A long, long time ago, I used to think that there was happiness to be found in skinny and tight. Candy bars would last a month or more in the refrigerator, and I would take a bite only every so often when the need would overwhelm me. I kept bread in the freezer, and would eat it with a no sugar jam and always before noon. Did it make me happy? Lord, no. In the end, I gave up on skinny and tight, which gave me nothing but dry skin, and moved on to cheese. I love cheese. I even just like saying “Tomme de savoi”. I speak French as well as a table leg, but put a glass of fine wine in your hand, light a candle, say “pass the Tomme de Savoi” and France steps up to introduce itself. The color of Tomme de Savoie is a rich mustardy yellow, from the cows eating daffodils mixed in with the grass, and has a taste that is lost on factory spin offs. It costs about $8.99, a fair price for a little France without even leaving town. One from Wisconsin, called Uplands Dairy Pleasant Ridge Reserve was a whole lot more at $22.36 a pound, but takes you to an above and beyond worth paying for. The man makes only one kind of cheese, somewhere in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and whatever he is doing, I like it.
Have cheese with fresh fruit and bread and salume, or if you want to something hot, get out the old fondue pot and melt dinner tonight.
Rub the inside of the pot with a cut clove of fresh garlic. Bring 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine to a simmer. Toss 1/2 pound of grated gruyere, half a pound of grated fontina, and a small chunk of grated parmesan with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Gradually add the cheese to the wine, stirring slowly. When it is fully incorporated, grate in a pinch of nutmeg.