cheese freaks

sometimes i miss being the cheese girls at the grocery store.  i do really love cheese, and it was fun to work with a food so versatile and lovable.  i mean honestly, the people who dug cheese and came in for fancy varieties were super fun to work with.

this weekend during the festival of family farms we hit up a wonderful local diary that makes some spectacular cheeses, the golden glen creamery.  while we were there looking at baby cows and seeing the cheesemaker at work i bought a few containers of fresh curds.  some of you may know them as "squeaky cheese" because when you bit into them, they make a squeak against your teeth.  they are delicious right out of the package, thrown in a salad, deep fried, or used to make poutine.

if you have never heard of poutine, much less tasted it, i'd like to offer my deepest condolences. not to put too fine a point on it, poutine is fucking amazing. it's rich and creamy and involves gravy and potatoes, with a hefty dose of curds sprinkled on top.  it's stick-to-your-ribs, this-really-does-make-my-ass-look-fat, food.  certainly not an everyday indulgence, but if you can't splurge on occasion, then i see no reason for living.  poutine was invented in french canada, but there are a million different varieties and ways to make it and eat it.  my favorite is beef gravy, fries and curds.  simple, and to the point.

lucky for me i have a husband who excels at both making gravy and home-made french fries.  we made a platter of poutine for dinner and all sat around it with forks.  i can think of no better way to eat it, surrounded by people i love, with a big old couch to settle into when we're done.

also on the way this week: cheese making supplies so we can make our own curds.  i got to make some cheese while i was working as a cheese girl, but it's been too long.  plus, D has been into wild fermentation lately, and he wants to make not just pickles and krauts, but also cheeses.  yay!