Creme Fraiche Frosting

Recipe courtesy of marthastewart.com

4 cups (32 ounces) Creme Fraiche
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons candied lemon zest
food coloring

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip all ingredients until thick and creamy, about 3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

BOOOOOO - Happy Halloween!

Halloween in the creamery office...Thank you Rachel for the scary cupcakes!!
But who is Rachel?
Rachel is our Queen of Customer service. She answers the phone, teaches about our products, sends out recipes, responds to customer questions, organizes our Christmas party and the list goes on and on........

Rachel recommends our creme fraiche in the frosting and wishes you a frightful, but Happy Halloween!

Cheese dinners in season

Columbus Day weekend in New England had diners out and about in Nantucket lapping up their last Island weekend of the season. It was a cheese celebration on the terrace, under the awning at The Boarding House. The afternoon was warm and sunny. The end of the season brought locals out to celebrate a prosperous summer with a tasting of wines and goat cheeses. The table was busy as regulars gathered a complimentary plate of fresh and aged Bijou, crottin, coupole and Bonne Bouche and a glass of wine. The Four course dinner featured a little something in each course from Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. The top dishes at our table were Local Halibut with a slab of sea salt butter melted on top. Flank steak atop a feta soufflé, and pear tarte tatin with fromage blanc ice cream for dessert. Thank you to Chef Erin Zircher for cooking up this menu. She packed the restaurant. Owners Angela and Seth Raynor were happy to host their neighbors. We are always happy to be invited to such a lovely place in the post tourist season.


Ferrying back to Boston we helped Louis Risoli at L’Espalier celebrate their new posh location in the Mandarin Hotel with their first “Cheese Tuesday” in their new location. Chef de Cuisine James Hackney developed a special 4 course tasting menu featuring our products. We dined on Pork with Bijou, lamb and Goat feta, a crisp crudité salad with creamy goat cheese, and their famous cheese board complete with Bijou, Coupole and Bonne Bouche. Perfect pairings of figs and honey adorned the cheese. Louis and Matt were in rare form as we all sang along to a Vermont Cheese song to the tune of the Turtles, “happy Together”. Cheese Tuesday, usually the first Tuesday of every month, is always fun party, great value and a chance for diners to hear a cheese story or two. I would highly recommend this night out in Boston.

www.lespalier.com/comingsoon
www.boardinghouse-pearl.com

Congratulation to our farmer Christine Kaiser

Kristine Kaiser recently received the "Dairy of Distinction" award from the Vermont Department of Agriculture. She started 4 years ago to produce milk for us and now have 125 goats producing great high quality milk. Congratulation Kristine from everyone!

State Officials Congratulate Vermont Butter & Cheese On Awards

International Honors Demonstrate Importance of Cheese Production To Vermont’s Farms, Economy

WEBSTERVILLE – Officials from the State of Vermont congratulated a local artisanal cheese manufacturer for their recent international accolades and stressed the importance of such operations to Vermont’s economy and farms.

Agriculture and economic development officials praised Vermont Butter & Cheese for the five awards the Websterville company recently received at the World Cheese Awards held in Dublin, Ireland.

“We are very pleased to honor Vermont Butter & Cheese,” said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts at a ceremony at the company’s factory on Thursday. “These international awards demonstrate how Vermont’s farmers and producers of quality, value-added agricultural and food products can compete in the worldwide market.”

He said Vermont Butter & Cheese’s commitment to the state is demonstrated by their support of more than 20 local, family-owned farms.

“Businesses like Vermont Butter and Cheese are an important part of our economy, and that’s why the state supports them,” said Commerce and Community Development Secretary Kevin Dorn. “Not only do they help preserve our farms and working landscape, which are so important to tourism, but value added products provide good-paying jobs for Vermonters.”

Company co-founders Allison Hooper and Bob Reese thanked the state for the assistance provided, which included $174,500 from Dorn’s agency as well as Vermont Economic Development Authority loans.

“We’re very pleased the state has recognized the importance of these awards, and are very proud of our staff,” said Reese, the company’s president. “This is a reflection of their dedication to producing a world-class product.”

“Companies like this define our state’s commitment to high quality, value-added agricultural and food products that consumers from around the world associate with Vermont,” Dorn said. “We are proud that Vermont Butter & Cheese has been a partner in our economic development efforts from its early days.”

Founded in Brookfield in 1984, Vermont Butter & Cheese Company is now a world renowned producer of artisanal cheese and butter.

Feast of the Farms Evening

On September 26th we were so thrilled to join Chef Doug Mack for the annual Farms Harvest Celebration at the Balwin Creek Inn in Bristol, Vermont. This event is the grand finale of the Farmhouse Dinner Series which, runs all year to give guests the opportunity to share a great dinner while discussing foody topics, like local food, new trends, farming and so much more….

It is a gala affair in the Red Barn, under a glorious white peaked tent with live entertainment throughout the evening. All of their farm partners joined them to celebrate Harvest, serving food, chatting with guests and enjoying an “end of season” party.

We had the great pleasure to share our table with a wonderful local wine maker:
Shelburne Vineyard! Their Vidal Blanc Ice Wine is to die for and they make a really nice Riesling (which goes so well with our aged goat cheeses). I have to say that it's really remarkable to make a great quality wine considering how hard to must be to grow grapes in our gorgeous, but frigid Vermont state. But let’s talk about the food first.
http://www.shelburnevineyard.com/

Doug made a wonderful walnut and cranberry bread to serve topped with a slice of our aged Coupole. Bonne Bouche was also invited and served on medallions of fresh pears; simple but so elegant.
Every guest came up at least twice for it!!! as a little “amuse bouche”, then for the cheese course and a last bite for dessert! The sweetness in the bread with the dried fruits balanced really well with the acidity of the lactic cheese. Having the crunch of walnuts enhanced the nuttiness of the Coupole, which comes from the special yeast we are using in the milk. Parfait!

Local venison ragu, Vermont Mysti Knoll Farm chicken was serving a turkey meat loaf – Vermont apple pie with cinnamon ice cream - local bread – wine and cheese, hosted in a wonderful traditional Vermont red barn setting, what more can you ask for? Bravo Chef Doug and thanks to you, Linda and all your staff for this wonderful evening and the support of local farmers which you have done for the past 25 years. (and the extra loaf of cranberry walnut bread that we took home!).

Upcoming event at the Balwin Creek
Fri Oct 10; 6:15 Dinner, 7:30 TalkTable Talk: "The Vermont Grapevine"
Lincoln Peak Vineyard owner and winemaker Chris Granstrom has been growing grapes, strawberries and apples for over 25 years in New Haven. He discusses Vermont's emerging grape and wine industry, the new grape varieties that make vineyards possible in our region and the tasty wines that can be made from them

http://www.innatbaldwincreek.com/

Cranberry-Walnut Quick Bread

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
⅔ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Vermont Cultured Butter unsalted, melted
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
2 cups chopped cranberries , fresh or frozen, thawed
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F for muffins, mini loaves and mini Bundts or 375°F for a large loaf. Coat pan(s) with cooking spray.
2. Prepare Quick-Bread Dry Mix using your favorite recipe.
3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, oil and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add orange zest, cranberries and walnuts. Stir just to combine; do not overmix. Transfer batter to the prepared pan(s). Top with additional walnuts, if desired.
5. Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 25 minutes for muffins or mini Bundts, 35 minutes for mini loaves, 1 hour 10 minutes for a large loaf. Let cool in the pan(s) for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let muffins and mini Bundts cool for 5 minutes more, mini loaves for 30 minutes, large loaves for 40 minutes.