October is American Cheese Month, and we’re not just celebrating nostalgia-inducing Kraft singles. This month, cheesemakers, mongers, restaurants, and guilds are hosting a wealth of events to ensure that you taste, love, and learn about the diverse lactic luxuries this country has to offer. Here are a few ways you can join and celebrate with the cheese community this October! Be sure to search the web for events in your area starting with the American Cheese Month website. Can’t find anything close? You’ll just have to host your own American cheese themed gathering!
Join a Tasting
Restaurants and cheese shops host events where you can test your tastebuds and explore American originals. If you’re a Denver native, attend the American Cheese Month series from specialty shop Cheese + Provisions featuring treasures from Vermont, the West, the South, Wisconsin, and this year’s American Cheese Society award winners. San Francisco residents can enjoy a tasting menu planned by Cowgirl Creamery this October 14.
Take a Class
Ever want to learn how to make cheese? Aspire to whip up homemade cream cheese or perhaps leap into in-home affinage? Turophiles near Longmont, Colorado can master the basics with The Art of Cheese’s Feta & Queso Fresco class and build up to making their own manchego. Michiganders can join Zingerman’s Creamery and taste some of their favorite American made cheeses on October 27. In New England? Learn how to make and pair your own cheese plate at Formaggio’s Kitchen’s Cheese 101 class on October 23.
Photo Credit: Ali Harper
Tour a Farm
Curious about how your top cheese picks come to be? Tour a farm! If you’re in the Bay Area be sure to visit the California Cheese Guild event on October 23 at Giacomini Dairy in Point Reyes for a guided tour of the grounds followed by a tasting of California’s award-winning cheese, presented by their makers. For those of you near Maine, travel the state this October 9 for Open Creamery Day.
Photo Credit: Ronald Sumners | Shutterstock
Compete for Cheesy Glory
Awards for cheese creations aren’t just for the pros! Those in Little Rock, Arkansas, can compete in the World Cheese Dip Championship on October 22. Visiting my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan? Participate in The Cheese Lady’s Grilled Cheese Showdown on October 8.
And of course….
Photo Credit: Ganga Gurung, screenshot via Youtube.com
Eat Cheese!
Our Cheese Library is the perfect place to start.
Feature Photo Credit: The Melting Pot
Kara Kaminski-Killiany
Kara is a Michigan cheesemaker, writer, and freelance behavioral economist who can’t get enough bloomy rind cheeses that perfectly melt just below the rind. She is happiest when tending goats, discovering unique cheese flavors from new sources, and decoding the puzzles of human behavior.
