Friday Night Fromage 🧀
Cheese Pics to Make You Happy
It’s the Friday after Thanksgiving, so over the past week I’ve been receiving — and selling — a ton of cheese at the shop.
As I was unpacking cheese, I decided to take some pics for y’all.
I was stoked to get the first of my limited edition holiday cheeses this week. I special ordered them from Blakesville Creamery in August and they were made just for us!
Holiday Cheer is a soft ripened goat cheese with a bit of orange zest — finished by wrapping the cheese in brandy soaked sakura leaves.
The box smelled softly of cherries when I opened it.
I love all of Blakesville’s label art.
And what could be more luxurious at the holidays than truffled goat cheese?
The Truffle Shuffle is a bloomy rind goat’s milk cheese made to look like a traditional ashed goat cheese.
But that’s not ash in the middle of the Truffle Shuffle.
It’s a black truffle and mushroom jam. Duxelles, if you will.
This cheese is stupid delicious — rich, tangy and not too truffle-y. It’s creamy near the edible rind with a fudgier paste in the middle.
Bloomy rind cheeses ripen from the outside in, so the creamline grows as the cheese ages.
And because my Gen X heart sang at the name Truffle Shuffle I have to include this gif.
Another new addition to our cheese case is the Asher Blue from Sweet Grass Dairy.
This decadent cheese is styled like a Stilton — savory and pungent, with a thick, fudgy paste.
Handmade in Georgia, this raw cow’s milk blue is a stellar example of what cheese artisans are doing right here in the US.
The wheel smelled rich and earthy when I cut into it — and the luxurious paste crumbled before it melted in my mouth. The blue cheese flavor is strong, and the raw cow’s milk gives the cheese a buttermilk-y funk. The finish is long and lasting. This is not a blue for the faint of heart.
The coolest part about Sweet Grass Dairy is that it is a small family farm. Asher Blue is named for one of the cheesemaker’s sons, and the herd of 500 cows get to graze year round, so their milk is full of flavor.
No wonder they’ve won so many domestic and international cheese awards.
I’m passionate about supporting small farmers who practice humane animal husbandry. I plan on profiling small American creameries like Blakesville Creamery and Sweet Grass Dairy in future newsletters.
There are so many artisan cheese makers out there to introduce you to!
I hope you all enjoy some relaxation — and awesome cheese — over this Thanksgiving weekend.
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten your cat pic.
Here is Mr. Kitty enjoying his new Christmas tree scratching post.
The boot in the background is his sacrificial boot. He’s been working on that piece of art for about three years.
Finally — one of my favorite small businesses — Kitty Town Coffee — is having a big sale this weekend. Every bag of coffee sold feeds a shelter or rescue cat for a week.
BONUS: the coffee is fantastic and they have the cutest merch. Buy some coffee, save some kitties.
Until next time, cheese (and cat) lovers!