On the Road with the Houston Dairymaids

It’s been a while since Lazy Lindsey posted a Dairymaids blog, so she asked me to guest write a post! Last week we undertook a road trip up Waco way to visit a new supplier, the Brazos Valley Cheese Company, and the Dairymaids’ old friends at La Cuesta Farms.

Our journey began early on a misty March morning. First stop:The World’s Largest Teapot in Navasota.

With that out of the way, we continued on to Brazos Valley Cheese, a company run by the Brazos de Dios community. Our trip included a tour of the incredibly beautiful land of Brazos de Dios, a religious community of about 1000 members on 500 acres on the Brazos River outside of Waco, Texas. The community espouses a simple, back to the earth philosophy of life, using centuries old techniques of farming, woodwork, blacksmithing, and fine artisanship. The community is supported by a "traditional crafts village" called Homestead Heritage, which serves as both a tourist destination and classroom for traditional farming and craft techniques.

Our first stop naturally enough was the cheese house, located right at the entrance to the property. We were met by Marc Kuehl, business manager of the cheese company. The cheesemaking operation, like much of the rest of Brazos de Dios, was a mix of modern high-tech machinery and centuries-old techniques and musclepower. Here we see the modern stainless steel, temperature regulated vat in which the milk and other ingredients are separated into the whey and curds that are destined to become cheese. Meanwhile, in the background, we can see the beautiful home made contraption of wood and steel that’s used to press the cheese into wheels.

Hard cheeses are aged in a large walk-in refrigerator.

Marc & Lindsey remove soft cheeses from a smaller refrigerator.

Life as a Dairymaid is not all wine tastings and fondue parties, as Lindsey loads the Cheesemobile with Brazos Valley cheese.

Marc and cheesemaker Rebeccah pose in front of the 150-year-old smokehouse, dismantled in New York and given new life on the Brazos de Dios farm.

Rebeccah loads mozzarella into the smokehouse. What's in a smokehouse? Lots of smoke, as this **cough cough** photographer can attest.

Taking a break from the cheese talk for a moment, the Brazos de Dios property is populated with dozens of 19th century barns and buildings saved from demolition in New England, rebuilt and modernized for daily use on the homestead. This old home conceals a modern commercial kitchen, and was hosting a cheesemaking class when we were there.

This new acquisition is a large old barn, under (re)construction for use as a general store.

An overlook offers an overview of the community's farmlands in the Brazos River valley.

Fields at Brazos de Dios are plowed with horse-driven machinery and hard work.

Grain is ground into flour in this centuries-old mill fueled by windmill-pumped well water.

More centuries old techniques to be seen in the forge & metal shop.

Overall our visit to Brazos de Dios was quite interesting and enjoyable. Although much of the public area of Homestead Heritage was obviously geared towards tourists and school field trips, the workshops are real, working operations that produce products both for daily use by the community members and for sale to the public. The mix of ancient techniques with modern technology was not as contradictory as one might think, and provided an interesting comparison with other communities (such as the Amish or Mennonites) who for the most part shun modern technology completely.

After a delicious lunch at the Homestead Heritage restaurant, it was off to the La Cuesta goat farm, about 20 miles down the road. I didn't take too many pictures here, as Lindsey said she had covered it before. However farm owners John & Alberto were gracious hosts, and you can never have too many cute goat pics (or too much La Cuesta goat cheese!)

Well, that about covers my first trip with the Houston Dairymaids. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to document further cheesy adventures around Texas in the near future!

--Nick DiFonzo

A Visit to Blue Heron

Last Sunday the New York Times ran an article about a youth movement in agriculture. College-educated 20 and 30-somethings are seeking the outdoors, where, often without any experience, they are starting small sustainable farms. The article pointed to Michael Pollan and his book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, as one of many inspirations of this new “back-to-land” idealism and activism.

Reading it I thought, with a smile, of evidence of this “small farm” thinking in our big state of Texas. We encountered it most recently at Blue Heron Farm in Waller County.

Two years ago, Lisa and Christian Seger were living in Houston and working respectively in marketing and country music when they decided contentment lay elsewhere. As Lisa explains it, “my marketing financial services job wasn’t making anyone’s life any better.”

Somewhat impulsively, they made a move that was as much a lifestyle decision as a political stance: they bought a 10 acre farm.

Neither has a direct farming background, but Christian’s family had farmed in Texas for generations. Relying in part on that lineage, he says, “something made me think I was going to be a farmer.”

Starting a farm without farming experience is one thing, but Christian is the first cheesemaker I’ve met who admits he didn’t like cheese. Nevertheless, they bought goats and started making fresh cheeses. Today they have about 16 milkers and have almost completed the building of a fine cheese-making room. Besides the goats, they have a few ducks and guinea hens running around and a couple of hogs fattening themselves on discarded whey.

And their cheese? They are making a variety of flavored chevres, a dry-cured feta, and a rich, creamy mozzarella. Made with the extra-rich milk of their Nubians, the cheeses have a luxurious tongue-coating texture and pure, clean flavor.

These are good cheeses: even Christian likes them.

To be featured soon at Houston farmers’ markets near you. Get there early before the mozzarella sells out. . . .

Rodeo 2008

This year's Best Bites Competition at the Rodeo was another adventure with the Veldhuizens.

Stuart brought along his cousin, Casey, who is the first vegetarian truck driver I've met, and one of the more effective cheese enthusiasts I've worked alongside.

The massive crowd was as welcoming as last year, and, like last year, got more and more jovial as the evening wore on. It made for a fun night, and gave us thousands of opportunities to answer the question:

"Where is Dublin, Texas????"

Weekend at Pure Luck

The family trio, Me, Cousin, and Mom

Pure Luck Dairy hosts workshops twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, and I had my turn at it this past weekend. As our business's name implies, we know cheese from start to finish. Only having witnessed the cheesemaking process, I anxiously anticipated my chance to understand it from experience. As I said on the first day of the workshop, during our introductions, I spend a lot of time with cheese AFTER it is made, but desired to know cheese better from its birth...milk to curd. For this cheesemaking expedition, I brought along my mom and cousin, otherwise known as the Dairymaid Assistants. Unsure of how much fun they would have, I was pleasantly surprised when they showed ongoing enthusiasm to learn more about cutting curd, goat life, and cultures throughout the weekend. It probably helped that the teachers of the workshop, Amelia and Gitana, were such warm and engaging teachers.

Tara and Gitana practicing the "Clean Break Test" on our cheese.

We arrived Friday afternoon to get started on our Sainte Maure and fresh Chevre. These two cheeses start with the same base recipe, but differ in what you do after you scoop the curd into the molds. Sainte Maure takes on a cylindrical form, is then dusted with vegetable ash and salt, then sprayed with a white mold. The spraying took place on the third day, and will take a few weeks for the mold to develop.

That's Tara with her Sainte Maure, pre-mold spores.

On that first day, we also milked goats!! It took me a while to figure out my way around a goat teet, but eventually milk did flow. Believe me, there is a technique involved.

Of all the things I learned during the workshop, there is one thing about cheesemaking I'd like to draw attention to -- it is an art. For example, hand-salting. There are several ways to salt your cheese and hand-salting is one way. It is the riskiest option when it comes to consistency, but Amelia and the cheese crew all have what it takes to do the job well. There is quite a bit of science involved with cheesemaking, but so much art as well. After watching Amelia, the other workshoppers, and myself salt our cheeses, I saw just how varied the approach can be. This is only one aspect of the process. Consider the milk source, the food of the goats, their lifestyle, temperature, humidity, timing....there are plenty of variables in the process that turn this science into an art form. Just as in the kitchen, a recipe is only as good as the cook can make it.
So if you plan to make cheese, I highly suggest a visit to Pure Luck, or any of the other artisan cheesemakers in Texas. Glean all you can, then go make it your own. We'll be here ready to take it to market!


Amelia salting a chevre.

Cheese Mania hits Vermont

Every year cheese makers, mongers, and the similarly cheese-obsessed gather somewhere in the country for three solid days of cheese talk and revelry.

This year the American Cheese Society Conference was held in beautiful Burlington, Vermont.


Days at the conference are filled with sessions. This year's theme was "Achieving Sustainability," and the subject was explored on many levels: on the farm, in business, and throughout the country.




At night, we had opportunities to explore the area. It's hard not to be jealous of Vermonters, not only because they have a lively cheese culture (ha! cheese pun), but because it's just so lovely there. But then again, come February . . .

The first night we attended a mixer in the "Breeding Barn" at Shelburne Farms. A working dairy farm that doubles as an education center, Shelburne's buildings date back to the late 19th century.


With Stuart Veldhuizen, we explored the old barns and fields. Stuart recreated for us a day in the life of a dairy farmer at the turn of the previous century.







The next night was a cruise around Lake Champlain where we were pleasantly wind-whipped alongside Paula Lambert.










The final night was the "Festival of Cheese" where all of the 1200-plus cheese entries are put out for tasting. Needless to say, it's a little obscene, all that cheese, but it was great to see the Texas cheesemakers enjoying their awards (together they took home 13!).




Award-winner Amelia Sweethardt from Pure Luck Dairy with her husband, Ben.




And great to watch this lady carve cheese into sculpture.