Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Demo Days and New Places to Find Us


After the heavy dose of production days in November, this month is weighted mostly toward affinage (taking care of the cheese as it ripens) and marketing.

Each Friday and Saturday of December I've been out to one of our vendors for demonstrations, wrapping up this weekend. First was Surdyk's and the Saint Peter Co-op, and last weekend was The Wedge and Lakewinds in Chanhassen and Minnetonka. This Friday I'll be at the Linden Hills Co-op from three-to-six, and Seward Co-op Saturday from 11-2.

I really relish the demo sessions. First, I get immediate feedback from a large cross-section of tasters, and, almost as important, I'm able to visit with the cheesemongers who have had a huge bearing on our success. I am so impressed with the passion and dedication of those attracted to selling fine cheese.

Without a doubt, my fondest and longest-lived remembrances of this month's sampling will surely be the days when Alex joined me. The past two Saturdays, she volunteered to come along and help. A self-described "drama nerd", it took her all of a minute to commit our spiel to memory.

On both days, I would venture off to explore the store from time to time, and, invariably, upon my return, our cheese for sale was a piece or two lighter. Looks like the girl's a natural.

In addition to Lakewinds, you can also now find Bent River in Le Sueur at the Friendly Confines Cheese Shoppe, at Harbo Cider between Mankato and Lake Crystal (next to Welsh Heritage Farms), and coming soon to Cub Foods West, right here in Mankato. In fact, I've just confirmed a sampling session there Thursday the 24th from one-to-three.

Also, Birchwood Cafe in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis has added our cheese to their rotational menu. I've not yet eaten there, but the menu, which changes weekly, looks fantastic.

1 comment:

Alexandra Adams said...

Dad I believe it is "theatre geek" thank you very much.