Do you think you have what it takes to help choose the next winner of the Tillamook Cheese Factory Grilled Cheese Recipe Contest? Tell us why and you could be part of the judges’ panel, spending your Saturday tasting yummy recipes from our three finalists then telling the world whose recipe reigns the cheesiest!

How to Enter
1) Send an email to fans@tillamook.com and tell us why you deserve to be one of the judges for this year’s cook-off. Whether it’s your love for Tillamook Cheese, an eye for the perfect grill mark, an obsession with grilled cheese – or all three! – we want to know!
2) Submit your entry by midnight on Monday, April 15.

The winner will be selected and notified no later than Friday, April 19. The contest cook-off will take place at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon on Saturday, April 27. See official rules here.

Good luck!

By Loafy

Drum roll please. . . . . .
Announcing the 3^rd Annual Tillamook Cheese Factory Grilled Cheese Contest

Do you have the best tasting, creamiest melting, most unique and utterly irresistible grilled cheese sandwich recipe out there? Then enter the Tillamook Cheese Factory Grilled Cheese Contest! From March 22 through April 15, submit your one-of-a-kind recipe and you could be one of three finalists who will compete in a live cook-off on Saturday, April 27 at the Cheese Factory. A panel of judges including chefs, local personalities such as Marlynn Schotland of Urban Bliss Life, and professional cheese tasters (yes, that is a real job) will pick a winner who will get bragging rights for the best darned Tillamook Grilled Cheese sandwich on the planet – oh, and $500 and a delicious Tillamook goodie basket! There are goodie basket prizes for our runners up, too.

Three easy ways to enter:

1) E-mail your name, city, daytime phone number, and grilled cheese recipe to grilledcheesecontest@tillamook.com (check entry format for instructions on recipe format), or
2) Stop by the Cheese Factory for entry format sample and contest rules; type up your recipe and return it there, or
3) Type your recipe according to entry format and mail it to us!
4) Make sure to follow the entry format or we’ll have to disqualify your delicious recipe!

But hurry – deadline for entries is midnight, Monday, April 15. Click here for all the contest details and official rules!

You say you’re not much of a cook but still LOAF to eat Tillamook grilled cheese sandwiches? Then you will want to enter our contest to become our Celebrity “Best Tillamook Cheese Fan” judge at the recipe cook-off! Details on this contest coming soon so stay tuned as the Loaf Life Blog celebrates National Grilled Cheese month, which begins April 1!

By Susan P.

Me and my cake…Yum!

Have you ever seen a surprised loaf of cheese?

Well, let me tell you, I was about as surprised as they come on February 13 (our official founding day) when I was invited to the Cheese Factory where about 150 of my friends and family (employees and member-owners and their families) gathered for a party to celebrate Tillamook County Creamery Association’s 104^th birthday, and I was the special guest of honor!

We had birthday cake and any flavor of Tillamook Ice Cream a loaf could want! We played games like Beanie Cow Toss, Spin the Wheel, Pick-a-Milk-Bottle, and a family favorite, Bingo!

It’s not every day that a company turns 104, so it was sure nice to stop and recognize the hard work and dedication that everyone at TCCA puts into every product that is sold on store shelves!

One of my good friends having a good time playing Bingo!

My BFF Tillie even stopped by!

Everyone signed a giant birthday card for me, I’m hanging it on my wall!

The cake, it looks just like me!

By Loafy

Over the years, we’ve heard countless stories of curd-lovers driving for hours to the Tillamook Cheese Factory just to get their Squeaky Cheese Curds. Because of the short shelf life and to maintain the freshness and quality of Tillamook Cheese Curds, they are normally sold exclusively at the Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon… but if you’re a curd-lover, we’ve got great news!

In honor of our 104^th birthday, we’re releasing the curds on February 13 for one day only! There will be a limited supply of Squeaky Cheese Curds for sale on our Online Shop! Squeaky Cheese Curd Day will benefit the Oregon Food Bank in supporting hunger relief. Click here to learn more!

This is so exciting! But why can’t Tillamook ship cheese curds every day?
Squeaky Cheese Curds are extremely perishable, and start to lose their “squeak” after just a few days. Because of this, cheese curds require overnight shipping very quickly after they are made, which we cannot facilitate on a daily basis. To make sure curd-lovers around the country are able to get fresh curds to celebrate Squeaky Cheese Day, the Tillamook marketing team will actually be taking several days away from their regular jobs to personally hand-pack and ship your order from the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We wish we could spread cheese curd joy all the time, but for now, you can satisfy year-long cravings for cheese curds by visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, OR.

What is a cheese curd?
Cheese curds are created at the very beginning of the cheddaring process, when small pieces of cheddar cheese separate from the liquid whey naturally found in milk. These “curds” are usually then pressed together to form 40 lbs. blocks of our cheddars that will go on to naturally age for up to three years. However, we do save a small amount of the fresh curds to be sold at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. They taste mild and salty, and when they’re really fresh they make a slight “squeak” noise when you eat them! Try them for yourself on Squeaky Cheese Day!

What makes a cheese curd “squeaky”?
The squeak you might hear when you munch on cheese curds comes from the protein composition of fresh curds. When the protein in the cheese rubs against the enamel of your teeth it makes a “squeaky” sound. As cheddar ages, more moisture is released in the form of whey, and the protein in the cheese consolidates. Here at Tillamook, this consolidation is how cheese curds turn into Baby Loafs! That’s why our other cheddars (and curds older than a few days) don’t squeak! The cheese is still delicious to eat after it has stopped squeaking, but the squeak effect will be gone forever for that little curd.

Find out how you can get your squeaky cheese fix!

Get cooking with our Top 5 Cheese Curd recipes here!

P.S. You can follow the conversation about Squeaky Cheese Day with #ReleaseTheCurds on Twitter!

By Tillamook

February is a very exciting month for many reasons: Valentine’s Day, Oregon’s Birthday, and most importantly, Tillamook’s Birthday!!! This year, on February 13, the farmer owned co-op is turning 104! That’s 104 years of delicious naturally aged cheese made in Tillamook, Oregon! In 1909, several small creameries teamed up to form Tillamook County Creamery Association with the mission to make delicious high quality cheese.

I have a lot to be thankful for! After all, if it wasn’t for those farmers 104 years ago, there’d be no me (Loafy)! Today, Tillamook is made up of 100 dairy farm families, many of whom are kin to the early pioneers. To celebrate this very exciting birthday, I’m writing and collecting birthday cards to share with our wonderful farmers! Will you join me!?!

Send your cards to:
Tillamook
c/o Loafy
4185 Highway 101 North
Tillamook, Oregon 97141

Learn more about Tillamook’s history here!

By Loafy

Most people are thinking about what they are going to make their sweetie for dinner tomorrow night, but there is a VERY important holiday (at least it’s a holiday in my mind) to celebrate today. February 13^th marks Tillamook’s Birthday! 103 years ago several small creameries teamed up to form the Tillamook County Creamery Association and deliver the highest quality dairy products to consumers. That’s something that we are still proud of and live by today. In honor of the occasion, we made a Baby Loaf cake!

How are you going to celebrate? Make your own Baby Loaf cake? Maybe grilled cheese for dinner? The possibilities are endless…

~ Laura of the Tillamook Team

By Laura

Historical photo: A float in the Tillamook June Dairy Parade

June is Dairy Month! And since Tillamook County is a proud dairy community, the county is gearing up for fun and festivities and celebrating with the June Dairy Parade on Saturday, June 25.

The national June Dairy Month promotion got started in 1937. But it appears that Tillamook was so proud of its dairy industry that the first local dairy celebration was held in the 1920s, so says an old-timer who watched the parade as a young lad. I don’t know what happened in all the years after that first parade, but the beginning of the annual celebration as we know it today kicked off in 1957.

Tillamook’s first June Dairy Month celebration had a number of activities, including a cow milking contest for the local mayors. Bob Ely, who was festival chairman and a TCCA employee, stated that “a good time was had by all,” even though the parade was delayed by rain. Nowadays the parade is held rain or shine. What’s a little rain?

By 1961 the event had turned into a festival. Four mayors competed in the cow milking contest; the Lions and Kiwanis groups held a tug-of-war contest; there were milk drinking and ice cream eating contests for fifth and sixth grade boys; two dances were held and, of course, the fourth annual June Dairy Parade, which concluded with the coronation of the Tillamook County Dairy Princess.

In 2003, TCCA began sponsoring the parade in an effort to keep the tradition active in the community. Today, Tillamook County’s June Dairy Parade is one of Oregon’s largest parades, averaging about 150 entries.

The 2011 parade will be Saturday, June 25, at 11 a.m. Come and join the fun!

By Chandra

If you’re in Tillamook you can’t help but stop at the Cheese Factory! Our photographers David and Brin.

When we launched the new Tillamook.com at the end of January we also wanted to make sure we had new photos of Tillamook cows to share. They don’t naturally pose and smile at the camera, so how does one take pictures of our lovely Tillamook cows? It turns out that if you go into their pasture, they will come to you! They are curious creatures and like to checkout what’s going on – and that’s just what they did when we visited some Tillamook farms for a photo shoot!

Our photographer, Brin, started off far away from the cows.

Within minutes, they were sneaking closer to him!

She was really curious!

What a nice view of Tillamook the cows have in this pasture!

When you go out in the pasture, rubber boots help!

The sun shines down on Tillamook cows.

What farm is complete without a dog (or several) running around?

By Laura

What's your favorite flavor?

What better way to show your Loaf Love than a Spring Break visit to the Cheese Factory!  Check out the latest edition to our Loaf Love Tour mini-bus fleet right at the entrance to the factory. We’ll be introducing our “bus” YUM 101 on March 18th!  Bring your camera, climb on in the bus and you’ll feel like you’re on tour with Tillamook.

What trip to the Cheese Factory is complete without, well, cheese?  Our Farmhouse Café will reopen tomorrow, March 12 (we had a fire in January) and will be serving up the cheesiest omelets, perfectly-melty grilled cheese sandwiches, and the tastiest, juiciest cheeseburgers all featuring the World’s Best Medium Cheddar Cheese.  If you need to whet your appetite at the sample counter first, we don’t mind!

But we all know Spring Break is not complete without that creamy, delicious, summer’s-around- the-corner waffle cone filled with Tillamook Ice Cream.  Try one of our tempting new flavors, Cinnamon Banana Bliss or Udderly Peanutbutterly. Or opt for your tried and true favorite flavor.  The best part of your visit?  A buy one-get one free ice cream cone coupon when you help us help others.  Between March 19 – March 27, bring 2 cans of food with you to support the KGW Great Good Drive and the coupon is yours!

So come on down to the coast this Spring Break and we’ll see you in Tillamook!

By Susan P.

… our new Loafster convertible!

One day we started to wonder if our cheese would taste even better with the sun on our shoulders and the wind in our hair. We’ve determined that it tastes just as great no matter what the weather, but now we have a cute new bus to cruise around in. As far as we know, it’s the first and only VW shorty bus convertible ever made!

Isn’t she cute? Makes me want to throw on some Beach Boys, grab a surfboard, and head to the beach.

Thanks to our Facebook fans for helping us name the newest addition to our Loaf Love Tour troupe!

By Tillamook