Cheese

How can I talk about chocolate and not mention cheese? Yes, that's right cheese...after all what are the two main dips for fondue...yes, cheese and chocolate! The Swiss and French no what I am talking about. In fact if genetics have anything to do with my love of cheese and chocolate, my grandmother's heritage is none other than Swiss, in fact from the great cheese making area known as the Emmental Valley. Please, fight your urge to yodel...ok, just a little yodel.


Anyway, even more so than chocolate, there are so many varieties to choose from, so many flavors and textures. It is so fun to experiment to see what cheese tastes good with what fruit, etc. Again, I like and would recommend going to Trader Joe's (and/or Jungle Jim's for those of you in Cincinnati) and buy a new cheese once a week or month. Enjoy the creamy goodness, but leave some for me!

If you are ever in Tillamook, OR make sure you go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. You can take a tour and watch the good stuff being made. At the end of the tour you most importantly get to sample some cheese...my favorite is the cheese curd that squeaks in your mouth, but not in your hand (at least I don't think so, never tried to squeeze it in my hand to get it to squeak. Mental note: new experiment to try). Top it all off, actually I would recommend eating it separately from the cheese, with some rich and creamy Tillamook ice cream...I am fond of the chocolate peanut butter and Marion berry (no, it is Marion Barry that is the "DC mayor-for-life, "who is "newsworthy" every so often.)