CHEESE!

I have a few obsessive loves in life. One of those is cheese. It can be argued that I am simply in love with food but I would like to focus on just cheese for today.

I find it to be quite unfortunate and frustrating that I live so far away from acquiring the delicious gourmet cheeses that I used to. I feel deprived but I do from time to time bring some cheese home with me from a vacation. For instance, right now, I find myself hoarding some English Stilton that I bought recently on a weekend trip like I won't ever be able to get any ever again! I think that is a bit pathetic and I am ashamed. I usually am a firm believer in eating what is in front of you and available, not saving it for a day that will never come. Perhaps I will decide to eat the whole chunk this weekend with my hubby, wine included. Now, I don't want it to seem like all I can eat here is chedder. I can buy some yummy cheese: aged gouda, real parmesan, a delicious smoky blue from oregon and a cheese called parano that I love. I just miss perusing the cheese counter at Dean and Deluca in New York City for example. I'd like to get my hands on some Valdeon (a spanish cow/goat milk cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves), Cabrales (another spanish cheese - very tangy) or some Humbolt Fog (one of my favorite goat cheeses). I miss learning about new cheeses.

One of my plans to alleviate my problem is to is try to make some cheese this summer from local raw milk. I'll be sure post about the experience. I don't know if I will have the patience to age the cheese but we'll see.

The image above on the right is a print I created last summer (2008) while at Penland assisting John Risseeuw's letterpress class. It is created on handmade paper using letterpress and collagraph. I have many other ideas for prints and books related to cheese and I consider this to be only the start of my new series of work about food. Ideas are brewing and I have been sketching like crazy. I will start with etchings. My mouth waters.

Here is a link to an article about cheese that was in Gastronomica's Winter 2009 issue. It's really great, you should read it...especially if you love cheese.

I almost forgot to mention The Cheese Nun! Mother Noella Marcellino of the Abbey of Regina Laudis is one cool lady. The Abbey is only a 15 minute drive from where I grew up in Litchfield, CT. I discovered this AFTER I moved to Alaska. My family and I visited the abbey a few years ago to hunt down some cheese and my dad bought a whole wheel! It was delicious. There is a great PBS DVD documenting her story if you are interested. Also, here is a shorter YouTube video about her.