Cheeses for Jesus

Yesterday was a delightful day, celebrating the holiest of Christian holidays with my assorted in-laws. Easter was a blessedly warm day, in New England right now that means above 40 degrees, and on the third day of spring the new life granted by the Resurrection was gloriously in bloom.

The best part of family gatherings is always, for me, the opportunity to cook and bake and bring food to share – maybe my favorite thing in the world. Chief among my larger food obsession is my deep, unadulterated love of cheese. All cheeses, even the cheap ones, but especially the schmancy ones. I’ve garnered quite the reputation within my husband’s family in the last few years for my cheese arrangements. I like to label each one with a little flag description, and suggest pairings with nuts and dried fruit (and on appropriate occasions, wine accompaniments). Fresh sliced and baked crostini are a must – I spray baguette slices with a little olive oil mist, then sprinkle with fresh ground salt and pepper and plop them in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes. Much better than crackers, in my experience.

Being Easter and all, I pulled out all the stops for this particular spread; there was a triple cream brie (always a crowd pleaser), a pungent Raclette (for the stinky adventurer), an five year aged Gouda (for the enthusiast), an warmed mont-chevre smothered in cranberry pomegranate pepper jelly, and the piece de resistance: the La Tur, nothing short of a cheese-snob’s ultimate fantasy. At $33/lb the La Tur is, at least on my budget, a decadent splurge, but this was the day of Christ Jesus our Lord’s merciful Resurrection and it seemed appropriate. For my birthday this year, I’ve decided I want a giant mound of La Tur with birthday candles stuck in it – forget the cake. Unless maybe it’s a cheeeeesecake (ohhh, punny).

Anyway, the platter was a big hit as were my home-made red velvet cupcakes. I really do feel a deep sense of satisfaction when people enjoy the cheese selections I put together because its something that means so much to me personally, as silly as that sounds. My Big Dream is to open a cheese shop and bakery, with wine if possible (alcohol licenses are very tough to come by in Massachusetts). I mean the law is fine, and basic corporate legal knowledge is certainly useful to small business ownership -- but if someone asked me “what’s your passion?” my answer definitely wouldn’t be “drafting SEC documents for Series F financings!”. Maybe one day I’ll follow my real passion, take a stroll down Cheese Alley, followed by Wine Boulevard and a left turn on Cupcake Lane. Until then, its certainly my amateur hobby, which also necessitates that my other “passion” be power walks and the elliptical machine.

Any particular cheese you enjoy? Recommendations are always welcome! I'd like to put together a list of my favorites with pairings at some point to share, just for fun.

A note on the title of this blog: we'll be church-shopping when we move into our new home and neighborhood next month. I told Dan that I want to get involved and meet new people by starting a fellowship group called “Cheeses for Jesus”. Who wants to join?