And the Oscar goes to.... Sally Jackson

So what better way to kick back on a rainy day than cracking open some buttery and sweet Sally Jackson sheep milk cheese and watching the Oscars?

We're such pushovers when it comes to cheese. Our local cheesepusher is fully aware of this. We already had a slice of Le Fougeru and needed to get mozzarella and fontina. We were walking away from the counter when he asks incredulously, "You're not even going to ASK about this?" This was a chestnut leaf wrapped Sally Jackson sheep cheese.

"Well, okay. Consider that we've asked..."

"Should I crack it open? Would you be interested?"

"Well... we've got a lot of other cheeses to pick up and so much to get... Maybe you better not -- not just for us."

He pauses and then with a "what the hell?" look starts sawing away the strings. "You know what, I'm just gong to do it. You know, I think people find it intimidating when it's all wrapped up like it's not supposed to get cut... I'm opening it."

He slices off a generous chunk and takes a nice bit to try himself, "You know she's really hard to get a hold of. If you're not one of her regulars, she won't send you the cheese, because they don't make that much. We haven't always carried a lot of her cheeses in the past. BUT I found out that if you get her husband Roger on the phone, well ... he'll send it to you."

Thank you, Roger.

Yeah, go ahead. Give us a wedge of butter-bomb bliss.

Oh, and um... some of the Comte too.

We got the update from him too on why there hasn't been any Andante goat cheese lately. Apparently Soyoung Scanlan has recently had a kid -- no, not a goat kid, her own kid! -- and has been ... a little busy. Here's hoping her success means she can get a nanny (not a nanny-goat) soon and get back to the cheese!

By the way, you can see lurking in the background, the evidence that it is Spargel Season again! White asparagus is something I fell in love with one year travelling through Germany. Spargelcremesuppe -- the most glorious cream of asparagus soup you could imagine. Spargel. Peel it. Eat it. Love it. Mmmmm.