Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Come and celebrate cheese!

Feeling like eating lots of cheese? Want to learn about how it is made? Fascinated by dairy goats? Want to have more inspiration in the kitchen with your cheese? I bet there's a festival or conference coming up that might be of interest.

I've already mentioned the Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference. I'm very excited to be on a panel. Anything you'd like me to talk about? The focus is on blogging and I'm open to ideas and suggestions. February 21-24th are the dates. It starts off with a gathering at the Cheese School of San Francisco from 5pm - 8pm on Saturday the 21st of this month. For $25 you get to eat some exquisite cheese from some of my favorite producers and wash it down with some great wines and beer. The party moves to Sonoma on Sunday where you can eat more cheese, drink more beer and wine and meet more cheesemakers. Monday and Tuesday is the working part of the conference. Panels, guided tastings, workshops, and great networking opportunities. See Sheana's website if you want ticket information.

If that's not enough to satisfy you, there's the Fourth Annual Oregon Cheese Festival happening in March. Head to Central Point, home of Rogue Creamery on Saturday, March 15th. It is sponsored by the Oregon Cheese Guild and features my friends and neighbors and some damn fine cheese. I hope to make it this year. The cost is quite affordable and open to the public. $5 for cheese tastings and demos, $5 for wine. Wow! There's also a dinner in Ashland for $70 on Friday night. I'm checking my calendar right now.

In Petaluma, there's another cheese festival in March. California's Artisan Cheese Festival is happening March 20th-23rd. This is a big cheese appreciation event. There will be a marketplace, chef's demos, and seminars. The California Artisan Cheese Guild is playing a major role in the festival this year.

Looking ahead: May will feature the Seattle Cheese Festival May 16 & 17th at Pike Place Market. The American Cheese Society Conference will be in Austin, TX this year August 5th - 8th. Woo hoo! Good beer, good barbecue, and good cheese. Works for me!

I can't go to them all, but I'll try to hit a few of them. I've got some building about to commence around here. My $$$ will be ear-marked for other cheese endevors, namely our business. I can't say when ground breaking will be, but I'll looking at weeks rather than months at this point. This is BIG news!!!

4 comments:

Momily said...

Hip hip hooray!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm so excited - I can't wait to watch the progress ... and taste it!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, hey, and when I finally move to Vermont, I'll be an hour away from the UVM's Institute for Artisan Cheese. I MIGHT be able to tempt you and Jim to come out and stay with me for a nice long visit, mightn't I?

Anonymous said...

A good story

GK Chesterton: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

Voila: www.tastingtoeternity.com. This book is a poetic view of 30 of the best loved French cheeses with an additional two odes to cheese. Recipes, wine pairing, three short stories and an educational section complete the book.

From a hectic life in New York City to the peace and glories of the French countryside lead me to be the co-founder of www.fromages.com. Ten years later with the words of Pierre Androuet hammering on my brain:

“Cheese is the soul of the soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.”

I took pen and paper; many reams later with the midnight oil burning Tasting to Eternity was born and self published.

I believe cheese and wine lovers should be told about this publication.

Enjoy