Get Your Southern Cheese Fest On!

  It's that time again! This year's Southern Artisan Cheese Festival in Nashville promises to be bigger and better than ever. In its 3rd year, cheese makers from 6 states (myself included) will be getting together to offer up the bounty of all things deliciously Southern and cheesy, and not your Grandma's pimiento dip either. And of course, there will be all the necessary tasty accouterments like wine, beer, meats, and various jarred treats.
  If you make it out this Saturday, that's Saturday September 28th from 2:30 to 6pm, please come and stop by the Sequatchie Cove Creamery booth and say hi! I look forward to seeing you there!

Southern Artisan Cheese Festival

2:30pm - 6pm

The Neuhoff Building

1319 Adams Street, Nashville (East Germantown), TN.

A triple dose of the cheesy stuff

 The results are in...I passed! After a month of agonizing, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I feel very honored to carry the title of Certified Cheese Professional.
  So in continuing along with more cheesy goodness, a Facebook friend turned me onto yet another year long blogging challenge called Cheesepalooza (not hosted by the same bloggers as Charcutepalooza, but the name pays homage to them). Unfortunately, I missed the first challenge of the Year of Cheese back in August, which was fresh ricotta. Luckily I have made ricotta several times, so I don't feel too bad. This month the challenge is fresh chevre, which I plan to make this week. I am lucky to have a couple of sources of wonderful raw Nigerian Dwarf goat milk, which is very high in delicious butterfat, perfect for cheese making.
  Mary Karlin's book Artisan Cheese Making at Home is the guide for this year. And once again, this is a book I have very much been wanting to buy. I am really looking forward to making some aged cheeses in my own kitchen. I have a great little retro refrigerator that I have been dying to fashion into an aging chamber. Stay tuned for recipes and photos!
  And last but not least, as I am sure you all are feverishly preparing for American Cheese Month in October (you are, aren't you?), make sure to get up to Music City for yet another year of the Southern Artisan Cheese Festival. It is promised to be bigger, badder, and tastier.

Back in the Saddle Again



Music City



  So, where do I begin? Let me first say, I did not die. My fingers and hands are still attached and working properly. Secondly, please forgive me fair people for my long blogging absence! What a year! 2011 was a gem, and a busy one. I will share with you a few things that went on in the last several months.

  In case you didn't notice, the holidays happened. I'm sure you all experience your own special holiday hell stress misery magic, but I will state anyway that being a cheese monger around that wonderful time of the year is...challenging.

  I did a lot of traveling in the fine state of Tennessee last year (and this one too for that matter). As a few of you may already know, that is where I hope to put roots down one day for the real Whiskey Chicken Farm. Until then, there is much driving to do. While up that way, I had the great opportunity to attend the first ever Southern Artisan Cheese Festival in Nashville, TN. In case I didn't previously mention, October is now officially National Cheese Month, so start making your plans now.

The Festival at the Nashville Farmers Market

Pine Street Market Prosciutto (from Atlanta!)

tee hee


  If you couldn't tell by those photos, it was a very fun night indeed, and packed! So awesome to see so many cheese makers, brewers, and producers out and totally surrounded by their biggest fans. I assure you I will be making this pilgrimage yearly.
  Oh, and did I mention that I got hitched while I was up there?



You better believe that's Elvis back there. In a vintage recording studio no less.

  Side Notes and Plugs: If you have the chance to stumble into Nashville, do yourself a favor and visit, no, methodically hunt down The Grilled Cheeserie food truck. I don't think I need to explain this. They can usually be found at my other favorite Nashville spot, Yazoo Brewing Co. And if you get the hankering for a quickie elopement, go to the Rhinestone Wedding Chapel!

The Ultimate in Honeymoon Hangover fare

  
 
  So now do you believe me when I say I was a little busy? Just for the record, my #1 New Years Resolution for the year (Happy New Year by the way!) is to blog more. I promise. No excuses.
  There a lot of exciting things to come in 2012. Stay tuned for new additions coming to the farmette later this week. But for now I will leave you with a heaping pile of cute.



They got big, huh?



Cheese in the Music City

  I have always been madly in love with cheese. I am also quite head over heels in love with the city of Nashville. You can probably imagine my reaction upon finding out that the first annual Southern Artisan Cheese Festival will be held in Music City this year. #$@!&*%!!!! I MUST GO!!!!

  The South has so much more to offer the culinary world than mayonnaise laden "salads" and sweet tea, and this is the perfect opportunity to come see for yourself. If you happen to be in the area on September 30th, make it a point to come check out what Southern cheese makers are crafting. Dairies such as Sequatchie Cove Creamery, Locust Grove Farm, and Looking Glass Creamery will be there, just to name a few. And what goes better with artisan cheese than honey from Savannah Bee Company, Lusty Monk Mustard, or Olli Salumeria meats? Plenty of specialty food vendors will be there, along with craft beers and wines to wash it all down.

  The whole shebang is being put on by Nashville's own Kathleen Cotter, who runs The Bloomy Rind, an American artisan cheese stand. The event will be on September 30th from 6pm to 9pm at the Nashville Farmers' Market on Rosa Parks Blvd. Come support the people that are creating true Southern Originals and putting the South on the culinary map!