Our first stop was 4 Tin Fish Farm, a goat dairy in Conquest. Owners Andrew and Kim have a small herd of Alpine dairy goats, and produce chevre and feta cheeses. Andrew took us into the barn to meet their very friendly and inquisitive goats. Aidan quickly made a new friend:
Andrew even let Aidan go into one of the stalls, where he was quickly surrounded:
Although it may not be apparent from the photo, Aidan loved being amongst the goats and we had a difficult time getting him to come out of the stall.
Doesn't it look like this goat is smiling?
Although there was no feta available, we tasted, enjoyed and purchased the herb chevre. Last night we topped our grilled hamburgers with the chevre and the result was delicious.
Once we pried Aidan away from the goats, we drove down to Auburn to have lunch at one of the restaurants that 4 Tin Fish Farm supplies, Bambino's Bistro. What a delight! We had a delicious, satisfying and very affordable lunch, and we would go out of our way to stop in Auburn to eat there again.
We then traveled down to King Ferry to visit Keeley's Cheese Company at McGarr Farms. McGarr Farms is a third generation dairy farm with Holsteins and Jerseys. We met Keeley, who makes a semi-soft Irish-style cheese in the washed rind style. She had both regular and reserve cheese available, and all three of us preferred the slightly sharper and more complex reserve. We bought a wedge, said hello to a few of the cows in the barn and headed to our third and final stop.
Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery produces probiotic raw milk kefir cheese using the milk from their Irish Dexter cows. The Dexters are more petite than many breeds and are very pretty:
I like the various rich colors of their coats:
Neither James nor Aidan cared much for the cheese, so we did not make a purchase. We pointed the car north and drove up the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, enjoying the beautiful weather and the beautiful scenery.
Would you like some cheese, Gromit?
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