[July 06, 2009]

Food Network host to compete at Mason-Dixon Fair: Chef Bob Blumer will milk goats in a contest.

Jul 06, 2009 (York Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Call it a matchup of udder masters.

Professional goat-milkers will compete for a trophy Friday at the Mason-Dixon Fair in Peach Bottom Township.

Food Network television host Bob Blumer will join the contest, but first he must learn how to milk a goat.

"I have five days to go from standing start to the competition," said Blumer, whose show, "Glutton for Punishment," chronicles his attempts to master everything from noodling catfish to the art of beekeeping.

Producers from the Vancouver-based show planned to start filming in Pennsylvania today.

They will follow Blumer this week as he's schooled by Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez, an organic farmer and cheesemaker at Paradise Gardens and Farm in Henderson Township, which is between DuBois and Punxsutawney in Jefferson County.

Hart-Gonzalez will also give Blumer lessons in crafting cheeses and yogurt from goat milk.

"I haven't met Chef Bob yet," she said Sunday. "I've been told he's a city boy." Fourteen milkers are expected at Friday's 6 p.m. contest. The winner will be the one who squeezes the most milk in two minutes, said Doug Farrington, fair president.

The Food Network contacted Farrington three weeks ago after television producers found the Mason-Dixon Fair's Web site.

"We used to do (the contest) with politicians and celebrities as a fun thing," he said.

Not this year. Producers asked Farrington to make it a battle of professionals.

"Just to make the competition tougher for Bob," show researcher Rachel Knudsen said.

Five crew members will arrive at the fair Friday to interview contestants and tape the contest for an episode that will air some time next year.

Competitor Pete Demchur, who raises dairy goats at Shellbark Hollow Farm in West Chester, Chester County, said the toughest thing for Blumer might be milking for two whole minutes.

"It doesn't sound like a lot of time, but if you don't use those muscles, it is," Demchur said. "It takes coordination." Also, contest rules preclude the milkers from distracting the animals with a bucket of grain, Hart-Gonzalez said.

A handler may assist by holding the doe from the front; however, the back end is what tends to move with milking, she said.

"If it was easy to do, we wouldn't be entering it," Blumer said.

"I tend to do things most people think it's impossible to learn in five days." mburke@ydr.com; 771-2024 If you go What: Dairy goat-milking contest When: 6 p.m. Friday Where: Mason-Dixon Fair Grounds, 6988 Delta Road in Peach Bottom Township (Route 74 at the Pennsylvania/Maryland border) Cost: General admission is $5 (free for children younger than 6) For details: www.masondixonfair.com About the show The Food Network describes "Glutton for Punishment" as "part travel, part epicurean quest, part sporting event." Host Bob Blumer, a native of Montreal, is a cookbook author and also the host of "The Surreal Gourmet." His on-camera challenges include oyster shucking, garlic braiding, corn husking, cheese rolling, watermelon-seed spitting and flapjack flipping. Check local listings for airtimes.

Online --- "Glutton For Punishment": foodnetwork.com/glutton-for-punishment --- Mason-Dixon Fair: masondixonfair.com --- Paradise Gardens and Farm: paradisegardensandfarm.com To see more of the York Daily Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ydr.com. Copyright (c) 2009, York Daily Record, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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