Author Archives: admin

Queso Diego April Meeting Announcement

Grilled Cheese with hoisin

April is Grilled Cheese Month and we’ll be celebrating with our annual Grilled Cheese Meeting on April 17! You won’t want to miss this delicious event!

Grilled Cheese Meeting
Tuesday, April 17 @ 6:30PM
AleSmith Brewery
9990 AleSmith Court
San Diego, CA 92126

Please adhere to the following guidelines to accommodate our new space:

Propane / butane cooking apparatus are strongly preferred, as we only have a couple of electrical outlets available.
We need as many propane/butane stoves/grills as possible, please indicate in the RSVP if you can bring yours (with propane included). If you don’t have your own, you should be able to find space on someone else’s.

We will have separate tables set up for: cooking, prep/ingredients, food/serving, and a gluten-free table
If you have a portable table, please bring it – we need as many surfaces as we can!

We ask that you bring ingredients and prep/cooking supplies to cook 2-3+ sandwiches
Cooks will be rotating, so that once you’ve finished grilling, please allow someone else to use your cooking space
Cook 2-3 sandwiches and cut into 6+ pieces each, depending on the size/structure – You won’t be slaving over the stove all night, so don’t be afraid to jump in!
Please prep at home as much as possible (chopping, mixing, marinating) and bring extra to mix and match – caramelized onions, roasted peppers, sliced cheeses, meats, sliced fruits/veggies, spices, etc.

If you don’t plan to cook, please bring food to share or ingredients for the cooks to use
Non-members and Guests are allowed – No admittance without food to share or an ingredient to use! 🙂 We ask that non-members and guests consider joining for only $20/year

Please RSVP the supplies you can bring:
Tables
Propane cook stove / griddle
Propane
Electric stove / griddle (limited electrical outlets)
Food
Ingredients – meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies, butter, salt/pepper, Nutella, herbs, etc
Knives
Cutting boards
Skillets/Pans
Platters
Spatulas/Tongs

We are permitted to bring homemade alcoholic beverages, but AleSmith’s license does not permit outside commercial alcohol.

Please RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKaTfl3Ve5YuDFII7KvEJfaL6FFeN7J3HOR6_l3esgBEqpZg/viewform

Queso Diego March Meeting Announcement

Sheep cheese production

Greetings Queso Diegans,

The March Queso Diego meeting is on March 20th at 6:30 PM at Alesmith Brewing Co.

If you are attending, please RSVP by following link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxObzaY2yU3vwSheMlLj4moxVTwtta5M8gbpkEA54Qo-c9zA/viewform

Curt Wittenberg will give the presentation this month on Sheep Milk Cheeses. It will be accompanied by wonderful cheeses so you won’t want to miss it.

We will also have an introduction to April’s Grilled Cheese Meeting and some ideas for what you might bring. Remember, creativity and delectability are most welcome.

The young Cheese of the Month is Mozzarella and the aged cheese is Gouda. Try your hand at these monthly challenges to increase your cheesemaking skills.

Finally, if you need anything from the Library of Cheesemaking, please be sure to make your requests by Thursday March 15th so they can be packaged and delivered at the meeting.

We hope to see you all there.

Until then, stay cheesy.

Queso Diego February Meeting Announcement

We will be having our first traditional Queso Diego Meeting of 2018 next Tuesday, February 20th. As always, it will be held at:

AleSmith Brewing Company
9990 Alesmith Court
San Diego, CA 92126.

The meeting starts at 6:30 PM with sharing of cheese (homemade or otherwise) and cheese friendly foods, homemade alcoholic beverages, and any other food or non-alcoholic beverage you would like to share. AleSmith beer is available for purchase (no other commercial alcoholic beverages can be served at the brewery).

The Cheese of the Month for February is Bloomy-Rind Cheese. If you have one you would like to share, we would like to try it. For that matter, any other kind of cheese is welcome.

At 7:00 PM we start the formal meeting with a summary of past and upcoming club events and meeting plans and we always provide a chance to talk about your homemade cheeses and to discuss cheesemaking and answer cheese-related questions.

This month’s presentation will be by Peter Zien, owner of AleSmith, a member of Queso Diego and soon to be a professional cheesemaker. Peter will tell us about his latest venture, CheeseSmith, a creamery that is nearing completion on the AleSmith premises. We are excited to hear the CheeseSmith story.

Please remember to bring a chair and wear something warm as we meet in the brewery, which can be chilly in the winter.

If you haven’t paid your 2018 dues, please be prepared to pay $20 for individuals or $30 for a family to our new Membership Officer, Olaf Walter.

We are looking forward to sharing cheese and the joy of cheesemaking with you, Tuesday, February 20th at 6:30 PM. Please join us.

Please RSVP for the meeting using the form found via this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7LqnSvtRwRkPk8hOhrBQ8S4-qElcyVyKwVT7kGyDa-7aXaw/viewform

Queso Diego January Meeting – Bubbly and Cheese Pairing

Australia Chandon sparkling wines and still pinot noir

Every January, we celebrate Queso Diego’s anniversary and the new year with a bubbly and cheese pairing. This very special event is only open to members and their guests and requires pre-registration. To join and attend the event, please contact the officers at officers@quesodiego.org. Regular meetings will resume in February.

Queso Diego November Meeting Announcement

The activities at our next meeting on November 21 st will be another double feature extravaganza:

First, The presentation “Alpine Cheeses” by our own award-winning Marci Richards. It will be an informative exposĂ© into the sharp and aromatic goodness that originated in the Alps of Switzerland, France and Italy. Yummm. And we’ll have samples to enjoy!

BTW: This month’s participatory cheese is aptly described as “Holiday Cheese”. Let your imagination run wild and put together your impression of flavors that represent the Holiday Season. We’ll all look forward to sampling prior to the meeting, between 6:30 and the 7:00 start of the meeting.

Second, it’s time for our annual elections of Officers. This year voting is available online for all members in good standing (paid their dues and didn’t serve cheese whiz all year). Look for a separate voting form.

Queso Diego November Meeting
Tuesday, November 21 @ 6:30PM
AleSmith Brewery
9990 AleSmith Court
San Diego, CA 92126

Meetings are free, but we highly encourage bringing something tasty to share (including homemade and store-bought cheeses), and joining as a member for only $20/year. Please bring a chair to sit on.

Please RSVP using this form as soon as possible so that we can get an accurate head count.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3bXwUP-Emd5iToNC337sRstq687H7FPzUWL6tBUOjhixrog/viewform

Queso Diego September Meeting Announcement

The presentation at our next meeting on the 19th will be a double feature extravaganza:
First, “Do Blue Bugs Make Blue Cheese? – Selecting Microbes for your Cheeese” by Curt Wittenburg. It will be an informative exposĂ© into bugs of color—or maybe just the colorful result of invisible bugs and oxygen on cheese. Or perhaps colorless bugs and colorless results (Albino Blue?); you be the judge. It should be quite helpful as we all expand our cheese making knowledge, and expand our experimentation into really delicious styles. Don’t miss this talk from one of our cheese gurus.

And second, as the yummy anticipation builds for next month’s meeting, Lisa Chamberlain will be giving hints and tips on sharing delicacies at the annual Queso Diego Mac ‘N Cheese meeting October 17th. It’s gooey, it’s gastronomy, and it’s great!

The meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Tuesday September 19 at AleSmith Brewery.

If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to RSVP on the link below and put it on your calendar:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdczayGAaKFbyNhx62mNeBMXSuiS8MNzYeSRNuPQSX8GkSohw/viewform

SOMETHING NEW: We’re adding a couple questions to the bottom of the RSVP form. Your feedback and thoughts will be appreciated. Please be sure to respond by RSVPing (is that a real word?) and letting us know what you think. Thanks.

See you Tuesday the 19th!
Earl

BTW: Don’t forget to make your acidified cheese to share with everyone at the meeting.