QuesoDiego – The San Diego Cheese Club
Our monthly meeting will be held next Tuesday at Alesmith Brewery, 9990 Alesmith Ct. Potluck will start at 6:30, and the meeting topic will be Cider Making and Cheese Pairing. Stan Sisson will be our presenter and he is an experienced cider maker. We will have a few homebrewed ciders for sampling along with cheese pairings.
Please join us on St. Patrick’s Day Eve for “Mold is Green(ish), Mold is Gold(en)” to celebrate Irish cheeses and greenness.
There will be a presentation about Irish cheeses and Molds (the fuzzy kind, not the forms)……..and we are having a St. Patrick’s Day themed cheese board contest. Winners will get prizes (sorry, no pots of gold).
6pm – DEADLINE for photo entries (see below)
6:30 – 7pm: Social Hour
7pm – Presentation and Contest (voting will be about half way through the presentation and winners will be announced after the presentation)
Zoom information was sent to the members email list.
CHEESE BOARD CONTEST:
Cheesy rules:
One entry per member
Must be original design and made by member (not professional)
Minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 cheeses
At least 50% of the cheeses must be Irish, green(ish)/mold(ish), or specifically made for St. Patrick’s Day
Photo submitted by 6pm, March 16th at the very latest, earlier is better (see instructions below)
Cheese boards should be cheese-centered, as we are a cheese club
So, who are the judges???………………..you are! Cheese board photographs will be presented to the group during the March meeting and then we will take a vote/poll to decide the winners.
Photo entries:
Submit one photo to mjrhjm@hotmail.com
Include your name with the photo
Submit no later than 6pm, March 16th
Your name will not be included when the photographs are presented for voting.
Though we’d love to see everyone in their green attire, the board has decided that in the best interest of our members and the community, making cheese at home, listening to an educational cheese pod cast, reading cheese articles, or tasting new cheeses (or Irish cheeses) is a better alternative for St. Patrick’s Day (aka March meeting).
Never made cheese? There are some great, easy recipes for beginners on this website – https://cheesemaking.com/collections/recipes?_=pf&pf_t_skill_level=beginner. They also have intermediate and advanced recipes. This is a great website to look through for cheesemaking recipes. Remember, you can get your cheesemaking supplies locally at Curds and Wine; QD members get a 10%, just show your card. Curds and Wine are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Podcast – Behind the Rind
Cheese articles – check out the last page of the March newsletter
New Cheeses – Check out Smallgoods new store in La Jolla; they have cheeses and meats that are amazing and all made in the USA – 10% discount for QD members.
Venessimo has cheeses from around the world; they have locations in Mission Hills, Del Mar, and Liberty Station – QD members get 10%.
Traditionally, we recognize “Grilled Cheese Month” at our April meeting. Last week, the board decided to move this event; it is currently scheduled for July. We will be in contact regarding the April meeting.
Stay health and dry,
Marci
Our March general meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, March 19th, 6:30 PM at AleSmith Brewing Company. The meeting will be in the barrel room, which can be accessed through the doors down the hallway to the left of the main bar, just past the restrooms.
The featured presentation will be Hard Cheeses by the club’s founder, Chris Banker. He will be discussing hard (firm) cheeses and how to make and age them. We will also have an introduction to grilled cheese to provide details and ideas for our April grilled cheese meeting.
As always, the meeting will start at 6:30 PM with social time and our amazing potluck filled with cheese and cheesy things brought by all of you to share. Feel free to bring something. We can have homebrew but no commercial beer or wine.
PLEASE, no sharing of food until the table cloths are on the tables at 6:30 PM. At 7:00 PM we will start the formal meeting.
Remember, the weather is a bit cool and the brewery can be chilly so bring a wrap or jacket. Also, bring a chair for maximum comfort. We don’t have access to chairs at the brewery.
We look forward to seeing you there.
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.
The March meeting of Queso Diego will feature a presentation by Jeffree Itrich on Irish cheeses.
We are now allowed to share homemade alcoholic beverages (homebrew beer, wine, cider, mead) at our meetings at AleSmith. We are still not permitted to bring outside commercial alcohol. Please remember to bring your own tasting glass.
Queso Diego March Meeting
Tuesday, March 21 @ 6:30PM
AleSmith Brewery
9990 AleSmith Court
San Diego, CA 92126
We have been temporarily moved into a production area of the brewery until their conference meeting room is completed. It is an area that may be cooler than our previous location, so plan on layered clothing or a light outerwear jacket.
Enter through the Tasting Room (our old side door entrance is gone), go near the Gwynn Museum and Barrel Speakeasy: look for the double doors and follow the Queso Diego signs.
Please bring a chair to sit on and your own tasting glass for sharing libations. Per the new law we can share our homebrew beer, wine, cider and mead; but we cannot bring in other commercial libations to the meeting. However, we will have full access to the Tasting Room to replenish our beers during the meeting.
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 RSVP using this form as soon as possible so that we can get an accurate head count: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiuugkb5wmiueha8nXsJ1oUOS9P-qCPoFqxl8DrBm_XIH7Qw/viewform