Doggy Bag: Cheese Doodles

Gordon Edgar

Creepy faces adorn wheels of Chällerhocker, a Swiss cow's milk cheese.

​Our favorite morsel from the blogs.

Antonia Richmond tackles home cheese making for The Bold Italic.

I've been hooked on the stuff since childhood--beginning with my first taste (of a cellophane-wrapped Kraft Single), and I still can't get enough.... I've also spent a lot of time at the counter of Pizzeria Delfina, watching the cooks stretch the curds of fresh mozzarella in a bowl of water and form them into little balls. There is something so sensual and tender about it, as there is with any food that is made by hand. Plus, the taste is sublime - eyes-roll-back-in-your-head good. Cocksure and confident, I set out to make fresh cheese. But let me tell you: it was humbling.

Richmond's Dante-esque journey starts at Cheese Plus, takes her through The Cheese School of San Francisco, and hooks her up with cheese maker Soyoung Scanlan of Petaluma's Andante Dairy, who tells her to step away from the curd.

If you agree with Scanlan that cheese making isn't for amateurs, check out Rainbow Grocery cheesemonger Gordon Edgar's post-fest list of favorite Thanksgiving cheeses on Gordonzola. Di Stefano Burrata. Robiola Nostrano. Dunbarton Blue. It's a luxe list of the gorgeous. Perfect, we're guessing, for filling smoothing out the holiday stresses of last-minute mall shopping and Republican brothers.