Perhaps one of the biggest local events of the Summer, the Annual Ann Arbor Art Fair is rapidly approaching.  And this year, we will be there showing off our very own Art Fare- Zingerman’s Creamery Gelato.  We will be in front of the historic Michigan Theater for the whole time, slinging handmade gelato, sandwiches made with our cheese, brownies from the Bakehouse, and other ZIngerman’s products.  Check us out if you want a tasty treat to cool you down as you browse through all of the amazing art!

Art Fare Contest

We will be running a fun contest during “Art Fare” Week with some tasty prizes for the winners.  If you visit our booth in front of Michigan Theater for a scoop of gelato, you will receive a coupon for our Cheese Shop.  To be entered, all you need do is bring the coupon to the Cheese Shop.  You’re welcome to use it to buy 3 gelati for the price of 2 but, no purchase is necessary to be entered into the contest.  There is a map on the back just in case you’ve never been to the Creamery before.  We are just a scones throw away from the State St. exit of I-94.

We will be giving away a $50 Zingerman’s Gift Card to the 1st Place winner, a 6-pack of Gelato delivered to your door for 2nd Place, or a special “Art Fare” t-shirt for 3rd/4th/5th Place.

The winners will be announced on the front page of the website on 7/20/09.

Good luck!

Fresh Goat Cheese

This month we’ve been really focused on our fresh goat cheeses.  The milk we get from the McDonald farm has been just fabulous lately and it really shines in the fresh cheeses.  There really is a tremendous difference in flavor between the extremely fresh milk and goat milk that is even just a few days old.  We’re very lucky to be able to get our hands on such fresh milk.

To help celebrate this fantastic cheese, we will be featuring it in the Cheese Shop at a very special price:

Fresh Goat Cheese  $10.99/lb.

We also have a great Harissa and Fresh Goat Cheese spread for $11.99/lb.

Farmer’s Market

The Farmer’s Market has been going strong and we’re excited for the rest of the summer.  Mike B. is at both the Wednesday and Saturday Kerrytown Markets and the Westside Farmer’s Market in the Roadhouse parking lot, and every week the stalls are brimming a little more with fresh produce and other goodies.

• Every Wednesday from 7:00 am – 3:00 pm    Kerrytown Market
• Every Thursday from 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm     Westside Farmer’s Market (at the Roadhouse)
• Every Saturday from 7:00 am – 3:00 pm     Kerrytown Market

We also are extremely excited to announce that we will be at the Eastern Market in Detroit, beginning on July 18th.  The details are not fully fleshed out quite yet, but stay tuned for more info to come!

Great Lakes Cheshire

When we think of Cheshire we think of the crumbly, light peach colored cheese of Shropshire, England. All right, most everyone else thinks of a grinning cat, but in the cheese world, Cheshire is exemplified by the Appleby’s of Shropshire. Many more years ago than I care to admit, I was able to spend time making a cheese near Fishgard, Wales with a great cheese maker who, having tired of his role in the symphony in Manchester, purchased a farm and set out to make cheese in the remote, rain drenched Welsh coastline. Leon Downey resurrected and refined an old Cheshire recipe, which yielded slightly different results than the usual Cheshire. The recipe had disappeared during World War II due to its fast ripening nature and the government’s inability to rapidly distribute the cheese during those food-rationing years. Our first batches of this raw milk, aged cheese is now ready for eating. The cheese has a slight tartness that goes very well with chutney or preserves on Zingerman’s Bakehouse Farm bread.

Sometimes you just want a brick of good cheddar to melt into mac’n’cheese and eat in your pjs.  At the Creamery we enthusiastically applaud and encourage this action.  Our 1-derful 1-year old Vermont cheddar selected just for us at Grafton Village, for example, would do just the trick.  But sometimes you want to throw a little party, show off your connoisseur skills and kick it up a notch.  We want to help you do that too.  There are quite a few gems on our dry goods shelf which, paired with the right cheeses, make for a quite a fancy little feast.  Here are just a few suggestions!

-Rip and dip Paesano bread from the Bakehouse into our buttery, affordable, conveniently packaged Travel Olive Oil.  Better yet, call ahead and request that we whip you up a batch of bocconcini, the miniature mozzarella balls we love to drizzle in olive oil, sprinkle with black Tellicherry pepper, and pop into our mouths with a hunk of bread or all by themselves.

-Make one of our snowy-white, double-cream Bridgewater rounds the centerpiece of your cheese tray.  Surrounded by thin, crispy Carr’s crackers, the black pepper flecks throughout the cheese will provide just the right amount of color and kick.

-Spread or crumble our fresh City Goat chevre onto your next pizza pie, and while you’re at it, pick up a tube of our yummy, salty Anchovy Paste from Parma (a steal at just $5.99/tube), and you’ll have a mighty dressed-up pizza in no time.

-For a brunch treat, spread toasted Bakehouse Farm bread with our award-winning traditional cream cheese, then top it off with a dab of spicy-sour orange marmalade.  Cheese loves a bit of sophisticated citrus.

-Stick a split baguette, cut into fourths and topped with our ultra-creamy Manchester cheese and sweet piquillo peppers, under the broiler just for a minute or two: a scrumptious twist on bruscetta.

-Pair our smooth, goat’s milk Detroit Street Brick with a jar of bright green Lucques olives.  The Brick is studded with cracked and whole green peppercorns and covered with a fluffy white earthy rind.  Its melt-in-your-mouth paste balances the firm meat of the olive.

-Liptauer cheese – our fresh, tart farm cheese mixed with spicy Hungarian paprika, capers, caraway, garlic and a bit of anchovy from our dry goods shelf – is my choice for best a quick and impressive appetizer option when matched with the Bakehouse’s soft pretzels or a no-nonsense bread like Pumpernickel or Rye.  The pepper in this spread keeps giving, long after you’ve taken your last bite.  Your guests will adore you.

-Or skip the appetizers and just stroll down to the gelato case for a classy dessert.  A scoop of Hazelnut would do the trick.  Garnish it with a sprig of mint, or with berries later in the summer.  (If there’s any left over the morning after your soiree, put it on top of your waffles at breakfast.  Yippee!)

Thanks for reading!

Adina