Tag: eat local
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CSAs: A New Way to Get Cheesy
Step aside, grocery stores and online shopping. The CSA is here! You may already be familiar with the acronym CSA as it relates to fruits and vegetables. CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture,” and it is a way for folks to buy shares of a local farm’s harvest. Think of it as everyday people helping…
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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…
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The Non-Melting Cheese That Should Be a Staple in Your Kitchen
One of my favorite cheese puns is a joke about Halloumi: “What does cheese say when it looks in the mirror?” “Hallou-mi!” I’m not just a fan of this pun because it teaches you how to pronounce the name of a cheese that is obviously sassy and feeling itself, but also because it is about…
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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…
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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…
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Behold, the Black Pearl!
When Culture Magazine asked for photos of the best cheeses we have eaten this year (#BestCheese17 photo contest), my mind immediately went to Tieton Farm & Creamery’s Black Pearl. I have eaten a lot of cheese this year. I have eaten a lot of truly wonderful, life-changingly good cheese. But to my mind, the best…
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Notes From the 2017 Washington Artisan Cheesemakers’ Festival
September is that time when the summer heat begins to dissipate, when people become suddenly excited about impending autumn and pumpkin spice lattes, and when the cheesemakers of Washington State come together for their yearly expo. The Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival, which is held annually in the Seattle Design Center, gives people the chance to…
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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…
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Willoughby: An ode to the ‘Stinky’ Cheese I Brought to an Idaho Wedding
Never travel without a cheesemonger. Or, always invite a cheesemonger to your party. I’ve said one of those things before, and I will likely do so again. I’ve been pretty quiet online throughout most of the month of May. In part, I needed a sabbatical from the interwebs (which means I needed to be left…
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Rivers Edge in the House
You know it’s a good day when a Rivers Edge Chèvre shipment arrives. True Love, Up in Smoke, Peony, Sunset Bay, and Pave Yaquina Bay all make my case happy. This is not just because they are fine examples of a spring cheese by virtue of being soft goat cheeses that were, until about a…
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Spring Cheeses: What They Are and Why You Should be Eating Them Now
I’ve written briefly in the past about summer- and winter-milk cheeses—wherein two wheels of the same type of cheese will look and taste differently because of what the animal was eating during the time of year when its milk was collected to make the cheese. But there are more than two seasons in a year,…