Resolution complete: I milked a cow.

A lot of people get really into New Year's resolutions. I don't. Yet for 2014, I made one that I 100% intended to follow through on: I wanted to milk a cow. Many people have asked me why I wanted to do this so badly. Here is my reasoning:

1. I LOVE BARNYARD ANIMALS.
2. It's good to try new things.
3. It would be an awesome experience to blog about.

I'm an urban girl. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the busy, typical, cookie-cutter suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. You know the opening sequence to the show, Weeds? Yeah, that's my hometown: the traffic, the strip malls, the Land Rovers, the soccer moms… all are very familiar things to me. I'm a city dweller to my very core, and I think that's why farm life fascinates me: because it's different.

Cue the Green Acres theme song.

I met Farmer John Dougherty of Farmer Johns' Cheese at the East Side Farmers' Market in May. I gathered that by his large variety of delicious cheese for sale, he likely had access to a great deal of cows. So I asked if I could milk one. He said yes! Two months later, I was off to the outskirts of Spring Green, Wisconsin to visit the official Farmer Johns' milking barn.

Let's get one thing straight: there's more than one Farmer John (hence the apostrophe). It's currently operated by a father and son (both named John), and before that, it was operated by the generations that came first (yup, you got it, also named John). This is a true family farm business, right down to the name.

My friends Cherie and Caitlin came along for the ride, which took us through some winding country roads to this really awesome waterfall:

Beautiful!

Then, we arrived at John's milking barn. He walked us through the cow-filled building and told us all about his family farm, the milking process, and all things cows!

The lineup: Farmer John gets the cows into the barn by leading them in with corn (they love it).
See the pipes above the cows? That's where the milk goes.

After it goes through the pipes, it ends up in a huge tank.
We all climbed up the ladder to peek in.

It holds an insane amount of milk.

After our barn tour, we got to meet two baby calves, Jenny and Ryan:

Beyond adorable.

Then, it was milking time. The cows are milked by machine, but of course we had to start off old school. Farmer John chose Faith as the best cow for us to milk. He knew that her mellow temperament would work in our favor and that she was less likely to try and kick us (he has a lot of cows in this place, and many can get sassy at milking time). He noted that you always have to let the cow know when you're at her side and going to milk her. This way, she's less startled. Of course, I had to get the experience on tape:

Then Caitlin milked Faith!

And Cherie, too! 

Old school milking: check. Then, Farmer John let me put the milking machine on Faith. It's made of 4 little suction tubes that go from the udders to the pipes in the barn.

Just making sure I had everything right.

Voila! I attached the milking machine and Faith was ready to go.

A lot of cows had to be milked, so we went to the front of the barn to check in on the tank. It was very loud in there, but I fit in a quick video of "THIS IS WHERE THE MILK IS GOING! HERE'S THE MILK!"

The entire milking process takes about 30 minutes from the first cow to the last. The cows get milked twice a day (6am and 6pm), and Farmer John noted that he tries to keep the cows in the same order each time so that their schedules are consistent. I could really tell that he loves what he does and cares about the well-being of his cows, which of course makes me want to keep buying more and more of his cheese.

Speaking of the cheese, to purchase some amazing dairy goodness from Farmer John, he can be found at the Dane County Farmers' Market (near West Washington Ave), as well as many other local markets.

I'd like to send a huge thanks to Farmer John for letting us visit, Cherie and Caitlin for putting up with their quirky friend, and of course, this lovely lady:

Many thanks, Faith!

Cheese, fireworks, and gifts!

On my way to Chicago for the weekend, I made a pit stop in Beloit, Wisconsin. I was amused to see this roadside store:

Cheese, fireworks, and gifts! What more could a person need?

If I ever need to buy cheese, fireworks, and gifts at the same time, I will know exactly where to go. Fabulous.

September poll results are in...

Here are the results for the September poll: "What is your favorite cheesy food?"

And the winner is, by no surprise:

Macaroni & cheese (8 votes)!

Remaining results:
Fried cheese curds (5 votes)
Pizza (4 votes)
Cheeseburger (2 votes)
Other (1 vote) - my friend Natalie chose this option because she couldn't bare to decide.

No love / zero votes for:
Grilled cheese
Quesadilla

Really? No love for grilled cheese? Perhaps I should have offered tomato soup for a side dish.


Check out the October poll on the right!

Wisconsin pride.

After living in Wisconsin for two and a half months, I have made this observation: Wisconsinites have a lot of pride in their state. Wisconsin pride is everywhere.

I find this quite fascinating in comparison to growing up in North Carolina, where every notion of local pride is focused on at least one of the following:
1. General Southern pride
2. Confederate pride
3. Wolfpack (NC State) pride
4. Tar Heel (Chapel Hill) pride*
5. Blue Devil (Duke) pride*

*It is noteworthy that while numbers 4 and 5 are quite proud of their teams, they truly despise each other.

North Carolinians have plenty of pride, but it's not focused on the state itself. As far as I can tell, Wisconsinites love their state. They hate their governor, but they love their state. If any non-Wisconsinites don't know what I'm talking about, Google "Scott Walker recall."

I find it amusing that national chains have made some products in Wisconsin and marketed them accordingly for the proud Wisconsinites:

Even California-based Trader Joe's has Wisconsin pride (note the seal at the bottom right).

I believe my official Wisconsinite initiation happened when my three future coworkers (all native Wisconsinites) fed me my first ever serving of fried cheese curds. At the time I didn't know that I had been hired, but I did know that I enjoyed what I was eating and could definitely see myself living in Madison.

Now that I live here, I suppose I'll know when I've truly become a Wisconsinite: when I start feeling the pride.

Results from the June poll!

After 35 votes, the June poll results are in...

Question: What is your favorite type of cheese?
1st place: I love cheese so much that I can't choose just one!
2nd place: Other
3rd place: Cheddar
4th place: Swiss
5th place: Brie

I believe that "other" came in 2nd because I neglected to put feta cheese in the poll. I voted for provolone, which my blog readers don't seem to like as much as me!

My first weekend away from the farmers' market.

As I have already mentioned, the Dane County Farmers' Market has become one of my favorite places. I have spent the past two Saturdays having a blast exploring the products offered from a variety of local vendors.

This weekend, I'm going to Columbus, Ohio for my friend's wedding, so I'll be MIA at the market. I figured this would be a good opportunity to showcase some interesting market-related photos that I have taken thus far.

One of the many cheese smorgasbords available at the market.

One of the most fascinating and moo-worthy people that I have met in Wisconsin is Larry the Gourd Guy. The name pretty much says it all. The man loves his gourds, and he's a really nice guy.

Larry was very happy to show off his many gourds!

I find it quite fun to come home from the market with great loot from local vendors.

Sugar-free apple butter, raspberry jalapeno pepper jelly, bread n' butter pickles, & pumpkin tortelloni

I have been hoping to score some homespun yarn at the market, which I haven't found yet but I did find some at Anthology on State Street.

I expect to have some major catching-up to do at the market when I'm back next weekend!

I'm already developing a reputation.

After a mere five days as a Wisconsin blogger, I'm already getting an interesting response from my friends (none of whom are native Wisconsinites). I was particularly entertained by a text conversation that I just had with my college classmate and all-around fascinating friend, Milan:

Milan: Get feta cheese up so I can vote with loyalty for the goats!
Me: Hold on, let me add feta. Can't edit it. Sorry. Just vote "other."
Milan: Son of a cow.
Me: Time for bed. I'm elderly now. Goodnight: I love and adore you.
Milan: Haha, me too. See you in dreamland, dairyfairy!

Not only have I already passed on the art of dairy puns to my friend, but she has now coined me as "dairyfairy." I suppose I should have expected this would happen. I also suppose that there are a lot of nicknames out there that are significantly worse than dairyfairy, so maybe I'm a lucky girl.

How I met Bucky the Badger.

It would be an understatement to say that my good friend Lauren has a good sense of humor. She's beyond hilarious and can make me laugh until I am truly nauseated, but it's totally worth it.

When Lauren (a fellow North Carolinian) heard that I was traveling to Wisconsin for the first time (for my job interview), she insisted that I take a picture of myself in a cheese hat. When I arrived at the Madison airport, I almost immediately saw a gift shop full of cheese hats. Jackpot.

My conversation with the gift shop cashier went as follows:

Me: "Hi. It's my first time in the state of Wisconsin and my friend asked for a photo of me wearing a cheese hat. Would you mind taking my picture?"

Cashier: "Sure, no problem. Why don't you stand next to Bucky the Badger."

Me: "Who is Bucky the Badger?"

Despite my love of anthropomorphism and alliteration, I had never heard of Bucky the Badger. It turns out that Bucky is the official mascot of the University of Wisconsin- Madison. I put on a cheese hat, picked up a cheese football, stood next to a shiny statue of Bucky, and smiled for my first ever photo op in Wisconsin. Here's to you, Lauren:

I later learned that Wisconsin is known as "The Badger State" because its coal miners in the 1800s found shelter in the holes that they dug in the ground, giving them the nickname "badgers." I have observed that Wisconsin nomenclature is often accompanied by the word "badger."