Last fall Suzen and I drove from New York City to Knoxville. We did not quite drive directly. I wanted to see the famous West Side Farmers Market in Cleveland, Ohio, a brick monument to meat. It’s a treat to visit, but it left us a few hundred miles off course.
South of Cleveland and north of Columbus, the Ohio landscape is about as flat as the moon. Not terribly distinctive. We were driving along when we saw an enormous billboard announcing Grandpa’s Cheese Barn. Ten more miles and another sign. Another ten miles, another sign.
I was driving and turned to Suzen. “Oh, hell yes, stop,” she waved her hand. The landscape was boring.
Thank God for billboards.
You need to visit Grandpa’s in Norton, Ohio or surely their website: www.grandpascheesebarn.com.
This is an amazing firm with dozens of products that are unlike any Suzen and I have encountered before. These are products — dips, salsas, relishes, jams, jellies — made with exceptional fresh products and very, very light on the preservatives and chemicals. The taste is magnificent.
In the store, they have an army of dips ready for you to sample. They recommend taking one of their products and cutting it down with cream cheese or sour cream. The Jalapeno Cheese Spread pictured above uses their Hot Pepper Relish and cream cheese mixed in equal amounts. Just put them in the food processor and blend away.
We use their Cucumber Relish the same way, 50-50 relish and cream cheese. We tried it on our cooking party clients at Cooking by the Book who are always welcomed with appetizers. “How did you make this?” is the question we face multiple times every night. We tell them that when driving in Ohio, … Everyone smiles and I suspect visit Grandpa’s.
We are ordering the Cucumber Relish by the case and other products, like the Hot Pepper Relish, by the half case.
I did take a bottle of green hot dog relish, aka cucumber relish, and try to make the spread using that Heinz product. No comparison. The standard bottled products simply cannot compare with the quality of ingredients, and lack of other “stuff” in the bottle, from Grandpa’s.
Do yourself a favor and visit the website. I will say that we have never been able to complete an online order without calling up for assistance. Maybe it’s us. Maybe it’s them. But don’t let some minor inconvenience keep you from enjoying wonderful product.
