…and more blogging. Hooray! It’s 2011! Did you miss us? Did you think we had gotten sucked into a void of cheese curds and customer service and got eaten alive by the boogeyman of Bedford Avenue?! Because we kind of did. And survived to tell the tale. But now that the mayhem of Holiday-geddon 2011 is over, we can resume our friendly and informative blog posts. Great. Super.

So while all you guys were opening presents and wearing bright and shiny Holiday sweaters and spilling egg nog all over yourself, I was here, contemplating cheese. What else? And I realized that I couldn’t stop thinking about one particular cheese we have in the shop. It’s like the QB of the cheese shop team…throwing that pig skin long and far and has perfect aim and is going to take the team to semi-finals and then is going to get a scholarship and go and play college ball…Ok. So maybe I was watching a lot of Friday Night Lights AND thinking about cheese (but seriously, I didn’t think NBC could actually create a show about football that sucked me in so fast…bravo NBC, bravo. And can we talk ’bout Tim Riggins for a second?!? Oh. My God.)

Anyways, I’m going to get to the point here.  The cheese I was thinking about was none other than the Essex Street Cheese Marcel Petite 16 month Comte.  Yeah, that’s right.  The one.  The only.  The classic.  The best.  It’s like the perfect holiday cheese.  You can use it to cook with, you can use it to snack, and you can cover it in mayo and cream cheese and serve it to your friends and they will LOVE you for it.

Do they still make this? Because I'm putting a case of it in my bomb shelter.

Keep on readin’…

So we’ve tried some different things since mid-summer.  We’ve talked about grocery items.  We’ve talked about fondue.  We’ve talked about designer cats dressed up as apples that are EATING apples.  We’ve covered it all.  But sometimes, when late early winter is upon us, we realize that we have to get back to our roots.  Where did we come from?  How did it all begin?  Well, if you are a loyal reader of the blog, you’ll know that this all started with a little feature I like to call….CHEESEPINIONS.  And we have a lot of cheese right now.  I mean…Jesus, it’s kind of overwhelming.  (And don’t even get me started on our butter selection. We have so much butter right now it kind of makes me want to run around the store announcing it in an Oprah voice to get people all riled up over it…) So I thought I’d do what I do best: irritate my coworkers long enough for them to tell me about their favorite cheeses of the moment.  Precious.

As precious as this baby bobcat?!?!? Well...no. Also, not as delicious.

Keep on readin’…

BOOMSHAKALAKA-SHAKALAKA-SHAKABOOM.

Two blog posts in one week!?  What?  That’s like.  Crazy people talk!

Well guess what.  You can finally rest at ease because I feel like blogging TWICE this week.  And it’s more cheesepinions.  Awwwwww yeahhhhhh sonnnnnnn.

New York is ungodly hot right now.  Yesterday, it got up to 108. (Well…by the Target at Atlantic Center.  But things are always a tad sPicIer over there…)  So there isn’t a whole lot of cheesin’ going on.  But, hopefully when things cool down we can go to farms and play with farm animals and take lots of pretty photos.

But until then you’ll just have to take our favorite farm animal: Dylan.  And he’s got a couple things to say about sheep.

Keep on readin’…

Hi.  It’s me.  Your flaky blog buddy who decided to take a summer vacation.  Remember me?  Of course you do.

Well guess what.  I snuck inside from my serious summer of sunbathing and white wine spritzers to write something on the blog.  Because the internet doesn’t take vacations.  No sir.

So I thought I’d get back into the swing of things with everyone’s favorite: CHEESEPINIONS!  Huzzahhhhhhh.  And we are back with everyone’s most bespectacled cheesemonger, STEPHANIE!  And the crowd goes wild…

So this week, Stephanie is all tingly over Appalachian from Meadow Creek Dairy in south eastern Virginia.

Meadow Creek's Appalachian

Keep on readin’…

HEAR YE. HEAR YE.

Here marks the beginning of the end…

…of Spring time goats milk cheeses.  (GOTCHA!  I bet you thought I was going to say something about the end of the blog.  Ha!  Never.  This blog will NEVER DIE.  Just like Elizabeth Taylor.  Or Terminator…)

Anyways – I again apologize for the lag in blogging!  I am a busy little cheesy bee, running around and trying to get things done.  But, I am back for another round of everyone’s most favorite installment: CHEESEPINIONS. (And the crowd goes WILD.)

So this week Dani has got some things to say.  Even though he is in Europe right now, raging with the best of them in Barcelona and Holland, he shall be heard across the pond – right here in Brooklyn.

  Keep on readin’…

Yes, amigos.  ‘Tis that time again, where I share the secrets of the inner workings of the Bedford Cheese Shop cheesemongers.  So dark and twisted and full of dairy products.

This week, I present to you Dylan, one of our newest hires, who hails from the sunny state of Colorado (is it sunny there?  I’m actually not really sure.  I’m pretty positive he’s from outside Aspen?  Which leads me to believe it’s mostly sunny.  Because that sure does sound tropical.  ASPEN.  Like Aruba.  Or Des Moines.) and is pretty new to the cheese biz.  But, like the rest of us, he already has opinions about what products he wants to put all over his tastebuds.

This time around, Dylan presented me with a two part Cheesepinion.  One for when you are feeling fancy and one for when you’re feeling down on your financial luck.  How considerate, dear sir.  His first pick this week is Stanser Schafkase, a lovely sheep’s milk cheese from east central Switzerland.  It’s kind of grassy, herby, and spicy and doesn’t pack too much of the stinky barnyard pungency of other soft sheep cheeses.  Dylan thinks that this guy is a “phenomenally complex, soft slice of sheepy goodness that leaves you wondering what the next taste will reveal.”  How “Labyrinth” of you, Dylan.

Dance Magic Dance.

Keep on readin’…

Hello there lovers and people that I don’t know who read my most intimate cheese thoughts.  I am back again this week with everyone’s favorite.  Another installment of Cheesepinions.

Cue the fanfare of trumpets and elephant parade.

This week, I asked Amy what she was vibin’ on.  At first, she felt too pressured and refused.  But, after I picked her up off the floor and curled her out of the fetal position, she came up with a lovely suggestion for this fantastic New York spring weather we’ve been having.  This week, Amy suggests that y’all come in and try Caprotto Madaio.  It’s an aged goat’s milk from Campania (where Naples and the Amalfi Coast are…Jay-Z eat your heart out) in southern Italy.  It’s hard and crumbly and has flavors of sweeter nuts and pepper.

Amy made the bold statement that “it’s the best goat…ever.  It’s like biting into a lemon…made of goat cheese.  It’s refreshingly sharp and nutty and lemony, but not too dry in texture.”  Mmmm.  Nothing makes my stomach grumble like the image of fruit molded out of cheeses.  Sounds like Grandma’s house.  What?

And what would Amy do with a hunk of this lactic goat treat?  “Chunk it up into nuggets and eat it with a green salad and some fresh fruit, maybe a Creminelli Casalingo.  Maybe drink with a Vinho Verde or Albarino, or a hoppy ale.  All this in the park…in the sun.”  Obviously.  Sounds like heaven.  But spending any time with Amy is like being transported straight to heaven via a giant escalator that is full of your favorite people.  Like Freddie Mercury.  And Pepe LePeu.  And Kitty.

Well.  That’s it this week.  We are developing some new ideas for different things to add to the blog roster.  Like recipes.  And cheese vocabulary.  And food history.  Do YOU guys have any suggestions?  Anything you would like to see?  Please, write a comment!  Because I get a lot of spam porn comments that I just delete.  And we’d love to hear from you.  Ok.  That’s all!  Love you guyz!

So this week I’m going to start by admitting to something decidedly embarrassing.  I spent about five minutes before I began writing anything down trying to figure out if I could somehow incorporate the lyrics from the Backstreet Boys song “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” into this opening line.  The only real thing I could come up with was “Cheese Blog’s Back!”  But, I didn’t think that everyone would get the reference.  And then I decided it was a pretty dumb reference that probably doesn’t appeal to anyone but 12 year old girls from 1999 (which is pretty much how my brain works.  Hello, Lisa Frank!). So, maybe just play that song in the background or watch this video on Youtube or something so that you can try to imagine the state of mind I was in upon trying to get this post in motion…

This week, we are getting cheese advice from our very own Mike.  Mike took a very serious approach to Cheesepinions and had to go home and mull over his decisions.  Upon his return he presented me with a piece of paper that was incredibly organized and detailed and I think that the best thing to do would be to copy down exactly what he wrote (also partially because I’m a little unclear as to what he is referencing to at points…but hey, gotta roll with the punches…).  So here we go. “Cheesepinions” direct from Mike’s mouth.

Keep on readin’…

Hey there blog buddies!  We are back with round two of our “Cheesepinions” installment, this time bringing you our one and only Stephanie B-Money.  This week Stephanie is jumping for joy over our Stracchino di Capra from the Italian cheese-aging experts at Guffanti.

(Ok, so for you perfectionists out there, I know this is a pictures of Stracapra, NOT Stracchino di Capra, but do you guys have any idea how HARD it is to find a picture of Stracchino di Capra?  Seriously.  It’s bizarre.  Just as bizarre as Sandra Bullock being nominated for an Oscar.  Whaaaaaat?  Oh snap.)

This Italian goat cobblestone is in very lovely shape right now – “sweet and lactic, sticky and mouthcoating with delicate ‘goaty’ notes.”  Now who doesn’t want a little goat lovin’ all up in your tastebuds?!  And to round out the day on her bestial goat’s milk treat?  Some crusty bread, a few dried apricots, and a crisp bottle of Vernaccia (a Tuscan white wine with good acidity and strong citrus notes) to wash it all down.  Oh hey, girlfriend – this sounds like that perfect picnic we had Under the Tuscan Sun.  Minus Diane Lane…and our Italian Villa…and ignoring the fact I’ve never been to Italy.  More like Under the Bedbugs in my Bushwick Apartment.  Sounds just as romantic, right?

Well, that’s all from us here at “Cheesepinions!”  We’ll be back next week to bring you some more tasty and delightful suggestions from our eager to please cheesemongers.  And get excited.  In the near future we will be bringing you posts about a great local farm, as well as an appearance by the elusive Charlotte Kamin!  She will be filling us in on her recent trip to France and Switzerland to visit our favorite European cheesemakers.  So crack out your leiderhosen and yodel all the way home.  Until then, see you soon!

Hello again cheese fanatics.  Back again with some more “Cheesepinions” to keep your cravings at bay.  This time around our resident agriculturalist (who actually just went back to Michigan to get his farm in working order….we miss you already, buddy!), Jess, is going to stop thinking about sustainable farming practices for twelve seconds and let you know what cheeses he is super keen about.  This week, Jess is really diggin’ on both:

Appleby’s Cheshire (a British raw cow’s milk cheese that is tangy, crumbly, and grassy)

and Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire (another British raw cow’s milk that is mild and buttery).

Keep on readin’…