I got sprung from the farm a couple of weekends ago - my mom and dad were making their annual migration north to Sheboygan, WI. I usually meet them at the Milwaukee airport to assist in the process of opening the house. This year I had company! My friend Michael who lives in Detroit met there and drove to Saugatuck, MI where we were guests of friends of his at a lovely house in Douglas. We drove through a heavy storm Friday night but had niceweather for a tour of town and the dunes on Saturday. Here we all are during the tour.
While shopping in Saugatuck I was very excited to find a special cheese I had read about in the Detroit paper several months previously from Leelanau Cheese Company. Their Raclette is difficult to find so when it turned up in a local shop I had a cheese moment. Unfortunately it remains in the refrigerator of our hosts in Douglas unopened.
The follow day (Sunday the 1st) Michael and I drove to Milwaukee taking time to visit relatives in Highland Park, IL and to shop at the Mar's Cheese Castle in Kenosha. If you like your cheese in crocks and in the shape of cows, this is the place for you! Compared to Murray's and other contemporary cheese shops, Mar's is really a relic and yet remarkably busy. I stocked up on a few fun items including a Mar's Cheese Castle t-shirt and for the very first time a piece of Green Fields made by Saxon Creamery in Cleveland, WI (very tasty!).I first visited Saxon last summer as they were completing the dairy plant and gearing up for production. Saxon is an interesting place considering their dairy heritage and their very progressive approach to branding and getting new product on the market. It was there that I met Neville who is coincidentally the consultant to Goat Lady Dairy. While at my parents house I called Saxon to check on the possibility of a visit and found myself speaking to Dan who informed me that the dairy was having its grand opening the following weekend. I wish them all the best and look forward to trying more of their cheeses.
Due to the trip, last week at the dairy was a short one involving a bit of re-acclimation to the early rising and regular schedule. Saturday was the first hot summer market day but traffic was steady and we had good sales. We are refining our display with new baskets and signage. We're beginning to see more produce such as blueberries and peaches. Steve tells me the plants will be replaced by produce as we get further into the summer. As for the work in the dairy, that is going very well. Steve is not in the dairy as frequently now since Carey, Samantha and I have an excellent team process whereby we can pretty much pick up anything someone else is doing and can spot when something needs to be done. Even though we're making more cheese we're finishing earlier in the day. I am able to pasteurize a full load of milk by myself now and have enough of the process down for fresh chevre, Camembert, Julian, Crottin and Sandy Creek that I can take the lead (though all these cheeses take more than one person to make). Sammy is delivering over 200 gallons to the dairy every two days and we're using all of it. Milk production will peak in July and continue for the rest of the year as the breeding was staggered to lengthen the milking season. I need to visit Sammy's farm west of Asheboro and meet the goats.
This weekend I found a friend (former NYer and currently a nurse so we had a lot in common) to take a great hike with through the Uwharrie National Forest southwest of Asheboro. Once we found the trail head the path was smooth, gently rolling and infested with ticks. It was a lovely if very muggy day and once the ticks were removed we had a great restorative meal at the nearby K&W cafeteria, a local favorite. I don't recall the name of the cafeteria I went to as a kid in New Orleans but it is a very nostalgic experience.
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