Okay. Don't be mad, but I have a confession to make. I've been doing something really cool on the sly and haven't really told you about it. In my defense, though, 1. I had a really good reason not to tell you yet and 2. I'm telling you now!
I've been teaching cheese making classes. There. Now you know. I haven't told you yet because I really hadn't intended to be teaching cheese making classes yet. But, one friend was ready to host one, so we went with it. Then, one of the lovely ladies who was there wanted to have one at her house, so we went ahead with it. Then, another lady caught wind of all the fun that was going on and wanted to host one at her house as a Christmas gift for her friends. In other words, without me really telling anyone about this, it snowballed on me. . . which would have been great because I LOVE teaching cheese class. BUT milk was in such limited supply this past year that I was really having to juggle things to have enough milk for my classes and for all my milk customers.
Hopefully, beginning this spring, that will no longer be a problem since we plan to have more milkers in production. In fact, I've already got one party on the books for April and figured I may as well let everyone else in on the fun in case you'd like to book one, too.
Here's the skinny:
The host or hostess invites any/all friends she thinks might be interested in learning to make cheese. Anywhere from 5-10 friends is a good-sized group. We will be gathering in the kitchen, and it's probably difficult for many more than that to really see what's going on. I bring everything we need to make cheese and several different already-prepared cheeses for sampling. The hostess provides crackers to pair with the cheeses and beverages (wine, has been the beverage of choice at the parties I've done so far).
Each class participant pays Brood Farm $30 (if the hostess has at least 6 friends show up, she doesn't have to pay her fee). In exchange for the $30 fee, each participant receives the following:
cheese making instruction and pamphlet and recipes, cheese to sample and take home, butter muslin cloth, dairy thermometer, and a coupon good for 1/2 gallon Brood Farm milk and cheese starter culture (which can be picked up at the farm).
Basically, everyone gets to participate in the cheese making and then gets all the supplies needed to go home and do it herself!
Making goat cheese is really not as difficult as you would think, and it's a lot of fun to get together with your pals and eat and gab as you learn all about it.
Goat milk is at its very best in the spring when the fields are green and lush, so it's a great time to make some flavorful cheese! If you're interested in booking a "Cheese Party" for this spring or would like more info, just shoot me an email or Facebook message. :)