Welcome to The Blue Ribbon Harvest
This month, we’re taking Curdbox to the state fair—where the cheese is award-winning, the popcorn is coated in caramel, and every bite comes with a little nostalgia.
State fairs have always been places to celebrate the best of the harvest: homegrown produce, handmade foods, treasured recipes, and the farmers and makers behind them. This box captures that spirit with three American cheeses, including two first-place competition winners, surrounded by flavors that feel right at home at the fair.
Expect buttery caramel, aged cheddar, tangy mustard, warm spice, and the unmistakable crunch of caramel corn. It’s sweet, savory, a little unexpected, and meant to be enjoyed with the kind of music that makes you want to stay until the lights come on.
Info Card
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Spotify Playlist(Listen to this month's curated playlist) |
Setting Up & Serving Tips
Pull the cheeses and salami out of the refrigerator about an hour before you plan to eat. The flavors and textures will become much more expressive as everything approaches room temperature.
Don’t throw away the cheese paper or original wrappers—they are the best way to store any leftovers.
Cheese & Charcuterie Notes
For the best texture and flavor, peel the casing off of the Spicebush salami and slice the Spicebush Salami thinly to serve.
The white, fluffy rind on the Vermont Farmstead Brie is completely edible. As the cheese ripens, it may become softer beneath the rind and develop more pronounced mushroom flavors.
The rind on ’Nati Gouda is natural and may vary slightly from piece to piece. This is part of the traditional aging process.
BUILD YOUR BITES
First, try and savor each cheese and pairing individually so you know what everything tastes like individually. Then it's time to start having fun building bites!
Vermont Farmstead Brie + Caramel Corn + Raspberry Honey Mustard
Roelli Haus Cheddar + Spicebush Salami + Caramel Corn
'Nati Gouda + Raspberry Honey Mustard + Caramel Corn
More about the Products....
’Nati Gouda by Urban Stead Cheese
This is the cheese that inspired The Blue Ribbon Harvest.
Made in Cincinnati by Urban Stead Cheese, ’Nati Gouda earned first place in its category at the 2026 American Cheese Society Judging & Competition before going on to receive Third Place Best of Show—an extraordinary honor in a field of more than 1,600 entries.
Aged for approximately 16 to 20 months, it has everything we love about a beautifully matured Gouda: a creamy yet slightly crystalline texture, concentrated nuttiness, deep umami, and flavors reminiscent of salted caramel, butterscotch, and toasted sugar. Those sweet notes make it especially at home beside the caramel popcorn, while its savory depth allows it to hold its own against the salami and mustard.
Urban Stead makes its cheese in small batches using milk from a single Ohio dairy farm. The result feels both highly accomplished and wonderfully approachable—the kind of cheese capable of impressing a panel of judges while still being the first one to disappear from the board.
Haus Select Cheddar by Roelli Cheese
Haus Select comes from Roelli Cheese in Shullsburg, Wisconsin, where fourth-generation cheesemaker Chris Roelli carries on a family tradition that began more than a century ago.
This cheddar is selected from the creamery’s cellar-aged batches once they have developed exactly the right character. It took first place in its category at the 2023 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, earning its place among the award-winning cheeses in this month’s box.
Firm and meaty in texture, Haus Select delivers classic cheddar tang alongside toasted nuts, earthy savoriness, and a caramel-like sweetness that settles into a long, mellow finish. It’s bold enough for the Spicebush Salami and especially delicious with a dab of Raspberry Honey Mustard.
Cheddar may be familiar, but this is a reminder of how compelling it becomes when exceptional milk, careful cheesemaking, and patient aging all come together.
Brie by Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company
Vermont Farmstead’s Brie brings a softer, gentler contrast to the two aged cheeses in the box.
Inspired by classic French bloomy-rind cheeses, it has a rich, buttery interior surrounded by a fluffy white rind. The flavor begins with sweet cream and fresh butter, then develops delicate mushroom notes as the cheese ripens. It is mild and approachable, but far from forgettable.
The creamery began as a community effort to preserve a local dairy farm in South Woodstock, Vermont. That connection to agriculture and community makes it particularly appropriate for a box inspired by state fairs and the people who keep regional food traditions alive.
Try it with the Raspberry Honey Mustard for a bright sweet-and-savory pairing—or add a piece of caramel popcorn for crunch.
Caramel Popcorn by Annie B’s
Few foods evoke a state fair quite like caramel corn.
Annie B’s starts with airy popcorn and wraps it in a rich, buttery caramel glaze, creating the combination of sweetness, salt, and crunch that makes it nearly impossible to stop eating. Made in small batches in Minnesota, it captures the easygoing spirit of fair food while still feeling carefully crafted.
Beyond eating it by the handful, use it as a crunchy element on your cheese board. It is especially good with ’Nati Gouda, where the caramel coating echoes the cheese’s naturally occurring notes of butterscotch and toasted sugar.
Other uses: Sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream or crush it over baked apples.
Spicebush Salami by A Small Good
This pork-and-beef salami from A Small Good in Rockport, Maine, gets its distinctive personality from northern spicebush, a native plant with warm, woodsy notes reminiscent of allspice, juniper, and black pepper.
The salami is made using koji fermentation and dry-aged with cider, fermented garlic, and spices. The result is deeply savory and aromatic, with subtle sweetness and a distinctly American sense of place.
It brings the grilled-meat satisfaction of classic state-fair sausage to the board, but in a more nuanced form. Slice it thinly and try it with Haus Select Cheddar and Raspberry Honey Mustard for the box’s best savory bite.
Other uses: Add it to pizza, tuck it into a grilled cheese, or chop it into a pasta salad.
Raspberry Honey Mustard by Terrapin Ridge Farms
This is where fruit preserves and classic fairground mustard meet.
Tart raspberry gives the mustard a bright, juicy character, while honey rounds its sharper edges with mellow sweetness. Whole mustard seeds add texture and a gentle tang, creating a condiment that can move easily between the sweet and savory sides of the board.
Pair it with the Brie to bring out the cheese’s rich, creamy character, or add it to Haus Select Cheddar and Spicebush Salami for a bite that is sharp, fruity, savory, and warmly spiced all at once.
Other uses: Brush it over baked ham, use it in a turkey sandwich, or whisk it with olive oil and vinegar for a quick vinaigrette.
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