Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life
Do you dream of escaping the big city for a bucolic farm in the country? To grow vegetables, raise a few animals, and maybe even learn to make cheese? It would be a relaxing, simple life . . . wouldn’t it?Hay Fevertells the story of one prominent Manhattan professional who gave it a shot—and discovered that the “simple life” is often anything but. Seeking escape and diversion from family pressures, a demanding career, and an unfulfilling social life, Angela Miller and her husband set their sites on a charming nineteenth-century farm in Vermont. They got much more than they bargained for. What began as an innocent project to restore their new country home became a full-blown obsession that led to a successful artisanal cheese-making business—all while Miller kept her job in New York City. Starting with a small herd of goats (the “girls”), Consider Bardwell Farm has grown to become one of the country’s best artisanal cheese producers—but with plenty of hard work and minor disasters along the way. Today, Miller’s cheeses are served in many of the finest restaurants, including Daniel and The French Laundry. This inspiring and funny tale reveals the inner workings of a growing, award-winning dairy farm and the painstaking effort and attention to detail that goes into every bite of cheese. For the cheese cravings the book is bound to stir up, Miller includes a handful of her own delicious recipes and those of food celebrities like Mark Bittman and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Miller is constantly asked: How do you sustain both a challenging career in the city and life in the country while ultimately making such great cheese? Hay Fever is her personal, entertaining story—perhaps a cautionary tale for some, but for many others just the motivation needed to explore a new culinary adventure, form a closer connection to food, and ultimately pursue a second or third “act” in life that is more fulfilling than simple “work.”