It’s Friday, my favorite day of the week, and the day I get to talk about France AND gear up for Beth Fish’s #Weekend Cooking! So I had my anniversary last week and I spent the whole week with my face smashed against the glass porch door waiting. Waiting for one of my favorite gifts to arrive–a large package of stinky, scrumptious, flavorful French cheese!
These cheeses are delivered via UPS straight from France and Fromages.com. They have a cheese library, a monthly cheese, weekly specials, suggested wine pairings and more. I am so madly in love with this company! Each time I receive a package, I set up a cheese party with foodie and Frenchie buddies and we gorge.
Since the U.S. is finicky about the pasteurization processes, only certain cheeses are
allowed in the country. Being ever the geography nerd, I’ve scrolled through the other countries to compare the differences. I’m a little miffed at what the U.S. considers unsafe to eat, especially given the raw cheeses I’ve eaten right out of a Vermont barn, but at least we can still get some!
My favorites include an herb crusted goat cheese from Corsica and many of their blue cheeses. I’m finding as I learn more and more about cheese, the stronger and twangier I like the flavor. For a complete list of what they have click HERE.
So back to the face smashed against the glass…
The cheese never came. *Sniffs*
My husband wanted to be original this year… But actually it was fabulous. I do love surprises. Instead, we packed a picnic of wine, confiture, and crusty bread and went on a tour of local cheese farms (there are many in New England) and followed it up with a walk on the beach and fresh east coast oysters. Not too shabby!
What’s your favorite cheese? Do you go to a special market or just snatch one out of the grocery store cheese case?
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About Heather Webb
Heather’s historical novels have received national starred reviews, been featured in print media including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and have been chosen as a Goodreads Top Pick in 2015. To date, her books have sold in a dozen countries. She enjoys helping other writers and may often be found tweeting helpful links, writing craft articles, or speaking about the industry and her love of books at conferences and retreats. For more information, see her AUTHOR page.
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I love very much Le Comté, a nice fruity one. Under the Chicago suburb train station there’s a French Market and La Pastoral imports cheese from France [and all over the world]. they have a fantastic Comté.
I adore a good comté, Emma! I lived in eastern France near the foothills of the Alps where comté was king. Yum!
First of all, Happy Anniversary! I’m not all that fond of bleu when it comes to cheese, but I do love cheese: Wensleydale and Caerphilly from the UK and Manchega from Spain are some of my favorites. Also adore chevre croquettes, which I first had in Paris on a salad. Yummmm.
Thank you, Rhiann! 🙂 Blue cheese is an acquired taste that I’ve honed over the years, thought I will say the blue cheese you are used to in the states is nothing like French blue cheese. The French version(s) tend to be buttery and soft with an array of different tastes. Some are pungent, but not in the stinging way of American blues. If you get a chance, you should give one a try.
Thanks for sharing fromages.com — that’s a website I can definitely use here in Central PA!
What an awesome day! I like that tour and the walk and the oysters. Sounds heavenly. Thanks for the heads-up on the cheeses. I used to belong to something similar waaaaay back in the 70s. I’ll have to check out this out. I’m lucky to have several local cheese producers.
That would be a *perfect* birthday gift for my husband….. thanks so much for the idea!
cheese in the mail! how cool.
but i won’t cry for you..a picnic and the beach is not bad!
Sounds like the perfect day!
Happy Anniversary! That sounds like a terrific day.
We belong to the cheese of the month club at Pastoral in Chicago — the same one that Emma mentioned I think. They ship cheese to us in a suburb of St. Louis in the first week of every month. After our trip to France, getting addicted to an occasional meal of wine, bread, and cheese, we love our monthly cheese shipments even more.
Oh, too bad about the cheese! I just read a book about French cheese, and I’m aching to try some of the varieties that were mentioned – I’ve been very circumspect in my experimentation up until now. I’ll have to check out that website!
Cecelia, we discovered the website from a local radio personality on NPR. That’s why we trusted it. 🙂
Oh, your cheese farm tour sounds like fun.
Oh that sounds like my perfect day out lol. I’ve just done a post for Paris in July meme and wanting to visit a fromagerie, I adore cheese. We have a lot of good cheese in Australia and I tend to buy from markets and deli’s but I’m going to check out the site you mention … I will be so excited if they deliver to Australia lol
I love your opening line about Fridays! So true. My favorite cheese would be Chaumes but lately we have had trouble getting it where I live. There are so many cheeses I love though. Cambanzola is a new one for me and it’s so creamy.
Great book you highlighted here.