I’m Jackie and I live on a small farm in Western Pennsylvania where I raise old-fashioned Milking Devon cattle. This farm evolved from my frustration with America’s industrialized food system. Auburn Meadow Farm is a living experiment in sustainability and humility. And deliciousness.

The farm is in a rural community called West Middlesex, a little over one hour north-west of Pittsburgh. It’s a Walmart sort of town, but our more upscale local grocery chain attempts a fine cheese case. You have to check regularly, as sometimes there are random treasures, but most of the time, the cheeses are safe, pre-cut & wrapped and completely misunderstood by their caretakers.

Hello, everyone. My name is Anne, and I’m a freelance writer based in Chicago. I’ve been writing about food and wine, restaurants, performing arts, culture, and travel for longer than I care to admit.

Hi, I'm John from Maryland.

Was it a premature birth? I was really pleased to find out that I was selected as one of the cheese tasters for Jasper Hill's new cheese. Received the cheese this past weekend and first impression upon opening the box was WOW, three large wedges and such nice color and unusual rind, but each
piece looked pretty much the same except maybe for wedge size.

My wife and I thought, well maybe they are aged differently.

I rarely measure my ingredients and even when I do… it’s “sorta” that amount. Today, while watching The Players’ Championship, I made a mac n cheese using the 111228 sample, which was the largest of the three I received.

Here’s what I did:

It’s thrilling to be a part of Birth of a Cheese 2012 and want to thank Culture Magazine and Jasper Hill Farm for this opportunity.

With the cheese came a questionnaire to fill out with initial reactions to appearance, aroma, texture and taste. Wanting to impress, I found that challenging. Hopefully, the good folks at Jasper Hill won’t shake their heads and wonder about choosing me, “What were we thinking?”

Most of the cheese I taste is at the peak of its age and as the cheese maker wanted it enjoyed. To taste young cheese and then “follow” its aging is a special treat.
The three samples were in various stages of aging; all young; all on the way to becoming cheese… let me rephrase that… all on the way to becoming great cheese.

Hello! I'm Emily, a seventh grader from Los Angeles. I admit, I am probably the least experienced of the group, but a chance to try new and exciting cheeses just can't be ignored, no matter what your age or experience level. I am a teeny bit kooky, a twin, a bleu cheese lover, a bad cook, a fairly good writer, and now an official teenager.

So let's get right down to it... last night I opened three cheeses from Jasper Hill. Each came wrapped in brown paper so aside from the rough shape, all of us receiving these new cheeses had no idea what to expect.

First Impressions

What greeted us were three samples, each obviously the same cheese yet... not... exactly.

Hi everybody! My name is Chris and I write the Artisan & Farmstead cheese blog Wedge in the Round: http://wedgeintheround.com/

Someday I hope to own my own shop. For now I eat, write, eat, eat and write a little then eat more cheese. I enjoy shooting pics of cheese, food and wine in general.

I'll be blogging my impressions of Jasper Hill's new cheese here at Culture. I cannot say thank you enough to Culture and Jasper Hill for selecting me to be a tester this year.

Three generous wedges arrived yesterday and I'm about to dive in for the first time. I'll let you know my first impressions soon.

Cheers!

Chris