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Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life Hardcover – April 12, 2010

by Angela Miller (Author), Ralph Gardner Jr. (Author)

3.2 22 ratings

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The compelling, funny story of a high-powered professional’s life-changing journey from Manhattan big cheese to Vermont goat cheesemaker

In the tradition of food memoirs like Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, Hay Fever tells the story of New York City literary agent Angela Miller and how looking for tranquility on a Vermont farm turned into an eye-opening, life-changing experience. Seeking solace in the midst of midlife strife brought on by family stress and a high-stakes career, Miller and her husband bought a farm in rural Vermont.

But what started as a part time “project” turned into a full-blown obsession and culinary passion that not only changed their lives forever, but also resulted in some of America’s best cheeses, prestigious awards, and media fame. Today, cheeses from Consider Bardwell Farm are featured at some of the country’s best restaurants, including Jean Georges, Daniel, and The French Laundry.

•    For cheese lovers and would-be farmers, it’s an inside look at the everyday operation of a successful and growing dairy farm
•    Author Angela Miller, literary agent in New York City, has won prestigious awards for her cheeses and has been featured in such publications as the Boston Globe, the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, and Martha Stewart Living
•    More than a memoir—the book includes recipes from the author and top food personalities like Mark Bittman and Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Hay Fever is an inspiring and entertaining memoir that will whet the appetite of food lovers and would-be farmers from coast to coast.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

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 Fever tells 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.

From the Back Cover

"Angela is both a Vermont neighbor and long-time friend, and her conversion from city girl to cheesemaker extraordinaire is one of the great success stories of our part of the world. Besides, the pleasure I get from driving by her old farm, which has been lovingly restored and put back into operation, is a pleasure beyond words."
Christopher Kimball, America's Test Kitchen Founder

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvest; First Edition (April 12, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470398337
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470398333
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,411,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,570 in Comfort Food Cooking (Books)
- #2,595 in Gastronomy Essays (Books)
- #3,453 in Culinary Biographies & Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
3.2 22 ratings

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jiffy

The Story of a Nearby Goat Farm

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013

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I have no interest whatsoever in cheese-making. I don't eat gourmet cheese, and I can't stand the smell of the process. But I live in a town not far from the Consider Bardwell Farm, and I wanted to read about this beautiful location. In spite of my lack of interest in the subject matter, I actually enjoyed the book. I liked reading about the author's efforts to be both a literary agent and a goat farmer/cheese-maker and about the animals on her farm. But that's not to say the book doesn't have faults. I wish there had been more about the farm itself, and I would have welcomed maps and pictures. The only significant photographs are on the dust jacket. The name-dropping that annoyed many reviewers didn't bother me because I had never heard of most of the people. The supposedly famous names meant nothing to me. Because I live in the general area, I expected to recognize many of the local names, but there were only two that I was familiar with. So name-dropping made no impression. For me, the most disturbing part of the book was the story of a baby goat named Peabody. He is presented as a particularly adorable and charismatic little goat, "gorgeous and sweet, big, healthy, and happy." The author promised a departing employee that she would take good care of Peabody, and then she had him slaughtered for a wedding party. I am well aware that the fate of male offspring in any milk-producing business is a sad fact of life. But every rule has its exceptions, and after the author extolled the virtues of Peabody and vowed to take good care of him, I would have expected a different outcome. My interest in this book was largely geographical--I like reading about farms and this one is nearby. I have recommended it to local people because of the setting, but I'm not sure how much appeal it would have to a general audience. Each reader will have to decide for himself if it will satisfy his personal taste in books.

3 people found this helpful

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highwayloosie

Hay Fever is a good read

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2011

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This is a good book, I can relate. Raised as a suburban midwest girl, no animals allowed. Became obsessed with alpacas in my late 20's, so I bought some. Learned the ropes in the same way Angela did, quite my graphic design job a few years later.. Today I have a successful business importing/exporting beautiful hand knitting yarns. Yes, follow your dreams, who cares that "you're not from these parts".

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G

Not what I was expecting, very disappointed!

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2010

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I was very much looking forward to this book arriving and after finishing it today am disappointed in this book. I felt the author was overly negative in this book. From talking negatively about her staff in first part of the book or complaining about a guest who stayed at her farm in the end, I just felt the author and her husband were perfect and everyone else was/is not! I didn't really get the impression that the author's true intentions where to start a farm to "get away from it all in VT." Right from the start the author starts taking about making a profit and balance sheets. I didn't really get how this farm "changed" her life. I wish the library had this book, for the first time in while, I am not happy to have spent money on book.

A much better book, in my opinion, is Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese by Brad Kessler. Much more enjoyable, down-to-earth, book about wanting to connect with the land, animals and food.

8 people found this helpful

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Stephanie Samaras

Revelation

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2010

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Hay Fever is, on one hand, an interesting first-hand account of making artisanal cheese. The author and her co-writer reveal the long path from milking goats, buying cow's milk, the creation of different types of cheeses, marketing and distributing cheeses from a small business in Vermont. The details are laid out not in dry, scientific prose, but in the writer's natural, autobiographical description of her experience. The author, Angela Miller, had achieved a successful Manhattan career as a literary agent before embarking on a dream in middle age of starting a creamery for cheese making. The story, from buying the land with its old Consider Bardwell farm, acquiring the goats and milking machinery, the vagaries of staffing, the challenges of maintaining dual careers and finding a place to belong in the Vermont countryside provide reading which both inspires and edifies. The author knew very little about the farm life of goats when she purchased the old farm, and she imparts much of what she learned to her readers, from milking to mating, having offspring, veterinary maintenance, and the goats' general nature. The reader learns about invidual goats in her herd, and though they exist to serve a dairy purpose, an overriding affection for the animals is an earmark of the memoir. The business experience of the Consider Bardwell enterprise is described against the real-life backdrop of the American economy's terrible dip in 2008, and the memoir ends on a note of hopefulness that the business will survive and prosper. Miller's autobiographical style is pleasant, descriptive of family and friends, and often witty, though ranging to dramatic and tense in troubled times for the farm. As often in autobiographies, there is as much to learn about the author as the subject, and Ms. Miller emerges as a very human and capable individual.

3 people found this helpful

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rexclick

mildly entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2010

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I am a swiss veterinarian who loves urbanista-turned-farmer stories. I enjoyed reading "Hay fever", and learning about cheese-making and goats (although, if you want to really learn about goats, I would recommend that you buy "living with goats" or "the year of the goat" which are great resources). I did not, however, enjoy the name-dropping and the poor editing of this book, with many cliché-ed repetitions.
If you enjoy farm stories, this is certainly not the first book to read, but altogether it is not a bad book.

5 people found this helpful

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