Locally made cheese from Pleasant Valley Dairy has been a regularly appreciated food in our home for a long time. I usually buy it from Pat Hayes and Rich Frye at the Artisan Wine Gallery (Lummi Island). They sometimes serve it along with the wine selections at their regular wine tastings each week and they also have two pound rounds available for sale.

Last week I thought it was high time for us to visit Pleasant Valley's farm shop west of Ferndale to see their full line of products and learn more about how they're made. The morning was sunny and beautiful for a drive, and the route took us past the Lake Terrell Wildlife Area (a good fishing and bird watching spot managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife). We also passed a lot of bicyclers participating in the Tour de Whatcom race.

When we got to the farm, my family headed off to visit the baby calves while I went into the cheese shop to talk with Joyce, the cheesemaker at Pleasant Valley. Joyce had just tried my cheese cracker recipe (published here a couple of weeks ago) the night before for her grandchildren. She described the variations she had used and gave me one to taste - nice synchronicity!

Joyce's son is the third generation to operate the family's licensed Grade A dairy farm, which is located at the corner of Grandview and Kickerville Roads. As they proudly state in their brochure, the farm is managed in a "traditional and sustainable manner." Their cattle feed on the farm's lush grassy pastures in the summer and eat high quality, homegrown hay in the winter.

Pleasant Valley's cheeses are made from fresh raw milk, and are truly artisanal. Joyce makes a limited quantity each year (130 lbs per batch), and most of the process is done by hand. She's been making cheese for the farm since 1976. Despite the small size of the operation, they offer a wonderful selection of cheese types and flavors.

Gouda, made with a Dutch culturing process, is available in a multitude of flavors. Cumin and peppercorn are two of my favorites. The natural wood smoked gouda is equally delightful! When you visit the farm store, you can taste samples of the cheeses, and I was happy to taste the new Provence gouda made with herbs traditionally associated with Provencal flavors - creamy and delicious.

Farmstead cheese was created at Pleasant Valley and uses a French culturing process. It has a nice tanginess I find enjoyable, especially with salads or greens.

Mutschli (pronounced "moo-shlee") was the cheese type I was least familiar with. It's a Swiss style cheese, though it doesn't have the large "eyes" most of us associate with Swiss cheese. Fresh mutschli tastes rather mild, but aged mutschli is firm and richly flavored. Joyce and I talked about how the aged version might make a good substitute for Parmesan (which isn't locally produced). It's firm and a little dry so it grates well. Joyce won't have any aged mutschli ready again for awhile, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with it then. I've been looking for a good local cheese to use in the place of Parmesan for a long time.

Finally, Joyce also makes Nokkelost, a Norwegian gouda made with a special combination of herbs and spices. Nokkelost is made exclusively as a private label for Everybody's Store in Deming (see Resources below), but is also available at the farm's store.

Pleasant Valley cheese can be purchased at the Community Food Cooperative stores, Terra Organica, the Artisan Wine Gallery, Green Barn in Lynden, and a couple of Seattle outlets. See Resources below for addresses of the local stores.

At the farm store, besides tasting samples on the spot, you can purchase a sampler bag which includes small wedges of most of their cheeses. The bag I brought home included: Peppercorn Gouda, Jalapeno Gouda, plain Gouda, Caraway Gouda, Fines Herbes Gouda, Smoked Gouda, Nokkelost, the new Provence Gouda and Mutschli. I used the sampler for today's "recipe." It's not really a recipe, it's just a serving suggestion for a tasty snack or appetizer.

Note: As I finished talking with Joyce, my family came in from the calf visit. Check out the Whatcom Locavore Facebook page (www.facebook.com/whatcomlocavore) for some photos of my grandson's encounter with a beautiful little calf.

CHEESE SAMPLER PLATE

Ingredients

1 sampler bag of Pleasant Valley cheese (Pleasant Valley Dairy, Ferndale)

Fresh basil leaves (home garden, Lummi Island)

Fresh cherry tomatoes (home garden, Lummi Island)

Directions

Cut a thin slice from each of the cheese samples. Put cheese slices, a few basil leaves, and one (or several) cherry tomatoes on a plate.

That's all there is to it. Just sit back and savor!

LOCAL RETAIL FOOD RESOURCES

Appel Farms Cheese Shoppe, 6605 Northwest Road, Ferndale; open Mondays-Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m.;

Artisan Wine Gallery, 2072 Granger Way, Lummi Island; open for tastings Thursday and Fridays 4-7 p.m., Saturdays 1-5 p.m.;

Bellingham Farmers Market, Railroad at Chestnut, Saturdays 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; also at Fairhaven Village Green, 10th Street and Mill Avenue, Wednesdays noon to 5 p.m.;

Boxx Berry Farm Store and U-pick, 6211 Northwest Road, Ferndale; open Mondays-Saturdays 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.;

Cloud Mountain Farm Nursery, 6906 Goodwin Road, Everson;

Community Food Cooperative, 1220 N. Forest St. or 315 Westerly Road, Bellingham;

Everybody's Store, 5465 Potter Road, Deming;

Ferndale Public Market, Centennial Riverwalk in downtown Ferndale, Saturdays 10 a.m._4 p.m.;

Field of Greens, corner of Kale and Everson roads, Everson; open Wednesdays-Fridays 2-6 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays noon-4 p.m.;

Grace Harbor Farms, 2347 Birch Bay Lynden Road, Custer; open Mondays-Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m.;

Green Barn, 8858 Guide Meridian Rd., Lynden; open Mondays-Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m.;

Half Acre Farm U-pick, 6211 Northwest Road, Ferndale (behind Boxx Berry Farm Store); weekly u-pick open Saturdays;

Hopewell Farm, 3072 Massey Road, Everson; open Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.;

Lummi Island Farmers Market, across from the ferry dock, Saturdays 10 a.m.-1 p.m.;

Lynden Farmers Market, grounds of Third Christian Reformed Church in downtown Lynden, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.;

Pleasant Valley Dairy, 6804 Kickerville Road, Ferndale; open Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m.;

Red Barn Lavender Farm (eggs), 3106 Thornton Road, Ferndale; Saturday at the Bellingham Farmers Market; or call for availability during the week (360-393-7057);

Small's Gardens, 6451 Northwest Road, Ferndale; spring hours Tuesdays and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.;

The Islander, 2106 S. Nugent Road, Lummi Island;

Terra Organica, 1530 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham.