Hello children of the world.

We have another announcement for you blog followers.  Here at the Bedford Cheese Shop we present you with a seasonal treat – a pre-made Mother’s Day Gift Box!

Whatwhat whaaaaaaat?

So awesome!  If you need to grab something quick and want to have a special day picnic with your mom (or moms. It is the 21st century after all…) we have just the solution for you.

In this stylish wooden cheese box, you receive:

- 1/4 wheel of Brillat Savarin

- 1/3 lb of Comte

- 1/3 lb of Midnight Moon

- a Michel Cluizel chocolate bar

- a package of Petit Toasts

- a 3 pack of NUTELLA TO GO!!!!

- and a fantastic Goat Soap!

Wheeeeee!

All this for $50 and the undying love of your mother.  For at least one day.  You are totally a shoe-in for the will.

See you guys at the shop!

She was such a sassy mom.

Et voila. Le pamplemousse. This must be what heaven is like. Fat, hungry, and wearing great hats.

Hey guys!

I’m writing a quick entry to give all of our loyal blog followers a SPECIAL DEAL on a BCS Spring Treat we have prepared for you.

Right now we have a decadent Spring Picnic Basket on sale.  It’s awesome.  In this pre-made basket, you get:

- Fra’Mani Pate Campagnola (Between a country style and a mousse, this stuff is so good.  Garlicky, peppery, and       porky.)

- A Lazy Lady Buckhill Sunrise (A gooey all-natural cow’s milk from Vermont.)

- Slice of Lincolnshire Poacher (An English cheddar with no bandages. So nekkid!)

- Petit Toasts (Crunch.)

- A Michel Cluizel chocolate bar (Rich. Decadent. Aphrodisiac?)

- A jar of cornichons (So little and pickled.)

All this for $33!

Oh wait. No it isn’t.  HEAR THIS!  If you come in and mention the blog you get this picnic basket for only

$30!!!!!!!!!

Yeah.  That’s right.  Only $30.  Look at that!  Because you guys love the blog we give you a discount.  So….come in, mention the blog, tell us how funny you think we are, and you get a discount.  Isn’t that awesome!  The internet is so cool some times.  Ok, so we better see you soon.  Byeeeeeee.

Oh, what?  TWO POSTS IN TWO DAYS?!?!?!  That’s right.  Even though it may be 85 degrees and sunny outside, I have a hankering to sit inside and type.  In a windowless room with a stainless steel table.  How very “Bladerunner” of me.

Yup. This is what our office looks like.

Keep on readin’…

…but we also sell a delicious variety of charcuterie!  Go Charlotte, it’s your birthday, we’re gonna eat serrano like it’s your birthday….

On the dawn of a new presidency, one that advocates for hope and change, it is inspiring to see someone doing just that.  One of our good neighbors, a man named Jos brought by some of his latest creations, fresh from his kitchen on the South Side of Williamsburg.  Now, if Barack Obama could get everyone to make cheese at home, particularly cheese this good, we would be doing pretty well.  This cheese was made in the style of a St. Marcellin, a French cow’s milk disc of goo.  The only difference was that this cheese was raw, illegal and from only a couple of hours upstate.  Thank’s Jos, it tasted good.

A few weeks ago Amy and I were at our favorite beer bar in the neighborhood, Spuyten Duyvil, and we met a real beer-maven.  We began discussing beers and then veered in the direction of cheese.  As it turns out she is as crazy about beer as we are about cheese (well and beer).  On her website, beerforchicks.com she voted us best place to find accompaniments for your beer and we wanted to say thanks.  It’s pretty cool, Williamsburg is well represented on her Best Of list.  We even have similar favorite picks for best beer of the year, hers a Thierez mine the Fantome Saison.

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It’s the holidays and since the economy is pretty hopeless at this point we’ve decided to create some holiday baskets to fit various budgets.  It’ll also make your holiday shopping absurdly easy.  We are offering three different baskets the $35, $50 and $75 varieties.  The $35 basket will get you a pair of lovely cheeses, some pesto, crackers and a candy, the $50 is the same plus two more cheeses and the $75 features all of the above plus some delicious chutney and more candy!  We’ll also include descriptions and the whole thing comes in a very travel friendly wicker basket.  Frankly, I am thinking of buying one for every member of my family.  It may be a recession but that doesn’t mean we should have to give up our dairy habits.

(can you smell it?)

There is a new book coming out by an old professor of  mine, Jay Parini, entitled Promised Land: 13 Books that Changed America.  It isn’t a book about the books of the highest literary merit but about the most influential books that have changed our society.  I’m intrigued by this idea because the short list isn’t entirely high-brow, Dr. Spock is on there, as is Jack Kerouac.  The Great Gatsby isn’t even in the honorable mentions, but Jane Fonda’s workout manual is.

What if we thought about the 13 most influential cheeses to the American palate.  Not the most outstanding or well made or even most interesting (though some may very well be all of these things) but the cheeses that have decided what Americans want on their cheese plates and their burgers.

1. Mozzarella
2. Kraft Singles
3. Cabot Cheddar
4. Parmeggiano Reggiano

…really 13?

1. Aged Gouda
2. Gorgonzola
3. Fresh Chevre (probably with something, like herbs or honey or nuts)
4. Eppoise
5. Ricotta
6. Poll-yo String Cheese
7. The Laughing Cow (wax covered round)
8. Stilton
9. Pecorino Romano

And here in that same order, briefly are the reasons why:

1.      Pizza.
2.      Convenience, grilled cheeses
3.      Actual flavor, sharp, simple, seems damn classy
4.      Over your spaghetti and meatballs.  Often comes in a cheap shaker, a true American        original copy
5.      A burst of flavor, no subtleties here
6. Gooey stinky an obvious introduction to blue
7. Goat cheese but G rated.
8. We’ve all read about it.  In GQ.  It must be good.  Righht?
9.  Sweet, a topping, almost like milk.
10. Lunchbox.
11. Ibid.
12. Guinness.  Port.  Booze.
13. Sheep can be milked?

          Thanksgiving.  The truly American holiday dedicated to gluttony and imperialism.  No?  It is actually my favorite holiday, maybe for these exact two reasons.  I like to eat and I like to remember what it is to be an American (aside from the raping and pillaging of course). 

      But what first has come to mind this Thanksgiving is the question of Native American cheese, namely, does it exist.  Most tribes weren’t big into domesticating animals early on so this leaves us with a priceless image- a man chasing after a bufalo by the teat no doubt.  Maybe horses then, surely the earliest American cheeses must be from the equine family.  I’ve never had horse milk or cheese, but I have had camel’s milk cheese and for some reason I think they must be similar.  There must be that flavor reminiscent of urine and dirt in the pate somewhere.  The dairy products produced were most likely used in other dishes (correct me if I am way off here) and were masked by other, more enticing spices.

   I mentioned Sherman Alexie because, on a much more contemporary note, he discusses goverment issued cheese on the reservation in his short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fist Fight which was later turned into the fantastic movie  Smoke Signals.  He is one of my favorite writers, it is about time to revisit him.  he talks about contemporary Native American problems, including habits in eating. 

    On Thursday while you are slopping butter onto everything in sight think about the first Thanksgiving and ask your self: was there any cheese?

I know this is a blog about cheese but we all need our vegetables too.  Yesterday I wentto Queens, way out to Queens and visited the Queens County Farm Museum, well I didn’t so much visit as beg shamelessly to be allowed the privilege of sticking my hands in the dirt for a few hours.  Today is the first day Michael, the head farmer, will be selling his goods at the Union Square Green Market.  Think, how much more local can it get? 

yeah, that’s Queens. 

Anyway, everything from the farm is organic and fresh and cared for by a few loyal and loving farmers.  They have many many varieties of greens and a myriad of root vegetables.   It isn’t just a park but a real, functioning farm and if you want to learn more about where your food is coming from I recommend a drive out there  (n.b. via public transit it is a veritable nightmare).  They also have a lot of sheep, clean happy sheep, just begging to be milked and become cheese producers.  I can see it in their eyes.  Yeah, that sounds wrong.  Anyway, eat the veggies.

www.queensfarm.org