Worktable Wednesday

Something I’ve learned over the years is that it never hurts to ask. Ask about what? Well, pretty much anything. As long as you’re prepared to hear “no” a lot of the time, the benefits are worthwhile.

Case in point – Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery. From this point on, I’ll refer to them as VBCC.

When I attended the Vermont Cheesemakers’ Festival last year, I noticed that VBCC had a bunch of wooden crates stacked up behind their booth. The crates are part of the packaging for their cheese.

Not only do they look cool, but they also have a job to do – from their website:

The wood crate acts as a wick to absorb moisture away from the rind and to maintain moisture in the cheese.

Fast forward to this year’s Cheese Festival. I’m looking at the crates behind their booth and thinking that they must be trash. They can’t reuse them for food – it’s probably against some kind of health regulation.  I decide to ask if I can have them

Score! I think I got 3 crates that day and I was in heaven.

Fast forward to this year. I go by the VBCC booth. Once again, there are stacks of crates.

I ask. I score.

They give me a box full of crates which includes 10 large and 12 small ones.

Sadly, some of them have to be discarded because there’s cheese stuck to them (gross). A couple of the large one were broken and aren’t repairable. No worries – there’s still plenty to play with.

I decided to use the large crates to organize my paper and bookcloth sample book collection. They are the perfect size.

I keep the sample books on the top shelf of my bookcase and whenever I need them, it’s easy enough to pull down the full crate.

Many thanks to Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery!

By the way, you have to try their Cultured Butter with Sea Salt Crystals and Fresh Goat Cheese with Herbs.

Yuuummmmm…

Cheesy Little Yellow

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival for the second year in a row.

And for the second year in a row, I ate myself sick. I have since declared a 48-hour moratorium on cheese – my stomach is the boss of me.

In anticipation of the Festival, I became obsessed with making a cheese journal with covers the size of a slice of American cheese. You’d think that it would be easy to find out the measurements of the aforementioned cheese.

It wasn’t.

Googling proved unsuccessful and I was forced to take matters into my own hands. What this meant was that on Saturday night, I brought a ruler with me to the grocery store and measured the cheese. That sounds like it could be a euphemism for something entirely inappropriate…

The strangest thing about my book concept was that although it was the size of a slice of American cheese, I was set on styling the covers like Swiss cheese. I’m a complex person.

I finished the book on Sunday, in the early afternoon. This meant less time at the Festival. I made the executive decision that book trumped cheese. I don’t know if this will be a steadfast rule or if it is situation-specific. Only time will tell.

Here’s the completed book:

I named the book Little Yellow. The first reason for this is pretty obvious, but the second one, not so much.

My hubby and I watch the Tour de France every year. Back in 2004, first-time Tour rider Thomas Voeckler wore the yellow jersey for 10 days. He was such a young peanut of a rider and I started calling him “Little Yellow”. As Sunday was the final stage of the Tour de France and also the day I finished my book, it seemed appropriate to use a Tour-related name.

It measures 3.25″ x 3.25″ and is covered in Butterscotch Arrestox bookcloth. I carved the cheese holes using an X-Acto knife. I used a double-needle Coptic binding, packing the stitches so the braid would be more prominent.

I’ve already used 15 of the pages. I took notes on cheeses I liked and (gulp!) didn’t like. Some cheesemakers give you labels so you can remember the cheese you ate.

It seems that I now have an autograph book of cheese.

Cheese Bound

Unless you’re new to my blog, I’m assuming that you’re aware of my love for cheese.

This past Sunday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the sold out Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. To say that it was a mind-blowing experience is putting it mildly.

I must have tasted over 50 different cheeses. I actually got to the point where I uttered the words that I have only spoken once before on a vacation to Paris in 2001: I can’t eat any more cheese.

I joked to my husband that the whole experience made me “weak in the cheese”.

[insert groan here]

I think I’ve now sufficiently recovered from my cheese coma and I’m ready to eat the goodies I brought home with me.

One of the best parts of the festival was this find from the Cellars at Jasper Hill (click on the image to enlarge):

I’m not sure why I never realized that the term “clothbound” was a bridge between my loves for bookbinding and cheese.

The world makes a lot more sense now.

 

Book Arts Guild of Vermont meeting – Edible Books

Last week I attended the monthly meeting for the Book Arts Guild of Vermont. We went with an Edible Books theme, even though we couldn’t have our meeting on April 1st – the official date for the International Edible Book Festival.

The meeting was great fun and folks came up with some great books. Being who I am, I felt compelled to do a cheese-based book. My entry was inspired by the children’s book series Choose Your Own Adventure.

My book’s title – Cheese Your Own Adventure.

I kept thinking of elaborate ways to express my concept but ultimately I went with a simple approach because I ran out of time. I’m quite pleased with the results. I’d like to give a big thanks to the employee at Michaels in South Burlington, VT who didn’t laugh at me when I ran up to her and asked, “Do you have a squeeze bottle with a really tiny tip that I can fill up with mustard and write with?”

A Valentine for Montpelier

I love living in Montpelier, VT for so many reasons. One of them is Valentine’s Day. Every year, someone (or many someones) plasters red paper hearts all over downtown Montpelier – the Valentine Phantom. The Phantom has become so popular, that he and/or she and/or they have been featured in Yankee Magazine. Some consider it trash (those folks are idiots), but I think it’s beautiful.

What follows are some photos that my hubby and I took earlier today of love-smothered Montpelier.

I made it to puzzlePALOOZA!

I did it. I achieved puzzle piece.

As I mentioned in this post, I officially named my piece Cheezle.

Well, I changed my mind. It’s now named Chaiku – the book component of the puzzle piece contains 12 haiku that I wrote about cheese.

Due to lack of time, I wrote the haiku in by hand. Unfortunately, I realized that I have to redo the book because one of my haiku is structurally unsound. Since a rebinding is imminent, I’m also considering typing up the haiku for the new version.

Anyone have an opinion on this? Do you think that handwritten pages are more appropriate?

Here are the contents of the book:

So many species. Goat, sheep, cow, and buffalo. Your milk is cheese gold.

Twig Farm, Thistle Hill, Fat Toad, Cobb Hill, Dancing Cow. Vermont makes great cheese.

Dripping off my toast. Brie, why are you so gooey? Soft cheese misbehaves.

I sure do love cheese. What’s with the farting? Oy. Lactose intolerant.

Cabot Cheese, World’s Best. Hunter’s Seriously Sharp. Eat until I barf.

Philadelphia. Freshman year I met my match. How I love cheese fries.

Mozzerella, ick! Some cheese I just can’t stomach. Un-American.

Oh,what is that smell? Stilton, Roquefort, Camembert. Music to my nose.

Hmmm…Mayor McCheese. When’s his term done? No…I mean… Expiration date?

Greek legal asset, Feta cheese sure is salty. Why don’t you export?

Mild bits are cheese curds, Not to be confused with turds, That would be absurd.

Cheez Whiz, Kraft Foods spread. Velvety smooth, pour it on. What’s cheese food? Unreal.

On Saturday, my hubby and I (along with Chaiku) attended puzzlePALOOZA, an event held by the Vermont Arts Council as part of Art Fits Vermont.

The Vermont Arts Council distributed 9,500 wood and 51,000 paper puzzle pieces to Vermonters – the number of participants translates to 10% of Vermont’s population participating in the project.

At 2:00 p.m., I was part of the Guinness World Record that was set for the World’s Largest Jigsaw puzzle with over 1,600 pieces measuring 2,603 square feet. It was fun being involved in such a grand project.

Here are some of my favorite puzzle pieces:

I wish I had been better about noting who made these.

And last, but not least, the most fabulous of foam hats:

Hey puzzle hat girl! You rock!

Puzzle piece update #3

Welcome to today’s State of the Cheese address.

There are now 3 coats of paint on my wood puzzle piece provided to me by the Vermont Arts Council as part of their Art Fits Vermont project.

Here’s what it looks like:

I can’t take a decent picture to save my life. The color is a subtle swiss cheese yellow. The surface is no longer streaky so I don’t need to add another coat. But I’ll do it anyway. Then I’ll add some sealer.

I figured out a few things about this piece. I have officially named it Cheezle. Thank you long drive to Burlington for giving me that gem.

I also now know where a book will fit into the piece, pun intended. I’m not going to give it all away now, but let’s just say that there is some very silly haiku involved. I should have the piece finished today. Well, I hope I have it finished today because puzzlePALOOZA is tomorrow.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Puzzle piece update #2

Yesterday I continued working on my wood puzzle piece provided to me by the Vermont Arts Council as part of their Art Fits Vermont project.

I started with a primer. I should have used white primer instead of clear because it would have cut down on painting time later on. That’s what a logical person would do. I used what I had.

Lesson learned.

Next, I spent most of my time pondering the following questions:

What is the essence of cheese? Can one even really capture its glory? Cheese just is.

So went my inner dialogue as I mixed a paint color. Here’s the final color:

As I mentioned earlier, white primer would have helped with paint coverage. Here’s my very streaky, non-happy, inconsistently-covered cheese slice:

Needless to say, this cheese needs more coats of paint. Hopefully, it will look cheesier tomorrow.

Puzzle piece update #1

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been busy working on a wood puzzle piece provided to me by the Vermont Arts Council as part of their Art Fits Vermont project.

I started by tracing the puzzle piece. I then drew and cut out the cheese holes.

After tracing the cheese holes onto the wood, I started to cut the holes out. I used my Dremel to cut my holes because, well, I just wanted to play with my Dremel.

I started by drilling small holes around the edge of my outline.

Then I drilled a second set of holes, making it easier for the piece of wood to break off.

Mission accomplished.

I used my Dremel’s sanding bit to smooth out the rough edges and to better define the cheese holes.

Here’s what I ended up with:

I’m hoping to get some painting done today. With the time I have left, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to get the book component added until after puzzlePALOOZA.

Tune in tomorrow for another update!

My race to puzzlePALOOZA

I am a last minute girl.

I hate it.

The Vermont Arts Council distributed 9,500 wood puzzle pieces to individuals and groups across the state as part of their Art Fits Vermont project. I received one of them several months ago.

My puzzle piece has stared at me in my studio while I worked on various projects, suffering from the knowledge that it was not my first priority.

Until this week.

This coming Saturday, July 11th, the Vermont Arts Council is having a big, fat party at Battery Park on the Burlington waterfront – puzzlePALOOZA.

There are a couple of things about the event that hold particular interest for me:

• The Arts Council is hoping to set the Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Puzzle.
• There’s a parade with representatives from all 251 Vermont towns to carry puzzle pieces on the ½ mile route down Main Street.

I want to be in a parade. I want to be part of a Guinness Record.

I have needs.

So here I am, with 4 days to finish my puzzle piece. I can do this, right?

Here’s the piece as I received it:

Each morning, I’ll take a picture of my piece to show you my progress. I will tell you that I’m working on a cheese theme – the puzzle piece looked like Swiss and I like cheese, okay? I’m still trying to figure out if I can work in something book-ish.

My Dremel (Stan) and I have spent a chunk of time together today. I sure did miss him.

Stay tuned for my race to the finish.