Curling, With Cheddar
Count this as one of the many things I often describe as something sailing in over the transom— a serendipitous bit of info, an amusing anecdote, a “this is why we live here” story. Even if you cannot get to this event in Greensboro, Vermont (admittedly a bit of a drive) at the beautiful Highland Center for the Arts, isn’t it fun just to know that such an event exists?
CURDS & CURLING
NEW DATE! Saturday, FEB 21 | 11AM - 3PMBrrrr! Too cold to curl. Curds & Curling is moving to Feb 21—please help us spread the word!
Grab your friends for an epic afternoon of Curds and Curling—a winter showdown like no other! Live music and warming fires set the stage for a cheesy winter competition with a wheel of Jasper Hill cheddar as the curling stone. Players will throw their wheels and sweep their brushes as they aim toward the target in Vermont’s new version of this traditional sport. Watch as the challenges unfold or try your own hand at curling while you enjoy cheese tasting and seasonal drinks.
Sponsored by Jasper Hill Farm and Highland Center for the Arts. Here’s the website. Jasper Hill continues to rack up well-deserved awards. Here is a recent one by Food and Wine Magazine.
Meanwhile at a curling competition at the Olympics this past weekend, the Canadian and Swedish male athletes—generally thought to be among the more peaceable sorts—got into a nasty scuffle when one of the Swedes accused a Canadian player of cheating by “double touching the stone.” Salty language ensued. A day later, in a match between Canada and Switzerland (this time the women’s team), one of the Canadians was accused of the very same infraction, which she denied. There was a hot mike moment and more, yes, salty language.
But you don’t have to travel to Italy or even Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, because our very own Upper Valley has a group of curling enthusiasts who meet in White River Junction: Upper Valley Curling, where you can learn and play. The group was featured in the Winter issue of Image Magazine (click here, then swipe to p. 36) .
And back to the cheese. If you’re foregoing the curling-with-cheddar event next weekend, you can still indulge. The now internationally renowned Jasper Hill cheeses—made at a state of the art facility in Greensboro, Vermont—are widely available, including at the cheese counter at the Co-op. Chances are my refrigerator contains a chunk of their cheddar. A smear of Harbison on a cracker with a sliver of apple? Truly, that’s heaven.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, Next Avenue, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.