Pioneer of Artisan Goat Cheese: Cypress Grove’s Founder MARY KEEHN

Pioneer of Artisan Goat Cheese: Cypress Grove’s Founder MARY KEEHN

Learn how a small time producer spearheaded America’s goat cheese segment.

When Mary Keehn, a single mother of four and self-proclaimed serious hippie, adopted two of her neighbor’s goats back in the 70s, she didn’t have a business plan, or any plan, to start her own business.

“My start was serendipic and an offshoot of the land movement of the 60s and 70s,” she says. “Back then, I made my kids’ clothes, had a big garden and raised goats for milk with which I made cheeses.”

It wasn’t until 1983 that Keehn created Cypress Grove with a $10,000 loan from her family.

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Artisan Goat Cheeses of New Mexico

With cheese from New Mexico, the environment makes the difference

Artisan Goat Cheeses of New Mexico

Extreme diversity distinguishes the southwest from other U.S. Regions. I-40 (old Route 66) splits the Southwest into two distinct environments: the northern divide has cool climates, tall pines and mountainous terrain, for example, in Santa Fe and Flagstaff. The southern divide is hot, flat and arid, like Albuquerque and Phoenix. A short one hour drive from Albuquerque to Santa Fe provides an unmistakable illustration of the difference in environment.

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Chèvre For The Season

Fresh chèvre takes advantage of spring produce

Chèvre For The Season

When people think about seasonal eating, fruits and vegetables are the first foods that spring to mind. There’s a world of difference between the plump ripe tomato plucked from the vine in July and the pale anemic import offered at the supermarket in the depths of winter. There are other produce changes in flavor and texture throughout the growing season — consider the new potatoes of early summer and their heftier autumn cousins, or compare the tender leaves of young kale to its robust, more mature version.
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The Evolution Of Laura Chenel

How a love of goats led to a cheese empire

The Evolution Of Laura Chenel

Laura Chenel’s was founded by its namesake in 1979, though starting a cheese company was not her initial goal. As a young woman, Chenel was someone who traveled a great deal and was an early adaptor of the belief that one should provide their own food. She grew and made what she could, and acquired some goats, too, in the process.

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Oregon’s Goldin Artisan Cheese

At Goldin Artisan Cheese, rustic, seasonal goat cheeses bring flavors of the Savoie to the Northwest 

Oregon’s Goldin Artisan Cheese

Childhood memories of local cheeses made in the Savoie region of the French Alps were a strong pull for Carine Goldin of Goldin Artisan Cheese, headquartered in Molalla, OR. Her formative years spent there with her cheese-loving grandmother, nearby dairy farms and creameries making local favorites like Tomme de Savoie, Raclette and Tome des Bauges stoked a taste for interesting, full-flavored cheese.

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Avalanche’s Hand Bandaged Goat Cheddar Slides to Success

Avalanche’s Hand Bandaged Goat Cheddar Slides to Success

It may be surprising to some that Aspen, CO-based Avalanche Cheese’s much lauded Hand Bandaged Goat Cheddar was inspired by not just traditional English Cheddars, but also Scottish cheesemakers.

Yet, it was 2006, the year Wendy Mitchell, the dairy’s co-founder and head cheesemaker spent living in Edinburgh, Scotland that served as the inspiration for this cheese.

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Discovering Lamb

One delicious taste can make all the difference

Discovering Lamb

A person’s first taste of lamb can be one of those great palate-changers, a moment when you realize there is a lot more for dinner than the same old steak. Fresh lamb shank, leg or loin has an earthy richness and complexity that can make a lot of beef and pork seem ho-hum by comparison.

Some rookies are introduced to lamb in the form of a rack or chop at white tablecloth establishments. Others have devoured a gyro with Feta or a curry dish at an Indian eatery without ever noticing that the craveable meat is lamb.

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Truffle Tremor

The cheesy dream of Mary Keehn

Truffle Tremor

Fresh Goat cheese and truffles. What a fabulous idea. Like bread and chocolate, wine and roses, it would make a beautiful coupling. Mary Keehn, proprietress of Cypress Grove Chevre, just knew it. “Once we had sourced a steady supply of truffles we went about making it. We were all so excited to try it. Goat cheese and truffles. How could it not be yummy?”

Until she took a taste.

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Vive La France!

Traditional French Goat Cheeses Meet Their Match With Unique Condiments

Vive La France!

Great pairings begin with great cheese. Great cheese sings, in both hushed and booming notes, enchanting us with its aesthetic, texture and flavor. A condiment plays a supporting role — it can help reveal what is already there, enhancing or adorning an existing characteristic. Occasionally a pairing makes something new and different, a third taste — a flavor that isn’t the cheese and isn’t the condiment but what emerges from the union of the two.

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