Phyllis Eileen Banks is both writer and artist.Her articles have appeared in Southern New Mexico Magazine, FYI, Vision Magazine, Roswell Daily Record, New Mexico Magazine, Ranger Rick, Concern, Anchorage Daily News, and other periodicals. In addition, with Cynthia Smith she authored The Anchorage Fun Book.
Much of her experience has been as an editor.Her editorial experience includes The Alaska Presbyterian, The Alaska Heart, newsletter of the Alaska Heart Association, the book COCAHINIA (Consultation on Church and Human Need in Alaska), and Roaming Southern New Mexico.
"I have invisible antennae that 'vibrate' when something doesn't seem right.Of course editing someone else's work is easier than editing one's own," she says.
People stories, historical pieces, and travel writing are her favorites.She and her husband, Hal, moved to New Mexico from Alaska.
"New Mexico has some of the same mystic of Alaska – wide open spaces, different cultures.The transition was easy," says Eileen."It is truly The Land of Enchantment and no matter where you reside you carry it with you."
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Today we take cheese production for granted. But how did cheese originate? Was Miss Muffet's "curds and whey" version near the beginning of cheese's enduring evolution?
According to legend, cheese was first discovered 4,000 years ago when an Arabian merchant journeyed across the desert, carrying a supply of milk in a pouch. The lining of the pouch, combined with the heat of the sun, caused the milk to separate into curds and whey, leaving him with an original entree for dinner.
Clay tablets have been found mentioning cheese from about 4000 B.C,. and cheese molds and pots for making cheese have been found in an Egyptian tomb at about 3000 B.C. Butter is mentioned in the Old Testament and translators believe the word refers to curds. Roman soldiers carried cheese as a staple part of their diet and the Chinese used yogurt, a dehydrated form of cheese, as a main meal.
The United States is the largest producer of cheese in the world, and the per capita cheese consumption in the U.S. has steadily increased. Leprino Foods chose Roswell because of the availability of a plant that was adaptable to cheese making, but also because of the milk supply from the 48 dairies located in Chaves County. Milk is also available from Portales, Clovis, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and other places in the state. Statewide, dairies number about 80.
If you've ever wondered how many gallons of milk it takes to make a pound of cheese, the answer is that it depends on the type of cheese. One hundred pounds of milk makes 9 1/2 lbs. of cheese or 13 lbs. of mozzarella. The balance is 87 pounds of whey, the liquid. The whey is then made into powdered protein and powdered lactose. These are used in manufacturing operations all over the world to produce infant formula, ice cream, doughnuts, cookies, low-calorie sour cream, yogurt, powdered creamers, seasonings, sweeteners and pharmaceutical products.
The Roswell plant has sixteen 50,000 pound cheese vats capable of processing up to 290,000 pounds per hour of milk into four types of cheese on two production lines with eight vats each. Many cheese manufacturing plants wrap their cheeses. Leprino, however, uses a different process. It quick freezes the cheese, similar to the way coffee is freeze dried. Each kernel of cheese is frozen separately then stored in quantity in boxes. Because of this process, thawing time is reduced and the cheese doesn't stick together.
So when you eat your pizza, remember the mozzarella cheese on it may well have been produced in Roswell, New Mexico. And be kind to your counter or delivery person; they just may be a reincarnated Little Miss Muffet with a bad case of arachnophobia.