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| Laine Crandall showed how to milk a goat |
The SVDGA celebrates Goat Education Day every year in the Spring, with a wide variety of workshops and demonstrations. This year it included a Parasite Talk, a Showmanship Talk/Demo, a Basic Genetic Talk, a Cheese Making Demo/Tasting and demonstrations of Hoof Trimming, Disbudding and Tattooing.
Two of my neighbors (from Montague, Massachusetts) gave the cheese demonstration. Kathy Burek and Alice Armen showed the crowd how to make chevre. (I did an article about Kathy in 2011 - click here)
It was a chilly morning, so we bundled up.
Alice and Kathy had set out several good books, including the first edition of our book, Home Cheese Making which was originally called "Cheesemaking Made Easy."
Kathy had brought samples of her flavored chevres and there were several flavored fromage blancs from Laine Crandall's farm in Cropseyville, New York. The logs were made by Terry Terrell of Featherstone Farm in New Hampshire.
Kathy began by speaking about why she and Alice had learned the art of cheese making (primarily because they needed a way to use their goats' milk).
They asked volunteers to help add the culture and rennet to the milk.
There would be a long wait for the curds to separate from the whey, so they had brought a pot of curds ready to be drained.
A young volunteer stirred the curds.
Alice demonstrated how to place the curds in the molds.
Kathy explained that she drains her curds in a colander with butter muslin.
When they were finished, Kathy served the samples (that is not her usual beautiful smile!) and it was time for the next demonstration.
If you ever get a chance to go to Goat Education Day or any of the other events at the SVDGA, I highly recommend it.
Looks like it was a good time!
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