Today I met up with Andrea McKenzie (our PR master) at the Royal Oak Pub in Ripon. We weren’t having a “liquid” lunch but this was the chosen setting for our latest photo shoot!

Our cheeses have been selected by Timothy Taylor (Master Brewers) to star on the cheeseboards, actually they have chosen ALL Shepherds Purse cheeses for their new menus in their chain of fine dining pubs, which will be going live for Valentines Day!

So along with Andrea, I met Adrian Sykes who is the Food Development manager for Timothy Talyors and has championed this idea from the start. Also with us, were James O’Dwyer from Just Desserts and his Sales Manager, Kate Foxon. Just Desserts have been working with Timothy Taylor to create a fantastic cake incorporating their Championship Landlord pale ale….Scrumptious!!!

The idea was to get some great publicity shots of cheese, ale and cake for the launch next week.

Dan Oxtoby was chief photographer, with Andrea making a very glamorous assistant!

After spending ¾ of an hour deciding how the products should be displayed, and where in the Royal Oak had the best lighting, we got under way.

Dan made us all feel really relaxed and although my jaw was hurting from so much smiling, I think we got some great pictures in front of the pub, behind the bar and in front of the wood burning stove.

A really productive afternoon and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the shots in the Press over the next few weeks.

Katie

xx

Our Christmas gift box is now available to buy on the website.  Please have a look at “Given To Distracting Others” fantastic blog about what it contains, how the cheeses taste and the best way to consume them!

http://giventodistractingothers.blogspot.com/2011/11/shepherds-purse-cheeses-launch.html

Deliciouslyorkshire held the 7^th Annual Food & Drink Awards in a marquee at Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate on Monday night.  The marquee looked spectacular – a myriad of tiny lights glistening like stars, which created a magical atmosphere!

The Champagne cocktail drinks reception with canapés set the tone for what was a wonderful wine and dining experience.  The whole menu consisted of fantastic produced sourced from those companies shortlisted for an award and was prepared and served by the skilful team at Rudding Park under the watchful eye of their Executive Chef Stephanie Moon.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Nick Stafford (Hambleton Ales) and Nigel Barden (Radio 2), consisted of twenty awards for the best local food and drink.  The evening’s winners were as follows:

Confectionery:- Sciolti Chocolates – Serious Ginger Thins.

Fish and Seafood:- Whitby Seafish – Oak Smoked Salmon.

Ready to Eat Product:- Yorkshire Crisp Company – Lamb & Mint  Crisps.

Drink:- Raisthorpe Manor Fine Foods – Sloe Port.

Fresh Produce:-  Parkers Veg – Seasonal selection.

Dairy:- Shepherds Purse Cheeses – Monks Folly.

Sweet Preserve:- Mercers for Yorkshire – Strawberry Preserve.

Savoury Condiment:- Fruity Kitchen – Redcurrant Jelly.

Meat Product:- Moss Valley Fine Meats – Hot Smoked Cured Pork Belly.

Bakery Product:- Little Barn – Yorkshire Ale Cake.

Best Distributor of Local Products:- Delifresh.

Best Exporter:-  AL Simpkin.

Best Retailer:-  Keelham Farm Shop.

Best Yorkshire Breakfast:- Scaife Hall.

Best Fresh Meat,:- Swillington Organic Farm – Organic Chicken.

Best Use of Local Produce on a Menu:- The Black Swan at Ostead.

Best New Product:- Raisthorpe Manor Fine Foods – Slow Port.

Outstanding Newcomer 2011-2012:- Howardian Hebrideans.

Consumers Choice Award 2011-2012:- Boozy Infusions – Jamaican Ginger Cake.

The Deliciouslyorkshire Champion 2011-2012 awarded to Tim Bilton, who is a great ambassador for locally produced foods.

As you may have notice above, we were delighted to be awarded the Best Dairy Product for Monks Folly.  This is our naturally mould ripened, creamy log made from locally sourced cows milk.  Its matured for nine to ten weeks which gives it a soft, smooth texture, leaving a sweet buttery finish on the palate.  Over the past two years the quality of this cheese has received numerous accolades and this coming month it will be on sales nationally in Morrisons.

The evening was wrapped up with live music giving everyone the opportunity to have a good dance.  The whole event was fantastic and Deliciouslyorkshire will have to go some to out do themselves next year!

Judy x

After hours, I’m a keen cheesemaker and in my day-job, I’m always trying to get customers to break out and try a new cheese – after all, there’s plenty to choose from – over 700 cheeses are made on British soil.

My theory is that people become so stuck on cheddar (or anti-blue or A.N. Other cheese) because they just haven’t tried many other cheeses. Or, they had one cheese once that they didn’t like and hey presto! That becomes a generic “I don’t like sheep’s cheese.”

Right, and that’s all sheep’s cheese, for the rest of your life? Then, I cut them some Yorkshire Blue to try – and they’re genuinely surprised, telling me it’s full of flavour, moist and not sharp. And it’s blue. Oh…and try this Olde York…shhhh…did I mention it’s a sh**ps cheese?! Minds (and palates) are like parachutes…they only work when they’re open.

Just down the road from where I grew up, there’s an innovative, award-winning artisan team, who’ve been making cheese for over twenty years, going from strength to strength. Thanks to Judy and the team at Shepherd’s Purse, I recently had the chance to spend the day learning more about making high quality artisan cheese on a larger scale. It was an Olde York day and a great opportunity to see how it’s done, as well as getting stuck in, salting, turning and waxing (er, cheese that is). We won’t mention my attempts at hand-wrapping! Practice makes perfect?

Business has expanded considerably since Judy started out experimenting with sheep’s cheese and these days Shepherds Purse make ewes milk, cows milk – and even buffalo milk cheeses too. I really admire the way that SPC have retained their connection with the original North Yorkshire site where it all began, just out of Thirsk.

Other than their great products (I like them all, but personal favourites at the moment are the Yorkshire Blue (soft and subtle) and (silky and nut-buttery) Monks Folly), the team’s ongoing passion for cheese and enthusiasm for making new cheeses really struck me. Thanks everyone for hosting a cheese-tastic day!

The Cheesemongrel

Shepherds Purse Cheeses first became involved in the Family Ties Business in 2010 when Andrea (our PR guru) entered our business for an award.  Unfortunately due to other commitments no one from the family could attend the ceremony but Andrea kindly offered to represent us.  On the night she collected the Red Ribbon Small Family Business of the Year Award.  On the back of this award Paul Andrews, Director of Family Business Place, asked if I would speak at the 2011 conference and of course I agreed!

The conference was held at The Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln Inn Square, London.  A great venue although I though it would maybe be little daunting speaking in an amphitheatre setting to a large audience of family businesses!  However, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and this settled my nerves quite quickly.

Throughout the day there was a total of fourteen speakers split across four sessions with time in-between for coffee and networking.  It was a fascinating collection of speakers from companies such as Stevenson Brothers (Rocking Horse Makers), Rigby & Peller Corsetry (who hold a Royal Warrant) and Warburtons Family Bakers.  I spoke in the afternoon session about how I first established the company, the changes it has been through including the introduction of my children and where we are hopefully moving to in the future.  I really enjoyed myself!

The Red Ribbon Awards were announced around 4.30pm and the event was rounded off with drinks and another chance to chat with some fellow family business owners.  It was a wonderful day highlighting common values such as loyalty, trust and integrity which run through family business.  I will be booking my place for 2012!

Judy x

The 23^rd September was a very busy day for the Shepherds Purse Team and prior to it we had to toss a coin to decide who was going to be doing what…

There were 3 events, all on the same evening but at different locations in the UK, which we needed to attend.

1.  Yorkshire Post Taste Awards in York, where Bluemin White was shortlisted for the dairy category. Andrea Mackenzie (ABC Communications) was drafted in to attend this event and a blog on the event will follow shortly. I will only say that Bluemin White stole the show and was awarded Dairy Champion!

2.  A Cheese and Wine event in Yarm – only Judy was suitable for this event as she has such a discerning palate – Amy and I cannot match wines nearly as well as mum! Mums Blog will follow shortly detailing her evening.

3.  The British Cheese Awards Dinner in Cardiff – that only left Amy and Myself – we always get the long distance ones

So, Amy and I set off to Wales mid morning on the 23^rd September, intending to arrive in Cardiff by mid afternoon, which allowed us attend the trade afternoon at Cardiff Castle. This is for anyone who has a delicatessen, cheese shop or wholesales cheese and is definitely the place to be. The event showcases many specialist cheese makers and products – some fantastic new cheeses to be tasted and new cheese makers to meet – bliss! From Shepherds Purse’s view, it gave us the opportunity to catch up with our fellow cheese makers and catch up with some of our wholesalers and buyers. Cardiff Castle is a beautiful, historic location made even better by the wonderful weather!

From the trade afternoon Amy and I needed time to prepare for the Awards Dinner held at Cardiff City Hall (women’s prerogative)! We were advised prior to the event that 4 of our cheeses had been awarded Medals but had no idea which cheese had won what – the suspense…

After arriving at the City hall for a champagne reception, which settled our nerves in anticipation for the awards during the meal, we managed to grab a table with our good friends from Swaledale Cheese, Mandy and Sam as well the wonderful Rupert Holloway from London Cheeseboard. We all enjoyed lovely food and wine through the awards ceremony and despite no one on our table picking up a major award we found out that we had been awarded 3 silvers for Yorkshire Fettle, Monks Folly and Olde York and a bronze medal for Bluemin White. We were thrilled with the result.

The British Cheese Awards are really the Oscars for the cheese world. The judge’s only award medals to those products which are deemed worthy and from the 930 cheeses entered, only 30% were awarded a medal!

We are delighted for the whole team at Shepherds Purse for such a fantastic result. We are really proud to be flying the flag for Yorkshire produce and it’s great to get recognition from our industry colleagues.

The evening ended early for Amy and I– we heard that the after party continued on until the early hours at the Hilton but we had an early start on Saturday to Watch England  in the RWC!

Definitely worth the 4 ½ hour drive A fantastic weekend – roll on next year but it would be nice if it was a little closer to home!

Katie xx

I has recently given a interview to the daily tourism and lifestyle news website – Beautiful North Yorkshire.

Have a look at what I have to say about our wonderful county!

http://www.beautifulnorthyorkshire.com/2011/08/my-north-yorkshire-interview-with-judy.html

Have a look at this fantastic blog by AmazingPR who have just discovered Yorkshire Blue!

http://amazingpr.co.uk/blog/?p=1723

Judy x