GREETINGS, SUN SPOTS: I enjoy your column, finding it a helpful community of people helping people.

Here’s my particular question. About 50 years ago I was dating a girl in Fort Plain, N.Y., in the Mohawk Valley, home to many Dutch families. At her mother’s home there was an earthenware crock on the dinner table with “Dutch cheese” within. It seemed that it was warm and may have been warm for some time. The cottage cheese was in the act of turning into a much heartier cheese.

My question is: How do you make Dutch cheese from cottage cheese? There are not too many Dutchmen here in Oxford County. Thanks for your help. — Raymond Miller, singer@megalink.net

ANSWER: According to online sources, the Dutch have been making cheese since 400 A.D., and Holland is currently the largest exporter of cheese in the world, with annual revenues of about 7 billion euros.

Sun Spots has not had much luck tracking down “Dutch cheese” online. Sources say the Dutch variety of cottage cheese originated about 1700, but she cannot pinpoint the difference between regular cottage cheese and a Dutch variety.

Searches turn up “Dutch cottage cheese pie,” but those recipes just call for cottage cheese; there’s nothing about it being Dutch.

At Britannica.com, there was this entry under cottage cheese:

“Cottage cheese, also called Dutch cheese, or schmierkase, fresh, soft, unripened cheese consisting of curds of varying sizes, usually mixed with some whey or cream. It is white and mild but faintly sour in taste.

“In commercial cheese making, the curds are derived from pasteurized skim milk or reconstituted, low-fat milk products. The whey is drained — but not pressed— from the curds, thus leaving a certain amount of liquid. In this form, cottage cheese has a low-fat content and is a popular food in low-fat diets.

“If cream is added and the product contains four percent or more fat, it is sold as creamed cottage cheese.

“A similar soft fresh cheese, usually called pot cheese, is produced in the same manner, but the curds are strained to remove most of the whey; thus, it is drier and less creamy than cottage cheese. The name pot cheese is sometimes used to refer to cottage cheese.”

Sun Spots noted the words “pot cheese” in the final graph; perhaps that is the cheese your girlfriend’s mother was preparing?

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This is just for your famous Rolodex; no need to publish it now, since the season is nearly over for blueberries. I just ran across this website featuring “organic wild blueberries” delivered: www.localharvest.org/elizabeth-garcia-okeefe-arthur-harvey-M49768

Check out their webpage for contact information and the rest through LocalHarvest; there might be others you’ll want in your database. Thanks. — Anonymous Annie via email

ANSWER: The blueberry season is certainly winding down, but Sun Spots still has a few on her bushes and picked some over the weekend.

Keeping track of all the different farms and what they sell and whether it is organic is a bit advanced for Sun Spots’ Rolodex. She thinks perhaps she’ll leave that to the website you suggest (thank you!) and other nonprofits, such as the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (mofga.org).

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Your instructions for removal of bugs is very good (Aug. 21). When done cleaning, a bay leaf on each shelf keeps bugs away. — No Name via email

HI, MS. SUN SPOTS: I enjoy you column very much, and you have helped me out several times. For the pantry bugs (Aug. 21), I do everything you do; then with my pasta, I add a few dry bay leaves for extra precautions.

As for the flour, I remember every time my grandmother used flour she always sifted it to get rid of any bugs.

I am also looking for an old recipe called golden glow pickles. Can anyone help me? Thanks a lot. — Kim Lobley, Anson

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