C is for Cheese

I love cheese!  I don't know what it is about the stuff, but sometimes I just can't seem to get enough of its dairy deliciousness...mac n cheese, grilled cheese, cheeseburgers, quesadillas, cheese and crackers...you name it.  Cheese makes everything taste better, no matter what kind of cheese it is, and there are so many different kinds of cheese to choose from, like mozzarella, gorgonzola, cheddar, Swiss, all sorts of jacks, asiago, parmesan, Romano, provolone, feta, blue, Colby, American, and so many more.  According to CheeseisAlive.com, there are about a "bajillion" types of cheeses out there.

Here are some fun cheese facts I found from around the Internet:

- The earliest cheese remains ever found were in Egypt and date back around 4,000 years.  Some say cheese was even being made from cow and goat milk 2,000 years before that, in Mesopotamia.

- Greeks eat more cheese than anyone else in the world, consuming about 63 pounds per person each year.  That's a lot of cheese!  Here in the U.S., we each eat about 31 pounds of the stuff every year.

- The U.S. produces about 25% of all the cheese produced in the world, about 9 billion pounds of it annually.

- The only cheeses native to the U.S. are American (of course!), jack, brick and colby.  Everything else is modeled after cheeses brought here by European settlers.

- 72% of the cheeses produced in the U.S. come from only five states: Wisconsin, California, Idaho, New York and Minnesota.  (Where's Vermont?)

- Among the most popular cheeses in the world, according to several sources, are gouda, cheddar, Swiss, feta, blue, mozzarella, parmesan, and Edam.  

- In the U.S., we love our mozzarella and cheddar.  The white, gooey pizza cheese surpassed cheddar as the most popular around nine years ago.

- The flavor of cheese is optimal when it is served at room temperature, although I love mine melted, too!

There's no doubt judging from these facts that humans and cheese have had a torrid love affair for thousands of years and as long as they keep making it,, we'll keep on eating it.

A Couple of Cheesey Recipes

Two of the most popular recipes that include cheese are also two of my favorite dinners: good old fashioned macaroni and cheese and of course, pizza.  In the past I've written pieces on both dishes, one a straight-up knockout recipe for one of America's favorite comfort foods, and the other a listing of tempting suggestions for a wide variety of homemade pizzas.  Click the links below to read on:

Delicious Mac n Cheese

Homemade Pizza Recipes: Greek Flavored Chicken, Italian Veggie and Spinach Ricotta

So if you love cheese as much as I do, then check them out!

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