End of a year, and press

2010 brought many good things to Meadow Creek - our new energy efficient wood and solar fired boiler, awards for both Appalachian and Grayson at ACS, and our new porter washed mini-Graysons. We saw some challenges, too - record snows and record dry periods.

Various magazines, columns and blogs had good things to say about our cheeses; the latest from Janet Fletcher this week in her San Francisco Chronicle cheese column. An admitted fan of Grayson, she praised Appalachian saying "the internal color is fantastic, a deep sunflower yellow from the carotene in the cow's diet." She went on to note "the aroma is shy, hinting at warm butter and cream, the flavor mild and buttery... the cheese coats your palate, like soft fudge".

Thanks Janet, and many thanks to all our friends and customers for a great year. Here's hoping 2011 lives up to it!

Snow Days

The early snowstorm that covered the pastures last Saturday is driving all the news at Meadow Creek. Without access to grass for our herd, we had to stop cheesemaking a week earlier than expected. We believe that our cheese should only be made when the cows are getting most of their nutrition from grass. The cheese house staff will now concentrate all their efforts in the cellar and on sales. Because we are a raw milk cheese producer the cheese we made last week won't come of age for release until early February. At this point we expect to have Grayson and Appalachian available into the first part of March and possibly longer. Mountaineer will be available until July.

Enjoy the snow, everyone!