Yes I am a Cheeseaholic

Hello, my name is Jeanne and I am a cheeseaholic.

I came to this conclusion after opening my fridge this morning and inexplicably finding a case of Raspberry Bellavitano. An entire case - as in 12 pounds of Raspberry Bellavitano wedges, neatly packaged in beautiful labels.

There was a note attached from my husband that said: "Did you order this? I'm guessing yes. If so, you owe Ken $69.20."

Turns out yes, yes I did order the cheese. I just can't entirely remember why.

Here's the thing: I can't help it, I love cheese. I especially love really good cheese, and I really, really love getting really good cheese for a deal. A friend of mine was visiting the Sartoi cheese plant in Antigo last week and asked me at our weekly Rotary meeting if he could pick me up some cheese. I vaguely remember telling him. "Sure." He said the best deal was to buy it by the case, so I told him to pick me up a case of Raspberry Bellavitano -- one of the best new cheeses on the market right now for introducing consumers to artisan cheeses. It's sweet, mild, yet has a little kick of flavor. It's one of those great tipping point cheeses -- if I can get somebody to taste and love Raspberry Bellavitano, there's a good chance they will eventually try bigger, bolder cheeses and perhaps eventually even someday order a Limburger sandwich on rye at Baumgartners with me in Monroe.

This is what I tell myself, anyway. I can dream.

Turns out a case of Raspberry Bellavitano may not actually last that long. I've already given 1/2 pound wedges to two of my neighbors who were out watering their lawns this morning and gave a couple of chunks to my bug guy, Bernie, who shows up at 6 a.m. four times a year to kill the spiders in my basement. He was super happy. And so was I. Only 10 pounds left to go! Raspberry Bellavitano, anyone?

Cheese & Burger Society

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board launched a very cool web site today called the Cheese & Burger Society. You know a web site's going to be awesome when they refer to cheese as "The Grand Poohbah" in the second sentence on the home page.

The site, designed to look and flip just like an old-time Rolodex, features 30 signature cheeseburger recipes, using - no surprise here - authentic Wisconsin cheeses. The photos are spectacular, as life-size cheeseburgers covered with an assortment of toppings leap out at you from your screen. The absolute best part of the site however, are the voice descriptions of each recipe.

There's no doubt you will recognize the voice, but based on your age, one of the following characters are going to suddenly hit you. Upon turning up the volume and listening to the voice describe the "#1 burger - The Casanova -- with two slices of Wisconsin Swiss, some mushrooms and ham, it's a cheeseburger and mouth love affair waiting to happen," you will immediately either think: "oh my god, that's Puddy," or "oh cool, it's The Tick," or "Dude, it's the guy from Rules of Engagement" or perhaps, "Hey mom - it's Kronk."

Any way you have it, the voice is none other than Patrick Warburton, quite possibly my favorite Hollywood actor ever. His voice is like melted dark chocolate - smooth, rich and leaving you wanting more. When he describes the #25, the Mamma Mia Burger, I've got to admit my heart flutters a bit before I break into giggles:

"Number 25 - the Mamma Mia -- Wisconsin mozzarella, pepperoni and pizza sauce on crusty Italian bread. The food gods have spoken loud and clear and maybe with a slight Sicilian accent."

Or here's another one: "Number 18 - the Pioneer - give your mouth a big old bear hug with a cheeseburger made from Wisconsin aged Swiss, sauteed wild mushrooms, crimini mushrooms with rosemary and crispy bacon."

In addition to great descriptions of 30 burgers and recipes for each, a third tab features a description of the cheese being used. Here are some of my favorites, with descriptions read by, of course, Puddy himself:

#4 - Brie - "I once got dumped by a woman named Brie."

# 7 - Limburger - "I once fought off 300 grizzly bears to protect my Limburger. True story."

#12 - Brick - "Well you haven't really lived until you've stuffed your face with Brick cheese."

# 16 - Camembert - "I named my first born child after a slice of Camembert. His name is Camembert."

The last two buttons on the Rolodex link to a couple more features -- the first is a monthly "Chef's Choice" burger, featuring a favorite recipe by a famous chef. This month's feature is "The Pilgrim" burger by Matthew Silverman of the Vintner Grill in Las Vegas. The second link is a way for you to follow the Cheese & Burger Society on Facebook. Let's just say I'm it's biggest fan.

Cheese Head Hustle

Apparently when true cheeseheads travel, they actually take their cheeseheads with them. Tom Cinealis, a member of the Wisconsin-based Badgerland Miata Club, sent me this news from Grapevine, Texas. It's too entertaining not to share. Here you go - thanks, Tom!

As part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Mazda Miata which was held in Texas over the Memorial Day weekend, members of the Wisconsin based Badgerland Miata Club showed the rest of the clubs in attendance a little game called the “Cheese Head Hustle”.

Although they do things big in Texas, Wisconsin let them know that when it comes to cheese, Wisconsin does it bigger and better.

The object of the game was for the passenger of these little two seater cars to retrieve the various types of oversized foam cheeses from their stands and place them on the driver's head while the driver maneuvers his (or her) Miata through the slalom course. One of the major stumbling blocks for each team was that the contestants must attempt to hold all the cheeses on the driver's head while maneuvering through the course.

After a signal to go from the starter, the driver races to the first cheese. To get a good base for this “stack and drive” game, the first cheese is obviously going to be a wedge shaped hat of cheddar, not that un-similar to the Cheddar heads of Green Bay Packers fame, only larger.

The other cheeses go on top of the cheddar. However, these foam cheeses, such as a 15” Gouda wedge or a 9” ball of Mozzarella don’t stack very well.

Of course the passenger can be a great asset to the driver while maneuvering through the course, but it’s a little hard to hold numerous cheeses on your partner's head while reaching half way out of the car -- especially when the driver doesn't get you close enough to grab the two foot long section of Swiss, or a brie the size of a hat box.

Did I mention that once all the cheeses are collected, their total height is well above the normal reach of anyone outside the NBA? So it takes two people to hold this collection of cheeses over the driver's head, who by the end has usually shrunk down so low in their seat that the view of the course is through the steering wheel.

Once all the cheeses are collected, it’s a race to the finish line in an attempt to make the best time. And best time some of them did. Although the average time was well over a minute and half, several teams came in under 50 seconds, the best being under 43 seconds. Quite a feat since no one outside of Wisconsin has ever seen this game. Of course just to keep it fair, none of the Wisconsin contingent participated -- they only officiated.

In the end it didn’t matter if you played the game, watched those that did, or hadn’t even tasted all the real varieties of the cheeses being used, (we did bring a supersized block of Velveeta for the Chili Con Caso eaters for just this reason). Just being in the presence of supersize cheeses from Wisconsin was fun for all.

The Sturgis of Organic

Harley riders have Sturgis. Film fans have Sundance. Cheese enthusiasts have the American Cheese Society.

All are destinations for like-minded folks to meet, share and celebrate their interests. So here's one more -- if you appreciate organic food and are looking for a bit of local flavor, then you now have your own Sturgis. So get in your car, jump on your bike, or stick out your thumb and flag down a ride, because Organic Valley is once again hosting the Kickapoo Country Fair, the Midwest’s largest organic food and sustainability festival of its kind.

Organic Valley – a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,300 organic family farmers nationwide – actually launched the Kickapoo Country Fair six years ago as an annual celebration of life in the Kickapoo River Valley in southwest Wisconsin. A few people came, pitched a tent and bonded over organic food. Today, it’s become a major event venue where thousands of fair-goers from across the country gather to hear and meet nationally recognized organic leaders, celebrated musicians and renowned authors.

The goal? To connect around food, arts and regional culture. And, if you're like me, to mostly eat really good food.

Held Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26 in tiny LaFarge, Wis. (pop. 750), the Kickapoo Country Fair features two days of food, music, bike and farm tours, cooking demonstrations, theater, kids’ activities, dancing, author readings, and a keynote panel featuring organic pioneers.

I know what you're thinking. Why would I want to go hang out with a bunch of granolas and what does this have to do with cheese?

Because Organic Valley is an important player in Wisconsin's dairy industry. We have more organic dairy farms - 433 to be exact - than any other state in the nation, and these are not great days for organic dairy farmers (or any other dairy farmers for that matter). With milk prices once again at cyclical lows and feed prices at all-time highs, it's actually costing Wisconsin dairy farmers more to produce milk than they are getting paid for it. In fact, according to a recent report, organic dairy farmers are losing $3 per hundredweight of milk and having to borrow money just to keep running.

So I'd encourage you this year to head on up to the Kickapoo Country Fair to support the state's dairy farmers and celebrate local food. As an added bonus, I'll be leading a Wisconsin artisan cheese tasting at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The event as a whole is a great way to celebrate connections to friends, culture and community. Weekend passes, which include access to all activities, are $10 for adults, $8 for kids 12 and under, and kids five and under are free. Buy them online here.