Cheese Cruelty & How to Avoid It - Lesson 1

I love a full cheese plate. A whole, lovely goat cheese round, a two inch wedge of aged Gouda, a three inch wedge of my favorite Roaring 40s blue...It has something to do with proportion. Unfortunately, the suggested serving size for any cheese is one oz. per person per cheese. Any more than that, and you are asking for some digestive problems. So here's where I attempt to use the geometry I learned in High School... The radius of a Gouda is about six inches, so if you are only getting enough for two people, the wedge only needs to be about a 1/2 inch. A two person serving of Roaring 40s (probably a four inch radius) is an inch or less. If my calculus was better, I could tell you what the volume of a wedge that shape would be, but I can't. I can tell you that you are looking for 2-3 ounces. Insert sad face here. How insubstantial, if nutritionally sound.

Anyway, I've been trying to watch the budget (and the waistline), so I keep the wedges thin during the week so there isn't a lot left over at the end of the night. (I'm enough ADD to get bored with cheese leftovers after a day.) But, when I'm shopping for a party, I get to buy the thicker wedges; the full rounds. So exciting! And, when I've chosen right based on what I know of the guests and the menu, there still aren't any left-overs!

I guess the lesson for the day is to make sure that your eyes, dinner plan, and budget are all in agreement before you enter the cheese shop. Once you are there, and you get a few tastes, you might end up with more selections than you thought you needed, even if you have a specific shopping list. Stay strong, but be flexible. Cheese does keep in the fridge, but the little left over nubs look so sad. BTW - try wrapping your left over bits in paper (parchment, not waxed) - plastic wrap doesn't let it breathe. You don't want to be accused of suffocating your cheese. Avoid cheese cruelty - shop appropriately!