Hello Cheese Enthusiasts!

The inspiration for this week’s blog came from the photo roll of my camera. I found a series of photos that I had taken last year of the smoky skies near my home in Northern California, due to the horrible fires that we had experienced. The day the photo was taken, the smoke was so thick that there was only about 1,000 feet of visibility and the local schools were closed due to the air quality.

Seeing this smoke, I commented to a neighbor that I had planned on hanging some cheddar on the clothesline outside to see if I could smoke it….Not too far from the truth, as cheesemakers have been doing just that same step for years.

Hello Cheese Enthusiast!

One of the best parts of summer for me is the ability to grill as often as I want…whether it’s meats, seafood, or cheese. I think its part being outside, part eating healthier, and part trying new recipes and items that I didn’t get to try last year.

Just in case you may have may have missed my July 13th post on grilling, this post could easily be considered “Part II”…

In the last addition I covered Halloumi, Paneer, and “Bread Cheeses.” All of these were cooked on the stove, but for today’s post, I moved outside to the grill.

Hello Fellow Non-Travelers!

The world sure has changed an awful lot since my last week’s post. Many across the country are experiencing “Shelter in Place” orders, or “Essential Travel Only”…only to find that when you get to the store, many store shelves have been picked clean and retailers are doing the best they can to keep shelves stocked, while trying to keep an unsettled public fed and happy.

When last week’s post came out, we had already been house bound for several days.

We did a lot of cleaning and organizing those first few days, then settled into catching up on a good book, as well as catching up with some good friends and family by phone.

By week two, we had enjoyed some great home cooked meals and had started catching up on some movies/series on Netflix….But what to snack on while watching these? If you are at our house, it’s…..

Hello Fellow Traveler!

I am finally back home from a long trip. While out on the road, life can be a little different, unpredictable, and…well, lacking the creature comforts of home. When my best food options are as unappetizing as this retailer’s idea of “Charcuterie”, it is a better option to just go hungry and wait for the next city.

When I am traveling, I am not just looking at the cheese departments, but all of the specialty foods that are normally merchandised around them. I must confess that I literally dream of cooking, so it should be no surprise that when I find a new item that peaks my interest, I will find some creative (and delicious) way of using it. Just like in Iron Chef, when today’s “secret ingredient” is revealed to the chef, the wheels start turning to think up the best way to enjoy it.

Hello fellow traveler! 

In the post that I created for September 2nd,I shared the story of how I ‘discovered’ enjoying Ricotta for breakfast, but I also knew that there was another side of the story that I wanted to share….Dessert! Now, I know that most of you are thinking that I am going to talk about enjoying a Cannoli at this point, but you would be wrong. Have you ever enjoyed Ricotta Popsicles?……

Hello fellow traveler! 

I wish that I could say that I was writing this story from the Italian Riviera, but I am actually at my corner coffee shop, Lucille's and enjoying Ricotta…for breakfast!!

This is a story that I have wanted to share for some time, as I think that this is an under-appreciated cheese in the U.S….Especially on the West Coast…