Well, since the @papa-pepper tribe is hanging out in Wisconsin for a little bit before returning back home to Arkansas, I thought that I would take the opportunity to share some of the local treasures in the state. First stop, the Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company.

Ever since the 1940's when their grandfather began making cheese, generations have been using their expertise to bring us the high quality of cheeses made at the Dairy State Cheese factory. Not only is Wisconsin home to more cheese factories than any other state, Wisconsin cheeses have won more awards than any other state or nation.

It is a short drive away from where I spent most of my time growing up, and I never realized how incredible it really is until I moved away. Now, whenever we are back in the area, it seems to be one of the few places that we make sure we visit before we leave. It is located in rural Rudolph, Wisconsin, which is just about in the center of the state. Despite it's more remote location, it keeps very busy and attracts consumers from all over.

The relatively small parking lot is usually on the full side, but when we stopped in, it was packed. I saw license plates from Wisconsin, South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota, and we added Arkansas to the bunch.

We came in the afternoon on a Saturday, a few hours before the Wisconsin Steemit Meetup started. It was just me and my four kids, and we had an excellent time. The store is open seven days a week, though you'll have to get there early on Sunday if you want to shop, because they close at noon.

Once inside, the amount of customers matched the amount of cars in the lot. I've been there several times when it was busy, but this was probably one of the busiest. One thing that I appreciated is that everyone seemed so happy and excited. I even talked to some other customers, which is not always commonplace among strangers. Also, we ran into three people that we knew, so it was nice to see old friends that we may not have otherwise got the chance to see.

Not only does the company have a big draw for people from out of town, but it gets a lot of local support, which always helps a business.

The cheese selection inside is amazing, though obviously not exhaustive. They offer over 200 varieties, and we have enjoyed many of them.

The Gouda had been one of our family favorites for years. We especially enjoy the Raw Milk Gouda, and also these varieties with Lime and Peppers in them. (Yeah, @papa-pepper likes the pepper cheese, go figure.)

Here is a small sampling of their cheddar. I have always been a fan of the sharper varieties, and it's nice to be able to purchase blocks that are several years old. The longer a cheddar is aged, the "sharper" it becomes.

Their provolone selection, among others, is also impressive. I first started enjoying provolone when I lived in New Orleans, and am glad that I was finally exposed to it.

There are also some more fun options when purchasing cheeses. Many different shaped blocks are available for purchase in a variety of colorful waxed casings. We picked up a Bucky Badger to give to my brother and his family, since they are UW Madison fans, and I could not help but to grab a dolphin to enjoy with my children.

The kids always enjoy getting some to share with friends, and these fun shaped options are a great way to give the gift of cheese. There is enough variety to find an appropriate one for almost anybody.

Since many people enjoy meat with their cheese, some great varieties of meat are also available. These various liver sausages, manufactured by Usinger's, are always on my list of things to pick up when I am here. I know many people may not exactly get excited about liver, but if you have ever been exposed to the work of Weston A. Price, perhaps you'll understand a little more of why we appreciate things like raw milk, cheese, and liver sausage.

Another great source of meat available at the Dairy State Cheese store comes from just around the corner, at Pete's Market & Locker Service. "Pete's Meats" is a great local butcher that we frequented when we lived in the area. It's a great place to either have animals butchered, or just to pick up some meat, liver, stew bones, or cow tongue.

Since Pete's Meats is not normally open on the weekends, having some of their items available at the cheese store allows people the opportunity to still pick some up, even when the business next door is closed.

The summer sausage is one example of a great meat that many people enjoy eating with sliced cheeses.

Who doesn't love a good freebie? There is always a few great cheese varieties to sample at the checkout. The staff is always quick to point out what is what, especially because of my small children. Some varieties may have strong flavors or spicy peppers in them, so a quick explanation about which sample is what kind definitely helps me as I allow my kids to enjoy a sampling.

We went three our of four this time, as only one of my daughters did not enjoy the sample.

One of the all-time favorites here are the cheese curds. Perhaps this form of cheese is even the biggest draw. We love how interesting this form of cheese is. When they are first made, they actually squeak when you eat them. I guess that they are one of those ways of making cheese that is more native to Wisconsin.

I once read about a lady who had lived for years in Australia, and then wound up in a cheese factory in New Zealand. As she was looking around, eventually she found some cheese curd packages in a freezer and brought them up to the check out. Now mind you, she had not spoken anything within earshot of the clerk and certainly did not look like an American based on her outfit. When she placed the bags of curds on the counter, the man asked her what part of Wisconsin she was from. The woman was amazed, and asked how he knew that she was originally from Wisconsin. The man replied:

"Only people from Wisconsin buy cheese curds."

I'm not sure how true that really is, but our friends in Arkansas had never seen them before we brought them down.

The cheese curds at the Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company come in five flavors: Plain, Dill, Cajun, Pizza, and Jalapeno. Personally, I like them all, and am very impressed with the ingenious way that these flavors are provided. The bulk cheese curds are all made in the natural flavor, "plain." Then, portions are removed from the batch and coated in seasonings and flavorings. This makes it so no "special batches" need to be made, and, from a business point of view, is a very practical way to offer more selection without greatly increasing the amount of work needed to offer such a selection.

The fresh curds are bagged and placed on the counter, rather than in a refrigerated display case. Until they are refrigerated, the squeakiness of the curd remains. To get this quality back after refrigeration, a few seconds in a microwave will restore this original characteristic to the curd. This is one of the very few things that I will still use a microwave for.

Once our selections have been made and purchased, the adventure continues upstairs.

There are giant windows both upstairs and downstairs where customers can watch the cheese curds being made. Since there is a novelty in the bird's eye view and it gets us out of the official store portion of the building, we like to head upstairs. The interesting process can be observed from there, as giant troughs of curds below are being manufactured and stirred.

One of our favorite traditions here is to let the kids eat some curds while they watch so many more being made. It's a neat experience for all of us, and allows the children the perspective to gain a greater appreciation for the amount of work that goes into making our food.

Also upstairs is a television with an informative video that can be played on it. I did not stay to watch the entire presentation, but I certainly learned a few things while we were up there. It turns out that Wisconsin was the first state to grade cheeses and the first state to license cheese-makers too.

On display within the building are variety of "old school" tools that were once used in cheese-making. Many of these incredible tools from the past may actually be in our future, as we continue to leave the city life behind and provide for ourselves on our homestead. I've always appreciated how creative humans can be and the amazing inventions that we can come up with when we really try.

Before we leave, if we've all been behaving appropriately during our visit, often we will stop in at the ice cream parlor within the building too.

They usually have about 16 varieties, so choosing a flavor is not always easy. On this occasion, I just ordered my children all the same flavor.

I got a special kind, that was some sort of seasonal spiced ice cream. It was delicious!

The ice cream sold comes from Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Madison, WI. Just like with Pete's Meats, this is another great example of businesses working together for mutual benefit. I certainly think that offering ice cream as well is a great move on behalf of Dairy State Cheese.

It certainly made our visit even more enjoyable, and a little sweeter too!

Though Pete's Meats was closed, we still drove around the corner and took this picture of the Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company from across the street.

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As always, I'm @papa-pepper, and here's the proof:

proof-of-cheese-factory

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All photos taken by @papa-pepper except the one another customer took of my children and myself enjoying ice cream.

Any information that was not original came from the Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company web page, linked here.

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