Where has the time gone? This will be the last “Two on Tuesday” dedicated to dairy trivia in honor of Dairy Month—since next Tuesday is July 1st! We hope you have enjoyed learning a few rather obscure facts about the dairy industry over the past few weeks.

Q: To what historical figure does the phrase “Big Cheese” refer?

A: Thomas Jefferson. A cheese maker gave a 1,235-pound cheese wheel to President Jefferson in 1801; amazed onlookers dubbed the spectacle “the big cheese.”

We won’t speculate as to when the phrase “cut the cheese” originated, but it may have been immediately after this event.

Q: Why did the state of Wisconsin ban the sale and use of margarine? Bonus question: In what year was the ban lifted?

Due to dairy rationing during World Wars I and II butter was a luxury, making margarine the household staple because it was cheaper. However, the sale of margarine over butter wasn’t good for dairy farmers. As a result, many states made it illegal to sell or use margarine.

The way lawmakers found to slow margarine sales (and protect the established dairy industries) was to restrict its color. Since people are reluctant to eat margarine in its natural white or off-white color, legislators found that they could keep margarine off kitchen tables by outlawing the addition of artificial coloring agents. Many Wisconsinites crossed the Illinois border to buy bootlegged colored margarine. The ban on colored margarine wasn’t lifted in Wisconsin until 1967.

Submitted by: Angela Greving
 
Ingredients
9 inch baked pie shell
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup water
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. (1 cup) strawberry flavored yogurt
2 cups strawberries
 
Topping
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Additional strawberries

In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Place over low heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved; set aside.  In small bowl of electric mixer beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth; beat in yogurt and gelatin mixture. Stir in sliced strawberries. Pour into baked crust. Chill 3 – 4 hours or overnight. In a small bowl beat cream until slightly thickened. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until firm peaks form. Spread on pie. Garnish with additional strawberries.

Although most students are completing their spring semesters, at C|O classes have just begun. Beginning the first week in June C|O staff members have the opportunity to attend lunch-time writing classes every other Tuesday taught by Patrick Moran, an English professor from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 

The sessions, dubbed “Tuesdays with Patrick”, will discuss a variety of writing strategies to help C|O’s staff revisit, develop and hone their skills as writers. The overall goal of the classes is to generate a working body of ideas that will act as a practical and useful guide for communicating with peers and clients.

Each session includes a combination of writing samples, a discussion about strategies, and ideas for generating concise, accessible content. During the first session on Tuesday, June 3, the class discussed the importance of worthwhile content and was assigned a writing project, but don’t worry, we are not being graded—only critiqued.

As an agency focused heavily on communications efforts, we hope these classes will help us to enhance the content, organization, style, grammar and visual aspects of every written communication we produce.

Welcome back as we continue our celebratory observance of Dairy Month. In keeping with our newfound tradition, here are two more trivia questions bound to expand your preconceived notions of all things “dairy.”

Q: Who was the first person ever to milk a cow in mid-flight? (Hint: this happened in an airplane; we’ve yet to hear of a flying cow.)

A: Elsworth W. Bunce, a Wisconsin native, accomplished the feat on February 18, 1930 as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis. During the flight, the cow, Elm Farm Ollie, produced 24 quarts of milk which were parachuted to spectators below.

Q: Where was the original ice cream sundae served?

The town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, claimed the title after a patron of Edward Berners’ soda fountain asked for his ice cream topped with chocolate sauce—an unprecedented request in 1881. The new hit dessert was only served on Sundays, with the spelling “sundae” supposedly originating when a glassware salesman placed an order for the dishes in which they were served as “sundae dishes.”

You can still buy an ice cream sundae at the historic Washington House at 17th and Jefferson streets. Don’t miss this year’s Ice Cream Sundae Thursday, June 26th.

There’s an old New England proverb that goes “The world is your cow. But you have to do the milking.” It’s this combination of advice that lands me in Hartland, Wisconsin, for the summer between my junior and senior year at Cornell. Mostly, because it has to do with cows. The dairy industry has become of tremendous importance to me and I find myself fascinated with the comings and goings of agriculture in general, but also concerned over a growing knowledge gap between consumers and producers. Which lead to my stint here at C|O as the PR Intern with the Ag Team. This is my attempt to see the industry from another angle; one that is a far cry from milking cows and showing calves but, perhaps, equally as important. So while I’m here in Wisconsin, I plan to partake in my fair share of milking; getting a full Midwestern experience 1028 miles from home, 970 miles from my home away from home, relying on the education I’ve received at Cobleskill and Cornell, the perseverance and determination developed over years of working with big brown cows and New England farmers, advice from my parents and a lot of long distance phone calls.

Submitted by: Gail Holcomb

My mom is always asked to make this cheesecake at family celebrations.  She has now passed the torch to me and I hope I can do it justice!  The key to this recipe is using an 8 x 12-inch glass baking pan.  Any larger and the ingredients and bake time have to be changed.  Enjoy!

Set oven temp. to 325 degrees

Crust:
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
6 T. melted butter
Mix all ingredients and pat on the bottom of an 8 x 12-inch glass pan.  Bake for 5
minutes, remove from oven and set aside while making filling.

Filling:
Three 8-oz. packages Philadelphia brand cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
4 large eggs, room temperature (do not use extra large eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in eggs
one at a time.  Beat in vanilla.  Pour over graham cracker crust and bake at
325 degrees for 45 minutes, or until firm in center. The center may still look wet,
but do not overbake. Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes.
In the meantime, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees and make topping.
Cheesecake will look puffy when removing, but will sink while cooling.

Sour Cream Topping:
2 cups sour cream
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine all ingredients and spread over the top of cheesecake.  Bake 10 minutes
longer at 425 degrees.

Remove from oven, cool completely and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Happy Day After Tuesday! Besides your weekly agri-article fix from this humble corner of the blogosphere, today brings an extra reason to celebrate, as you may already be aware. That’s right, it’s Dairy Month. And what better way to mark this occasion than with a dairy-themed trivia contest? Here are a couple questions that will really make you think—but not too hard. The answers are provided immediately below.

Q: Where is the only maker of Limburger cheese in the United States located?

A: Monroe, Wisconsin. The Chalet Cheese Cooperative produces a surprising one million pounds every year.

Q: How big was the world-record-holding cheese fondue?

A: The fondue pot itself was eight feet across and held 2,500 pounds of melted cheese. It all happened in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin for the Fond du Lac Fondue Festival in 2007.

Join us again next Tuesday as we delve further into the tantalizing world of dairy trivia. For now, get out there and enjoy Dairy Month!

It’s officially June, which means it’s officially Dairy Month, too! June is a time to celebrate all that is dairy. Milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream … you name it, and you’ll probably find it at one of Wisconsin’s famous dairy breakfasts, hosted by local dairy producers. Visitors come from far and wide to experience the sights and sounds of dairy farming.

If you have a chance this June, take a trip to a local dairy breakfast and visit with a dairy farmer in your county. It’s a great way to say thanks for all of the hard work dairy farmers put into beloved dairy products.

Are you a little off schedule, like me, as a result of the long holiday weekend? Well … it really is Tuesday, even though it feels a lot like a Monday, so this Two on Tuesday post has a dual purpose—to share two interesting sort-of-agribusiness-related stories and to remind you what day of the week it  really is!

1. It’s probably safe to assume that the vast majority of us were enjoying some delicious grilled hamburgers at some point over this past weekend. It can’t get any better than that, right? Check out this story to learn more about “luxury” hamburgers … and how ketchup and mustard are being replaced by truffles and foie gras to achieve the ultimate burger experience (according to some).
2. Students and officials of several East Coast colleges, according to this story, are working together to help turn cafeteria leftovers into environmentally friendly soil. The article points out that these efforts will not only help the universities minimize their carbon footprints, but also are helping them save money at the same time. Read this story to learn more.

The results are in for the 2008 Hoard’s Dairyman Cow Judging Contest and we couldn’t be more excited about the results of our internal competition to see who at the agency scores best. You see, it’s our chance to see how our creative department fared with their unconventional methods for making picks. You won’t believe who pulled off the big upsets this year. Take a look below.