Our newsletter competition will be closing on Friday 5th Aug 2011 at 17.00.  Please get all your entries in by this date to have a chance of winning a selection of Shepherds Purse Cheeses.

Good luck!

Judy, Caroline, Amy and I made the trip over to Cheshire on Tuesday for Trade Day of the Nantwich International Cheese Show.

This is fantastic event, with entries peaking at well over 3000 cheeses from all across the world.  To see all the exhibits is really breath taking and I really admire the judges, as I’m sure it is an incredibly difficult task!

We have been entering the awards since 1989 and have seen the show grow every year to the phenomal size it is today.  Every year our cheeses manage to scoop a mixture of Bronze, Silvers and Golds and every year we feel incredibly proud of what the Shepherds Purse team achieve.

This year certainly was no exception as we scooped Silver for Bluemin White and a Bronze with Olde York.  A fabulous achievement, particularly as we are one of the smaller producers who enter.

I also have to say well done to Amy who successfully managed to stage our entries on the Monday. This can be an overwhelming job, even for a seasoned exhibitor (let alone a rookie)!  And a task which Judy has performed for the past 21years alone!

Overall we had a great day and it has highlighted we have very exciting times ahead as we develop Shepherds Purse and our range.

Katie

xx

We are extremely pleased to have won the Consumer Taste Award at the Great Yorkshire Show.  Yorkshire Blue was voted First in the Dairy class for taste and quality.

It’s always nice to win these types of awards but we are especially please with this accolade as it was voted for by the general public.  We would like to thank everyone that voted for Yorkshire Blue!

Judy x

For me this year, the Great Yorkshire Show started on the Sunday – so even busier than usual!  I was there to help Jayne Hickinbotham and her heroic team organise the cheese competition for the following day.  It was a really interesting, exhausting but enjoyable experience.  It’s amazing the amount of work that goes into these events.

On Monday morning we continued with the final preparations before judging began.  Sue and I wrapped all the retail products in wax paper so the judges could not distinguish them.  These were then all added to their classes.

For the afternoon I was taking on a new role for me – as a Steward! At around one o’clock all the new stewards were given instructions and the protocol for the rest of the afternoon.  I was in a group with two other judges – Brian and Sian.  We were given a selection of cheese classes, which we were to spend the rest of the afternoon judging.  The main areas of focus were presentation, body and texture, flavour, aroma and how true the cheese was to type.  Many hours later we had completed our task – but unfortunately we didn’t get have a cheese on the Champions table.

With this year being the 10^th Anniversary of the cheese competition at the GYS it was marked with a new award sponsored by the Patron of the Specialist Cheese Makers Association, HRH Prince Charles.  The Award is for a product, which the judges regard as exceptional.  This was only awarded to four products this year.  We were also fortunate enough to have a personal visit from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on the Wednesday.  They spent some time in the cheese hall and then made their way through the Deliciously Yorkshire area – pausing to taste Yorkshire Fettle from our stand on the way!

On the Tuesday morning, I assisted Robert Taylor (from Swinton Park Cookery School) with a cookery demonstration in the Deliciously Yorkshire cookery theatre.  We made three of the recipes Robert has created using Shepherds Purse Cheeses – Warm pitta breads stuffed with spinach, olives and Yorkshire Fettle, Bruschetta with chorizo, sun-blushed tomatoes topped with Yorkshire Fettle with herbs, and Spiced fig tart topped with a lovely ripe Bluemin White cheese.

All of these recipes are available on our website.

It was great working alongside Robert again and a big thank you to Amanda who handed the food around the audience.  I’m looking forward to the next event!

Judy x

Last week Justin and I (Amy!) spent the week at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.  This is an event we do every year which gives us the chance to meet people and get them trying our full range of cheeses.  We attend the show as part of Deliciously Yorkshire and they do an amazing job at organising this for us – it all runs so smoothly!

On the first day, Judy launched our new range of recipes with Rob from Swinton Park at the Deliciously Yorkshire show theatre – but I’ll let her tell you all about that!

On the second day Prince Charles and Camilla attended the show and we had the chance to meet Camilla and let her sample our cheese.  As she stopped at our stand we offered her a samples of Yorkshire Fettle and got into the story of how we can no longer call it Yorkshire Feta.  She seemed genuinely interested and left with 3 of our cheeses in her hamper!

The show was fantastic.  We got to meet so many people who buy our cheese and new people to convert to Shepherds Purse!  Hope to see you all again next year!

Amy x

If you have been reading my previous blogs you will know that I recently spent the morning on the radio talking about Shepherds Purse and in particular Yorkshire Blue.  During one of my interviews ‘Cheeky Daz’ from Big City Radio in Birmingham spoke to me about coming up to our Farm to be a cheese maker for the day.

Well, we made this happen and Daz has created a video of his day.

Judy x

I travelled down to Wales on Sunday having booked into the Baskerville Hall Hotel in Clyro Hay on Wye – a place with some history!  Thomas Baskerville, a distant relation to the Dukes of Normandy, built the hall in 1839.  Arthur Conan Doyle was a friend of the family who often stayed and during his visits he learnt about the local legend of the hounds of the Baskervilles.  It is reputed that on nearby Hergest Ridge he translated this into probably the most famous case of his well-known detective Sherlock Holmes.  However, at the request of his friends he set his book in Devon to ‘ward off tourists’.

The accommodation was extremely comfortable and there were a number of other judges and exhibitors staying there too.

Monday morning we set off just after seven as we were a little way off the show ground at Builth Wells and we has to report into the Chief Steward by 8.45.  I was given all the Territorial Cheese classes to judge and then the Speciality classes, as the lady who due to judge had been held up.  At the end of all our judging my group had four cheeses on the Championship Table – a Double Gloucester, Cheddar and two Brie style cheeses.  It was a tough decision but the cloth bound Double Gloucester had the edge and took Supreme Champion!

After lunch with the other judges and stewards, I said my farewells and set off back to Stoke-on-Trent to meet up with friends and spend the rest of the week on their narrow boat.  We travelled back up North on the canals through Congleton, Macclesfield and up to Marple.  I had a relaxing few days learning about locks and various types of bridges!  I have never seen so many herons and especially with so little fear of the people on boats!

Judy x

We recently had a visit to Shepherds Purse Cheeses from the The Glutton Club – a group a friends blogging about their love of food.  They came up to the Farm for a tour and to samples out full range of cheese.

We really enjoyed the day – it’s great talking to people with a passion for food.  Here’s their blog of how they got on during the day – www.gluttonclub.co.uk

Judy x

Last night I attended a Yorkshire themed evening held by Safe & Sound Homes (SASH) in St Michael’s Church York.  The SASH team explained to the audience of supporters the impact of the work they do, which includes finding accommodation for youngsters between the ages of 16 and 21 in the Yorkshire region.  It was a fantastic evening including entertainment, quizzes and once again Simon (the sushi guru!) produced a wonderful selection of Yorkshire-inspired sushi – which proved extremely popular!

A great charity and wonderful evening!

To find out more about Safe and Sound Homes please visit their website – www.safeandsoundhomes.org.uk

Judy x

I met Simon Phillips, the sushi guru and consultant chef, through an introduction from Swinton Park Cookery School.  He is currently developing a range of Yorkshire-inspired sushi dishes and came up to the farm for some inspiration.  We had a wonderful morning experimenting with different combinations of textures and flavours and managed to develop nine new recipes ideas.

Simon has also decided to use some of these dishes in his work with the Vegetarian Society.

Here is what we created:

‘Yorkshire Blue’ with fresh asparagus and a chopped chive coating.

‘Yorkshire Blue’ with red pepper, fresh rocket and a Japanese crumb coating.

‘Basilano’ with roasted red peppers, Italian artichoke hearts and a chopped walnut coating.

‘Olde York’ with fresh strawberries and a white sesame seed coating.

‘Olde York’ with mango, celery and a chopped pistachio nut coating.

‘Bluemin White’ with figs and a poppy seed coating.

‘Katy’s White Lavender’ with sundried tomatoes, sweet potato and a black sesame & cracked black peppercorn coating.

‘Yorkshire Blue’ with pancetta, chives and a mustard seed coating.

‘Olde York’ with smoked salmon, dill pickle and a fresh, chopped dill coating.

For further information on creating your own sushi, teaching courses and catering please visit Simon’s website – www.simonphillips-sushi.co.uk

Judy x