Did someone say mac and cheese bake off?

By Tim Goodwin - Jan 13, 2015 | 0 comments

The official apron of the upcoming macaroni and cheese bakeoff.

Gordon and Marion Jones of Jones Farm.

This colorful scene comes from Jones Farm in Chichester.

Rob Morrill checks in with one of the cows on the farm.

Nobody is as excited for the macaroni and cheese bakeoff this weekend as these cows from Morrill Farm in Penacook. Can’t you see the enthusiasm on their faces? Or is that just dirt?

Unless you have a gluten allergy or lactose intolerance, you’ve probably had a bowl of mac and cheese.

The way the macaroni and the cheesy sauce concoction form a delicious unity with the tasty bread crumb topping is just one of those things – you’ll never forget the moment you took that first bite. And we’re not talking about Kraft here, people. We’re talking homemade, from scratch, macaroni and cheese.

But odds are you’ve never tried the kind of mac and cheese flavors that will be at the fifth annual New Hampshire’s Own Macaroni and Cheese Bake Off this Saturday. Unless you went last year and tasted the blueberry or curried lamb mac and cheese. Both of which we heard were quite tasty, although on the odd side of the combination scale if you ask us.

The bake off features more than 20 participants vying for the renowned grand champion award, as well as the people’s choice. It will be held at the Grappone Conference Center from 1 to 3 p.m., with admission costing $12 for adults, $3 for children ages 6 to 12 and free for the kiddos 5 and under. Beverages, including milk, will be available.

And it’s all put on by this little organization that you’ve probably never heard of called Granite State Dairy Promotion. It’s a small staff of just two, with only the director, Amy Hall, in a full time capacity, and an office the size of a large clown car in the State House annex building.

Rob Morrill of Morrill Farm Dairy in Penacook is the one who came up with the idea for the bake off one night sitting with his family.

“Rob said wouldn’t it be cool if we had a mac and cheese bake off,” said Sherri Morrill, Rob’s wife.

“I didn’t conceive the baby, but I absolutely gave birth to it,” Hall said. 

The first year was a bit of an unknown because there was nothing like it in New England, but it was quickly obvious that people loved mac and cheese.

“We opened the door and the line to get in was all the way out into the parking lot,” Hall said.

“It’s a good thing the fire marshal never came in,” Rob Morrill said of the first year.

And each year it has brought in a good crowd.

“We had no idea how it would go at first,” Morrill said. “But it’s just taken off. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun.”

As Hall puts it, she has 120 bosses, and it’s not because of some wacky hierarchy system, but rather because the whole point of Granite State Dairy Promotion is to do just that – promote the dairy farms in New Hampshire. So with 120 commercial farms in the state, Hall feels she’s working for each and every one of them when she punches the old time clock.

“My goal every day is to make them proud.” Hall said. 

Granite State Dairy Promotion is funded by the farmers so it only makes sense that they try to do all they can to get the word out about what the farms do.

For every hundred pounds of milk sold, 15 cents goes to promotion. Five cents goes to the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the other 10 can either go entirely to GSDP, the New England chapter, or be split 50/50 between the two. All the money brought in by GSDP is what makes up the yearly budget for things like marketing, promotion (of course), the website, commercials and ads and this Saturday’s bake off. When it’s all said and done, they’ll make a little money off this weekend’s event, but most of it comes from the farmers.

“We’re very creative with what we do,” Hall said. “We do a lot of really exciting things here and with limited funding.”

So that’s why Hall’s job is to get the correct information out about the dairy industry in the state. She wants people to know the health benefits associated with it, make a connection between what goes in their cereal bowl and where it came from and raise awareness about just what the farms do.

“People should have their own choice of what they eat and what they drink,” Hall said.

All of the 120 commercial farms send their milk to a processing plant, like the Hood one on North State Street, and they’re the ones who get it out to the grocery stores. So when you buy brands like Hood, Oakhurst, Garelick or Cabot cheese, you should know that it’s coming from farms all around the Granite State. And let’s not forget that ice cream also comes from milk.

“We don’t truck milk in from the Midwest,” Hall said. “So when you do purchase one of those brands, you can feel good that you’re supporting New Hampshire farms.”

Hall’s great great grandfather was a dairy farmer, but she’s like most of us and had spent very little time on a farm – until she got the job. 

“There’s a real disconnect between the consumers and folks who are producing their food,” Hall said. “So we’re trying to tell the story of what dairy farming is.”

That’s why she strives to learn each time she visits one of her bosses. She’s not even opposed to picking up a shovel and throwing around some, well you know what.

 “If you don’t know them, you can’t promote them,” Hall said. “And if your dairy farmers know you care about them, it goes a long way.”

That’s where she comes in. The mac and cheese bake off is a good way to show off what they do and some of the farmers are even judges.

“These people made the mac and cheese possible,” Hall said.

Now 120 farms in a small state like N.H. may sound like a lot, but it’s really not if you compare it with the 829 there were in 1970.

“It hasn’t been that long since 1970 and you can see the sharp drop off,” Hall said. “Dairy used to be quite a big industry.”

The highest percentage of farms are in Grafton County, but Merrimack County (which is us) is second.

Now when you think of milking a cow, there’s probably a scene from a TV show or movie with a farmer getting their hands dirty, but the milking process actually evolves with technology and is mostly done these days by robots.

“The days of milking by hand with a three-legged stool is long gone,” Hall said.

And did you know that playing classical music can lead to more milk production? Well it can and does.

“The more happy and comfortable a cow is, the more they produce,” Hall said.

So you should go and eat some mac and cheese this weekend because not only does it help out New Hampshire dairy farmers, but it’s also quite delicious.

Here’s all you need to know about the mac and cheese bake off

What: New Hampshire’s Own Macaroni and Cheese Bake Off

When: Sat., Jan. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Where: Courtyard Marriott Grappone Conference Center

Ticket info: Adults: $12; Children 6-12: $3;

Children 5 and under: free;

admission is all you can eat, beverages included

Taste some of the best macaroni and cheese creations New Hampshire has to offer, all made with local dairy products. There’s traditional stuff like grandma used to make, and more exotic offerings (our favorite last year was a blueberry mac and cheese!), so there’s something for everyone. The event is a production of the fine people at Granite State Dairy Promotion.