This Holland red wax Gouda is one of the less expensive cheeses at Whole Foods. Michelle from behind the counter said it was a great choice and that tons of her customers loved it. She said it sells faster than she can wrap it. All are in agreement in this household, this Gouda is Gooda (sorry had to do it).

The perfect snack to hold us over until soccer practice is over. Creamy soft cheese on crackers. Chomp chomp!

A dried aged ricotta, new to me. Intriguing to say the least so we’re giving it a whirl. I was told it’s good for baking so that’s the plan.

Upon unwrapping I gave it a tasty tasty. Dry yet moist, crumbly like feta with a nice mild saltiness. Made from sheep’s milk I couldn’t wait to get it into a dish and fully dig in.

I instantly thought lasagna.

Homemade noodles from scratch, two sauces from scratch (red and white), roasted zucchini, of course the ricotta and topped with a smokey mozzarella. It’s embarrassing to admit but J and I ate the whole damn pan, giddy up!

Another awesome cheese, this one is a Wensleydale with sweetened cranberries. So good it got three thumbs up in this house. I think that’s a first in our little cheezapalooza. Reading up on Wensleydale cheese it seems it’s had it’s fair share of cameos including Monty Python and Wallace and Gromit.

Tasty tasty! This cheese has a slight honey flavor and the cranberries are perfectly suited for this time of year. We’ll have to add this to our traditional Thanksgiving spread fo shizzle.

Next on our list was a cheese recommended by Michelle who works the cheese counter at whole foods. She actually had a little sign in front of as her employee choice. Fromager d’Affinois is like a brie but not technically a brie. It’s a double cream soft cheese with an edible rind and unlike some edible rinds this one is virtually undetectable. I would just spread it on the crackers rind and all. It spread so nicely it was like butter. We could have eaten the whole wedge in one sitting.

I mean look at this, its like a little piece of heaven on a cracker.

This is J’s wrapped up cozy on the couch snacking on some super awesome cheese.

J loved this one too. I think her exact word was “yummy”. I ended up warming our second round of tasting so it oozed a bit but she said she preferred it room temp. I could see her point but I liked it oozy too.

Couldn’t quit looking through this site today, poppytalk. It’s full of craft ideas, food recipes, weekend projects and more.

I want need this.

I went into whole foods to get cheese #3 today and met Michelle. She was a very nice and knowledgeable lady. I asked her to show me her organic cheeses so she started pointing out a couple of prepackaged items. I asked her about a cheese that was in a certain spot a few days ago and she said it was all gone and probably would not be brought back. She double checked and found out indeed it was not going to return to this particular store at least. I was sort of bummed because there are not a lot of organic cheeses to try and I just barely missed out on the one I had been eying. A few minutes later I started digging through some smaller pieces in the “about $3″ basket and there they were. The last two wedges of Cowgirl Creamery – Organic Buckaroo. I snatched them up and was on my way.

According to the Whole Story this cheese was made exclusively for Whole Foods for their 30th anniversary. Pretty cool. Not sure if it was a limited edition or if they may continue selling it at other stores. I personally hope they keep it around.

This cheese got the best reaction from J so far. I think I remember her saying “this is what cheese should taste like” and “how could you not like this cheese”, speaking to Z who did not like it and handed it back after the first taste. I too really enjoyed this cheese. I’m not nearly an expert so I won’t go into textures and hints of this and that. Hopefully on this family’s journey of cheese those nuances will become more apparent to us. Until then this is a pass or fail experiment and this one was two passes, one fail.

This fresh Asiago intrigued me because of its softness and smell. I normally expect Asiago to be a hard cheese so this I had to try. It ended up feeling and smelling better than it tasted. It wasn’t “bad” just not strong. I guess I like more potent cheeses. The smoked Provolone from yesterday blew this one away flavor wise. I ended up slicing up both of these cheeses and putting them on some homemade pizzas tonight. The smoked was so good all melted and smokey and Provoloney. The Asiago was good and melty too but nothing stand out.

J is very particular about cheeses. She looks as though shes sampling with caution or just really thinking about what she’s tasting. I like that.

Usually when I get home from work J will sit up on the kitchen counter and stretch her feet across to the center island and we will talk about the day. I’m usually busting out some snack like cheese and crackers to keep us going until dinner. I really enjoy this time of day with her.

This flicker photo set of vintage photos had my attention for a good while today as well as the sad news about Steve Jobs.

Yesterday I was at Whole Foods grabbing my usual lunch, an apple and maybe a cheese stick or some nuts. I’m having some minor withdrawals from the closing of Borders book store next door and found myself wandering around the cheese island for what seemed like forever. Mesmerized by all the different names, colors, textures and smells I ended up with this wonderful little idea. Instead of grabbing that same old cheese stick, I would pick up a small wedge of a different cheese from this beautiful island every other day or so. I’ll get two or three dollars worth and a piece of fruit until I have tasted most if not all of the cheeses. Sounds like a lot of cheese but I think I’m up for the challenge.

The first cheese I picked up was this awesome smoked Provolone. I went with the butt end piece to get the more of the smokey flavor. It was a super nice soft Provolone with just the right amount of smoke so I’m very happy with my first choice. Jenn, I think she’s the manager of the cheese section, informed me that it was the best seller of of the smoked cheeses and I can taste why. It’s also one of the more affordable cheeses so that I’m sure adds to it’s popularity.

I started with the smoked because I know it’s one of J’s favorite kinds of cheese but I soon found out that she’s not very fond of Provolone. As a matter of fact she doesn’t really like it at all. So a major fail in her book but my question is this. Who doesn’t like Provolone? I mean really, is that even possible?

A rich flavored blue cheese spread that is uber good on apple/pear slices, french bread/sandwiches or crackers. We went with apples and it was delish. I tried it on a few crackers too and it was perfect. If you’re a fan of blue cheese you’ll love this spread. The original recipe calls for toasting the walnuts which you can do by tossing them into a 400 degree oven for a few minutes until you smell the nutty aromas being released or stove top in a dry skillet for a few minutes. I kept ours raw because we all know that heating foods only destroys the wonderful nutrients our bodies need, especially when these cheeses have so much flavor to begin with. Although toasting will make the walnuts much more flavorful. On a side note I have never tossed a little lemon juice with apples but not only does it prevent browning it also makes them taste amazing, like apple lemonade. This spread is so fast and easy to prepare you have no excuse not to try it.

J’s been busting my butt about going to Macayo’s Mexican restaurant for their enchiladas. She usually gets one Baja style (green) and one regular cheese. I must admit, enchiladas have always been one of my favorite Mexican dinners so I can totally relate. Enchiladas are always good in my book, even when their bad. Some of my favorite are from a fast food joint in Topeka, KS called Taco Tico, it’s all about their sauce baby. My mom also makes a killer enchilada. She makes it flat style and uses old el paso enchilada sauce from the can and it’s some of my favorite store bought. Not sure if it’s just because it reminds me of simpler times or if it’s just good. For moms you just layer everything, stacking it up as high as you want, tortilla, meat, sauce, cheese, tortilla meat, lettuce and so on. The ones pictured above are more like the ones you get in a restaurant (like Macayo’s). I’d rate these as better than average, J expressed her appreciation for them more than once so that’s a good sign. I think she even muttered “goodbye Macao’s”.

These recipes were taken out of my newly purchased book The Joy of Cooking which has like 4500 recipes in it and more. I also ordered a couple other books on sauces so hopefully there will be some more good stuff hitting the table.

Actually, it’s been a while since we’ve had homemade pizza around here. I can’t go too long without pizza in my life so on our way home from church we stopped by Cugino’s Italian Deli and picked up some cheeses and root beer. I just wanted something somewhat quick so I went with a previous recipe for quick pizza dough. I did our usual simple toppings, homemade mozzarella and fresh basil, delightful.

I love the way cooking on a stone at super high temps gives crust this awesome burnt but not burnt bottom that’s a bit crisp with a soft doughy middle. This dough is great because it can be ready in 20 minutes. Whole wheat and kneaded with love. Get the recipe here.