicely but maintained a bit of structure so it wasn't an ooey gooey mess. Both good on their own as well. Sliced thickly on a GF cracker as an appetizer in the middle of the Utah Canyonlands was great. It actually could have been my dinner!

We also converted a mozzarella "disliker"serving them some of Full Quiver's hand streched mozzarella. Just a bite of their sweet cheese made our test subject reconsider her previous generalizations that mozzarella "just doesn't taste like anything."

We had mentioned earlier that the Sams family was pretty busy. It turns out there was a big double celebration in the works. Their son had been picked to lead their Menonite church as a minister which is an extremely high honor. Additionally, one of their sons was getting married and they had relatives coming in that they were hosting. Excitement was in the air. But even amongst all that commotion they graciously invited us to dinner. Reluctantly, we declined. We had been driving all day and had yet to check into the hotel which was a bit of a drive (that's another long story!).

As we left we asked how he came to choose the name Full Quiver Farm. The story is prefaced with the fact that Michael, Debbie and their 9 children are of the Mennonite faith. And as he glanced down at his wonderful, and large family photo he said, "Family is very important to us!" There is a Psalm in the Bible that states, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit o the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them..." Michael and Debbie are indeed very happy. With 9 children and almost double that in grandchildren, their quiver is full of arrows, their hearts full of love, and their hands are full of cheese!

For some more photos of Full Quiver Farms follow this link to Linda Walsh Photography and it will lead you right to some.

The 'Road Warrior' of Tennessee Goat Cheese

Back in Tennessee? Wait a second. Weren't we here already? So wait Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee... Okay so this is definitely NOT the fastest way to drive to California. But there's a reason we came back through Tennessee again--because we knew we'd find a pot o' gold (AKA delicious aged crystalline goat cheese magic) at Bonnie Blue farm in Waynesboro.

Originally from Sacramento, California Gayle and Jim Tanner decided to move locations because they knew

that for making their cheese they wanted four seasons and terrain. The flew into Little Rock and drove 1,600 miles looking for the ideal location for their new farm. Finally, they settled on Waynesboro and began working closely with the state on all of the health and other regulatory details. After all, Tennessee has very few cheesemakers, so this was largely new territory for the state health agencies. Like many cheese makers we have met in states where cheesemaking is a relatively small or new industry, Jim and Gayle have largely taken it upon themselves to help educate and enlighten health officials for whom this is all very

uncharted territory.

It was 2004, they had their new farm and the goats were living large. Thinking back she laughs as she says, "At the time, we lived in a trailer and the goats had a nice big barn!" With the goats settled in, Jim, "the road warrior" continued his building so that he and his wife could be as comfortable as their Neubians and Saanens. And now they are taking things to the next level by building a real-deal cheese cave into the side of a hill. It is almost complete and looks great.

Right now they are milking 40 goats. The goats browse the land just about every day and are also fed a lot of hay. Most of their cheesemaking equipment is imported from Brazil and the Netherlands. With intentions to expand production, they make all of their cheese with super-fresh milk and are really producing some absolutely incredible stuff.

Just a few weeks ago their Tanasi Tomme won Best in Show at the 2009 ADGA competition in Buffalo. It is a tangy aged delicious masterpiece that we were lucky enough to try during our visit. They also make a Gouda style cheese called Parker named after Robert Dru Parker who was born in a pre-civil war cabin that used to stand on their property. This cheese won Best in Show last year in San Francisco. Here's a funny tidbit: When Gayle and Jim first moved to their new farm they were payed a visit by Mr. Robert Dru Parker himself and he told them the story of his birth. Funny enough, when he left Tennessee all those years ago he moved to a city an hour north of Sacramento, where Jim and Gayle moved FROM. Funny coincidence. Anyway, they decided to name one of their favorite cheeses after this man.

Aside from the Parker and Tanasi Tomme, Bonnie Blue also makes some nice bloomies and some absolutely outrageous aged goat cheddar. We sat down with her for a proper tasting and "cheese-chat" which was really nice. She sliced off a bit of cheddar from this two year aged wheel and WOW! Crystals, depth, brightness, and nuance. Overall very impressive. And this is cheese aged in a perfectly acceptable but possibly not totally perfect cave. With their new cave, I really believe that the already extraordinary cheese they are now producing will really raise the bar in a big way when it comes to aged American goat cheddar. Quicke's has nothing on you Bonnie Blue!

As we were leaving, 'Road Warrior" Jim returned from the market. He is a one-of-a-kind person with a sense of humor that is joyful and relentless. Together Gayle and Jim are a magical team of Tennessee cheesemaking pioneers and we look forward to tracking their progress and tasting more of their cheese. Congratulations on the Tanasi Tomme!!!

The Cranberries Have Nothing on this Cannonball!

We had tried making contact with Capriole for a personal visit but had no luck. So we decided to crash the party! Well not really. We saw on-line that they had a store so we decided to drive on up (actually down.) We got to Capriole in the mid-afternoon in the middle of the most beautiful weather. We had been so lucky this trip with the atmospheric conditions. We drove up the long wooded drive until the road opened up onto the main property where a large and lovely house stood to our left and to our right the cheese making room and store.

We got out of the car and walked toward the store past the cheese making room where 2 ladies were making that day's cheese. We peered in and watched for a bit. They didn't seem to mind our voyeurism. We continued on to the farm store where the walls were covered with accolades and a small board listed all the available cheeses.

We rang the little bell and one of the cheesemakers came to assist us with our choice. There were no descriptions of the cheeses so we definitely need some guidance. We were familiar with a few of them like the Sofia, Pipers Pyramid, Mont St. Francis and the Juliana. So or course we wanted to try something we never had and we always look for something raw first! We inquired about he Old Kentucky Tomme and she agreed that would be a good one to go with. We were also looking for something small since our cheese cave (aka big blue cooler) in the back of the car was meeting its limit! We decided upon the Wabash Cannonball.

Both the cheeses LOOKED great! Enough to stir up a strong anticipation of cutting them open. We dove head first into the Cannonball, a plump little 3oz ball of cheve, very clean, yet earthy and firm paste but not super dense. This Cannonball was on the younger side. It's exterior was only slightly wrinkled with small amounts of ash poking through. Overall, a very pleasing cheese. Darren made a trip to Cowgirl Creamery on the Embarcadero in San Francisco a few days ago and bought another Wabash Cannonball that was aged longer. Its rind more wrinkled, its ash exposing itself almost fully except for its almost snow dusted peaks. Its texture was a bit firmer and flavor fuller. We preferred the the more aged Cannonball as its flavor had matured and was more condensed.

We cut into The Old Kentucky Tomme in Durango, CO with the owners of James Ranch Artisan Cheese. The Tomme was mild in flavor with a chewy texture and its rind quite soft. The flavors are much more subtle than the Cannonball and less bold. It was a more elegant cheese in comparison, however. The quality of the raw milk was expressed nicely in this cheese.

This is a pic-less post. You can view pictures of the cheeses on www.capriolegoatcheese.com