What a fun day at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland! DPI Specialty Foods, a national specialty food distributor, sponsored a food show and I was lucky enough to be invited. This was my second DPI Food Show (you can read about my first DPI Food Show by clicking here); a chance to hangout with many of my Cheese Swell friends from Lassa Skinner of Culture Magazine to Tim Smith of Faribault Caves, the oldest cheese caves in the US, to Rachel, Brian and Anna of Madison Lane to Julia Powers of McKenna Marketing to David Diteman of Willis Marketing and many, many more.
My cheese friends, Doug Ownby, DPI’s Perishable Merchandising Specialist, and Monty Laursen, Fred Meyer’s Division Cheese Specialist, and I walked the aisles saying hello to other cheese friends from all over the country; tasting cheese, pizza, cookies and all sorts of great specialty foods.
This picture is with Emily Morgan of Ancient Heritage Dairy... turns out we have a “Mutual Admiration Society” thing going: I love her cheeses and she loves my blog… 
We started at Willapa Hills Farmstead and Artisan Cheese, chatting with Owner, Amy Turnbull, and tasting her wonderful, seasonal Willapa White, a fresh sheep milk cheese that simply melts in your mouth. It’s creamy with just a touch of tang… as my mother would say, “It’s luscious.” Definitely a 4 Paws cheese…
From there we stopped to chat with Michael Meadows of Atalanta where I got my picture taken with the Beemster Cheese cows… which I will post when Beemster sends it to me… I also snagged a Beemster apron and golf towel. Woohoo!!! 
At the Rogue Creamery booth, Tim Healy treated us to their new mozzy, Roguella… from their fourth batch… it will be on the market soon… as usual, another creamy, tasty 4 Paws cheese made by our good friends, Cary Bryant and David Gremmels. Check out Spaulding’s interview with David.
Next we stopped at the Jana Foods booth and tasted Ivy’s Vintage Reserve Cheddar, a mature farmhouse cheddar made in Somerset, England at Wyke Farms. Using Grandmother Ivy’s recipe, the Clothier Family has been making cheddars since 1861. As many of you know, we’re big cheddar fans here at the manse and I fell in love with this cheese. It’s nutty, just a hint of sweetness… what can I say… it’s another award-winning 4 Paws cheese… well that and gotta get me some of that cheddar and bring it home for The Man to taste as well.
Mike Hatch, VP of Sales at Champignon North America, introduced us to Rougette Bavarian Red, a washed rind triple cream. Made with milk from the Allgau region of Germany, Rougette is mild, creamery and buttery, a perfect introduction to a washed rind cheese. The red rind is the color of natural paprika extract. I know I’ve said it before… yep, another 4 Paws cheese from the same folks who make Cambozola Black.
We met Kelly of Kelly’s Jelly and were treated to her Voodoo Doughnut injected with her Strawberry Habanero Jelly. Oh man… what a treat…serious treat. Every Thursday, Voodoo Doughnuts feature a jelly doughnut filled with one of Kelly’s Habanero Jellies. The pairing of the strawberry and the habanero tucked into a raised Voodoo… you, too, can enjoy these every Thursday at 22 SW 3rd… cash only; but they do have an ATM, for your convenience…
Monty and I then attended a chocolate seminar with Kim Rothrock of DeZaan Gourmet Chocolates. Kim took us through a tutorial of how to use a chocolate sauce that melts at 95 degrees to make all kind of chocolate-coated goodies. Did you know that cocoa only grows within 15 degrees of the equator which requires chocolate producers to practice sustainable farming. If not, within thirty years, there will be no more chocolate and I, for one, would hate to live in a world without chocolate… just sayin’…
After the chocolate seminar, we met Emily Morgan, the Sales and Marketing Director at Ancient Heritage Dairy. She treated us to several of the wonderful cheeses made here in Oregon from sheep milk cheese. In addition to Hannah, we tasted Valentine, a bloomy rind sheep milk cheese that was creamy and grassy; Juniper, a washed rind cow milk cheese with both savory and lemony notes with just a bit of pungent aroma; Willow Creek, another washed rind with fruity and grassy flavors with a smooth finish and Opal Springs, the third washed rind with the earthiness and mushroomy funk of a more robust cheese. All amazing cheeses which all deserve Spaulding’s 4 Paws.
We also stopped at local producers Roadrunner Home Bake Pizza, a fresh raised pizza producer and Willamette Valley Pie Company that makes an amazing apple pie.
We finished our day at Emmi Roth chatting about Allison Hooper and the fabulous 4 Paws goat cheeses she makes at Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery.
My swag bag was filled with goodies which I will share with The Man.
I’d like to thank DPI for hosting the show and inviting me to attend; it was a fun way to spend a work day… as Spaulding would say, “It was a 4 Paws kind-of-a-day!!!”
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