Reub's journey

16 February 2015

The dairy state


When you visit a place it's good to take advantage of that region's unique qualities. Take Wisconsin, for example. The minute you drive your rental car out of the airport you're experiencing the dairy state's unusual way of de-cing its roads. Is there any other place that sprays cheese on its highways in winter?



Well, to be more accurate it's actually a cheese by-product: the brine left over from making mozzarella, when tossed on pavement, causes the salt to adhere. Wisconsin is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by using far less salt than in the past, plus the cheese makers don't have to dispose of all that brine. Pretty cool, eh?



Speaking of cheese makers, we always try to visit one. I favor the mild brick from Widmer's Dairy in tiny Theresa, Wisconsin. (That's pronounced Teh-reh-sa, not Teh-ree-sa.)



We picked up two kinds of brick (on sale) and some fresh cheddar cheese curds. Divine.



Chocolate is also a dairy product.



The same day we went to Widmer's dairy we also visited Hughes Chocolate in Oshkosh. Here, when they say "Oysters" they don't mean oysters. They mean little round chocolates rolled in crushed peanuts. I ate mine before realizing I should have taken a picture.



The endearing thing about Hughes is that it produces its chocolate in the basement of an old house, and on a cold winter day there's a window open in order to cool the chocolate bunnies.



Didn't I just read that including fat in one's diet isn't the big no-no that it used to be? That article was perfectly timed for our trip to the dairy state. I'm going back for more.

22 comments:

  1. oh, those chocolates! but you totally had me at cheese curds. yes, i had read about the brine being spread on roadways now. yay!

    love the name of that town (my name!), even if they don't pronounce it correctly. ;)

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    1. Given the choice between fresh cheese curds and chocolate, I would take the curds first, too! A true Wisconsin girl, like you.

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    1. We had a great time. Cheese and chocolate everyday.

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  3. I wonder what the roads smell like in Wisconsin... ;)

    I can very easily imaging what that basement smells like.. yum. Your post reminded me that I have some "handcrafted chocolate cranberry, almond caramel turtles" on my desk. And now, on my hips.

    And cheese curds.. yummy. Were they fresh enough to squeak when you eat them?

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    1. Apparently if you get down & sniff near the pavement, the roads smell like mozzarella. I never tried that however!
      Oh yes, very very squeaky cheese curds!
      I am not commenting on hips! They have no place in this discussion.

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  4. How amazing they've discovered a way to recycle brine from cheese! Oh and I just caught "come smell our dairy air." LOL Awesome.

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    1. Yeah, It's a pretty cool way to use a by product that would normally be wasted. The "dairy air" slogan is found on bumper stickers in Wisconsin, kinda gross but funny?

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  5. Looks like the place to be. Been a few years since I visited the cheese country good. Lots of small dairies around me.

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    1. I love visiting small dairies, wherever they may be. Wisconsin has fewer of them than they used to.

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  6. Chocolate and cheese - two of my favorite food groups! :) I could live in Wisconsin.

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    1. Cheese and chocolate are 2 of the state's finest points. The politics right now though...those are awful. :(

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  7. That info about the brine for the roads was startling and fascinating. How clever.

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    1. I know. I'm surprised that enough brine is created to serve this purpose, but I guess it is.

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  8. the first time I ate something fat free was the last time. nasty stuff. I'm glad my taste buds told me that was a crock. been a butter and sour cream girl and full fat!

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    1. Right? Butter is the best. I went for awhile thinking I had to eat margarine, but oh no, never again.

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  9. Would love to visit a cheesery and a choco dairy myself ! And what a novel method of disposal of brine - spraying it on the high way. Win win for the state as well as the cheesery :)

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    1. Next time you're in the US, maybe you can add a chocolate tour to your list! :)

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  10. Everyone loves the fudge that I make with Velveeta cheese. Didn't realize it's no wonder they go so well together.

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  11. Never heard of this before. :-) Question do they have a large mouse population?

    Greetings from London.

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    1. :) Great question! haha! The mice aren't very good at dodging traffic!

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