Cheeseletter: The Thanksgiving Edition 2025

Thanksgiving. The kick-off weekend for indoor get-togethers, sharing meals with friends and family, and just an overall cozying down. The sweaters come out, the rubber boots are put on and we spend time outside kicking through fallen leaves, hanging with people we love...or in some cases just tolerate, depending on your family dynamics.

Thanksgiving for me since having kids, and especially since moving to the Comox Valley, has been about hosting. Hosting my own parents, and my spouse's family for a long, drawn out meal.

As the weekend approaches this year, I am trying to find a scenario that fulfills my weird need to always host...FOMO, and my need to not burden myself by using my one-day weekend to clean and cook.

My sister-in-law suggested doing an afternoon charcuterie spread. And even at that, I responded, "Great, I'll take care of everything because I have everything in the shop." That lovely lady, patient as always, suggested that maybe the point is that I don't do everything, even if I can. The logic is sound, but still...is a family gathering holiday still a holiday if you aren't stressing out?? As a side note, I remember the first time when I was around 20, my brother introduced me to the concept of Christmas morning drinks...and the Christmas Crantini was born. It made for a much more relaxed day, particularly given that at that time my mom was the stressed out hostess and I was still the kid making a mess trying to refill my glass.

I've got a week to delegate, so wish me luck...As I proofread this, I realize this sounds like one of those humble brags, maybe that's not the right term, maybe its just plain old whinging. Here's me complaining about being a great hostess every year, putting my needs ahead of my own, making delicious food and having everything just so, I couldn't possibly stop, how could anyone in the family possibly replace me, blah blah blah...when in reality, I'm outwardly stressed, I bite off more than I can chew (every.single.time). I secretly resent anyone sitting around and enjoying themselves, and my kitchen is ALWAYS an absolute mess when we sit down for dinner, and then it never fails, I tell my husband that evening "Never Again!".

Can anyone relate???

If You Can't Make the Weekend Stress Free - Make it Tasty!

Ok, well obviously we will have lots of cheese. I think we are sitting around 110 different types of cheese either currently in the fridge or coming next week. We've cut into the last round of Morbier that we will see for a while, though we've got a great Canadian-made replacement that will hit the shelves once the Morbier disappears. As well we have a tiny bit of a BC-made Reblochon sub, Petit Savoie. The LSD in Europe is really throwing a wrench in the holiday cheese selection.

We've got lots of Oyama products in stock at the moment, with more arriving next week, in particular a solid selection of duck and pork paté. They should be showing up Thursday afternoon.

We will have a number of Raclette options this year, including Raclette de Bagne, Savoie and Livradois. All of which can be enjoyed with the new raclette grills that we RENT!

If you don't follow us on social media, you might have missed that we now have a couple of 1/4 round Raclette Grills that you can rent with your cheese purchase! Order for a night or for the weekend. Pretend you are in the Swiss Alps, après ski, eating your melted cheese, without the line ups.

And speaking of lineups....

Fast Lane pickup

We are offering Fast Lane Pickup for pre-orders made either in-store or online for your Thanksgiving orders. Pre-order, prepay and avoid the long deli lines next weekend (well, hopefully they are long!). It doesn't mean that you can't add things to the order when you come to the shop, but it means you can get in and out faster, and it helps us stay a bit ahead of the game. So if you know what you want, we beseech you to pre-order if you can. Your cheese will be cut fresh that day and ready to go!

Our in-stock page lists all of the cheeses and meats that we currently have in stock and are expecting to be available for next weekend...or it will shortly once I finish adding photos of our new stuff.

New & Old Product Lines

We keep ordering new products in for Christmas and I keep putting it out on the shelves, because, why wait? We've got some great new duck products in, including Cassoulet with Duck Confit, duck rillettes and a restock on our frozen foie gras. For those of you wanting to make your own cassoulet, we have duck confit, Toulouse sausage (although limited quantities to let us know if you want some and we can order for next week delivery) and Ankia's locally grown, and hand shelled cassoulet beans.

And of course, caviar is back on the shelves with the Creme Fraiche arriving next week and the mini Blinis already in the freezer! Is it still considered local gourmet if you put it all together locally?

Host/Hostess Gifts

Need something to bring your host/hostess to thank them for spending hours slaving in the kitchen? We've got a wide range of beautiful kitchen and table linens, endless accompaniments and a broad selection of olive oils, including a new one, Oro del Desierto from Spain. This is a beautiful olive oil with a peppery finish. Like a real, peppery finish, the kind you only really get to enjoy when you are eating olive oil in Europe. My new fave item on the shelf and one that will be joining my personal olive oil collection. Pair it with the Okanagan-made Edible Gardens Barrel Aged Balsamic. You can find a bit about their production here: Barrel Aged Balsamic | edible gardens

Cheese Advent Calendar

At the time of penning this, we have about 5 left before we sell out for the year. This has been the fastest sell-out we've ever had, so get them while they last, which will probably be until tomorrow.

Wine & Cheese

And a shout out to all of you amazing folks who joined us for our very first in-house event. The vibe was great and the company lovely! 40 people in there is our max...just a perfect number of people to stuff into a cheese shop for a few hours of great snacks, decent wine & stunning art. We will do more events like this, so keep an eye peeled early in the year.

We still have a few of Monica's beautiful paintings available at the shop if you are looking for that perfect piece!

We hope to see you over the next week and we will be thrilled to help you put together a selection of goodies for your weekend spread!

Keep it Cheesy!

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