Jeanne Carpenter runs one of my favorite blogs, Cheese Underground. Since early 2006, she's been documenting artisan cheesemakers in Wisconsin and writing about them. She visits the dairies herself, samples up-and-coming cheeses, and uses her blog to introduce readers to people like Andy Hatch, maker of Pleasant Ridge Reserve -- one of the state's most lusted-after cheeses.
This month, Carpenter released the first Wisconsin Artisan Cheesemaker calendar, featuring the beautiful photographs of Rebecca Dilley. You can get a jump on your holiday shopping by ordering a copy online at Wisconsin Cheese Originals or by picking one up at Fromagination in Madison.
Andy Hatch probably never thought he'd be a calendar cover model, but there he is, grinning skyward, half a wheel of Pleasant Ridge in hand. He doesn't look a day over 27, proving that creamy milk really does make for creamy skin? The calendar also showcases Limburger man Myron Olson and the awesome muscles of Dreamfarm's Diana Murphy.
A portion of the calendar's proceeds will go toward a cheesemaker scholarship.
Tenaya Darlington blogs about cheese at Madame Fromage.
