Estrella Family Creamery’s booth at the local markets is always swamped. They have an amazing setup with a counter and glass enclosure to protect the cheese and let customers see exactly what they’re buying. Because they are so popular, finding time to interview them has been difficult. I was lucky to carve out a few minutes on the phone with Kelli Estrella the other day to bring you this interview.

How Long Have You Been Selling At The Markets? Estrella Family Creamery started in Olympia 4 or 5 years ago. For the past two years, they’ve been exclusively at the Seattle farmer’s markets. When Kelli is asked why she makes the two hour drive four times a week, she replies that it’s all about the people. Both the shoppers at the markets and the farmer’s markets staff themselves. The staff is very farmer friendly here in Seattle which makes the drive worth it. Selling at the markets energizes Kelli and gives her the freedom to try new cheeses. The work she and her family does is very demanding. She’s up at 4 am every day. Selling at the markets and talking to excited customers “puts air back in the tires”.

Which Markets Do You Attend? They currently attend the Columbia City market on Wednesdays, the Phinney Ridge Market on Fridays, the University District Market on Saturdays and the Ballard Market on Sundays. The University District and Ballard markets are year-round.

How Did You Get Started Making Cheese? Kelli started making cheese as a hobby 23 years ago. When she got married, she wanted a goat. From there, the passion began. She wanted to make healthy food for her family and wanted her children to grow up with a strong work ethic. In the year 2000, they bought a dairy farm and grew from 5 acres to 164 acres. It took two years to get the farm up to Grade A. They’ve been selling cheese for 5 years. Most of their cows are French Normandy cows and they currently have 20 goats. They could be up to 50 goats by this time next year.

Tell Us About Your Milk: Milk from French Normandy cows has a high protein level and high butterfat. Their cows are on pasture year round with plenty of room to roam. This adds to the complexity of the cheese. Estrella Family Creamery doesn’t pasteurize, homogenize, or standardize their milk in any way.

Tell Us About Your Cheese: Estrella makes a wide variety of cheeses. The types of cheese they have at each market depend on what’s ready at the time. They have 3 different cheese caves: 2 above ground and 1 below ground. None of their cheeses are aged or wrapped in plastic. They either have a natural rind or are washed in wine, beer, or brine as they are aged. The entire family works the business. They turn the cheese, wash the rinds, and tend the cheese daily. Their current cheese list can be found online. Some of their cheeses include:

• Black Creek Buttery - An old world style cheddar
• Grisdale Goat - A natural rind goat cheese. This cheese is hand pressed into a curved round mushroom top shape.
• Wynoochee River Blue - This is a cow’s milk veined blue from two separate milking.
• Vineyard Tomme - This seasonal cheese is buried in bins of fermenting grape skins, seeds, and pulp from a local winery.
• Jalapeno Buttery - This is their old world cheddar full of fresh jalapenos. (this is my personal favorite).

Kelli is always testing out new cheese recipes. Since her customers can taste anything they want before they buy, she feels like she has the freedom to play around with her recipes. She wants to make cheese on a world class level and she knows that you can’t do that just by following a recipe. She adapts and changes her recipes continually.

Do You Have a Favorite Cheese? Kelli can’t pick a favorite cheese. She says it depends on what she’s eating and drinking at the time. She likes all of her cheeses. She’s always excited to find out how her cheeses are being used, either by her customers or the chefs that use her cheese.

What Else Would You Like People to Know? Kelli is very thankful for all of the wonderful customers who come out to support them. Their customers come out in all sorts of weather and supported them all winter long. Keep looking for all of the new cheeses that she’s planning. They just finished their new underground cave and it’s a real cave with a curved ceiling. This will allow them to increase production and produce a wider variety of cheese types. Come by and sample and ask questions and giving your feedback.

Anthony and Kelli Estrella
Estrella Family Creamery LLC
659 Wynoochee Valley Rd
Montesano WA 98563
360 249-6541
www.estrellafamilycreamery.com

As always, remember… if you try one of the vendors we cover in this series, be sure to tell them you read about them on Seattle MetBlogs!