I’ve only met Mary Keehn a few times over my years mostly at the annual ACS conferences and in 2011, we spent the week at “Cheese” (Slow Food Cheese Festival at Bra) working the American Pavilion. Enough that I call her a friend. Mary is a member of the elite “Goat Ladies” of the 80s, along with Allison Hooper, Judy Schad, Laura Chenel and Jennifer Bice. These ladies turned the American Artisan Cheese World upside down by producing goat cheese that rivaled any goat cheese coming out of the Loire Valley. Simply, these ladies put US Cheesemakers “back in the game”.
For the most part, these ladies were “self-taught” in cheesemaking after raising goats and ending up with too much milk. (Allison and Laura did travel to Europe and live with cheesemakers to hone their craft). Mary asked a neighbor for a goat, relieving her of the boring career of a lawn mower in the next door field, and then came the revolution.
These ladies all chose goats in a country where cows were king and most American-made cheese was still industrial and considered garbage by the “elite” of Europe. Recently, Michael Landis interviewed Mary, Allison and Peggy Smith (Cowgirl Founder) and let them talk about the “early years”. This is a video well worth your time.. After all the awards and financial success, the ladies still marvel at it all.
Their success has been recognized and over the last decade, larger dairy corporations have partnered with most of them.
I remember when Emmi bought Cypress Grove, Cheesemonger and Author Gordon Edgar wondered if this acquisition signified “the beginning of the end” of American Artisan Cheese. It appears all of these partnerships have thrived and quality has flourished. (Sadly, in my opinion, the same cannot be said about Murray’s Cheese after being acquired by the Kroger Company.) I also recall Mary sharing the moment she knew Emmi was the right fit: she and the head of Emmi were in downtown San Francisco and approached by a homeless person asking for money. The Emmi head told the homeless person that he wouldn’t give him money, but he would buy him a meal.
This preamble brings me to the cheeses The Man and I snacked upon this afternoon during our “cocktail hour” – that time
when we decide it must be five o’clock somewhere (generally we choose Bermuda unless it’s been a trying day, then we might choose Paris). Cocktail hour also begins when The Man finds his “stopping place” on the novel he is currently writing (sequel to his romantic adventure, Gold Fever) and after all my prepping for dinner is finished and awaiting the final element of fire.
The good folks at Cypress Grove shared wedges of Midnight Moon and Lambchopper with me and I served them today with Bonne Manan Cherry Preserves and some local spiced pecans. As he is known to do when served American Artisan cheese… The Man swooned.
I reviewed Midnight Moon several years ago and I’m pleased to say, the quality has not faltered with time (not that I thought it might). Along with Lambchopper, MM is made in Holland exclusively for Cypress Grove. It is shaped like Dutch Gouda and has a black plastic rind that showcases the bright white paste of this aged goat cheese. In my previous post I called MM “Cheese Porn” and I’ll stick with that reflection. If you are the least bit weary of goat cheese, think of this one as a “Gateway”** goat cheese. It will get you in the door and then you can explore other goat cheeses – many made by the goat ladies of the 80s.
Lambchopper, as the name hints, is made with sheep milk (the only sheep milk cheese from Cypress Grove). When asked
what my favorite cheese is, I generally reply “The last one I ate but in categories, my favorites usually fall into aged sheep milk”. Well, I just added another to the “roster”. While it may be mild it is nutty, sweet with a caramel finish. The paste is akin to browned butter and the texture is creamy. Overall, it’s simply dreamy.
The Cherry Preserves from Bonne Maman added a tart and sweet accompaniment for both cheeses and… well… you can never go wrong with Georgia Pecans. The pecans are from Farm328 and available at Sweet Combs of Honey in Downtown Lavonia.
The 34 degrees Natural Crisps are my go to “vehicle” for covering the span from the plate to the mouth.
The lovely knife was a gift from one of my granddaughters that she found in an artists’ gift shop in Michigan.
** “Gateway Cheese” is a phrase coined by Liz Thorpe and the basis of her best-seller The Book of Cheese. Available in my amazon influencer storefront.
In addition to being a member of the Internationale Guilde des Fromagers (Jura and Garde) and an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
Cypress Grove provided the cheese for this post but no quid pro quo was expected (unlike politicians). The opinions are my own.
This post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission from any purchases you make through those links. I thank you for patronizing my amazon influencer store front.
I sample specialty artisan cheeses most Fridays or Saturdays at Sweet Combs of Honey: Check out my “Grab n Go” page at Facebook for more information.
The Man, aka Peter M. Wright, has written his first novel: Gold Fever, available at amazon.com as a kindle book for only $2.99.
Written in the flavor of one of our favorite movies, Romancing the Stone, Gold Fever is a romantic adventure that 
brings together an archeologist looking to establish his name in his field and a rock star on the verge of burn-out.
In GOLD FEVER an Archeologist motivated by a newly discovered clue, searches for a fabled Native American Legend – the long ago lost Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. While the Archeologist seeks to prove the legend is actually true, he is constantly under attack by a second group seeking the treasure.
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