Off to Cheese-school

Next week I will travel to Vermont for a two-day cheese maker's class, and I am psyched!
The class will be held at a farm right on the Vermont/New York border, about due east from Lake George. Here's the farm's website: [www.considerbardwellfarm.com]
I am also looking forward to sampling some of their prize-winning cheeses.

I've learned a lot about cheese making from books and internet places, but I know I will learn much from Peter Dixon and also get to use real cheese making equipment! Where I use one, maybe two gallons of milk in a double-boiler on the stovetop; at the farm they are able to make much bigger batches . Although this class is not specifically about the aging processes for different cheese, I bet I'll learn a thing or two about how to properly age my cheese, as well. Right now, I am still a bit nervous when I see mold on the rind of my Romano or Brick cheeses.

Tonight I made a Feta cheese from some fresh goat milk that I was able to source nearby, and with the whey I made a Norwegian cheese called Gjetost. (look it up in Wikapedia)
Tomorrow I'll get a chance to sample the Gjetost as a spreadable cheese. It didn't get as dark, and I didn't try to press it into a block like the commercial varieties.

When I was about 7 years old, my family hosted a student from Norway and he had this brown-cheese shipped over for us to try. It is quite different from every cheese we know of here in America; sweet and grainy, if I remember right.

A totally unrelated thing about this trip to cheese-school is that I will be taking some time to do a little trout fishing in one of VT/NY's great trout streams: the Batten Kill.

Peace,
Cheesey-boy