Rosemary Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs with Prosciutto and A Trip to Spinning Spider Creamery

There were beautiful cheeses in the drying room. Some were hand molded, surface ripened French cheeses that were coated in ash made from the apple trees on their farm. These cheeses will develop a white mold that will completely cover it. We also wandered into the aging room to see the cheeses at various stages in the aging process.
Chris does sell her cheeses to various restaurants and Greenlife Grocery, however, she says she still prefers selling them at Farmers’ Markets (that is where we first found them!). She likes that people can sample the cheeses and see how ripe they are and what they taste like at the time.
One of the cheeses I would like to taste is their Liesel that is rubbed first with olive oil and then with a mixture of spice and chocolate. Oh, mercy! She did not have any of this in production, so I guess we will have to go back! They also produce young blues, Gouda, cheddar, feta and yogurt. We took home a delicious soft goat cheese flavored with cracked black pepper, rosemary and fig preserves.
Of course, the Bunkycooks were also lucky enough to watch the whole goat milking process. I have to admit that I have never milked a goat or cow nor have I seen this done before. It was like goats on parade! They methodically march in and go into a device that looks similar to a horse racing gate. However, there’s no running away here. These goats want to stay!
They are milked twice a day and enjoy the process (I would too if I had udders that were that big!), so they literally wait to be milked (no pushing and shoving, girls!). It really is very cute!
The goats are then carefully cleaned and prepared for the milking process to prevent any sort of contamination. The milk is fed through a line right into a vat in the next room where it is chilled. Chris says that 180 to 200 gallons of milk per day is the right amount for her to handle to make cheese in their small operation. She said that each of the goats, on average, will produce 17 pounds of milk per day (or approximately 2 gallons each).
She also told me that goat’s milk should not taste or smell “goaty” if it is handled properly and not exposed to air while being transferred. Milk is very sensitive to odors. The actual milking of the goats takes about 10 minutes (except for Colbert – the slow and stubborn one! She took longer. She’s just like that Colbert guy on television!).
I was impressed that Chris knows each and every one of her seventy-five goats by name! There’s even a Mary Poppins. The goats also enjoy a little attention before and after milking. They are truly happy and healthy goats!
There are usually between eight to ten male goats (bucks) in that total number of seventy five goats. They are only allowed to come around the females (does) when the appropriate time comes. The rest of the time they are kept separate. That’s some kind of odds, boys!
This behind the scenes tour was just fascinating! And I loved hearing how they got started…its amazing how certain obstacles can become amazing opportunities. The goats are pretty adorable…but that recipe sounds INCREDIBLE! I love goat cheese, especially paired with fruit!
Thank you, Monet! It really is a fascinating story and their cheeses are excellent. They are such a great family and doing the right things. I wish them much success going forward and I am sure it will happen.
Maaaaaaa – these guys (and gals) are sooooooooo cute!! we have goats living just down the street from us and lemme tell you, they are HILARIOUS!!! I bet that cheese is to die for!
Hi Debra,
The goats are sooo cute! That was lots of fun to visit their dairy farm.
Gwen
I want to live there! Seriously… I do.
These posts are absolutely wonderful to read! Your writing and photos are beautiful… and I have learned so much from them. I can’t wait to read more!
Thank you for your comment, Brian. I appreciate that you are enjoying reading them. They sure are a lot of fun to do and I am learning right along with you!
There are more coming, so stay tuned! 🙂
Gwen – you have some of the most interesting posts with the travels, interviews and coverage you share with your well-written commentaries and gorgeous photography. Thank you for a great post…
That’s a serious RV! These figs stuffed w/goat cheese and wrapped with thin slivers of prosciutto are calling my name. I have some goat cheese that deserve transformation into these tasty bites.
Hi Cristina,
I feel so bad that I have not had much time to respond to comments, but I really wanted to thank you for yours. Yes, the RV was totally serious and deserves a post of it’s own…coming soon!!
I know you had lots and lots of figs, so this recipe would have been perfect for your fig overload! Goat cheese and figs are just delightful together!
Gwen
looks like lots of fun~
Baked figs, prosciutto and honey? I’ve done other permutations–I’ll try this one next.
Lovely photos and commentary–those goats are adorable!
Oh, how FUN!! I would love to visit a goat/ cheese farm. I visit a lot of wineries but this is totally different. That’s awesome that you went out of your way to visit them, and thanks for sharing the experience and info with us. Great family, it looks like. I love those mom and pop operations.
Growing up we raised goats for the healthier benefits of goats milk and they counted as a 4H project, too. Our operation wasn’t anything like Spinning Spider Creamery’s – we milked our goats manually! Very interesting post, gorgeous photos, delicious recipe – I bet their goat’s cheese is amazing!
Thanks Priscilla,
All of the farms we have been to have been great family operations and the folks are just great. It has been so much fun getting to meet these people.
Gwen
Another super blog from Bunkycooks! That RV driver has to be extremely talented to travel up the road to Spinning Spider Creamery…. !
He might be talented, but he sure wasn’t happy about it! 😉
I’m going to post fig dish tomorrow too haha. Great minds think alike. I’m sorry to hear about the broken pipe and flood 🙁 That RV looks so damn hot! Seeks like a lot of fun and those goats are adorable! They seem to be obedient
Hi Tanantha,
Great minds do think alike and we better enjoy the fresh figs while we can!
Gwen
Thanks for that. It was like going along on a field trip.
This is a great post and recipe. I actually got some terrific goat cheese at the farmer’s market not too long ago, so I’ll have to see how my fresh goat cheese would taste in this dish.
this has got to be the funnest (maybe the best) article yet Gwen, I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned much … now to find some figs…recipe is just unbelievable…
Hi there Drick,
Thank you! We need to meet at some point since we are so close! I wish you could have made it to Atlanta a few weeks ago, but we will have to figure out a meeting up point and I am expecting some great Southern cooking on your end!
Gwen
What a lovely post, Gwen! Some of the goats behave like real actresses !!! Don’t you need some sort of personal asistante for your trips? (Me !!!!!!!) Oh, the figs are gorgeous !!!
Hi Cistina,
Personal assistant would definitely be welcome! The goats were very cute and knew just what to do. They were naturally photogenic. I bet they have been photographed a time or two.
Gwen
What fun this must have been! PS: Love the figs 🙂
Hi Gwen –
This one sounds like a real winner. We had figs and goat cheese app. in Napa a few years ago and I have been looking for this very combination. Can’t wait to try them.
Thanks
Hi Anne,
Thanks for the comment! This is definitely a Napa kind of appetizer. I know you will enjoy them with a great bottle of wine.
Gwen
I don’t know Gwen, you might have the makings of a new career here with animal photography. Those goats are absolute HAMS from the looks of it!
Great adventure, beautiful post and a delicious recipe to boot…. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I am enjoying the farm visits. Maybe I should switch “careers”, although the cooking is still the first love. I must say, this is a whole lotta fun!
It really looks like a wonderful tour, I would have loved to been on. Goats kinda freak me out, but I have to say that they look cute in your photos and they make yummy cheese:) Those figs look so delicious and I could eat that whole plate all by myself, hehe. It must be so much fun traveling in your RV, I’ve always thought it’d be so cool to drive to and stop anywhere you want.
Hi Nancy,
Why do goats freak you out? They are really friendly and yes, they do make excellent cheese! 🙂 “Fun” is not exactly the word I would use for traveling in an RV, but it gets you there (if you can find a way to get that big thing where you need to go)!
Gwen
I enjoyed your post, the goats are really cute and you really captured their sweet personality in your photos. I am a lover of artisanal goat cheese and can’t think of a better way to enjoy them than with figs, prosciutto and honey:)
Hi Patty,
Thank you for the comment. Spinning Spider Creamery definitely has beautiful artinsal cheeses. I even had some at a restaurant yesterday!
Gwen
Hey, I’m in Asheville and buy Spinning Spider every week at the farmers market! I can vouch that it is amazing cheese…AMAZING! Great post and recipe!
How do I find the figs and goat cheese recipe.?
I have a friend that lives in North Carolina. I am going to try to get to visit her 2022 and see if she would take me to visit your lovely business.
Merry Christmas 👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼
⛄️🎄🎅🏻🧑🎄🎄☃️
Hi Dorothy,
We do not own the goat cheese farm. It was owned by Chris and Jeff Owens when we visited in 2010 and it looks like it still is. It says online that they’re not operating tours, but maybe that’s changed or will change in the future. Here is the recipe for the appetizer It’s at the bottom of the page. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Haha, the goats look so well behaved! Very unlike how I imagine goats to be, eating the washing off the line and running away with the veggies from the garden.
I love this recipe too. It should be illegal to go for too long without eating cheese stuffed figs. Delicious.
thank you for this lovely recipe:) everything on this post looks like a lot of fun! and i love the pictures. great shots!
How fun that was to read and look at! Thanks so much for allowing us to live vicariously through your travels. My uncle-in-law owns a dairy farm so while I’ve not milked a goat this way, I’ve cleaned cow udders and hooked them up to the sucking machines. They’re much dumber and nastier than goats though so I think I would have preferred what you did (especially since I had to muck the stalls after milking).
As someone who buys cheese from Chris & family, I can vouch for how delcious it is. I get the added advantage of buying large quanities and then bring it back to Atlanta to sell to local restaurants & retailers. Cheese mule extraordinaire, that’s me! Great pics, wonderfully written article thanks for spreading the word, Chris deserves it.
Thank you for your comment. Chris and her family do deserve recognition for their contributions to the community and for their great cheeses and other goat milk products (the yogurt was so good!). It was a pleasure visiting their farm and the goats were awfully cute (especially Colbert!). Keep those cheeses coming to Atlanta! I actually had their Black Mountain Blue at Le Vigne (the restaurant at Montaluce Winery) over the weekend. It was delightful!
Mmmm, you had me goat cheese :)!