my-cheese-"problem"

[smokenoob]

I have a different cheese problem…

[Steve B]

Please don’t elaborate on that one. 🤢

[smokenoob]

Steve B Thank you for not encouraging me!

[Steve B]

I’m not gonna sleep well tonight. Just saying.

[RichieB]

Anyone read "Who Moved My Cheese" Spencer Johnson? Has nothing to do with cheese but a good quick read.

[jfmorris]

Is it anything like Captain Queeg and the missing strawberries (The Caine Mutiny)?

[smokenoob]

No but after reading this, cheese has perked my interest.
La Tur: F. Scott Fitzgerald

This triple-crème cheese is decadent and worthy of any decadent West Egg socialite bash. La Tur is made of goat, cow, and sheep milk, and a go-to for those with well-rounded, luxurious tastes. Not to mention its cake-like rind and gooey, soft interior. It’s the perfect cheese to impress a woman like Zelda Fitzgerald and whisk her off to a night of drinking and dancing on table-tops.

[painter]

This is such a cheesy thread.

[Skip]

Smoke, Shred, Vac Seal, Freeze, ....or

[fzxdoc]

I am so relieved to read that I am not the only one who has a dedicated cheese drawer--that "runneth over" into the spare fridge in a plastic tub. And there's only 2 of us in the house most of the time. But when I see halloumi (which is not easy to come by in our area), for example, I stock up. The More Cheese Syndrome has long since joined my other MCS.

Kathryn

[Mosca]

Oh halloumi! I bought a block of it in spring, maybe late winter, that migrated to the bottom of the cheese drawer, where I promptly forgot about it. Being a dry cheese, a block of halloumi lasts a pretty long time when sealed; this one had an expiration date of mid September. But it’s cheese, right? Soured milk. What could go wrong? So I found it in December. Opened it up. And almost fainted at the horrible smell. I had to triple wrap it and reseal it because of the smell, even in the garbage.

[Bkhuna]

I also have quite a number of cheeses. It's one of the best reasons to own a vacuum sealer.

[Mosca]

This is what I am up against as I fight MChS syndrome. This is the cheese section of my local grocery. (This is apart from all the prepackaged cheeses.)

[Jfrosty27]

You’re doomed. 🤣

[fzxdoc]

I just brought home an Dutch Kaasaggio cheese, aged 5 months, today from Whole Foods. With a burgeoning cheese drawer, I still couldn't pass it by. Enjoyed it with some red grapes and a half glass of Conundrum red blend when I got home. Delicious.

See what this topic did to me?

Kathryn

[RichieB]

Yea, drove you to drinking.

[fzxdoc]

RichieB


K.

[Mosca]

I'm revisiting this because I finally drew down my stash to the point where I could buy more cheese. Not that I haven’t been buying cheese continually for the last 18 months; I have been. But in mid-July I decided I couldn’t buy any more cheese until I drew down what I had to a reasonable level.

Clockwise from the top,

Parmigiano Reggiano, which is a staple and not considered excessive.
Cooper sharp, a burger and sandwich cheese. Another staple. Not excessive.
Bag cheese. Another staple. Not excessive.

Balderson’s 6 year aged cheddar.
A piece of cheddar: Cabot’s Farmhouse, maybe?
Mild Asiago.
Moochego, which is an insanely good cheese from Ithaca NY, beer brined.

Pecorino Romano. Another staple. Not excessive.

(Before anyone says about keeping those cheeses in plastic bags, the ones in the bags are hard dry cheeses.)


So, with only four small pieces of stupid cheeses, it is now okay to add:


A nice piece of Gouda, a 2 lb block of vintage cheddar (which isn’t going to be as good as the Balderson’s, but is still really good and costs less), a big piece of Jarlsberg which I’ll treat like Swiss because they’re pretty close, Jarlsberg is a little softer tasting, and a nice Havarti, which is a good semi soft cheese.

All together now!



And it all fits in the cheese box!

[Mosca]

WayneT I like the creamy French cheeses, but when they’re in there with the other stuff I always seem to choose away from them. I’ll get some when the kids visit for the holidays. (And St Andre is just a teeeeny bit pricey….)

[Mosca]

ssandy_561 Oh, right: on salads! I’m getting old. Blue cheese on good tomatoes with a basil vinaigrette. Heaven.

I love wings. I don’t make them, and I don’t order them. Mrs Mosca doesn’t understand them. When we go somewhere they have wings, she orders boneless bites with honey mustard sauce. It’s all good.

[WayneT]

Yeah, you definitely don’t break out the St. Andre with company unless you really like them a lot. I actually prefer the triple cream St. Angel, which ain’t cheap either.

[Old Glory]

Awesome selection!

I love good cheese, but really only buy the good stuff when we host for the holidays. I generally shop for all the stuff for those meals at Whole Foods or Wegman's where the selection is far superior to what our local Shaws carries. A few of my favorites are Cabot Clothbound Cheddar; Moliterno Tartufo Cheese; and Cowgirl Mt Tam Triple Cream. Whole Foods has a very good aged cheese but I forget the name. It is always on special and so good.

[Mosca]

I either shred it into omelets or put it on sandwiches, or just cut off a hunk when I need to bump my blood sugar mid afternoon and can’t eat anything or don’t want to eat crackers/chips etc.

Wegman’s is overload. Ours has cut their cheese department since the photos above, by about 1/3, but it’s still paralysis of choice. Often I can’t decide, so I get nothing.

[ssandy_561]

Mosca We so miss Wegmans. Love going there when we visit family in Western NY. We will make the 2.5 hour trip to Erie PA sometimes here from Ohio to go to Wegmans.

[fzxdoc]

I'm trying to whittle down our cheese selections once again as well. I bought some new choices for the kids' most recent visit and am enjoying what's left of that haul. Then I'll go cold-turkey on cheese (see what I did there?) for a while, hopefully.

Sometimes when I go to Whole Foods, I force myself to walk right past the cheese case. Then I loop around when I'm done shopping and usually succumb to the tempting cheese display. My no-more-cheese resolve has a short half-life.

Kathryn

[WayneT]

Well, at least you’re not going to give up cheese entirely.

[ssandy_561]

The one cheese I always have in our cheese drawer is a big chunk of Munster Cheese. To me it’s the universal cheese. It’s delicious for subs, grilled cheese, pizza, hamburgers, and chunked for snacking.

The one cheese I can never turn down when I find it is fresh cheese curd. Salty and squeaky. So good. The stuff that’s been sitting on the shelf in the factory sealed bag is eatable but it’s nothing like the fresh stuff you can find when you actually go to a cheese shop that makes their own cheese.

[ssandy_561]

Old Glory Poutine is the side dish for my “last meal”. 🤤

[Mosca]

We call it Monster, and sometimes get it in deli slices, for burgers, sandwiches, and cheese dogs!

[Donw]

When we lived in South Dakota we were good friends with the owners of the Valley Queen Cheese factory who would take give us bags of curds taken right from the cutting tables that day. Nothing better.

[CandySueQ]

When Mississippi State University announced winter cheese sales (they only ship right around the holidays), I had to order some. Their "cannon ball" edam is wonderful, but big! I vacuum seal after cutting a useable hunk off. This was my Dad's favorite with homemade veggie soup. I'm not a big fan of their cheddar, but I didn't remember the Vallagret so I ordered that too. Ships on 11/4, cheese opening day! My cheese drawer is bigger than all the photos posted. My particular favorite is Danish Havarti from the fancy cheese cooler at WM.

Link to MSU cheese: https://www.msucheese.com/product-category/cheese/

[Donw]

Thanks. I’ve ordered the Vallagret and Edam.

[fzxdoc]

CandySueQ , so much for my cheese-buying abstinence program. I just bought the MSU Edam and Vallagret based on your recommendation. They ship Nov 6th.

I'm going freeze the cheeses in smaller portions for use as needed. Thanks for posting the link.

Kathryn

[WayneT]

Tom, never let price deter you from buying a cheese you really enjoy. I took out a loan for this.



Call me nuts but I like what I like.

[Mosca]

You know what pleases me the most about seeing that? You got a Wegman’s there! Look for the Balderson’s 6 year cheddar. And I’ll check my store for Midnight Moon.

[WayneT]

Mosca Well, there’s a Wegman’s in Wake Forest, where I am visiting my son and DIL.

[Mosca]

The Wegman’s app says Midnight Moon maybe out of stock, which means it is. I’ll ask the next time I’m down that way.