South Before Winter

Several days ago I returned from Atlanta and have been trying ever since to put in writing some of my experiences at the Institut Du Fromage, aka cheese school. For countless hours we were bombarded with cheese information; everything from evaluating cheese, proper handling of cheese, pairing cheese with food and beverage, to most importantly, cheese nutrition. Needless to say, I tasted heaven during those three days, as countless plates of cheese were set before each student in order for us to taste and see or better said, taste and understand the information given to us. While driving back from Atlanta and in the days following, I have been sorting through this information, reading and re-reading, praying this information would germinate into knowledge and the knowledge into wisdom; wisdom for the journey that lies ahead.

However, with all this information to consume, the DVR in my brain continues to replay our last training session, “Meet the Cheese Makers”. I can vividly remember each cheese maker telling their own story;  when they made their first cheese, their basic life philosophy of being stewards of the land, how they made the particular cheese we were tasting, how it was hand pressed, hand rubbed, bathed and aged. I can even remember how each cheese tasted but more importantly, I remember during that session a longing deep within began calling me to a simpler time. Maybe this longing was birthed from being in Atlanta traffic for three whole days or maybe it was a re-birth of my heritage; the ‘farmer spirit’, if you will, of my grandparents calling me to slow down, enjoy the fruit of my labor with those I love.

Consequently, I’m on the road again, going south before winter to spend some quality time with my parents, a couple of my brothers and their precious families. If all goes according to plan I hope to actually milk the cows and make some butter on my brother’s farm; plus I will  be visiting a nationally know farmstead dairy and creamery in the area. I promise when I return I will share with you some my most recent ‘gotta taste this one before you die’ cheeses and other foods.