New & Noteworthy

Photo By John Anderson

Full Quiver Farms (6238 FM 3396, Kemp, 903/498-3884) gets its name from a Bible verse that endorses, essentially, having as many children as you can.

"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one's youth.

Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them."

When you are operating an organic family farm, milking 30 cows, feeding 200 chickens and 20 pigs, and making cheese 24 hours a day, the suggestion to birth a full quiver of potential farmhands is probably pretty sound advice. Michael and Debbie Sams have nine children, and one or two usually can be spied helping their dad at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market.

The Full Quiver booth is usually mobbed with customers because the cheeses they make and sell are superb. While most of our local cheese-makers use goat's milk, Full Quiver Farms' cheeses are made from cow's milk, and the varieties are familiar: cheddar, Colby, pepper jack, mozzarella, and feta-style. The cheddar is creamy and lightly sharp; the feta-style is crumbly, creamy, and flawless; the pepper jack has delicious shards of spicy jalapeño pepper suspended in its mild, pale-yellow Colby. All of the cheeses ($10 per pound) have succinct ingredient lists: milk, cultures, enzymes, and salt. No artificial hormones are used to produce the milk.

Full Quiver's premier products are their cheese spreads. Virtually no one walks away from the booth without buying some. Made of homemade cream cheese flavored with fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables, these spreads ($4) are perfect on bagels and great with crackers. Flavors include garlic-basil, chive, jalapeño, spinach-feta, pineapple and strawberry, and occasional seasonal flavors.

Full Quiver's snack cheeses are little nuggets of fresh cheese, rather like fresh mozzarella. Snack cheese ($3) comes in plain (popular with toddlers), Cajun, and garlic-black pepper. Cheese balls, like fondue sets and bell-bottom jeans, are "in" again, and Full Quiver offers chipotle cheese balls, blue-cheese balls, and jalapeño cheese balls for your happening get-togethers ($6).

Full Quiver products are available at Whole Foods and Central Market, as well as the Sunset Valley Farmers Market (Saturdays, 9am-1pm).