Once upon a time…

One day there was a young girl (people called her little but she didn’t like it) who decided that she wanted to make cheese.
So she did. Then she piled it up in her mini cooper and went to the farmers market. The next week she made even more cheese and each week she needed bigger cars to get it to the market. Then the girl got a truck! The girl loved her truck and used it all the time- it was always full (with cheese!). Then one day the girl realized that this truck was much to small, and then purchased a HUGE truck. The girl made tons of cheese and filled up the truck. The truck was so HUGE and the girls coolers were so full of cheese that she needed help putting the cheese into the HUGE truck. Each week she got help to do this and off she went driving away with her HUGE van full of cheese, and was very happy. Then one day the girls help never showed up…..Oh no!!! The girl decided that she could do it her self. She thought of Hercules and looked at her HUGE arm muscles and said to herself ‘I can do it’ and then went to pick up the cooler full of cheese. The cooler barely moved. The young girl couldn’t lift it. Tired from making all the cheese and very upset that there was no one to help her, the girl sat down and cried, wondering why god wanted her to make cheese and not arrange bouquets of dried flowers…..

That was pretty much my Friday night.

Saturday the PSU market was swarming, mixed into the crowd was a number of Organic Valley farmers. They all seemed to flock to me and try and woo me with their organic certification. One sized me up fairly well and tried to woo me with his Irish herdsman. It appears I am being set up on a date (only god knows when I will be free) with his imported cow specialist. Fun times!
When I asked them what they did when a cow had mastitis she replied “Oh when I see that shes got a little junk in her trunk we treat her with echinacea and acupuncture” translated- when the cow has an infection they poke her with needles and give her earthy pills.
They were great fun to talk with and I am looking forward to my farm visit this fall :)

It was a long weekend which culminated in me needing some jazy tunes Monday in the cheese room. I picked the 40oz to freedom album from Sublime and cranked up the volume as I was making the mozzarella. I was bellowing out the fairly upbeat (slightly potty mouth) lyrics when suddenly- screetch- someone yanked my tuneage from the wall! Garry is so down with the tunes- slides his bball cap backwards on Sundays with the hip hop- that I knew it could only be one person… ODA inspector! They do not like Sublime- thankfully we got through it ok. I’m thinking Enya for next week!

You may have noticed that there are some very new dairy babes gracing the booths of JC lately, so I thought I would give you a quick intro.
Kirsten aka little Nibler (since that’s her last name) comes from a family of nine and learned her first four letter word at the age of 18. She grew up with a family cow, a lovely Jersey, and enjoyed drinking the fresh milk and eating the fresh cheeses her mum made for her large family. Kirsten loves dairy! She also loves polka dots and canning things so the two of us get along great!
Since dear Andrew has left us his darling little sister Alanna has stepped in. Come Tuesday you could have seen her selling my wares in Cannon Beach. She proclaimed “Oh my this is so heavy” after lifting ONE half gallon of milk with TWO hands. We didn’t give her the boot though because she has lovely catch phrases like “have you seen our new sassy butter line?” she also managed to get two boys to load the van after the market so she is definitely a keeper! Hopefully the boys will come back, even though I kinda gave one a concussion with the minivan rear door…whoops.

Even with these two newbies I am still on the lookout for extra assistance. It has been so great having a set of twins work with me that I thought I might try my Irish luck and see if I could find another pair. So I posted an ad on craigslist – I think people thought I was joking because for the first time ever I didn’t get a single response. Perhaps they thought it was a joke?
Quotes

Pointing to the chicken eggs on my table “Do these grow on bushes?”
I replied “Of course!” I didn’t want her to know the ugly truth that they come out of a chicken!
To be quite frank she kinda reminded me of my dad a little, he thinks spaghetti grows on trees.

“So you guyses make thems here”? While gesturing to the milk and then the cheese. I believe he was asking if I made the cheese behind my booth at the farmers market.

Out of our 20 available spots we now have 15 for the cheese class so please email me if you would like a spot reserved!

Pudding doesn’t cure all ails sadly, even mixed with cookies. Which is why I have created panna cotta. If you haven’t tried it yet its most likely because we have been selling out of this delectable dessert at all markets! Its a lovely light custard, with the perfect blend of sweetness and tang with fresh buttermilk and real vanilla mixed in.
It goes extremely well with peaches or berries and equally as excellent with some granola in the morning!
Come by and grab some and figure out your own favorite combo!

Tata
Cheese Czarina – yours always :)