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Cheese is amazing. That is all.
thear27: #WelshRabbitCheeseShop #wine and #cheese tasting. DELICIOUS. #food #fortcollins #buylocal (at Welsh Rabbit Cheese Shop)
cheesenotes: Murray’s Cheese calls Vermont Shepherd the “Unicorn Cheese” — in reference to the difficulty of acquiring this small-batch, seasonally produced cheese. Major Farm, the makers of the Vermont Shepherd, actually produces two cheeses, a “summer”, raw sheeps-milk cheese called Verano and a “winter”, mixed sheep and cow’s milk cheese called Invierno. As one might expect, the summer cheeses tend to be sweeter, richer and grassier while the winter cheeses are stronger, spicier and richer. This wedge came from a Verano. David Major, the farmer and cheesemaker behind Vermont Shepherd, is a bit of a legend in the cheese world. As one of the first of the new wave of sheep’s milk cheesemakers in Vermont, he has been key, both as a producer and as a community and industry leader, in making that state the sheep’s milk cheese leader that it is today. After purchasing the farm from his parents, David and his wife and business partner at the time, Cynthia (Cindy), spent the early 90’s struggling — and often failing — to transform their milk into a quality cheese, before traveling to the Basque Pyrenees and working with French shepherds and fromagers to learn the art and science of the legendary cheese of that region, Ossau-Iraty. By immersing themselves in the day to day lives of Basque shepherds and cheesemakers, in an environment that resembled the rolling hills of Vermont, they got a crash course both in the science and craft of cheesemaking and in the ecology of living with sheep and producing a local product. That trip was essential to their evolution and led to their finally producing the first wheels of the cheese that would put them on the map and win them awards, the Vermont Shepherd. They were also one of the first to dig a european style cave into the side of a hill on their property (which can now handle around 40,000 lbs of cheese per season) and were key in the founding of the short-lived but influential Vermont Shepherd Guild, which sought to provide education, resources and community to sheep’s milk cheesemakers in Vermont.  In her book, The Life of Cheese, author Heather Paxson devotes much of the chapter on “Ecologies of Production” to the time she spent on the Major farm, making cheese and learning about the economies, ecologies and culture of the Vermont Shepherd brand.  Inspired by the French brebis cheeses of the Pyrenees mountains, the Verano’s distinctive “UFO” shape (similar to a Berkswell and other traditional cheeses) comes from the colanders-style molds with angled sides in which the cheese is molded and flipped (I know for a long time they used actual colanders, I’m not sure if they have since moved on to commercially produced cheese molds). With a golden brown and stony rind, rough textured and a bit dusty, the Verano has a sweet, milky and a little bit gamey aroma. The firm, dense paste is smooth and creamy in texture. The flavor is rich, sweet and earthy, with notes of toasted nuts, wonderfully herbaceous and spicy, with a tangy finish and a wonderful, velvety mouthfeel.  Purchased at Murray’s Cheese. 

decentprojectile:

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you the most adorable cheese ever. 

Thank you Trader Joe’s for pocket brie. 

*Excuse the permagrime artist’s hands. 


lisainlove:

I just don’t know if cheese bread and fruit will ever get old. Here is my tribute to a favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner…. snack, etc.

Coffee or tea doesn’t hurt either. 


youngbeautiful-etc: (via I am an age old tree. I am stars in white snow.)
allthingszingermans: Zingerman’s Deli - Red Cloud Cheese from Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy (the round cheese in the picture) Jim Schott started Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy in 1989.  Since its inception, he has grown the business and brought milk in from local farmers in Strasburg, CO.  Red Cloud is an aged, raw goat’s milk cheese that doesn’t shy away from pungent. Source: Zingerman’s Deli Facebook
yesyoushould: ieb
cheesenotes: Willoughby, a Honey-Washed Cheese I’m resisting the urge to make any bee-related jokes (“this cheese has a lot of buzz!”), but the Willoughby, from Ploughgate Creamery, is an unusual washed rind; made by Marisa Mauro at Ploughgate — located near Craftsbury, VT — before being affinaged at The Cellars at Jasper Hill, the wheels are washed with Honey Gardens Apiaries Traditional Mead. Mead, a wine made from honey, is probably the first alcoholic beverage brewed by humans and has seen a resurgence of interest in the last decade. Evidence of mead making has been found throughout Europe, Asia and Africa going back thousands of years. The first evidence of Mead production dates back to around 7000 B.C. and was found on pottery shards in Northern China. both Ancient Greece and Viking culture are known for having enjoyed their honey-fermented concoctions.  Made with Vermont Honey by Honey Gardens Apiary, the Traditional Mead is aged for four months in stainless steel casks. Dry, light and sweet, with a cidery aroma, with apple and spicy notes and a strong floral character, this mead is a lovely sipper, and more delicate than some meads out there that can tend to be more syrupy and strong (I’m not super-familiar with meads in general but my impression is that the nordic styles tend to be stronger and more assertive in flavor, eg a recent one I had, “Viking Blood”).  The Willoughby was developed from another Ploughgate cheese, Hartwell, and is made from the milk of Ayshire cows of a neighboring farm. Both begin as soft-ripened bloomy rind cheeses, but the Willoughby has a slightly different starter culture recipe, and the addition of the Mead wash (the Willoughby is sometimes also washed in beer rather than mead for special batches, in collaboration with local brewers).  This wheel of Willoughby was on the young side, and as such was firmer and milder than one would ideally desire. The texture of an at-peak wheel is soft and velvety, with a sprinkling of eyes, pale golden in color. The rind is pinkish-orange with white mold. The aroma is lightly pungent and milky with a bit of stink. In flavor this wheel was milder than one would expect from a washed rind, but rich, buttery and a bit meaty, with grassy, nutty, yeasty and bacon notes. The mead wash gives it a nice fruity, honey overtone. This wheel was quite enjoyable, but I definitely recommend looking for a Willoughby that is at peak. 
principlesofaesthetics: Perfect afternoon.