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Finally, here’s my last entry on my favorite new (to me*) cheeses at this year’s American Cheese Society Conference. This is one of the things that differentiates me from other food bloggers… I feel no need to be timely.
Out of respect for the cheese makers, I probably wouldn’t reveal what cheese I voted [...]

Jim Boyce died last week. He was the long-time owner of Marin French Cheese Company and a really nice guy. I didn’t know him well, really just from going to the same events for many years now, but his loss will be felt by everyone in our cheese community.
I’ve always had a [...]

The one cheese that I voted for in the top three that didn’t place was the Estrella Family Creamery Caldwell Crik Chevrette:

Frankly, I don’t understand why more judges didn’t put this in their top 3. I love this cheese. It is everything you want in a washed-rind. A blend of raw goat [...]

Another fabulous cheese was the Sartori Reserve Pastoral Blend:

Though this company does that mid-word, corporate, internet-capitalization thing that drives me nuts (“SarVecchio” Parmesan, “BellaVitano”, etc…) they make some pretty damn good cheese. This is a big wheels of sheep/cow cheese that shows the best flavors of both milks. Nutty and [...]

I’m a big fan of River’s Edge Chevre. Their Up In Smoke and Valsetz are staples in our domestic goat section. However, I had never tried the River’s Edge Mayor of Nye Beach until the judging. I had no idea who made this cheese but I scribbled down the [...]

Alright, the ACS conference feels like years ago and I’m still not finished mentioning my favorite cheeses. I need to get a move-on, eh?
A cheese that surprised me with how much better it has gotten was the Meadow Creek Dairy Appalachian which took first place in the American Originals (original recipe made form [...]

How about some blues? I’ve written about a lot of the good ones in this category over the years so here are two that surprised me.
North Hendren Cooperative Dairy Black River Caraway Blue. All I can say is, I never thought of putting caraway in blue cheese but it was [...]

Had a really nice event at 18 Reasons last night. 18 Reasons is the events offshoot of Bi Rite, a store that I will always have a fondness for. Way back in the late ‘80s I lived at 18th and Dolores and that was my corner store. It wasn’t [...]

In Bellingham. Need to get on the road to Olympia soon. Discovered a near disaster last night when I found that the cooler drainage hole had opened in my trunk. Thankfully, the case of books was in a safe dry space. Unfortunately my car will soon smell even more like mold than it already does.

Even though my friends were mocking me last night because my eyes were so droopy and I was falling asleep in a loud pub, 5:45 AM seems to be my predetermined wake up time this days. Good Morning Seattle!