Tag: cheese maker

  • How Small Creameries Hang in the Balance of Quarantine and Coronavirus

    How Small Creameries Hang in the Balance of Quarantine and Coronavirus

    (with Links to Support Local Producers) It was a drizzly Friday afternoon in mid-March when Lynn Swanson received the call that Seattle’s farmers markets were closing. Lynn was distraught about the news for good reason: she makes sheep’s milk cheeses on the farmstead creamery that she and her husband own on about 80 acres of…

  • A Wisconsin Cheese Journey: Part 1

    A Wisconsin Cheese Journey: Part 1

    Wisconsin: it’s America’s dairy land, the state that generally comes to mind when people think about cheese in the US. As a champion for locavore eating, I have appreciated Wisconsin’s (and Vermont’s, California’s, etc.) cheesemaking heritage, but have focused my attention on the fantastic cheeses made close to home in the Pacific Northwest. Nonetheless, I…

  • Fantello Farmstead Creamery: A New Washington Cheesemaker to Know

    Fantello Farmstead Creamery: A New Washington Cheesemaker to Know

    It was a grayish, early spring day in western Washington when I set out to spend my day off doing what I do best: getting cheesy. I drove from my home in Federal Way through the town of Auburn and into an agricultural area beyond that I had never before explored. The space between Auburn…

  • Lost Peacock Creamery: From #ThatFarmLife to Fabulous Farmstead Cheese

    Lost Peacock Creamery: From #ThatFarmLife to Fabulous Farmstead Cheese

    In a recent post, I briefly explained the difference between artisanal and industrial cheeses. But among artisanal cheeses, there are also differences. There are cheeses that boast of being ‘farmstead’ cheeses, and there are those that are simply ‘artisan’ or ‘specialty.’ Artisan cheeses should be made by hand, or with as little help as possible…

  • How Blue Cheese is Made at Twin Sisters Creamery

    How Blue Cheese is Made at Twin Sisters Creamery

    Looking at a wedge of blue cheese with lines of blue mold rippling through it, you might assume that the mold got there by being injected into the cheese. I have heard this from time to time as an explanation to children or from one adult to another, of how this family of cheeses is…

  • What’s the Deal with Raw Cheese, Anyway?

    What’s the Deal with Raw Cheese, Anyway?

    A woman came into my shop recently searching for “raw cheeses.” She didn’t care what kinds they were, so long as they were raw. This was exciting to me as a cheesemonger, given the hullabaloo this year over raw-milk cheeses. In case you weren’t aware, one person died and seven people became sick with Listeriosis…

  • Brie Vs. Triple Cream: What are We Even Talking About?

    Brie Vs. Triple Cream: What are We Even Talking About?

    Brie is a very popular cheese—and duly so. People love brie, they ask for it, and they smear it on crackers, bread, bagels, bake it in pastry dough, and dump jams and preserves all over it. I encourage this behavior. Triple creams are also very popular. A lot of people come in searching for “Délice”…

  • 12 Bad Cheese Jokes to Help You Enjoy Your Sunday

    12 Bad Cheese Jokes to Help You Enjoy Your Sunday

    In honor of Sunday—the last day of the week or the first day of the week, depending on how you view time or whether or not you’re European or American—I came up with some cheesy jokes. They are so bad you probably won’t forgive me. But let’s face it: I just can’t help myself. Happy…

  • Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival

    Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival

    This week, I’m stoked about a cheesy event I get to take part in outside of work that doesn’t involve sitting on my couch and eating cheese with the boyfriend. (Not that that isn’t my idea of a good time, because it really is — but this is way more exciting.) My colleagues Alicia and…