Whew! Another Dairy Month

The fryers are packed away as another marathon Dairy Month has come to an end. Each weekend in June teams from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery attended Dairy Breakfasts and other events where they deep-fried and served up cheese curds to attendees.  Were you among them?

Attending these events take a lot of work and coordination. Through all weather conditions, teams hit the road—sometimes in the early morning hours—to ensure the fryers are set up and the oil is hot so cheese curds can be served up to guests as the event begins. They make it look easy, mixing up the secret Fry Krisp beer batter, and frying up tens of pounds of curds at each event, all while answering questions and holding conversations with attendees. Then there’s the clean-up at the end and the packing away of the equipment so it’s ready for the following weekend’s event.

The month-long dairy celebration culminated with the Cheese Curd Festival, which took place in Ellsworth on the last weekend in June. 25,000 cheese curd fans attended the event, sampling various cheese curd foods served up by 20 food vendors and ice cream, milk, and cheeses during the various tasting events. The most popular vendor of the event is Cheese Curd Central where festival guests purchase boats of deep-fried curds in three flavors—Natural, Cinnamon Sugar, and a specialty flavor, which for this year’s event was Pizza! One highlight was a visit from Twin Cities Live’s, Kristin Haubrich, who broadcasted live from the festival. Kristin got a lesson in cheese curd frying from our own Dean Hines and Shane Bamman. Needless, to say, they were a hit!

We know how precious weekends are, and we thank our staff for giving up theirs to promote Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and our products through these events. Please join us in thanking the staff who commit themselves to show up with a smile every weekend in June for Dairy Month events. Their participation exemplifies their passion for dairy and our products.