Who Cut the Cheese

I'm sorry, I could not help it.

It was either that or Cheeze Whiz or

Nacho Cheese or, heaven forbid,

Swiss is the holiest cheese.

I know, they're all lame, but what do you expect?

I'm stuck with the same 4 little people day in and day out with little to no adult interaction. My brain is turning to mush.

But enough about me, back to the cheese!

Last week we went on a tour of a local cheese factory.

I learned way too much about cheese.

Now I need to buy some whole milk and make some at home, I feel the itch.

That particular cheese that the owner of the factory is showing us has been aging for 3 years!

It's as old as Dubs!

He said the mold on it is fine, as long as it's not black mold you can just cut it off and the cheese under it is totally tasty.

And you know what? I believe him. Three of his different varieties of cheese won 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the nation last year. He rubs all kinds of things on the cheese to make them have different flavors. He sells most of his cheese at the health food stores, a local grocery store and to lots of restaurants in Salt Lake City.

He does not add any artificial color or flavor to his cheese so even the cheddar is the same creamy color as all the other cheese, not bright yellow like the ones in the store.

The best part of the tour, you ask?

The sample of course!

My kids like the cheese curds best. They were really fresh so they were really squeaky. Did you know the older cheese curds are the less they squeak? That's because all the cultures in the cheese break down the amino acids with time and those unbroken down amino acids are what make the cheese squeak.

Or something like that.

I don't remember the name of my favorite, but I do remember it had Cajun spices all over it and it cost $16/pound.

Ouch!

The 3 year old Parmesan was amazing too.

We had to bring home some cheese curd for Mr Bird to try.

We bought regular and Cajun.

At $10 a pound it seemed like a bargain.