Pioneering Women of the Southwest!

When you think of Dallas, Texas, what comes to your mind? Cowboys? Beef? Country Music? Well did you ever think Cheese? I bet not. But Texas has been producing some great cheese for 27 years...well at least Paula Lambert has been. She originally started Mozzarella Co in 1982 in order to bring her fabulous memories of fresh Italian buffalo mozzarella to Americans. Even though she is not producing buffalo mozzarella she is producing some excellent cows milk and even a cow/goat blend mozzarella that has stood the test of time.

We made our way through crazy, futuristic Dallas highways to a once industrial looking area where Mozzarella Co has made its home for the life of its existence. We entered their sales room with an immediate view of the cheese making process. Ladies behind the thick slats of partitioning plastic going about the handmade process of making cheese as if it were second nature. And for some of these ladies it is. There are 10 cheesemakers at Mozz Co, 3 whom of which have been there for 20-23 years!

Our tour guide for the day was Mitchell Whitley, a cheesemaker and plant manager! And what an awesome tour guide she was. We tasted a few cheeses to begin with. Of course we tasted their regular fresh Mozzarella, Capriella (their cow/goat blend mozzarella) and Smoked Mozzarella but we were also interested in their Hoja Santa, a fresh goats milk cheese wrapped in an hoja santa leaf. The tasting we had really didn't do their cheeses justice (they were ice cold) but when we got home we so enjoyed every nuance of the cheese! The Capriella had a tasty tang, but not overwhelming. The goat/cow mixture gave a little "umpf" the mozzarella that regular mozzarella sometimes lacks. The texture was nice as well, yet different from the almost overworked fresh mozzarella from your local salumaria. Usually when you bite into those balls of milk you get a squeeky clean texture (reminds me of moving my finger across a newly clean, wet piece of tupperware after using Polmolive) and uber mild flavor (some say no flavor at all). But, the texture of Mozzarella Co. Mozzarealla was between that of squeeky curd and a lower moisture mozzarella. It had a more substantial mouth feel. And remember that mozza-disliker I mentioned in another post? Well they also enjoyed the the flavor of Mozzarella Co Mozzarella.

But back to the tour of the facility-- Mitchell donned us with our customary white fluffy hair net and on we went into the aging caves. I always feel cool when we get to put on hair nets and boots and stuff to keep our stuff away from the cheese but man, it sure isn't a look that I can rock! Mitchell showed us immediately to their aging facilities knowing Darren's fervent interest in caves. They utilize every nook and cranny of their factory from cave to vat. It is hard to believe how much cheese they produce in that little amount of space. I guess that is why the first shift starts at 2:45 am, so they can fit all that cheesemakin' time in.

Mitchell introduced us to the smoker where headless white

snowmen are strung up to be smoked over pecan shells to become Smoked Scamoraza. There are even mini headless snowmen for tastings. One cool part about this cheese is that all that cheese it is dipped in wax, by hand, using only one small crockpot wax melter thingy. Crazy tedious job! There must be someone dedicated only to waxing with "Daniel-son" wax-on wax-off focus.

Standing in our little spot we got to watch at least 3 different cheeses being made at once, and I am sure there were more being made but watching the 3 was taking most of our attention and focus. Watching these ladies was inspiring. They moved so smoothly, seamlessly. Each played a specific role in this labor intensive, muscle strengthening, seriously handmade process.

One women was hand pressing curd, using her body weight and

arm strength to extract as much whey as she could in order to get it to the optimum moisture level so that she could mix in epazote and chiles. This cheese would become their Queso Blanco with Chiles and Epazote. This cheese would also become a nightly guest on our dinner plate. For 5 nights, Darren and I made tostadas with chicken (2 nights), shrimp (1 night), or pulled pork (last 2 nights).

(I made them once out of five times---Darren made them best.)

He began by warming fresh corn tortillas in the countertop oven, pulling them out just before they got too crispy. He spread a layer of refied black beans and a little sour cream on the tortilla, topping that with the protein of the evening, freshly chopped cilantro, diced tomato, sliced black olives and corn. Then for for the big TA DA he crumbled the Queso Blanco on the top and finished it with a squeeze of lime. No pictures exist of these beautiful and scrumptious creations because our minds were clouded by hunger...every night! And when we remembered 3 bites in, it was too late. There was no putting this tostada down. It was finger (hand) food at this point.

We watched the "mutzarell" (as ya might say in NY) being made as well. And I can rightfully say that we have tasted the freshest motz around. Mitchell asked the ladies to squeeze us of a small bit right after stretchin

g and it was so milky and warm and wonderful. More more more please! Yum!

We have eaten copious amounts of cheese on this trip, doing little to counter act the effects of cheese additction. But then I thought, instead of the latest exercise craze to work off those delicious dairy products, try making mozzarella. We could all have rockin' arms if we hand stretched mozzarella all day. But don't try stealing my idea, I already have the copy-write for the workout video entitled "Yogarella!" It's a hard job but somebody's got to do it and I'm mighty glad it is these ladies. Thanks to Paula, Mitchell, and the cheesemaking ladies of Mozzarella Co, when you think of Texas, think Cheese.

P.S. Mitchell, we meant to get a good photo with you before we left and I am sorry we didn't! Thanks for the GREAT tour! To see Mitchell and learn about her gourmet cottage cheese follow this link to to an article in the Dallas News.

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

Locust Grove and the Great “Mistake”

When we arrived at Locust Grove, which is nestled in a somewhat suburban hillside of Knoxville, we found a dairy in a state of transition. Sheri Palko and her herd of all-star sheep are producing some great stuff. This past year she sold 6,000 pounds of cheese, about one third of her possible maximum production right now. That’s a big jump from the 35 pounds she produced her first year, which was not long ago at all. Sheri is now in the process of relocating the farm, relocating her home, and expanding her cheese production. Locust Grove has an incredible amount of momentum that has been accumulated after only a few years of milking.

Like the story at Everona Dairy, Sheri’s story begins with dogs. Back in the day she was a competitive exhibition dog trainer. She bought some sheep to do some exercises with her beloved canines. Next thing you know, the cheesemaker of Knoxville, Tennessee is born.

We rounded a corner behind her home and the house guard animal, a large mule, “HEE-HAWD” at us like crazy! Mules are guard animals! I had no idea. When those teeth are showing and those gums are flappin’ and the “HEE-HAWS!” and the imposing wide-legged stance—YIPES! If that fence wasn’t there I’d have been running like a jackrabbit!

Other farmers we have met seem to have a slight weariness about raising and milking sheep. The general thought is that sheep can be very delicate, prone to problems and not very productive. We asked Sheri what she thought of all this sheepishness toward sheep. “I think people have that misconception because they don’t have the patience to raise them properly,” she says. “It is very easy to over care for sheep,” she continues. That may sound too easy to believe, but her robust, productive, flourishing herd speaks for itself.

Along the way there was an accident that occurred at Locust Grove that much to Sheri’s surprise turned out to be an extraordinarily positive thing—a really great “mistake.” She had been breeding both Fresian and Tunisian sheep.

Fresians are typically the better milk producers and Tunisians are a bit heartier and require much less feed (and produce less milk). At the time, cross-breeding was not in her game plan. Until one day, a very excitable Tunisian ram escaped by jumping a fence and got one of the Fresian ladies pregnant. The result? Sheep that produce as much milk as Fresians but are much more cost effective. “Breeding Tunisian with Fresian produces sheep that lactate for 180 days on much less feed,” she explains. These super efficient cross-bred beauties work like magic.

Sheri is the kind of person that radiates success head to toe. She has a spark, outgoing positive energy and a zip that matches the bold and tasty zip found in her cheeses. Her “La Mancha,” a Manchego style cheese is sold at two ages, 60 days and 6 months. Both are really good. The six-month really has a nice complex tang and could easily be aged another six months. She also makes this interesting cheese called Cumberland, flavored with garlic, onion, sweet chiles and ginger. This cheese is unusual and really yummy. Of all the “flavored” cheese we’ve tried so far (which normally we’re not really into), this one is particularly satisfying. Sheri suggests grating Cumberland over a a pizza crust with nothing else, just O' Natural. Or try making a thinner, cheesy flatbread for an appetizer.

With Sheri we traded some cheese and said farewell. A day later we shared her La Mancha with a Spanish friend in Columbus Ohio who was really impressed. Give me a little Rioja, some olives and anchovies and Halehluja! Perfecto! We will look for this one in Cali. It’s pretty widely distributed.

I Wanna Be Your Goat!

If I had to come back in another life, I would want to return as one of Liza and William's goats. Specifically, I want to be a descendant of Polly, one of the four original goats and lead goat, who passes down the trait of freckled ears! They would feed me special treats like roasted peanuts throughout the day, set out buckets of hot water to drink and pet me all day long! For now, however, I am quite happy as a human being able to visit Ripshin Goat Dairy and hang out with Liza and her family. The cheese business is quite the family affair at Ripshin. William does the milkin’ and farm maintenance, Rachel, Liza’s daughter does the cheese makin’ and Liza does the sellin’ at all the farmer’s markets, not to mention all the spoilin’!

Liza welcomed us in to her home and a chance to wash up before we toured the farm. When we walked into her charming home (which was originally her grandparents’) we found the preparations for that night’s dinner ready in the kitchen; Scottish Salmon (Loc Duart maybe?), fresh, crisp lettuces, and a bubbling pot of Irish Colcannon on the stove. She had invited us to dinner AND to spend the night in their gorgeous apartment above the garage, a welcome treat for us weary travelers…

We walked out the back door and down the path toward the goats. The whole herd of Saanens were excited to see Liza as she cooed and cawed upon approach. Just as we arrived, Liza's niece and husband, William, had just started the evening milking.

Two by two they milked the entire herd, luring them out for the milking room with roasted peanuts (their favorite treat). After milking these very loved pets look forward to a drink of steaming hot water. It’s like high tea—goat style!…almost. Across from the milking room is the cheese making room where cheesemaker

Rachel does her magic. Inside was the day’s production; bags of fresh goat curd hung draining in cloths to create the perfect moisture level.

We walked back outside to say hello to the odorous and excited bucks. It is breeding season after all. Now that I think about it, Darren wears a similar smelling cologne called New

Buck! Pewf! We watched as the boys paraded up and down the fence trying to attract the flirting ladies!

Ripshin Goat Dairy sits amongst 500 acres of beautiful wooded North Carolina family land on which many other family members are scattered including Liza’s daughter Rachel and husband Serkan, her son Jesse and his wife Amy and her sister’s family.

We had a little bit of time until dinner still so we hopped into Liza’s car for a surprise excursion and drove across the street and up a dirt road and parked. From there walked down a dirt path to where Liza’s son raises his heirloom Tamworth pigs. These adorable red piggys will end up being some of the most delicious whey fed pork you will ever eat. As we supplied them their daily whey we heard “pop pop pop” not too far away. It is black powder season in North Carolina.

Liza had another treat in store for us--a sturgeon farm nearby still within the limits of her land! Can you say CAVIAR? Liza’s late brother developed a project farming sturgeon with the support of a state university. We got to sneak a peek in at these prehistoric looking fish in the pitch dark and we used our handy dandy cell phones to light up the pools of fish. The first tank contained the smaller sturgeon which were only about a foot long. As we moved down the row of corrugated steel tanks the fish got bigger, and bigger and bigger! The biggest ones looked like they were about 5 feet. At six years old these “little” fishies terrified me. I had to jump back from the pool several times in fear that they would jump out and bite me.

Back at the farm we settled in to our digs and then we gathered around the kitchen island for none other than our absolute most favorite delicious perfect never-get-old-even-after-two-weeks-of-having-it-straight cheese and wine. Liza put out some of their fresh cherve that Rachel had just made and we cracked open a bottle of Metz Gewürztraminer. With our dinner Liza shared with us a bottle of local chardonnay. Not too shabby North Carolina! And if we thought that the tender, rich salmon and buttery, rustic Colcannon couldn’t be matched, we were wrong because for dessert the freshly baked brownies topped with homemade citrus frozen yogurt was to die for. Our ice cream maker at home will again see the light of day for that recipe. And we definitely can’t keep this one to our selves so here it is:

2 3/4 cup of fresh raw cow's milk yogurt

1/4 cup of half and half

1/2 cup of lemon juice

zest of 1 or 2 lemons

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

And use a seriously old school ice cream maker for best results!

On full, glorious bellies we slept like whey fed piglets. The next morning we leisurely packed our bags and packed up the car. Our exceedingly gracious host sent us on our way well prepared with a comforting breakfast of local granola, fresh goats milk and hot steaming coffee and tea. She packed us with a wheel of goats milk camembert for aging and bid us adieu. William keep on milkin’, Rachel keep on makin’ and Liza keep on sellin’ and we’ll keep on eatin’!

And Coming Up!

After our posts for Ripshin Goat Dairy and Locust Grove Farms, look for our visits to...

Capriole in Greenville, IN (counts as half visit cuz we just kinda showed up and bought cheese)

Bonnie Blue Farm in Waynesboro, TN

Full Quiver Farm in Kemp, TX

Mozzarella Company in Dallas, TX

p.s. We haven't really gotten to write much about our other "cheeseless" adventures while traveling but one small change, the Rennet-gade is had ! Bad, rumbling brakes and in need of an oil change we traded him in for a new baby. She is doing well is is a ton more comfortable. She has been baptized Big Bessie! Our horn might as well say "MOOOOOOOOOOVE"

Well Shoot! Makin' Cheese is Hard Work!

"Darren! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!

We got in to Galax, pronounced 'gay-lax,' very late and had decided to splurge on a hotel room at the Super 8. We have gotten a little too used warm beds and continental breakfast and haven't camped since. I pull the Belgian waffle out from under Darren, "You can finish this in the car!"

Ok, so I was a bit neurotic. But I was SUPER exited about visiting Meadow Creek Dairy. Grayson was the first cheese I ever ate at Casellula (when I was a customer). I didn't want to make a bad impression by being late. When we arrived, the milk was already being brought to temperature in the large, circular Dutch vats. Darren and I were given a pair of sterile, white rubber boots and were escorted into the cheese making room. WOW! yes WOW! We were going to watch first hand how cheese was made. How the "magic" happens! And guess what? We were going to watch Grayson being made! Whooopppp Whooopppp! (Really, I do make these sounds)

Helen is an exceptional cheesemaker who has her recipes perfected. The milk is handled as little as possible before going into the vat. After a 23 minute rennet the curd is cut. When the curd is ready, large buckets are used to scoop the curds and whey from the vat into the molds. The whey drains off and the curds settle. Then all of the molds need to be flipped at exactly the ten minute mark (or as close as possible) so it's a race. It took a team of 4 to make Grayson. One thing we learned clearly by watching this process is that incheesemaking timing is everything. If you are just one minute off not only with flipping, but with many other parts of the cheese make, the cheese will be all messed up. We broke a sweat just watching these ladies go! The physical energy is tremendous.

Meadow Creek makes two cheeses every day. The other cheese they were making that day was their Mountaineer which is the same exact milk prepared differently. In this case the curds are pressed in the vat, then cut into squares and then molded. Mountaineer is a harder cheese than Grayson and just as delicious.

Later in the day we were invited to take a ride with Rick in his pickup to see more of their mountainous property. He walked us right into the middle of a herd of cows as he talked. Watch out for the patties! The pastures are seeded with rye grass, clover, chicory and grazing turnips which give the milk character. Up the hill an intern whacked away some giant weeds with a machete.

When it comes to Grayson especially, Rick says this cheese is really made in the cave. That's how it gets it's distinctive nose and we agree with him when he says, "I don't see anything wrong with stinky!" In the cave there were many different cheeses including the harder and robust Appalacian and an experimental blue named after the second oldest river in the world (which happens to be right near their property) called New River Blue.

Rick was kind enough to share a lot of information with me about their cave. He and Helen have traveled all over the world seeking knowledge on the best way to build a cave appropriate for their cheese. There are a few important things he has discovered about cooling and keeping the humidity right. Unsealed concrete works really well for keeping the moisture level high. He has a water sprayer on a timer that sprays the walls. Consistent high humidity has been the key for avoiding ammonia—and it works. A room without corners at the ceiling is preferable because this helps to avoid any dripping and also is ideal for airflow. He uses fiberglass-reinforced plastic to round out the corners and has cold water flowing through pipes around the walls to keep the cave cool.

How did it all start? Helen has a passion for cooking and was spending a lot of time throughout the week preparing delicious meals for her family. So her husband suggested she use that time and love for cooking to do something that may make some money. Lots of trial and error, brilliant ingenuity and some delicious recipes and BOOM! Mind blowing, outrageous cheese glory!

Helen is still an amazing chef. We were invited to sit down for a incredible mid-day meal that included the whole staff including the team of young cheese making interns who have come from all over the world (South America, Thailand, The U.K.) to learn the art. Lunch consisted of fresh from the farm chicken, potatoes, lettuces, bread and cheese (all home grown and home made). Fresh delicious everything! Grayson and Appalachian were melted in these little mini pans on a Raclette grill and poured over the potatoes and the warm bread. These big family lunches are the norm at Meadow Creek, but for us it was far from anything ordinary. We feel honored to have shared a meal with this outstanding team of cheesemakers.

Helen’s favorite recipe to make with Grayson: Tarte de Flet

Boil white potatoes with skin on and then slice. Fry up bacon or your favorite pork product. Reserve excess fat to saute your onions. Chop bacon and combine it with the onions. Add a good amount of red wine to the onion-bacon mixture. Begin layering potatoes with the onions until you fill up your baking dish. Slice your Grayson thickly and lay it rind up on top of the potatoes. Cover with foil and cook on 425 until heated through and most of the cheese has melted. Remove from oven, take foil off and return to oven until the rind is crispy. Gently peel away crispy rind and serve. (You can also leave the rind on if you prefer.)

We spent six hours at Meadow Creek and learned so much. Talk about a dynamic duo! Helen and Rick are awesome and inspiring, especially to us. We look forward to returning the gesture of generosity down the road.