A Cheese Commercial

A word about cheese: I love it! A good friend of mine was recently sharing her appreciation for good cheese and I began to get hungry. Coupled with the fact that my mom just purchased a cheese-making book (and attempted mozzarella cheese for the first time the other night), I now feel compelled to tell you all my favorite cheese story. (Incidentally, I must regretfully inform you that my beloved wife is not a cheese fan and does not share in my passion for the good stuff. I hope, however to bring Sarah Rose on to my side. In fact, Melissa sent me an email just this morning stating that the wee one loves mozzarella, presumably mom’s).

So there I was, studying at Regents Park College, Oxford University (check out this link too) one summer, when the family I lived with took me to visit Stratford-upon-Avon on farmers' market day. For lunch, I bought an extremely fresh hunk of crusty bread, a bottle of the tartest, crispest apple juice I've ever had, and (most importantly) the most delightfully wonderful sharp (VERY sharp) white English cheddar. Topping off the meal with a 60p bar of Galaxy chocolate from the corner shop made me a very happy boy. In fact, this simple meal probably ranks in my all-time top favorite eating experiences. Because it was farmer’s market day, the town was filled not just with the typical tourists, but real, live British citizens. (Incidentally, the whole Shakespeare experience is overrated. But then, so is Shakespeare.) It was the middle of summer, the weather was wonderful, I experienced some authentic British culture and I didn’t have a care in the world. (Another fun foodie experience is taking a trip through the covered market in Oxford. Dang, I miss living there--if any of you ever need a tour guide Melissa and I are so available!)

Other foods that I’m missing out here in Kuwait: milk (I refuse to touch the junk out here); fried eggs with yolks that are still runny (though I do have two hard-boiled eggs every morning for breakfast, save the weekend when I have a nice cheesy omelet with bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes as the filling), homemade pizza (either Melissa's or mom's) and cheese other than the shredded cheddar stuff they always have on the salad bar line (oh wait, I already mentioned cheese, sorry). Basically, if I owned my own cow and had a few laying hens I would be a very happy man!

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled programming…