Good Cheese Here

I made some contact via email recently with a first cousin, once removed, offspring of 2nd generation cheesemakers in Ohio, who had spread out from my home town Hustisford, Wisconsin in the 1930s. I can still see in my mind's eye the original cheesemaker of the Radloff family, his name was Max P.E. and that is what we called him, as he drove around a 25 year old model A Ford in that faraway village I grew up in the 1940s. I think it had a rumble seat which was used for hauling stuff around. You could always hear it coming a long way off.

Anyway, the good folks at Grafton Village Cheese Company, near Brattleboro Vermont, run by cousin Adam, son of cousin Phil, son of Delbert, very graciously and generously sent me a half-wheel of a mixed cheese they call Grafton Duet, a layer of Vermont Cheddar coupled with some Minnesota Blue. Both were fairly mild and crumbly, even when brought to room temperature. as you can see in the picture above. Both are definitely edible by themselves but they go well together too. We sprinkled some on the salad and ate some more with relatively plain crackers, all washed down with some of the Willamette Valley of Oregon's marvelous King Estate Pinot Gris. Cheese always go better with wine, and vice versa of course. Give them a try.