Dairy Celebration in Wisconsin
Learn about making cheese, butter and ice cream during the Dairy Celebration at Wade House, W7965 State Highway 23, Greenbush, Wisconsin.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday (June 28, 2014), visitors to the historic site will have the opportunity to help make ice cream and butter in 1860s-fashion as well as learn about the process of making cheese.
Butter will be made from fresh cream by moving a dash (staff) up and down within a stoneware plunge churn. Homemade ice cream will be made using a hand crank ice cream maker, comprised of an outer bowl and smaller inner bowl with a paddle for stirring. Guests will be rewarded for their hard work with a sample of the dairy products that they helped to make. There will also be ice cream from Kelley Country Creamery in Eden for sale that day in the site’s Butternut Café.
Wade House staff will demonstrate the craft of cheese making following a detailed recipe of Miss Catharine Beecher, a 19th century pioneer educator and home economist. Visitors will see milk being strained, heated, and stirred until curd is formed. Interpreters will break and press the curd to separate and remove whey. Then they will immerse the curd in a kettle of warm water and stir. Next, the curd will be drained and placed into cheese hoops and put in to a press. Once taken from the press, the cheese will be placed on a shelf in a dark, cool room for approximately six months until firm.
Wade House Historic Site is one of 12 historic sites and museums owned and operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
(Photo courtesy of Wade House)
