The California Artisan Cheese Guild (CACG) has launched “Meet the Maker,” a new educational series / cheese community get-together that will feature different makers each month. Hosted on Zoom, the sessions will feature a 30-minute presentation by the cheesemaker, followed by a 30-minute Q&A. The first “Meet the Maker”—with Pat Ford, co-founder of Utah’s Beehive Cheese Co. (above)—is Thursday, April 7 from 7 to 8 p.m. PDT. According to the CACG, “Our hope is to build connection and community while creating learning opportunities for cheese people and real face time with cheesemakers.” Attendance is open to anyone who makes, sells, or loves cheese. For tickets and more information click here.

• LaClare Family Creamery has introduced Snacking Chèvre, a creamy and sweet soft goat cheese available in snack bags containing five 1-oz. individually wrapped medallions. All LaClare cheeses are made with milk from goat herds near the Wisconsin creamery.
• On Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. Crown Finish Caves is hosting weekly pop-up shops in the lobby of the historic Nassau Brewery in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The all-female staff will be giving away merch, scraping raclette, and more. Pick up some cheese for the weekend, and join fellow curd nerds to learn about the cheese magic that happens at this unique NYC space.
• After a two-year hiatus, the the California Artisan Cheese Festival returns on Saturday, May 7 at the Sonoma County Event Center in Santa Rosa. The 16th-annual, non-profit event brings together the state’s most beloved cheesemakers, cheese lovers, farmers, and artisan food producers, and funds raised support the agricultural community. Learn more and buy tickets here. 
• The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium is accepting entries for the 2022 Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge. The second-annual competition challenges professional designers and design students to create product concepts that elevate the rituals of cooking and eating, with the dishes of two award-winning chefs serving as inspiration.
• Chrissy Teigen thinks that your dog deserves to share in the cheese and charcuterie trend, and showed her Instagram followers how to create a “paw-some barkcuterie board.” The well-balanced board includes cheese slices cut into dog bone shapes, veggies, fruit, biscuits, and “ranch” dip made with plain yogurt and fresh herbs. Mashed has more on the dos and don’ts of barkuterie here.
• NCWV Life Magazine profiled FireFly Farms, co-owned by Mike Koch and Pablo Solanet, and co-creators, along with Crown Finish Caves, of Carpenter’s Wheel, the Centerfold in our Innovation Issue.

Photo courtesy of California Artisan Cheese Guild

Susan Axelrod

Susan Sherrill Axelrod is a former editor of Culture. Her love affair with cheese began at age 12, when she bicycled to a gourmet shop to taste an exotic newcomer—French brie. She lives with her partner in midcoast Maine, where she enjoys a well-made cocktail, hiking with their dog, Lucy, and spending as much time as possible on the water.