The Curds and The Way

Ceramic sculptures sprout in clusters, and goats named Lucinda, Rachel and Kevin munch from a broad, grassy field on the 147-year-old Lucky Penny Farm in Hiram Township.

Owners Abbe and Anderson Turner have created this setting where personal and work interests blend to create artisan cheese, butter and the fruition of their dreams.

“It’s about a lifestyle choice,” says Anderson, a ceramic sculptor and painter who, in addition to farming and cheesemaking, is the director of galleries for the Kent State University School of Art.

The Turners’ 1865 farm includes a milk house, bank barn, corn crib, tractor barn and granary and harbors pigs, hens, a llama named Darrell and, yes, goats. Here, the Turners’ children, Madeline, Lily and Ezra, feed, water and put goats to pasture, collect eggs from a hencoop and slumber under the stars at their home-based campsite.

“We made the move in 2005 to raise our children where they could play outside, explore, make mud pies — do what children should do,” says Abbe, a former public radio development officer who swapped her suit and pumps for blue jeans and black rubber boots to mother her three children and dozens of goat-variety kids in this rural setting.

While the Turners’ goats generally provide a just splash of milk toward their 2,000- to 3,000-pound weekly supply for cheese making — the couple collects the bulk of their milk from two Ohio goat farms and two Ohio sheep farms — the small herd represents the impetus of Lucky Penny Farm and Creamery’s success.

“I believe in incrementalism — that small, consistent actions add up to something great,” Abbe says, explaining how her philosophy and routine collection of found pennies led to the farm’s name. Later during our interview, she scoops a penny from the seat of a cast-iron bench on the back deck of family’s mid-1800s Greek Revival upright and wing-style house and slips it into her pocket.

Pip, the Turners’ 16-year-old Siamese cat, sits patiently on the bench eyeing a plate of feta goat cheese, creamy sheep cheese and blue corn chips from which we nibble as Abbe describes Lucky Penny’s cheeses and the artistry of their creation.

“It’s beautiful work, making lovely cheese,” Abbe says. “It’s just a feeling for the right time to do the next step, cutting the curd, adjusting the temperatures, aging for the right amount of time to produce a balanced cheese full of flavor and freshness.”

After the Turners pasteurize vats of hormone- and antibiotic-free milk, they transform it into chevre, feta and ricotta cheeses at their Kent-based cheese and creamery operation. “It’s good, pure food,” Abbe says, noting that she, Anderson and fellow cheesemaker, Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese-trained Jan Deuble, combine just four ingredients to make their cheeses: milk, salt, culture and rennet, a curdling agent.

Cheese lovers snatch up the Turners’ handmade delights Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lucky Penny Creamery, 632 Temple Ave. in Kent, as well as at Earth Fare, West Point Market and several other stores throughout Ohio and beyond. Whether it’s feta crumbled on a salad, chevre folded into pasta or herb-infused ricotta spread on flatbread, Abbe says possibilities for the cheeses extend as far as one’s culinary creativity.

While Pip edges toward the cheese scrapings we leave behind as we rise from the table, the Turners say their dreams are continuing to unfold. This month, they’re opening Farm Girls’ Pub and Grub, a new Main Street eatery in Alliance that features local and seasonal American comfort foods. Patrons can expect offerings such as burgers, craft beers, pulled pork sandwiches, three-cheese macaroni and cheese and a signature dessert: smoke-roasted apples with cajeta, the Turners’ award-winning goat milk caramel sauce.

“We’ve been working on this vision for many years,” Abbe says, regarding the restaurant, the farm and social causes, such as Recycle Pots & Pans in Kent, which provides gently-used cooking and dining equipment to domestic abuse victims and others in need so they can return to the family table.

“The family table is the glue,” Abbe says. “We provide kitchenware so families can cook, eat and stay together.”

Back at the farm, Anderson tosses another pruned apple tree branch into a fiery stack of others.

“Some days are more graceful than others. The fact is, it’s truly hard work,” Anderson says. “It’s about keeping the dream alive.”

For more information about Lucky Penny Farm and Creamery, visit www.luckypennyfarm.com.

Say Cheese

A concise compilation of creamy creations.

Chevre

This simple, smooth, creamy goat cheese bears bright citrus notes.

Spread on toast with jam, dot on pizza, toss with pasta or serve as a dip with pretzels or fresh, crispy vegetables.

Goat feta

Packed in whey brine, this full-flavor goat cheese comes in blocks ready to crumble, cube or slice.

Crumble and sprinkle on salads; cube and add to baked eggs dishes, such as frittatas; or sliver thinly and top on grilled zucchini, squash and tomato slices.

Sheep Feta

High in protein and fat, this dense cheese has a creamy overtone.

Add to baked egg dishes, serve with tomatoes and root vegetables or feature this cheese as a star ingredient in a watermelon and feta salad.

Ricotta

This sheep cheese is known for its large, fluffy, sweet curds.

Stuff in ravioli, toss with pasta or serve as a dessert topped with drizzled honey, berries and crushed graham crackers.

Cajeta

This smooth caramel sauce is made with goat’s milk.

Use as an ice cream topper, add to cakes and brownies, serve with fruit and nuts or pour into coffee drinks.

Dairy Delights

Abbe and Anderson Turner, of Lucky Penny Farm and Creamery,

share two favorite dessert recipes.

Chevre Cookies

Recipe created by Joanna Caley for Lucky Penny Farm

Based on Italian ricotta cookies, these cake-like, light, eggless cookies invite personalization. Add lemon or orange zest to the batter and top with juice-infused citrus glaze. Sprinkle crushed mint candies atop cookies laced with peppermint extract, or add cocoa powder to the glaze for a hint of chocolate.

Cookies:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

8 ounces soft goat cheese (chevre)

¼ cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all cookie ingredients together until the dough comes together in a ball. (It’s best to do this in a stand mixer if you have one, but it can also be done by hand.) The dough will be sticky. Place teaspoon-sized balls on an ungreased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the bottoms just begin to brown. Let cool for one minute on the baking sheet, and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar

Orange juice

Sprinkles or colored sugar

In a small saucepan, combine the powdered sugar with enough orange juice to make a glaze to spread on the cookies (a couple of tablespoons or so).  Stir over low heat until smooth and glossy, and then spread over the cookies. Quickly top with sprinkles or colored sugar.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Smoke-Roasted Apples with Lucky Penny Cajeta Sauce

Recipe created by Tamara Mitchell, of Dine-In Diva Personal Chef Service, for Lucky Penny Farm

6 crisp apples, such as Fuji or Granny Smith

¼ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

Lucky Penny Candy Cajeta Sauce

Also needed: 1-1/2 cups of applewood or hickory wood chips, soaked in water or apple cider for one hour and then drained.

Using a melon ball scoop or paring knife, core the apples from the top, creating a cavity to hold the filling, but not cutting all the way through to the bottom of the apple.  Divide the brown sugar among the apples and place in the cavity of each, followed by the butter, and then sprinkle each apple with some of the cinnamon.

Prepare the grill for indirect grilling (either rake hot coals into two piles on opposite sides of the grill with a drip pan placed under the center, or on a gas grill, light one burner to about medium heat, and put drip pan under adjacent burner).

Place the wood chips over the coals or into a gas grill smoker box over the lit side of the grill. Arrange apples on the grate over the drip pan (use rings made from coiled aluminum foil to steady apples). Adjust vents or temperature control to about 350 degrees.

Smoke-roast apples until tender and sides are soft when squeezed, about 1 hour to 90 minutes, depending on grill and temperatures.

Top each apple with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle generously with Lucky Penny Candy Cajeta Sauce.