Would I like to go on a cheese tour of Wisconsin’s Dairyland?  Absolutely!!

Fortune Fish & Gourmet, in partnership with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, invited Jill and a guest to board a bus for a three day tour that would take us up to Madison where we would explore the Southwest cheese region of Wisconsin. Our primary interest was to see what great cheeses we could identify and bring back to Marché when it opens this fall. What I didn’t expect was to be completely blown away by the farmers and cheesemakers that we met along the way. We met 15 cheesemakers in three days, many who represent generations of European cheesemakers who immigrated to Wisconsin.  Here are a few highlights from our cheese adventure.

First stop the Crave Brothers, a locally owned, family run dairy farm and creamery, was one of our most anticipated stops. They not only make outstanding fresh cheeses but also do it by practicing farming techniques utilizing 100% green power.  By working in harmony with the land and investing in innovative farming practices they are a carbon negative company which continues to pass the heritage of dairy farming and cheese making down to the next generation.

Another stop was to Uplands Cheese, a small dairy farm that honors the age-old traditions of milking cows seasonally, in time with the pastures. They make only two traditional farmstead cheeses: Pleasant Ridge Reserve, made in the summer months, while the cows eat fresh pasture and Rush Creek Reserve, made in the fall, when their diet changes to hay.

While on a tour of Cedar Grove Creamery we were lucky enough to meet cheesemaker Anna Landmark who quit her job as a policy research director for a Wisconsin non-profit a few years ago and took the plunge into full-time cheesemaking. Today, she’s co-founder of Landmark Creamery and is crafting small batch seasonal cheeses from the milk of cows, sheep, and water buffalo.

Anna shares space at Cedar Grove Creamery. She had just finished making a batch of her Petit Nuage cheese and was nice enough to let us have a tasting.  Petit Nuage is a French style soft sheep milk cheese. What a treat! Each cheese is a perfect single portion that has a tangy brightness and sweet finish. We could imagine pairing it with honey, preserves, or adding it to a grilled vegetable salad.

As the bus drove us back to Illinois we were both excited to share the experience and thought: what better way than a tasting!  Jill has provided a sneak peek of what’s ahead by including Landmark’s Petit Nuage and Nordic Creamery’s Summer Butter in the current Marcel’s refrigerated case. Nordic Creamery uses farm-fresh sweet cream to make “Summer Butter” from April to October when cows are on pasture, creating fresh, herby flavors and a sunny yellow color.  Pick some up next time you’re in! Follow all the happenings at Marché on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/marche496.            

One fruit is synonymous with fall……apples.   Apple pie, apple crisp, apple cake, applesauce, apple dumplings, apple cider, apple donuts, and all the rest.  The one apple treat, however, that is most revered at the Raber house is caramel apples.  It all started one October day early in our marriage when my husband said he was hungry for caramel apples.  So I did what I knew…..I bought a bag of Kraft caramels along with apples and had 8 caramel apples ready when he got home from his teaching day.   Thrilled as he was upon seeing them, his joy turned to surprise upon taking a few bites when he said, “These aren’t like my mom makes.”  Now, in fairness to my husband who is totally easy to cook for, that is the ONLY time he said that his mother made something better than I.  He may have thought it, but he has never again said it!  I was not upset, just curious.  What was Mother Raber’s trick?  I come from a long line a good cooks and I thought everyone made caramel apples from Kraft caramels.  He assured me there was another way.  And there was.  I am sharing here my late mother-in-law’s caramel apple recipe, along with some tips I’ve learned along the way.

CARAMEL APPLES 

6-8 apples – firm, tart, room temperature (Honeycrisp and Mutzu are my favorites)
1 C. sugar
½ C. white Karo syrup
1 can Eagle brand milk
1 tsp. good vanilla (I use Madagascar)

Wash and dry apples, remove the stems, and insert  a craft stick into each.  I like the round ones when I can find them.  Grease a platter to put them on later.

In a heavy medium pan over medium heat, bring all ingredients except vanilla to a boil, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula so that none sticks to the pan.  Then lower heat and continue to stir constantly until mixture reaches about 225 degrees on a candy thermometer.  This usually takes about 10 minutes. Watch it carefully and test in cold water for very soft ball stage.  Do not overcook or it will take the fillings out of your teeth!  Remove from heat and add the vanilla.  Let cool just 1-2 minutes, then dip and spread caramel over each apple.  Place on greased platter or plate to set.

Some people like the apples dipped in nuts, but we are purists….no nuts.

I’m a bit of an equipment junkie. Having spent the better part of the last twenty years working in kitchen stores, I’ve developed an extreme affection for cooking/baking tools and small electrics! Customers who ask me questions like “Do I really need this avocado slicer?” will be answered with a resounding “Absolutely!” I’d be lost without my stand mixer, my food processor, my VitaMix and my juicer.

So, that being said, my new mini obsession is baking without plugging in a single thing. My current two favorite pieces of “equipment” are my heavy beech French mixing spoon and my Simon Pearce batter bowl. Recently, I’ve turned out each of the following recipes more than a few times. Any recipe that calls for melted butter is usually pretty simple to mix up without a stand or hand mixer. My “Mom’s Best Granola” (self proclaimed!) starts with melted coconut oil mixed with cinnamon, honey and vanilla. Your kitchen will smell heavenly! These little Praline cookies come together in a flash and are buttery, crunchy and totally delicious. Try them both and let me know how you like them!

Mom’s Best Granola

Preheat oven to 325.
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1 c chopped walnuts
1 c sliced almonds
1 c unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 t sea salt
Combine oats, walnuts, almonds, salt and coconut in bowl.
Combine coconut oil, cinnamon, honey and vanilla in small sauce pan. Pour over combined oat mixture and mix well. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 20 – 25 minutes, stirring every five minutes. Let cool on parchment paper and store at room temp.

Praline Cookies

Preheat oven to 375
1/2 c butter – melted
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 egg – lightly beaten
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c chopped pecans
Powdered sugar
Mix first six ingredients together and then stir in pecans. Using a small cookie scoop, roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 8 – 10 minutes until they just start to brown on edges. Remove from oven, let cool 2 minutes and dust liberally with powdered sugar. Makes 30 cookies.

We recently dropped off our two boys at Butler University, where Egan returns for his junior year and Max begins to navigate his first year away from home.

Back here, things seem a little empty right now. The foyer is missing its usual collection of what always seemed like dozens of very large shoes. Two of our four bedrooms are looking stripped-down, if not exactly clean. (Picture the Whoville houses after the Grinch’s visit on Christmas eve). The basement is no longer full of boys and their games and their mess and their noise. The calendar has empty spaces that used to be occupied with basketball games and volleyball games and practices and tournaments. And the table looks a bit too spacious with only 3 diners instead of the usual 5. I think we’re going to have to remove the leaf. Even the pile of laundry waiting to be folded looks disturbingly small. Weird.

And yet, I discovered something interesting yesterday in the kitchen. The refrigerator was FULL! The pantry too! We have long struggled with keeping enough food in the house for our growing young men and their friends. “But I just went to the store!!” was my usual response to their constant pleas of “There’s nothing to eat!” Now, suddenly, I’m beginning to see some possibilities here. I could try more new recipes, splurge on premium ingredients, replace quantity with quality. I could fill the shelves with the finest produce, cheeses, meats, and wine! I could try some new things from Marcel’s Market. This is an upside I hadn’t considered.

We are so grateful to have our youngest, Lily, at home with us for just a while longer. For her, this year will be full of all the excitement and challenge of her first year of high school at Glenbard West. Full of dances and softball, auditions and homework, critical wardrobe decisions and teenage girl drama. But PLEASE, no boys. I don’t know if any of us are ready for that yet.

According to experts (friends and coworkers who have already been through it), this empty-ish feeling will soon pass and everything will feel normal again. And the boys will come home for holidays and even summers, if we’re lucky. Everything will fill up again. Except the fridge and the cabinets and the pantry, which we will struggle to keep stocked once again.

And that will be just fine with us.