Say "cheese"

Forget Wisconsin - New York makes mighty fine cheese and we are fortunate to live near many artisanal cheese producers. Back in November 2011 we enjoyed visiting several farms during a Finger Lakes Cheese Trail open house so when I saw that a spring open house was scheduled for Saturday (June 8), we put it on our calendar. I looked through the list of participating farms, studied the map and chose four places for us to visit, with only one repeat from our previous cheese excursion.

Our first stop was Vanillen Dairy in Ovid, located between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Vanillen has Brown Swiss and Holstein cows, and produces a soft, creamy cheese they call Morning Glory - it is similar in taste and consistency to cream cheese. They have also started making Butternut, which is a baby Swiss cheese. We sampled and liked both types of cheese, so we bought some plain Morning Glory, Morning Glory with chives, and a wedge of Butternut.

We drove up to Muranda Cheese in Waterloo (cue the Abba soundtrack), a much larger operation than Vanillen. Muranda has all Holstein cows, whom we learn produce a tremendous amount of milk each day. We must have sampled ten different types of cheese and had a difficult time choosing which ones to buy. We left with mature British cheddar, roasted garlic cheddar, and a jar of locally produced honey.

After driving around the northern tip of Cayuga Lake, we drove down the eastern shore to Aurora, the home of James' employer, MacKenzie-Childs. I am the only one of the family who had not previously visited (Aidan spent the day there on Take Your Child to Work day) so James wanted to show me around. MacKenzie-Childs is a manufacturer of whimsical tableware, home furnishings and gifts, and is located on a 65-acre former dairy farm, still home to cows, sheep and birds.

While James showed me the gift shop, Aidan rested on swing located in the patio area:

 

He discovered a bird nest located under one of the patio umbrellas:

 

The grounds at M-C are gorgeous:

Two lambs were born this spring:

 

Although the peacock often strolls the grounds, he was in his enclosure on Saturday:

The "Chicken Palace" is a Victorian folly and home to the resident birds:

 

Even the bees live in beautiful hives:

 

If you are an animal, bird or insect living at M-C, you have hit the jackpot.

After a delicious lunch at the Fargo Bar and Grill in the village of Aurora, we drove down to Keeley's Cheese in King Ferry. Keeley's was our repeat dairy; their Irish washed-rind cheese is so distinctive and luscious that we wanted to buy it again. We remarked that the cheese tasted different than what we remembered, and learned that cheese has different nuances of flavor based on what the cows are eating. When we visited in November, the cheese was made with milk produced by cows that had been grazing all summer; the cheese we tasted and bought on Saturday was made with milk produced by cows that had eaten mainly corn all winter. Makes sense to me now.

Keeley's cows were amenable to having their photo taken:

 

This handsome fellow came over to greet us and posed until I took his photo:

The only disappointment of the day took place at our last stop, Hillcrest Dairy in Moravia. We went out of our way to the southern end of Owasco Lake and arrived to find the place closed. After we returned home, I learned that the dairy chose not to participate in the open house but failed to inform the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail. Harumph.

We had a fun day: we sampled many types of delicious cheese, learned about cheese production, met very nice farmers, and enjoyed the beauty of the Finger Lakes. In short, a day well spent.