Plant vendor site a pleasant surprise for its information

www.bonnieplants.com

Bonnie Plants, located in Union Springs, Alabama provides seedlings to many of our local feed and plant stores. We pass through Union Springs once or twice a year and always lean on the horn at the cut off to their business. We may stop in sometime.

Their site is an excellent source of information for using their products. Frankly, I was surprised at how useful and comprehensive it is. Check it out.

Note on new issue of Hogtown Homegrown from Slow Food Gainesville

The July issue of Hogtown HomeGrown has been distributed around town
and is online at this link - http://www.hogtownhomegrown.com/Files/Hogtown%20Homegrown%20July%2009.pdf

Be sure to make the Blueberry Buckle - an old-fashioned cake bursting
with blueberries!

Colonel Sanders handwritten recipe for barbecue sauce from the original KFC in Corbin, KY

Colonel Sanders’ Barbecue Sauce Recipe

[from handwritten recipe on display at the original KFC in KY]

1 gallon, ketchup

12 c., Worcestershire sauce

3 c., allspice

2 c., red pepper

6 c., liquid smoke

15 c., smoke salt

2 c., chili tang

4 c., cumin powder

2 c., ground mustard

10 c., beaded molasses

5 c., black pepper

1 c., cinnamon

1 c., cayenne

1 c., ginger

1 c., celery seed

4 c., ground sage

ROBIN'S FRIED CHICKEN

My dear friend and room mate from the 70's, Robin Heil, is a superb cook and her fried chicken was often requested by her ravenous room mates and friends. I have been begging for her to cook it again and, when she visited Gainesville from Colorado, we were lucky enough to coax her to our stove to do a rendition of her much-loved fried chicken. We were thrilled with the result.

Robin grew up in south Florida and came to Gainesville for college. From the mother of a Gainesville boyfriend, she encountered Southern cooking and learned many recipes. For someone from south Florida (hardly known for its Southern fare), Robin's cooking astonishes me because she has mastered many Southern dishes as if she were a fourth generation resident of Georgia, north Florida, or Alabama. Her chicken is a prime example.

Her fried chicken recipe (which follows) may look simple, but d&mn, it is tasty....among the best I have tasted.


ROBIN'S FRIED CHICKEN

Place lard and bacon fat (or peanut oil) in skillet to a level one-inch deep. Heat to smoking point.

Prepare flour and corn meal in equal parts for dipping. Season mixture with 1 tablespoon of Bell's Poultry Seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Dip chicken into flour/seasoning mix to cover all sides. Shake off excess.

Place gently in pan and cover to keep oil from splattering.

Cook for 10 minutes and turn over. Try to only turn the chicken once.

Cook for 10 more minutes and remove chicken to paper towels or flat paper bag to drain.

Serve hot.

COOKBOOK REVIEW: WHAT A SURPRISE THIS ONE WAS!

		The American Medical Association Family Health Cookbook by Brooke Dojny Edition: Hardcover Availability: Out of Print--Limited Availability		59 used & new from $0.01
I DON'T TRUST DIETITIANS TO BE ARTFUL WITH FOOD, June 30, 2009 Frankly, many cookbooks of this type that are written by dietitians or doctors produce recipes that are more clinical than tasty. I expected that this one would be one more in that style. Boy, was I surprised and impressed with this cookbook. The recipes are easy enough and ambititiously touch on the many cuisines that make up our American melting pot. Plus, all the ones I have made are very tasty. Southern cuisines, for example, are often left out of these cookbooks, but not here. The Yogurt Corn Bread is an ace of a recipe and lead me to believe that these authors know how to say "ya'll" and cook that way too. This is a superb cookbook that not only has consistently excellent recipes but also has cooking tips that are well beyond what could be expected from the American Medical Associaton. Bravos to the AMA for putting out this cookbook. Buy this cookbook. It is a steal of a deal. Comment | Permalink

New local web sites

Gainesville is quickly becoming a leading community for sustainable, healthy agricultural goods. It is important that we all patronize the pioneers for healthy food in our community.

In my links section, I have added the new web site for Ward's Market. Long overdue, I am delighted that Ward's is making its presence known on the internet. Also, the Sun reported on two sites that I recommend to you: www.gainesvillefarmfresh.com and www.gogreenalachua.com.

Again, patronize local markets, vendors, and farm stands. The vitality of our community depends on a healthy relationship between purveyors and customers. Do your part.

Heat Sinks: a thought from my buddy in Alabama

My good friend, Chesley, in Tuscaloosa, AL is an engineer and approaches barbecue with dedication, perseverance, zeolatry, and methodical thinking. Over the last few years, he and I have corresponded about a sauce that we both love and how we might come close to duplicating it. He has also shared grill set up ideas that have intrigued me. 

He applied one idea to his two barrel grill/smoker. In the cooking chamber, he placed fire bricks to serve as a heat sink to sustain and even out the temperature fluctuations. Pizza ovens often do something similar.  I look forward to using the same technique in other barbecue/smoker applications to see if I can improve their performance.

Wonder where your food comes from?

Check out the Global Grocer tool from Food and Water Watch in my list of links or copy and paste the following into your browser: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/global-grocer. You will be amazed at how much food is shipped over herculean distances. 

No wonder we are deep in hock to oil-producing countries. We have the carbon footprint of King Kong on steroids.  

Buy locally!

Three newly discovered web sites I like

Today's New York Times Dining section is once again a treasure trove of new ideas and approaches to the world of food and its preparation.

WWW.MIDTOWNLUNCH.COM is a great site for the off beat, streetside food vendors in New York City. 

WWW.HERITAGERADIONETWORK.COM is an in-depth audio approach to food. Great stuff. Digs deeper than the best of the foodie podcasts and e-mail newsletters. 

WWW.CUPCAKESTOP.COM intrigues me. How can any passer-by resist buying a cupcake?

Grits Epiphany: Grits Cakes Perfected

I have been working on making grits cakes that I tasted first at the A1A Ale Works in downtown St. Augustine. They arrived at the table browned, warm, and crispy/crunchy, a perfect foil for a shrimp salad, salsa, or served with freshly broiled fish. Their consistency first reminded me of the mashed potato cakes my mother made on the day after Thanksgiving (provided there were any mashed potatoes left). I have also seen and tasted these cakes (or toast as Paula Deen calls them) also made with polenta. I prefer the texture of the more coarsely-ground grits to polenta.

My versions, cooked in skillets, required too much tender lovin' care to make sure they did not stick, were browned properly, and cooked through enough. Here is my solution inspired by a recipe on Paula Deen's program.

Basically, I cook a double batch of grits the night before. Sometimes I add cheese, sometimes I don't or I augment the liquid with any kind of stock. I add a few tablespoons of butter or Healthy Start margarine. No trans fats allowed!

A standard grits recipe calls for 4 parts liquid to one part grits with some salt added to the liquid. I prefer stone ground grits first, quick grits second, and NEVER instant grits. Bring the liquid to a boil and slowly stir in the grits. Turn fire to low and put lid on the pot. Stir occasionally. When grits begin to firm up, I pour them off into a cookie sheet or rectangular casserole and place them in the refrigerator over night.

When I am ready to cook the cakes the next day, I use a large biscuit cutter to cut out rounds. I place them on a greased cookie sheet sprinkling on seasonings such as paprika, creole seasoning, salt/pepper, or smoked salt. Don't over do it.

At this point, I had tried every-which-way to cook them in a skillet with only mixed results. My best version was in a non-stick skillet. Nothing was easy and nothing finished as consistently as I wanted. I was seeking fool proof, fall-off-a-log simplicity that would knock people out every time with little cost or effort. Plus, most of the work (if you can call it that) is done the night before.

Paula Deen cooked some that caused me to see the light and solved my problems! Thank you Paula.

Instead of cooking them in a skillet, she baked them at 400 degrees for approximately 40 minutes until they became golden brown, flipped the cakes, and did the same on the other side. Using this method your grits cakes will come out perfectly every time provided you check on them to make sure they don't burn up in the oven.

This is an ace-in-the-hole recipe that will make you look like a genius chef. I guar-an- tee it!

Lighter Ono Burgers

When visiting the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands, we kept the Hawaii for Dummies guide at hand for the whole trip because the tastes of the writer were very much like our own. Getting off the beaten path to find local cuisines, art, and gardens was our mission and the book led us to a few gems that the average tourist would never find.


An outdoor burger shack, Duane's Ono Char Burgers, located on the Kuhio Highway en route to the north shore of Kauai, was highly recommended and we found it to be a slice of road-side heaven. Their hamburgers, named Ono Burgers ("ono" means "good" in Hawaiian), were simply marvelous. The red open-air stand located next door to the Anahola Post Office and General Store has picnic tables under trees and all the food is cooked on a wood fired grill.

The recipe below was inspired by one of their offerings but is "lightened" up to lower fat calories somewhat.




LIGHTER ONO BURGERS


Ingredients:

Ground turkey, one pound
Ground turkey breast, one pound
One sweet onion (Maui, Vidalia, or St. Augustine Sweet), chopped
Salt and pepper
Creole seasoning mix or seasoning mix of choice, one tablespoon or to taste
Hamburger buns (choose good ones that have body to them)


Take fresh pineapple and slice into half inch thick slices. Marinade in teryaki sauce for several hours.

Fire up your charcoal grill, letting the coals turn to a solid gray. Add some oak or hickory to the fire after the coals have been ignited and the flame has died down. Basically, you want to produce smoke, but not a blaze, so time the addition of the wood to allow it to burn down but not burn away. You want enough smoke to flavor the meat without overwhelming it. I do not recommend mesquite in this instance.

Place your pineapple slices just off the heat so that you will not burn them. You want to grill them so that you create a darkened, caramelized finish. Flip once.

Mix a pound of ground turkey with a pound of ground turkey breast adding one onion, chopped, a tablespoon of creole seasoning or spice blend of choice, and salt/pepper. Be careful not to overwork the meat when forming into patties. Make an indentation with your thumb into the top of each patty. This will keep it from ballooning as it cooks. Spray lightly with Pam and put them on the gill over the coals. Pour some teryaki sauce over each burger.

Cook until a crust begins to form and you see the meat changing color about a fourth of the way up the side of the burger. Flip and cook for a few minutes and then move the burgers to the edge of the grill away from the direct heat. Pour more teryaki sauce over the burger and top each burger with blue cheese or a slice of Swiss cheese. Cover the grill and let all continue to cook for less than five minutes.

Place opened buns on the grill to toast them slightly, then assemble your burgers and enjoy!

WALK4HEARING 2009

Welcome to WALK4HEARING!
2009 FUNDRAISING GOAL$1Million

Progress: 5% Raised: $ 54425 Goal: $ 1000000 Note: We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with the progress meters on the walk pages. Please check back later.
Since 2006, thousands of people nationwide have joined the effort to end the stigma associated with hearing loss and provide support and resources for hearing loss prevention and education programs through the Walk4Hearing™. The Walk4Hearing™ , produced by The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), is the largest series of walks of its kind, held in the spring and fall in major cities throughout the U.S. Click on a walk near you to participate!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Returning Walkers: You will need to register again. First find your walk by going to the Walk Locations page then follow the instructions on your walk's page.
Featured WalkerTeri Wathen Says “It’s All in the Family!” Teri Wathen, from Stafford, Texas, is co-president of the HLA-Houston Chapter. She talks about her hearing loss and her involvement in the Walk4Hearing. Read her story.
Contact Us Tell a Friend Privacy Policy Go to HLAA PR Tools Contact Webmaster

©2009 Hearing Loss Association of America. All Rights Reserved.Walk4Hearing™
7910 Woodmont Ave, Suite 1200, Bethesda, MD 20814Tel (301) 657-2248 :: Fax (301) 913-9413501c3

REVIEW: CAJUN HEALTHY by Jude Theriot

I pour over book sales for cookbooks in much the same way I did for rock and roll records in the 60's and 70's. Many titles appear and re-appear making me wonder whether they were over-printed or the owners became uninspired with their recipes and culled the cookbooks from their collections.

My library system in Gainesville, FL has two mammoth sales annually and takes in over $300,000 from the two sales. The sale's cookbook section (like all of the other sections) is voluminous and full of gems for the informed shopper. Sometimes, however, I come across works that I have never heard of, but intrigue me nevertheless.

One Cajun cookbook author, Jude Theriot, caught my eye and I bought his excellent cookbook, La Cuisine Cajun, for a pittance. I was immediately intrigued with his take on Louisiana cooking that exceeded many of the standard ideas found in that genre. Plus, he seemed to have a eye on producing Cajun cuisine in as healthy a fashion as possible.

When I read further on Theriot, I found he had some low-carb and healthy-type cookbooks and I ordered a used copy of Cajun Healthy from Amazon. I was not disappointed and am spending the winter working my way through it along with Paul Prudhomme's, A Fork in the Road.

You will not be disappointed by Theriot's works. Recipes like Cajun Nibbles, Banana Crepes, Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, Ground Round Stroganoff, a cache of seafood recipes, and fabulous sides will keep me busy well into the summer. With some work and creativity, Southern food can be healthy and tasty at the same time. Jude Theriot's cookbooks are living proof of that.

Check out Theriot's cookbooks. I will add Cajun Healthy to my Amazon sidebar on the left of the blog to make it easy to access.

Just in from Slow Food Gainesville folks

The Inaugural membership meeting for the new local food co-op will be held in two weeks, on Thursday, March 5th. If you'd like to be involved in this process, purchase a membership here-http://www.citizensco-op.com/join.html. Payment plan options are available. Help then reach their goal of 500 members by the summer. Forward this newsletter to 10 friends! It is only through positive action that our deepest desires for change will occur. It is a true sign of change that we will have a community owned market place in Gainesville . . . The question is - Do YOU want to be a part of it? Mark Your Calendars for these other upcoming events to benefit the co-op:April 25th - Spring Concert for the Co-op @ The Garden, 2-10pm. Helpus Celebrate Earth Day and the Bounties of Spring! Local music, food,beer, and businesses will be represented. Contact citizenscoop@gmail.com if you'd like to be involved.May 2nd - Citizens Co-op Yard Sale. Start your spring cleaning now and prepare to donate any unused household items, clothing, books, etc. to the cause! Drop-off days and times to be determined.

This just in from the LocalHarvest.org folks. Sign up to get their e-mails and to help the cause

LocalHarvest.org
Local Harvest Newsletter, December 23, 2008
Welcome back to the Local Harvest newsletter.
It's nearly Christmas, but instead of sugar plums, I have numbers dancing in my head. Membership and site traffic numbers, year-end and pricing survey numbers. I'm a words-over-formulas kind of girl, so believe me, this is a rare day. Still, these are interesting statistics. Some we feel proud of, some we are humbled by.
Here's a few that please us: LocalHarvest welcomed 3,675 new member listings so far in 2008. That's ten new members every day! Of these, 2,583 were farmers, 590 were farmers markets, and the remainder were restaurants, co-ops, and the like. The LocalHarvest database now offers information on nearly 18,000 farms and farmers markets (etc.) nationwide. As always, our marketing budget for 2008 was exactly $0, so we have all of you to thank for helping us spread the word about LocalHarvest. Mil gracias!
Over 3.8 million people found local food with LocalHarvest's help this year, a million more than in 2007. Our monthly newsletter goes out to 54,000 people like yourself, and 75,000 people get our weekly Keep Me Posted updates. Over 16,200 people bought products through our catalog this year. Numbers on two new LH projects look like this: to date, 831 farmers have Ark of Taste products to their LocalHarvest listings since we launched our partnership with Slow Food in April. In the last two months, nearly 300 farms have started blogging with us, posting stories about life on the farm, recipes, photos, and videos.
We had really hoped to give you the results of our first LocalHarvest pricing project: "How Does Local Compare?" but, unfortunately, we don't have those numbers yet. This is the 'humbling' part I mentioned up top. It turns out that crunching the data in a meaningful way is an exceptionally complex proposition. We've been at it on and off for a week and are still slogging through the fine points. I promise we will keep at it, and I will have the results for you in our January newsletter.
As we approach the end of 2008 we would like to thank all of you for supporting your local farmers and LocalHarvest. In these uncertain economic times, it feels particularly important to spend our food dollars on fresh, nutritious food grown by people whose chosen work is to feed our communities. Real food for the people!
As always, take good care, and eat well.
See you in '09,
Erin BarnettDirector, LocalHarvest
From the LocalHarvest Store:

Hopefully you've finished your holiday shopping, wrapped everything, and delivered all the packages that needed to go somewhere. Should you have one or two people left on your list, though, you might want to consider a LocalHarvest gift certificate. Available in any amount, and applicable to any of our catalog's 5,576 farm products.
Your loved one might very well choose some citrus. Matter of fact, you might yourself. Plenty of other people are, every day. And every day our friendly citrus growers are picking more. We've got all kinds - grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, Meyer lemons and Bearss limes.
FoodDemocracyNow.org

If you would like to encourage President-elect Obama to choose sustainably minded Under Secretaries in the new USDA, please sign their grassroots petition. This one is time sensitive, so act now!
Wonderful Winter Squash

With holiday goodies laid out everywhere you go, nutrition may not be foremost on your mind this time of year. But let's take a few minutes to think about feeding our bodies well, even over the holidays. Luckily, winter squash is in season. It IS a most wonderful time of year! Winter squash is a nutrient dense food with many health benefits. In this short article, I'll focus on its protective effect against cancer.(Read on...)
Recipe Corner: Risotto with Butternut Squash and Sage By Lorna Sass

During New York winters, I count on the bright orange flesh of butternut squash to cheer me up. I make lots of squash soups-either curried or flecked with fresh herbs-and I pull out my trusty pressure cooker to make a winter squash risotto. (Recipes and More...)
You can unsubscribe from this monthly newsletter from LocalHarvest here.

The following article from the New York Times should be of interest. Alice Waters and others speak out on examples that the First Family and the White House can set regarding sustainability agriculture and healthy cooking. To read the article click this link:
Alice Waters and Obama’s ‘Kitchen’ Cabinet - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

My minister's sermon last Sunday focused on finding our inner Divine child and he mentioned the sense of wonder that our earliest memories of Christmas conjure up.

For me the smell and glow of a Christmas tree early on Christmas morning is a heavenly image without equal.

As readers of this blog already know, I like to buy from local agricultural producers. The products are fresher, I invest my money locally by buying locally, the energy costs of delivering the product are substantially lower, and often the cost to me is competitive and/or cheaper. I like that.

With all that in mind, I can not bear to pay some corporate giant for a Christmas tree that has been trucked in across several states (at least) and has had plenty of time to dry out. Whether here in Florida or near my wife's hometown in western New York state, we like to go to a Christmas tree farm and cut our own.

This is where Bill Dubois comes in. Bill and his wife own a you-cut Christmas tree farm west of Gainesville. They sell sand pines (our preference), red cedars, Leland Cypress, and a few Carolina Sapphires. They also have potted trees for those who want to replant their tree after Christmas. Bill's operation is a sustainable farming operation and new trees are planted each year to replace those that are harvested.

Directions: Farm located at 7818 NW SR45, High Springs, FL 32643, west of Gainesville at intersection of SR 41/27 and CR 232, midway between Newberry and High Springs.

Our suggested route is to take Millhopper Road (Rte. 232) west to Rte. 241. Turn north on 241 and go a mile or so. Turn left onto 232 and follow it to the intersection with Hwy. 41/27. Bill Dubois's farm is on the northwest corner of the intersection. This route is one of the most beautiful roads in north Florida and I highly recommend you follow my directions to Bill's farm.

One note, be sure to put your tree in water immediately on getting home so that the fresh cut will allow transfer of water from your bucket or tree stand. Otherwise, the sap will coagulate and you will need to trim the bottom again to hydrate your tree.

Open:The day after Thanksgiving to December 24, daily, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 352-628-5383.

Gift Recommendations for Christmas: Seasonal Florida - A Taste of Life in North Florida

If I were going to pick a single cook book about North Florida cooking to recommend as a Christmas present to a discerning loved one, Seasonal Florida would be my hands-down first choice.

The cook book's encapsulates the collective culinary gems of five generations of a northeast Florida family residing in Duval and St. Johns counties. The book had its genesis when the book's author, Jo Manning, and her five sisters purchased the Stuart Knox Gillis Home in DeFuniak Springs. The house, built in 1901, had essentially been vacant for years and the family bought it in 1989 with an eye towards ultimately restoring it as a bed and breakfast.

As many other people learn quickly when such dreams run into the wall of reality, the costs and difficulties of restoration were way too costly and overwhelming for them to continue without finding ways ease the financial crunch of their dream restoration. This cookbook was one of their fundraising tools for their bed and breakfast-to-be.

Northeast Florida cuisine has a number of excellent cookbooks, most of them focusing on St. Johns county and St. Augustine in particular. Seasonal Florida stretches further in-land than the others and better encapsulates the community recipes that make up a long revered cuisine valued by generations of Floridians. Local families, many of whom can trace their ancestry to early settlers, quietly point to this book as the one to own if you love the culture and food of the is part of Florida.

The book touches on the many recipes that have been honed by area residents who have benefited from the bountious truck farms inland from St. Augustine in towns like Hastings, Spuds, etc. Nearly every part of the culinary lore is explored and the fundemental and best recipes for those areas are included here.

From Perlo (their spelling) to fried shrimp, to grits, to many area vegetable recipes, to Minorcan Clam Chowder, they have all the angles covered. The recipe for datil pepper sauce (made from a pepper said to grow only in St. Johns county) is worth the price of admission. "Bottled Hell" is a must-make for any self respecting Floridian.

Local restaurant favorites are also included including Gypsy Chicken from the famous Gypsy Cab Company along with their recipe for Tamari Salad.

This cook book is not easy to find and I bought my copy at my local libary's semi-annual book sale. I have supplied a link for it in My Favorites section on the left side of this blog . If you love northeast Florida and its cuisine, you simply must own this book.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce: try this for a sure hit on Thanksgiving

In the mid-90's, my friend, Gail Carr, prepared Cranberry-Orange Sauce at an outdoor Thanksgiving dinner at the Carr farm in Micanopy. Frankly, it stopped me in my tracks and I have prepared it for every Thanksgiving since then to consistent applause. If you do not try this dish, you will "need to have your head examined." This recipe is abundantly easy.


CRANBERRY-ORANGE SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 large orange or 2 tangerines
1 bag of cranberries, 12 oz.
1 package of frozen raspberries in syrup [NOTE: I have been having trouble getting the raspberries in syrup. They were once common, but in Gainesville, now impossible to locate. I suggest you consider using 3/4 cup of sugar or maybe even 1 cup.]
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons, fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons, orange flavored liquer such as Triple Sec

1. From the citrus fruit, zest 1 teaspoon of peel and squeeze 1/2 cup of juice

2. In saucepan, heat all ingredients (except the liqueur) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until most of the cranberries pop and the mixture thickens slightly. Stir as needed.

3. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the liqueur.

4. Stir into serving bowl and refrigerate for three hours before serving.

CLEMSON BLUE CHEESE: MEASURED BY EYE, CUT BY HAND

Somewhere in my reading, I came across mention of Clemson Blue Cheese, a artisanal blue cheese manufactured by Clemson University students and professors. I made a mental note to procure some when stopping to visit my friends Carol and Paul in Walhalla, SC. This September, I was finally successful in bringing some home in a cooler and was pleasantly surprised in the taste and quality of the cheese.

For me, blue cheese is tasty but a bit on the sharp, salty, and bitter side for me to have often. Clemson Blue Cheese, on the other hand, is smooth as silk, tangy and is the obverse of most blue cheeses that have left me less than satisfied.

In the early 40's, an imaginative agriculture professor at Clemson came up with an idea to use a railroad tunnel under Stumphouse Mountain to cure cheese. The tunnel had been started and stopped before the Civil War as a means of connecting Charleston ports with the markets of the mid-West. The tunnel, naturally moist from infusions of warm surface air into the cool confines of the tunnel was ideal for curing blue cheese.

Agricultural researchers began small-lot manufacture to experiment with the concept of using milk from Brown Swiss and Holstein Clemson dairy herds to produce and cure blue cheese. Later, after their techniques were perfected, all manufacture was done on campus and curing was moved on-campus into air-conditioned rooms that mimiced the cool, moist air of the tunnel.

This "roquefort-style" blue cheese is tangy and smooth and an absolute delight. It is produced in 288 gallon vats making batches of 240 pounds each which are then salted, waxed and aged for over 6 months. The cheese is then "measured by eye and cut by hand" so that each wheel will vary slightly in weight and size. Because it is an artisanal cheese made in small batches, each lot of cheese may vary slightly in color and taste.

I highly recommend that you try this cheese. Their production is understandably limited so the availability in that part of South Carolina will vary, but Clemson Blue Cheese can be found served on campus and in a number of local restaurants. The cheese is also available on-line at http://www.clemsonbluecheese.com/. It is not cheap, but it is hand-made, hand-cut, and delicious to anyone's palatte. Order some. You won't regret it.

Bon appetit, ya'll.

Source: http://www.clemsonbluecheese.com/