Our deadline order for guaranteed cheese (both special order and & cheese boxes) is October 2nd. Cheese Box deliveries scheduled for October 24th onward.
Cheese Advent Calendar Sales are live! Available to order until October 30th or until supplies last. Delivery scheduled for late November. We do have a limited # of calendars available to order.
Phew! I survived September. This was our busiest month and also our most uncertain. Our cheese order had countless replacements due to unavailability and late shipments from Europe. We then ended up a few kilos short when our order finally arrived. It was a bit nightmarish. But we did it! All of our cheese orders went out on time.
And our first ever Wine & Cheese event that we cohosted with the lovely folks at Beaufort Winery went better than I could have imagined. No dropped cheese boards, no pouring rain. I need to give a shout out to my husband who, though I told him I didn't need help, insisted that he was going to come and support me. And 100% I could not have done it without him.
I was pretty disappointed that a number of cheeses didn't arrive because I was really looking forward to trying them. I am sure I will circle back to them in a month or so, and some may show up this coming month.
MONTHLY CHEESE REVIEW
So many unplanned cheeses this month, some we have already experienced in previous months and others that were new to us.
I have to say, my favourite, unplanned cheese was La Galette from Fromagerie de la Table Ronde in Quebec. That was a surprise in the funk department. It reminds me of a Munster but with a bit more of an organic shape. Super creamy and delicious right off the bat. Loved it! If only I'd known, I would have order twice as much!
Another new cheese was Ibores. This is a popular cheese in Spain. It was a bit salty and it had a creamy, yet crumbly nature to it. The rounds are rubbed with paprika as they age, imparting both a special look and flavour to the cheese. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. Some of you received it in your cheese box, I'd love to hear feedback. Do you enjoy that type of cheese?
Red Leicester was surprisingly mild. I was expecting something a bit sharper in flavour as it's aged between 6-9 months. Perhaps this was a younger one. It's pretty good though, I like the texture and the flavour. Interestingly and unexpectedly this came very securely wrapped in a non-obvious cloth. So subtle that I tried to cut through it thinking it was the rind. It was a struggle until I realized that this English cheese came to the party well dressed.
Tomme de Grosse-Ile from Quebec. This was a fairly mild cheese made from the milk of Swiss cows. What I tend to think of when I think of Canadian soft paste cheese...no funk at all. I know, I know...cheese stereotypes are the worst! I think this would be a great cheese to include on a cheeseboard for the milder cheese lovers in your life.
OCTOBER CHEESE
The October cheese list is out. I'm pretty sure it is final, but who knows...find it here: October Cheese and get your order in before it's all gone!
We've got some pretty tasty cheeses on there this month! Let's hope most of them make it this time.
Tomme de Yenne is a new one. "An underrated cheese from the Haute-Savoie area of France." I can't confirm that review as this is a new one for me too. Flavour wise it is said to have a pleasant buttery flavour with an earthy tasting rind. A soft cheese, it melts in the mouth, and this is definitely one to enjoy at room temp. It looks like it will be a firmer cheese, but the description says soft...we will see.
Deschambault is a cheese made with raw organic sheep milk. Hailing from Fromagerie des Grondines in Quebec, it has a firm paste with a washed rind. The cheese is dotted throughout with small holes and has flavours of milk, nuts & olives....sounds delicious!
Cremeux de Jura is a winter cheese from the Franche-Comté region of Quebec. Wrapped in a strip of spruce to keep the cheese's shape, the this cheese has a woody aroma reminiscent of mustard see. It has a soft, creamy texture that generally doesn't run and a frank and fruity flavour. Something new for us!
Cote D'Or Le Fromage, a lovely little package of cheese from the Cote de Nuits area in France. A bloomy, washed rind imparts the typical strong order, but it doesn't overwhelm the delicate flavour of the cheese itself. A firmer cheese in it's youth, like all of us, it gets soft and a bit droopy with age. Frankly, I just like the look of this one!
IN OTHER NEWS...
Advent Calendars
These are selling much better than I expected! Honestly I thought a few people would be into them, but they are slowly trickling off the "shelf". If you are on the fence, we have a limited # available. Orders are due by October 30th for delivery end of November.
Retail Space
The advent calendars are kind of old news compared to this news! We have retail space! Or we will have retail space starting late October. Have you met the lovely new owners of the Mustard Lady? Stephanie and Brody Abbat-Slater took over when the previous owner retired this year. Well turns out, they love cheese almost as much as me and want to add some of our monthly offerings to their store. I thought I would maybe be able to pull off a couple of pop-up shops in November & December, but no! As I always say, why go small when you can go a bit bigger. I've never actually said it, and in actuality if I did have a mantra like that it would be, why go small, when you can go way bigger and more complicated than it needs to be and be more stressed out then you should have been.
What does this mean? It means that along with our online sales & our monthly cheese box you will also be able to pop in there and buy a piece or two...or three, when it's convenient for you. We are going to work hard to keep the fridge stocked all month long! So exciting!
Well that's a wrap, it's been a slice, time to melt away until next month. Can I just say before I go, one of my favourite parts of this business is meeting folks and talking cheese. I feel like I'm in my element! I hope you all enjoy it. And thanks for being part of this journey!
Keep it Cheesy!
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