Our annual Christmas Party was held on Monday, December 13th beginning at Noon where we cut into the Holiday Tommes that we all (!) made over Labor Day weekend.
There were a good variety this year: a Goat/Guernsey hybrid from Little Falls Farm with a clear rind; two examples (one made with MM100 and one with Flor Danica) of Jersey cow milk from Monroe Cheese Studio; two examples of goat-cow-sheep mixed milk from Appleton Creamery (one by Caitlin, one by Jesse); and many examples of goat’s milk tomme with a B. linens rind from Kennebec Cheesery.
All of them were very good with loads of variation on the classic Tomme de Savoie sticky/creamy texture, especially Jean’s cheeses from the Kennebec Cheesery where the B. linens really took over! This exploration of the amazing variety of cheeses possible even when working with the “same” recipe was eye-opening for the new and experienced cheese makers among us. Together with plenty of great food (what a MacAndCheese from Heidi!) and good cheer made this MCGCP another highlight of 2010.
Our Annual Meeting took place at the State of Maine Cheese Co. in Rockport where we re-elected Anne Bossi, Deb Hahn, Beth Whitman, and Mary Belding to the board. We also set our meeting schedule for 2011 (see the updated list on the Guild page). In non-official business we discussed Open Creamery Day successes (publicity was good this year; over 500 people visited Pineland Farms in Gray this year!), various fund raising ideas, the response to our Letter to the Governor from the Commissioner of Agriculture, future workshops, an expanded presence at the 2011 Common Ground Country Fair, and the fact that the 2011 American Cheese Society conference will take place in Montreal next year, the closest it’s been to Maine since Burlington, VT in 2007. Best of all we got to see the cheese harp that Cathe’s husband Frank made for Appleton Creamery.