Setting out a cheese board makes dinner or entertaining easy — try these products to make your board special.
Sheep’s milk fresca
You’ll want your cheese board to include some of the flavors of sheep’s milk fresca made by Dayspring Dairy. Greg Kelly and his wife Ana opened the sheep dairy and creamery in Gallant, Alabama in 2012, after leaving their corporate jobs. Their first cheese was a fresh, creamy sheep’s milk variety, similar to chevre, but milder than cheeses made with goat’s milk. Soon, they were making other flavors, as well as feta and halloumi. We sampled the two flavors of fresca we’re told are the favorites of their Atlanta customers, luscious, spreadable cheeses, with distinct flavor profiles. The sweet lemon fig fresca includes zest and local figs, while the savory truffle fresca is made with bits of jarred summer Italian truffles.
$10 per 5-ounce container. Available at the Peachtree Road and Freedom farmers markets and the Green Market at Piedmont Park. dayspringdairy.com
Credit: Myriam Morisset
Credit: Myriam Morisset
Olive flax seed crackers
Since 2017, Myriam Morisset of Atlanta-based Raw Head Bread has been making organic dehydrated bagels, crackers, waffles and other “bready” treats sold at local farmers markets, as well as online. The newest addition to her offerings is olive crackers, made from gold and brown flax seed, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, black olives and garlic. These crisp crackers are so savory you’ll enjoy them on their own, but they really shine with a little sweetness from a drizzle of honey from Alpharetta Bee Co. or a bit of lemon fig fresca from Dayspring Dairy.
$7 per 4-ounce bag. Available at Decatur, Freedom, Avondale Estates, Morningside and Grant Park farmers markets. rawheadbread.com
Credit: Deborah Eves
Credit: Deborah Eves
Honey
Deborah Eves and Michael Buchanan are the beekeepers of Alpharetta Bee Co., with hives in Alpharetta and Cleveland. They began beekeeping in 2020, and a year later were harvesting enough honey to sell. Now, their honey is available online, at the Alpharetta Farmers Market and at the stand in Eves’ front yard. While they sell their sourwood and mountain wildflower honey online, they only sell their Alpharetta variety at the farmers market, because they want to be sure their neighbors can enjoy the benefits of the hyperlocal product. You can try putting two or more flavors out with your cheese board so your guests can enjoy the different tastes. The sourwood honey has an almost smoky taste, the Alpharetta wildflower variety is deeply floral, and the mountain wildflower is the darkest and richest of the three.
$8 to $20 for mountain wildflower honey and $12 to $25 for sourwood honey, available in 3- to 16-ounce jars. $10 to $18 for Alpharetta honey, available in 3- and 8-ounce jars. Available at the Alpharetta Farmers Market and alpharettabeeco.com. Front porch pickup and self-serve honey stand available at 115 Pebble Trail, Alpharetta.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, or following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
