{"id":1646,"date":"2012-09-09T23:01:51","date_gmt":"2012-09-09T23:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=1646"},"modified":"2012-09-09T23:01:51","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T23:01:51","slug":"say-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=1646","title":{"rendered":"Say Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As a cheese, to say nothing of a goat and sheep lover, what could be more entertaining than the annual Cheese Tour encompassing farms in Vermont and nearby Washington County, NY? Our first stop was Consider Bardwell in West Paulet, VT, founded in 1864 by Consider Stebbins Bardwell (a name in a million) himself. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s owners make award-winning cheeses, largely of goats\u2019 milk, with Vermonty names like Mettowee, Dorset and Manchester. Equinox is an aged raw goat cheese named for a local mountain; Manchester is slightly nutty and also aged goat. Both are divine. www.considerbardwell.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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The tour map, more art than science, vaguely directed us to our next stop at Three Corner Field Farm on one hundred beautiful acres in Shushan, NY.\u00a0 Here sheep are the stars. We were instructed to scrub the soles of our shoes with a disinfectant so as not to carry any harmful agents inside the barns.<\/p>\n

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Sheep grazing at Three Corner Farm<\/p><\/div>\n

The hardy East Frisian sheep are kept outside all year which works because of their thick, wool coats. They graze on grass and clover and seem very happy although we didn’t solicit their thoughts regarding the upcoming November breeding season. www.dairysheepfarm.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A lunch break took us to Steininger’s, housed in a 150 year-old brick store in beautiful, downtown Salem, NY. A far cry from a chain operation, Steininger\u2019s is family-run and a step back in time. I had (cheeseless) salmon salad on a bed of great lettuces and broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and carrots, the whole topped with a nasturtium. None of us sprang for either the desserts or the house-made chocolates, the place\u2019s trademark items, although we did a little drooling.<\/p>\n

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Nasturtium-topped salmon and veggie salad<\/p><\/div>\n

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Our last stop was at Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, NY where \u201cCossayuna\u201d Nubian goats rule, producing various kinds of chevre, all yummy. Milton, one of the owners, ‘shepherded’ us through a tour of the milking process. The goats are milked in shifts, eight goats per shift, two milked simultaneously, and have their names\u2014Sunshine, Mona, Ellis– displayed on a whiteboard with notes like \u201cMona\u2019s tag is missing. She\u2019s black and white.\u201d www.sweetspringfarm.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Nubians relaxing together<\/p><\/div>\n

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Pattypan and zucchini squash<\/p><\/div>\n

At this time of year, squash of all kinds is ubiquitous. This recipe, combining squash with cheese,\u00a0 makes fans even of ardent squash-haters. The cheese is Parmesan, not a local item nor from sheep or goats but hey\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Summer Squash Parmesan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serves 4-6<\/p>\n

2 cups young zucchini (or a mix of young zucchini, Pattypan and yellow squash\u2014any hard rind squash will do)<\/p>\n

Grated Parmesan cheese (from the supermarket in a plastic container but buy a good brand and select shredded\u2014or be a hero, buy a whole piece and shred it yourself)<\/p>\n

Olive oil<\/p>\n

Kosher salt<\/p>\n

Ground black pepper<\/p>\n

Directions:<\/p>\n

Wash and dry squash. If really young, there’s no need to peel it. Cut off tops and any brown parts and slice squash into fairly thin circles. (Pattypan may end up more like thin squares which is fine.)<\/p>\n

Put 1 T. olive oil in bottom of a casserole dish (meaning oven-proof dish\u2014 the dish size is determined only by how much squash you use in turn related to how many people you plan to serve.)<\/p>\n

Follow with a layer of squash. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, then with grated Parmesan. Keep layering squash, salt, pepper and Parmesan, ending with Parmesan.\u00a0 You need only add more olive oil if you reach more than three layers. Then another 1 T should do it.<\/p>\n

Bake in a 300\u00b0 oven for 30 minutes.\u00a0 If squash isn\u2019t fully tender, bake a little longer, covering the top with foil if it begins to brown.\u00a0 I realize the recipe is a little vague but it’s also very forgiving so give it a whirl.<\/p>\n

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As a cheese, to say nothing of a goat and sheep lover, what could be more entertaining than the annual Cheese Tour encompassing farms in Vermont and nearby Washington County, NY? Our first stop was Consider Bardwell in West Paulet, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[169,247,246,248,18],"class_list":["post-1646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cheese","tag-goats","tag-sheep","tag-squash","tag-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1646"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1663,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions\/1663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}