#cheese tasting at parmesan factory

[luckystorein22]

Welcome to Lucky Store, your go-to online gourmet store for the finest selection of high-quality and delicious food products. We are excited to introduce our newest addition to our already impressive lineup of products - Arla Danish White Feta Cheese.

Made from 100% pure and natural cow's milk, Arla Danish White Feta Cheese is a versatile cheese that can add a zesty kick to any dish. Its crumbly texture and tangy taste make it an ideal ingredient for salads, sandwiches, pasta, and much more.

At Lucky Store, we are committed to providing our customers with only the best products, and Arla Danish White Feta Cheese is no exception. We source our cheese directly from Arla Foods, a trusted and reputable dairy producer known for their high standards and commitment to quality.

So why wait? Add Arla Danish White Feta Cheese to your cart today and take your dishes to the next level. With its rich flavor and versatility, you won't be disappointed. And as always, Lucky Store guarantees fast and reliable delivery right to your doorstep.

[pcttrailsidereader]

How Your Backpacking Meals Are Really Made

By Emily Pennington (excerpted from the July 14, 2024 article in Backpacker)

A faint whiff of cumin and cracked black pepper serenades my nostrils, reminiscent of the Indian spice markets I once visited in my mid-twenties. Only, I’m not in South Asia, or even the back storeroom of a hip Thai restaurant; I’m in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, touring the massive factory where Backpacker’s Pantry meals are made.

My host for the morning is Soraya Smith, the company’s president and recipe-development chef. Smith, who had always been involved on the recipe side of American Outdoor Products (the parent organization of Backpacker’s Pantry) took over as president after her husband, Rodney, died in a tragic ski accident in 2020. She’s been the face of the family-owned corporation ever since.

“I’m from a foodie family,” explained Smith. “My mom is Spanish-Italian, and my father is from Iran, so we’re very multicultural. I also went to Culinary School of the Rockies before stepping into this role.”

Our first stop was the test kitchen, where Smith pulled different dry ingredients together to experiment with new recipe ideas. To be totally honest, the various plastic bags she grabbed out of a large bin looked more like the Parmesan cheese packets you’d get for free with your pizza delivery than high-quality foodstuffs. But therein contained the secrets to my favorite post-hike meals: proprietary flavorings and mixes, which Backpacker’s Pantry makes with freeze-dried ingredients.

As we entered the factory’s enormous storeroom, I asked Smith for a refresher: What exactly is freeze drying?

Freeze-drying technology was used extensively by NASA during the space boom of the 1960s. Since freeze-dried food retains more than 90 percent of its original nutrients, it’s the best way to keep astronauts stocked with nutritious food. Better yet, the food can last for years without going bad.

When an ingredient is freeze-dried, it’s brought to an inhospitable -60°F, then back above freezing multiple times while inside a vacuum chamber. That way, only the ingredient’s water content is removed. “Some companies make a large sheet of, say, lasagna, cook it, and then dehydrate it,” Smith said. “We, on the other hand, mix each of our freeze-dried ingredients into the bag, so that when you add that boiling water, most of them are getting cooked for the first time. It’s fresher, and I think it has a better texture.”

Once workers grab individual ingredients from the palettes in the store room, they go to the dedicated mixing room, where seasonings and starches are stirred together in large tubs. The room looks like a sterile, high-tech scene out of Willy Wonka.

Here, Smith points out that the brand adheres to a strict allergen separation system. For instance, a recipe with gluten won’t get run through the machines on the same day as a gluten-free recipe to protect customers with gluten intolerances. Ditto for dairy products. (Workers clean the machines thoroughly at the end of each day by passing them through a chrome-covered, bedroom-sized industrial dishwasher.)

After mixing, the meals are mechanically portioned out by category—sauce, starch, meat, and vegetable—then sealed by hand. Workers sample the meals throughout the day, preparing a baggie to taste-test at the beginning, middle, and end of each run. The goal is to ensure the flavors remain consistent throughout. Forks and counter space are set aside in the test kitchen for this specific purpose. If something doesn’t taste right, they ditch the batch and correct it.

The Backpacker’s Pantry factory produces thousands of meals each day. Once the day’s meals get sealed, boxed, and quality checked, they head into a gigantic storeroom, which then ships the products to big retailers, like REI, as well as directly to consumers.

As I closed the huge warehouse doors behind me and concluded my tour, I was surprised to feel tremendously better about all that just-add-water food I’d been eating. The ingredients were both fresher than I’d imagined and more rigorously quality-checked. Ninety percent of their original nutrients, huh? Heck, maybe I’ll toss a couple under my desk to eat in the office.

[roamcoldhighway]

This Louisiana Chicken Pasta recipe is a copycat version of the Cheesecake Factory favorite, featuring tender Cajun-spiced chicken strips in a creamy Parmesan sauce, served over fettuccine pasta. It's a deliciously indulgent dish that brings the flavors of the Louisiana cuisine to your dinner table!

Ingredients: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning. 8 ounces fettuccine pasta. 2 tablespoons olive oil. 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced. 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced. 1 small onion, thinly sliced. 2 cloves garlic, minced. 1 cup heavy cream. 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Fresh parsley for garnish.

Instructions: Season chicken breasts with Cajun seasoning on both sides. Cook fettuccine pasta according to package instructions until al dente. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add seasoned chicken breasts and cook until browned and cooked through, about 6-7 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and set aside. In the same skillet, add sliced bell peppers and onion. Saut until tender, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low, pour in heavy cream, and stir to combine. Add grated Parmesan cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Slice cooked chicken breasts into strips and return to the skillet, stirring to coat with sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot over cooked fettuccine pasta, garnished with fresh parsley.

Dean Whyte

[pizzafactoryvancouver]

Top 10 Most Popular Pizza Toppings Around the World

Pizza, one of the world's most beloved dishes, offers endless possibilities for customization, making it a favorite across diverse cultures. From classic combinations to innovative creations, pizza toppings vary widely, reflecting local tastes and culinary traditions. This blog explores the top 10 most popular pizza toppings worldwide, highlighting the unique flavors and ingredients that make each one a standout. Whether you prefer traditional toppings or enjoy trying something new, this guide will deepen your appreciation for the versatility and universal appeal of pizza.

Pepperoni: An American classic, pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in Canada. Its bold, spicy flavor pairs perfectly with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, creating a satisfying and savory experience.

Margherita: Named after Queen Margherita of Italy, this pizza features fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, and olive oil. Its simplicity and high-quality ingredients make it a global favorite.

Prosciutto and Arugula: This Italian combination offers salty prosciutto and peppery arugula, often accompanied by mozzarella and olive oil, creating a sophisticated and flavorful pizza.

Quattro Formaggi: A delight for cheese lovers, this pizza typically includes mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola, and fontina, resulting in a rich and creamy experience.

Mushrooms: With their earthy and umami-rich flavor, mushrooms enhance any pizza without overpowering it. They are a versatile choice for both vegetarians and meat-lovers.

Pineapple: A controversial topping, pineapple adds a sweet and tangy contrast to savory pizza elements, often paired with ham in the classic Hawaiian pizza.

Anchovies: These small, salty fish pack a powerful umami punch, transforming a simple pizza into a gourmet experience. Anchovies are a bold choice for adventurous palates.

Sausage: Whether Italian, chorizo, or breakfast sausage, this topping brings a hearty, robust flavor to pizza. It pairs well with various other toppings, adding a substantial element to any pie.

Olives: Olives add a distinctive Mediterranean flair with their salty, briny flavor. Both black and green olives are popular, enhancing the taste of other ingredients.

Chicken: A versatile topping, chicken can be grilled, roasted, or barbecued, adding a lean protein element to pizza. Popular variations include BBQ Chicken Pizza and Buffalo Chicken Pizza.

Pizza's universal appeal lies in its versatility and the endless possibilities for customization. Exploring these popular toppings from around the world not only enhances your pizza experience but also offers a glimpse into the diverse culinary traditions that shape this beloved dish. Whether you’re a traditionalist or an experimenter, there’s always something new and delicious to discover in the world of pizza.

For fresh and affordable pizzas in Vancouver, visit Pizza Factory Vancouver on Fraser Street. Enjoy delicious, affordable pizza perfect for any occasion. Don’t miss out on our unbeatable prices and mouthwatering flavors!

[meowtalhead]

🍫 Cheese or chocolate? 🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be? 🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order?

Cheese or chocolate?

Oh that is SUCH a tough question, I love both so much. I'm going to have to say cheese, I'm very passionate about cheese. My favorite normal grocery store cheese is parmesan (MUST be aged at least 24 months don't try to give me a perfectly smooth triangular wedge with no visible calcium lactate crystals), and i recently got to visit the parmesan factory in Italy! BEHOLD:

Unfortunately I was unable to get my hands on a 60 month aged parmesan while I was there. My favorite fancy kind of cheese for special occasions is Kaltbach Le Crémeaux. It tastes like wet cave rocks, because it's aged in a cave naturally kept at 96% humidity by an underground river! Also have to mention campo de montalbán, sage derby, foenegreek gouda, and Smith's Farmstead five year aged Rat Cheddar. The most powerful, intense cheese i have ever faced

If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

M&m cookie. Like specifically the ones from m&m ice cream cookie sandwiches, the ice cream is important

What's your go-to starbucks order?

I don't go to starbucks but my go-to dunkin donuts order is the pumpkin spice latte in fall and the hot chocolate in winter!

[italyluxury]

A Trio of Flavors: Crafting Your Perfect 3-Day Bologna Food Tour

Nestled in the heart of Italy, Bologna is a city renowned for its rich culinary traditions and vibrant gastronomic scene. This bustling center of the Emilia-Romagna region is a haven for food lovers seeking an authentic Italian experience. If you're trying to plan your own 3-day Bologna food tour but are not sure where to start, don’t worry. The following suggestions will guide you through a mouth-watering 3-day adventure in Bologna!

Day 1: Discover the heart of Bologna's culinary scene

Begin your culinary adventure in Bologna by diving into the vibrant food markets. These bustling hubs are where artisans display their finest products, offering an authentic taste of local life. Here, you can uncover the secrets behind renowned delicacies like Parmigiano Reggiano and traditional balsamic vinegar. Expert craftsmen are often eager to share their knowledge, giving you insight into the art of Italian food making!

Make your Bologna food tour even better by taking time to savor the region’s iconic dishes. The city is famous for its tagliatelle al ragù, a velvety pasta dish, and tortellini, known for its delicate perfection. Don’t forget to enjoy some authentic mortadella, a specialty meat product!

Day 2: Explore artisan pasta and local delicacies.

On your second day, engage in a hands-on pasta-making experience. Bologna food tours often include visits to local pasta masters who teach the art of creating traditional handmade pasta dishes, such as tagliatelle al ragù. This immersive experience not only enhances your culinary skills but also deepens your appreciation for Italian cuisine.

Continue your journey by exploring Bologna’s array of local cheeses, cured meats, and artisan gelato. Complement these tastings with a selection of fine regional wines, enriching your gastronomic experience. Bologna's diverse culinary offerings are sure to tantalize your taste buds.

Day 3: Visit Esteemed Michelin-Starred Establishments and Food Factories

Conclude your Bologna food tour by visiting esteemed Michelin-starred restaurants and carefully selected trattorias. These establishments promise an unforgettable dining experience, showcasing the best of Bologna’s gastronomic offerings. Each stop is a chance to savor the depth and sophistication of Italian cooking!

If you have more time, consider taking tours to food factories in and around Bologna. Visit facilities producing Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, and Parma ham. These tours offer a unique glimpse into the production of some of Italy's most famous food exports.

A culinary adventure awaits

Whether you're a food enthusiast, a family looking for a unique vacation, or simply a lover of Italian culture, a Bologna food tour is an unforgettable journey into the heart of Italian gastronomy.

Ready to embark on your culinary adventure in Bologna? Italy Luxury Tours specializes in creating bespoke travel experiences that cater to your unique tastes and interests. Their Bologna food tours can be customized to cater to a wide range of travelers, including families with children. The tours can be tailored to include child-friendly activities, introducing young ones to the wonders of Italian cuisine in a fun and engaging manner!

Contact Italy Luxury Tours today and start planning your dream food tour in the heart of Italy.

[theoneofwhomisblue]

There is butyric acid in it because of how they treat the milk they put in the chocolate. When the system for treating the milk (which is necessary so it can integrate into a solid chocolate at room temperature) was developed independently of the process that milk was treated with across the ocean in your tiny ass country.

It isn't "added" to the milk for preservation purposes. It's created in low pressure environments in which milk is heated to drive off excess moisture so it can work in a solid form.

And by the time your process could travel across to our country, there were already several companies, and dozens of factories using the process: so obviously they wouldn't change it.

Nor should they, it's a matter of preference and personal taste. Just because something has a component that makes other things bad, it isn't necessarily worse for it.

Ever heard of the chemical scatole? It's the primary component in faeces that gives it that distinctive smell. But guess, what, in smaller amounts in flowers, it smells good to us. and when compared to nearly identical compounds in flowers, just without the scatole, the brain found the ones with scatole more enjoyable (checked with an MRI, or ct scan, or cat scan or whatever the fuck. I'm not a doctor).

Just because a chemical is present in one thing, it doesn't mean that other things with that chemical are objectively worse than equivalents that don't.

Also, parmesan (or whatever you call it, parmesano regiono, who gives a shit) has butyric acid in it too. Do you like parmesan cheese? Have you ever eaten parmesan cheese? Maybe you could see how your argument kind of breaks down.

I direct you to this video made by Adam ragusea, from which I derive much of my information on this topic.

Now, since I'm done with making respectful points, I will angrily shit talk you for your personality, and place of origin.

How fucking egotistical do you have to be to call chocolate that includes an ingredient that undergoes a different process not normal? Do you consider yourself the standard of which everything either complies or is lesser?

You got bitchy enough to make a half baked point about something you clearly don't know shit about. All because I jokingly (check the tags, it's a joke) teased the British, and someone continued the joke in a similar way, with similar intensity? Do you lack the self control to not interact with everything that makes a joke? Fucking clown

And are you really getting all up and arms about your food? Really? You can't seriously see some of the shit your people proudly present as good home cooking, and defend it. Canned beans on buck fifty soggy as white bread? Flavourless mush of whatever vegetables you find in the back of the fridge, in a bowl, badly assuming the identity of a stew? Really?

How about you chill out you tea soaked sack of shit? We're making jokes and you go in here shit talking our chocolate, saying it's bad based on shaky grounds at best, and simply false grounds at worst, all the while calling it abnormal. Read a fuckin room. Be able to take a joke. And go cry about your old ass monarch dying over a cup of leaf water and dry ass biscuits.

Bitch

I think British people shouldn't be allowed to do many things

[luckystorein22]

At Lucky Store, we believe in bringing the very best to your table. That's why we're proud to offer Ambrosi Parmigiano Parmesan Cheese, an Italian delicacy that has been crafted with care for generations. Made from the finest milk, this cheese is aged for up to two years to develop its signature rich and nutty flavor.

Each wedge of Ambrosi Parmigiano Parmesan Cheese is carefully selected to ensure only the highest quality product reaches your home. Its texture is smooth and firm, with a distinct crystalline structure that adds a satisfying crunch to every bite.

Whether you're looking to elevate your favorite pasta dish or create a luxurious cheese board for your guests, Ambrosi Parmigiano Parmesan Cheese is the perfect addition to any meal. And with our easy online ordering process, you can have this premium cheese delivered straight to your door.

Experience the taste of Italy with Ambrosi Parmigiano Parmesan Cheese, and let Lucky Store bring the best to your table. Order now and taste the difference for yourself!

[imadeletingmysocials]

Things cheaper at Dollartree (after much research)

This is a big list I made for myself and anyone else who wants to know what is legit cheaper at the dollar tree and not just 1 dollar for the sake of there, some things might surprise you what is cheaper and even better at a dollar tree. I try to also pick the healthiest options and compare them to prices in places such as Walmart or a large stock place like BJs. I have also used fooducate.com to see which ones are more healthy, of course with things such as chips and snacks though don’t consider them to be healthy but in those cases I opt for the off-brand ones that taste better than the brand ones. Note: This is USA based.

Food:

Drinks:

Azul Coconut Juice, 16.5 oz. (cheapest and healthiest coconut water out there)

Gatorade Fruit Punch Thirst Quencher, 24 oz.

Stacker 2 B-12 Vitamin Shots is also cheaper.

Rockstar Pure Zero Silver Ice Energy Drinks (energy drinks are bad for you but it’s like 30 cents cheaper here than in walmart)

LaCroix Lime Flavored Sparkling Water 1 litter

(don’t even bother with any or all of the cheap soda it’s the worst, please drink water if anything else, all of the good soda is cheaper somewhere else also)

Snacks:

Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers, 4.5 oz is cheaper at Dollartree.

Nabisco Cheese Nips Baked Snack Crackers, 7 oz is cheaper at Dollartree.

Nabisco Ritz Bits Cheese and Cracker Sandwiches, 3-oz. is SORTA cheaper at dollartree.

Island Choice Dry-Roasted Peanuts, 7.5 oz. (shelled nuts cheaper everywhere else of course in bulk)

Island Choice Honey-Roasted Dry-Roasted Peanuts, 7.5 oz

Pennysticks Mini Pretzels, 12 oz (pretzels the same, these cheaper)

Tropical Chips Plantains, 3-oz (30 cents cheaper)

Barcel Takis Fuego Flavored Churritos Stix, 4 oz (apparently, 9oz is 2,50 so 3 would be 12oz and 3 dollars, it would be kinda cheaper?)

Pringles Grab & Go Barbecue Chips, 2.5 oz (buying in bulk anywhere else is cheaper though, however, this single container costs 1,25 everywhere else)

Brim's Fried Barbecue Pork Rinds, 2.635 oz

Carolina Country Snacks Salt & Vinegar Pork Rinds. 2.75 oz

Sheila G's Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle, 2 oz

Barcel Takis Crunchy Fajitas Tortilla Chips, 3.2 oz

T.G.I. Friday’s Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Skins Snack Chips, 4.5 oz

Snack Factory Original Pretzel Crisps, 3-oz (50 cents cheaper!)

PopCorners Kettle Flavor Popped Corn Chips, 3 oz. (better in bulk also)

Good Health Veggie Chips with Sea Salt, 2.75-oz (better in bulk also)

Stacy's Parmesan Garlic & Herb Flavored Pita Chips, 3 oz (better in bulk also)

Rudolph's OnYums Onion-Flavored Ring Chips, 3 oz (it’s off brand Funyuns but it’s actually BETTER and cheaper depending on where you buy them because they’re often sold more expensively at gas stations than Funyuns, fun fact)

Island Choice Banana Chips, 6 oz. Bags

Island Choice Sweet and Spicy Trail Mix, 5 oz (healthy!)

Breakfast Blueberry Biscuits, 7.93 oz.

Harvest Hill Quick Oats, 16 oz. Canisters (Top choice too)

Canned and Pickled

Pampa Tropical Mango Slices in Light Syrup, 15 oz. Cans

Bell's Pitted Olives, 6 oz

Green Giant Sliced Carrots, 14.5 oz (but mostly because I cannot find them anywhere else, all other Green Giant stuff is sold cheaper in bulk though)

Margaret Holmes Finely Chopped Spinach, 27 oz (TOP CHOICE)

Crider Premium Chunk White Turkey 5oz

Libby"s Sliced Pineapple, 20 oz (surprisingly!)

Margaret Holmes Seasoned Field Peas and Snaps, 15 oz

Cans of Pampa(R) Peach Slices, 15.25oz

Pampa Mushroom Pieces & Stems, 10 oz

Pampa Extra-Long Asparagus Spears, 12-oz (by the way Pampa is a really good healthy brand which is cheaper so these alternatives are great)

Libby's Premium Mandarin Oranges, 15 oz

Breckenridge Farms Pickled Jalapeno Slices, 12.5 oz (however Old El Paso Jalapeno Slices, Pickled 12.5oz is 1 dollar more expensive in other places and considered more healthy)

Van Camp's Chunk White Albacore Tuna 5oz (keep in mind this is the only canned tuna that is cheaper at dollartree, Albacore is very healthy and usually more expensive than Tuna, but dollartree sells white albacore in water on the same price as light tuna, this is a very good tuna brand as well)

Mc. Trader Tender Green Asparagus Spears, 10.5 oz

Pampa Smoked Oysters in Oil

Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup, 15-oz

Beach Cliff Sardines in Mustard Sauce, 3.75 (top choice)

Beach Cliff Sardines in Water, 3.75 oz (top choice)

French Onion Dip, 8.5 oz (all onion’s dips the same as well)

Condiments and Spicing

Goya Sazon Seasoning, 8-Packet Boxes

Deli Market Yellow Mustard 20oz (not only is this the best healthiest mustard, but it’s cheaper if you buy it like this than any other mustard in stock size, I wish I had known of this before already stocking up buy buying a 2 pack of 20oz mustard at BJs which is enough to last a year for me)

Louisiana Supreme Hot Sauce 12oz (top choice too)

Kendale Farm Beef Broth, 32 oz (top choice, cheaper than most 32oz broths)

Heinz 57 Sauce, 5 oz. (1,50 cheaper than Walmart)

Hunts Tomato Ketchup, 20 oz (all ketchup is the same)

Deli Market Deli Spicy Brown Mustard (top choice)

Riverton Orchards Lemon Juice, 32-oz (lemon juice the same)

Kraft Bullseye Everyday Original Barbecue Sauce, 17.5-oz (80 cents cheaper than the same product in Target)

A.1. Thick & Hearty Steak Sauce, 5 oz. (SURPRISINGLY, not even in bulk is it as cheap as this? Weird, 5oz is 1 dollar right? 30oz for A1 is usually 8 dollars in stock supermarkets, but 5 times 8 would be 40oz! This is... Interesting. Especially considering it’s a well known brand as well, I wonder who is their dealer or are they just selling it cheap out of donation?)

Healthy Chef Canola Non-Stick Cooking Spray (this one’s pretty wild too, it only is sold at dollartree and is considered the healthiest cooking spray in the entirety of America according to fooducate)

Candy

Gonna go on a safe bet here and say that everything can be found for less and in greater quantity anywhere else. Hairbo Twin Snake is the same price at Walmart though. Most candies are sold 40% cheaper at bulk supermarkets though.

Office & School Supplies

You can probably find all of these at an Ebay auction, but it’s more accessible here.

Crayola Washable Glue Sticks, 2-ct. Packs (1.50 cheaper than walmart)

Duck Tape is cheap as hell

All-Purpose Krazy Glue, .052-oz. Tubes

Other stuff:

Laundry stuff, I’d recommend Ajax 40oz or Fab. Those are AMAZING brands and known as top quality in Australia. And it is insane how cheap this is, they must import it??

Scott Toilet Paper: Oh my god HOW IS 4 TOILET PAPERS THIS CHEAP HERE AT THE DOLLAR TREE???? TP is literally more expensive everywhere else.

Kitchen appliances, a glass salt shaker is like 5 dollars at Walmart but it’s 1 dollar at dollartree. All of the Betty Crocker kitchen appliances like spatulas are only a dollar too and so good. (They are 3 DOLLARS cheaper at dollar tree). IT IS INSANE HOW CHEAP this shit is here, like the can opener they sell for 1 dollar is 6 or 5 dollars everywhere else.

Fisher-Price Smart Care Aloe Vera and Chamomile Baby Wipes, 80-ct. Packs

All Arm & Hammer stuff including the Arm & Hammer Ultra Max 3-in-1 Fresh Scented Body Wash, Shampoo, and Conditioner, 12 oz are good choices. Deodorant too is good. All Arm and hammer stuff here is cheaper than on Walmart and a great brand.

Hand soap might be found for 97 cents at Walmart but it’s a small difference.

Not Cheaper, Best bought at a bulk store:

Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels

snack bars.

V8 Vegetable Juice

Potato Stix

Cereal

Canned Soup

Canned Tuna

Badia Original Complete Seasoning (this took a while to calculate but yes it’s cheaper to buy in bulk, dollartree has 2,5oz for 1 dollar, usually a 2 pack of 12oz each is 13 dollars. if you do like 2.5 times 2.5oz, it’s like 32oz which is more than 24oz for 13 dollars, but you can find 1.75 lbs. of this for 8 dollars)

Iodized Salt (get it at Great value honestly)

Dill Pickles in general, but Vlasic Kosher Dill Pickles is the healthiest choice

Cambell canned soups

Goya canned beans

Sunny Sea Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 7.5-oz

Here’s hoping me publishing this doesn’t crash the market or anything but seriously, you can live healthily and frugally like this. I literally survive like this easily, I just spend like 60 dollars a month max with supplies.

[sw124]

Monster Boyfriend!Reader insert!

Female Reader! Shadow boyfriend.

[The reader is nicknames are Angel by the boyfriend and Bo by everyone else]

Another day, another chewing out by your asshole of a boss who as usual promoted the skinny collage girl over you; despite the fact you worked at this office for over five years and kept it running! In your opinion your boss was a misogynistic piece of garbage who believed all woman had the minds of toddlers, that and their only purpose was to be servants/playthings/baby factories to all men. The only reason he promoted this new girl was because he was looking for new eye candy.

It was just your boss who shared this view however, the other members of the office didn’t share their views. All of them were married and had kids, you could feel the unease when the boss made filthy jokes about someone’s daughter…especially when that daughter was only thirteen years old.

The father of this girl was your friend and neighbor Roy, he was tempted to punch his boss senseless but at the moment he couldn’t afford to. He just found out he and his wife were expecting baby number two, his wife worked from home but he always believed in having a safety net.

[Lunch break]

You sat down by Roy and Trevor, he was from accounting and pretended to be a bachelor when he actually dating a very nice young person, they preferred not to be labeled with a gender.

“Hey Bo, heard the boss yelling at ya; what was it about this time?” Asked Trevor opening his lunchbox.

“The account he assigned to the new girl was lost and he’s blaming me despite I had no part in its loss. He just wants to get on the girls good side so he can try an sleep with her…” you mumbled as you pulled out your own lunch.

You weren’t skinny, you were round with curves and a belly. This lead to many comments from your boss but you brushed them off, especially when you got home cooked lunches from your boyfriend. Today’s lunch was as beautiful as before, he got into making those character bento lunchboxes he saw on tiktok. Today’s lunch was fried chicken meatballs with rolled up omelet and little rice balls. The meatballs were decorated to look like hedgehogs, the little rice balls made to look like penguins and the omelets were speckled with green and filled with cheese.

“Lee went all out on that didn’t he?” Retorted Roy with a chuckle, his lunch was a grilled panini he ordered from the shop next door.

“He loves to cook and I love eating his cooking.” You smiled as you chowed down into his creation.

There was a small avocado salad on the side with diced raw onions and a small squirt of hotshots on it. It was a interesting combination but it actually worked out well.

You were about to dig into this salad when your boss walked in, so begins his usual walk around the tables giving comments on everyone’s choice of lunches. Mocking men who didn’t have properly made lunches by their wives or joked about being bachelors. You finished the penguin rice balls when he came your table.

“An what has this group prepared hm?” He leaned over Roy and his sandwich. “Wife not making you lunch anymore, what you two get into a fight again?”

Ugh; you hated how he smirked every time he put someone down, he looked over at Trevor. His lunch was simple homemade steak and cheese wrap his partner made.

“Huh, thats surprising; most single guys don’t know how to cook, where’d you buy that?” Trevor was about to answer but the ass turned to you and eyed your lunch. “Well what does the pig have today? Something that looks decent, bet it tastes like shit though?”

He reached for your food, Roy was the one who pulled it away from him. “Sir, need I remind you that the last time you took someone’s food the CEO of the company came down here to scold you?”

Your boss glared at him but backed off, yes he literally took someone’s food from them and was reported. He managed to play it off as a misunderstanding but it didn’t stop the CEO from chewing him out.

“Fine, let the pig eat her slop.” With that your boss left.

“Thanks Roy…” you sighed, this was going to be a long day…

[A few hours later]

Finally it was time to leave, three’o clock, you got all your things and bolted for the elevator. You made it in time too, you knew your boss came looking for stragglers to do extra work. The doors closed just as he walked into look for anyone; preferably you. But you escaped, you learned when and how to avoid him near the end of the day.

Now piled into your car you, Trevor and Roy all heading back to the same apartment building you shared. Trevor lived on the fourth floor of the apartments while you and Roy were on the second floor, he lived in the apartment across the hallway from you and your boyfriend. You said goodbye to them and walked into your apartment, the money you made was good despite your boss.

You composed yourself before hand and as you were closing the door…you saw your shadow growing, it grew larger, bulkier and once it reached a hight of 9ft…three bio-green eyes appeared; feral and happy.

“Welcome home Angel.”

His large clawed hands picked you up and cradled you in those burly arms, the term ‘broad chest’ didn’t do your darling justice. He had hair but it was so molded to his body it almost looked like a helmet minus the part that hung off. He had what you called an inverted pixie bob, he nuzzled you and peppered your cheek with little kisses. He didn’t have a visible mouth, nose or ears but that only added to his charm.

“Hi Caine, I’m so happy to be home. Lunch was soooo good, I loved those little penguins you made.”

You watched those eyes of his turn into stars as he hugged tightly, you hugged him back….oh you needed this. You needed ‘him’ right now more then anything, just him and his big arms hugging you.

“I’m making pizza tonight, I figured it’d be cheaper then buying it.” He whistled.

“Ooh that sounds good.” You whined happily.

You only had your eyes closed for a moment before you found yourself in your bedroom. He sat you on the bed and proceeded to remove your shoes, what on earth did you do to get a guy this awesome?

“Oh, so you know; Brandy called me and told me about your company throwing a family picnic!”

Right…the picnic, another excuse for that ass of a boss to mock everyone’s lifestyle and show up his wealth. You smiled at him, he loved picnics and meeting all the people you worked with. No way were you gonna say no, but that didn’t mean you weren’t gonna try and stay as far away from your boss as possible.

“Its gonna be a potluck kind of picnic so lets make something yummy together hm?” You smiled as you stood back up and changed into your comfy clothes.

He squealed with glee and whisked you back up into his arms, dinner was delicious and so was dessert. Just simple store bot gelato but still good, the two of you sitting on the couch bing watching documentaries and internet cat videos.

[two weeks later]

The weather was perfect, there was a nice light breeze and there were clouds, lots of them. White, fluffy clouds that casted shadows to shield you from the sun from time to time. Not that it was terribly hot, warm but not hot. You and Cain parked the car under a tree and got out, the company picnic was being held at the local park near the river. It was a very nice place, already you saw many of your co-workers here.

Cain had already delved into your shadow, not out of fear but it was easier to move around crowds. You already saw a few other co-workers who brought their spouses. Mark from HR was one of the few you knew who was dating someone who wasn’t human, his girlfriend was the same height as Cain but unlike Cain she was more mammalian. She was what many called a ‘wendigo’ but she had more of a wolf appearance mostly due to her skull face; her name you recalled is Sophie.

You and Mark had that in common, the two of you love large, adorable creatures that could crush you in their embraces. You watched Mark talk as Sophie filled a plate with ribs and handed them to some other co-workers. You walked over, greeted her and sat down two large bowls. One had your famous fruit salad while the other had Cain’s spicy garlic Parmesan chicken wings.

Cain was about to come out to say hello when everyone was silenced by the tapping on a microphone.

“Everyone, thank you all for coming! I’m so thrilled to see everyone’s bright faces here!”

You gritted your teeth…it was your boss, here it comes. He did this whenever possible, bringing people up and passively insulting them for whatever reason an pass it off as a joke. Well today he was bringing couples up and joking, he already had Roy up there and joked about his family. It was clear Roy wanted to punch the guy’s lights out an you didn’t blame him.

“Thanks Roy for being a great sport, up next…why our own Ms. Bo!”

Well crud..it was your turn, you felt Cain gripping your shoulder but you had no choice. You patted the invisible hand and walked up onto the stage, you saw how he leered at you.

“Well everyone, here she is Miss Bo. Where’s your boyfriend, oh I’m sorry dear I guess the rumors are true men don’t like chubby little bitches like you.”

Uh oh…now he didn’t, you watched your shadow shift and move, steadily growing behind your boss as he continued.

“Any single men out here wanna plow this porker? No? Well thats to be expected, lots of smart men know to stay away-“ the mic was yanked out of his hand, he spun around…only to be face to face with three murder colored eyes.

You reached an took the mic. “Sir, I’d like to introduce you to Cain, my beloved boyfriend of four very happy years. We met in middle school, started dating in collage. Thats all you need to know….Cain put him down please.”

You didn’t need to look, Cain had your boss by the scruff of his shirt, dangling him over the edge of the stage….he relented and sat him down; he turned and took the mic from you.

“An for the record; you call my girl anything other then her name…well..” he exposed his rarely seen mouth, inside were rows of razors ready to tear him apart.

“The last thing you’ll be seeing are these.”

You refrained from saying anything..especially about your bosses soiled trousers.

[later, after the picnic]

Back in your apartment, cuddled on the couch; sitting in his lap with a box of macarons and other sweet treats. You look up at Cain who still seemed a little mad from what he heard.

“Honey its ok, the boss got fired for what he said and we’re getting a new one, its all thanks to you.” You give him a kiss, that seemed to melt the grump off.

“Yeah, though I’m still upset that you went through all those nasty things…”

Oh no the puppy eyes…the sad ‘mama I need love’ puppy eyes. He always got his way when something happened. Last time he did this was when you had you wisdom teeth taken out and you were in pain.

“I know but you know what?”

Cain looks down at you.

“What?”

“You made it worth it, every day I’d come home to the best thing nature ever created.”

You saw stars dance in his sweet eyes as he hugged you tightly, for the rest of the night was filled again with cat videos and documentaries until the two of you slowly drifted off to sleep, you safely tucked into his loving embrace.

End.

[so you know all of this was inspired by the drawings of @semisolidmind and her monster boyfriend series oooh their sooo cute! Semi I hope you like this you inspired this!]

[objectivistnerd]

Not sure where to begin responding to this screed, beyond saying: I'm neither a vegan nor a vegetarian. I eat meat. I had chicken parmesan for dinner last night. You are making a lot of assumptions about me and my beliefs that are not accurate. At the risk of doing the same, your comments seem to reflect some sort of personal beef with vegans, because your tone and statements are wildly out of proportion to the rest of this thread.

I could leave it there, but I can't help but dig into these things. Let's get to the real meat of the issue:

The "ideology" in question, if there is one, is simply utilitarianism. If the pain of animals carries non-negligible moral weight, then factory farming is very bad. Killing animals to eat this may also be very bad, depending on how you weigh life versus suffering versus non-consensual non-existence. What dietary changes a utilitarian makes (or doesn't make) depends heavily on one's answers to these and other assumptions. Personally, I only modestly reduced my meat consumption by purchasing products like Impossible beef and Impossible chicken.

The whole point of the discussion is that people still want to eat meat. High quality substitutes make this a much easier sell than asking people to change their behaviors for an out-of-sight moral concern.

I feel confident saying these substitutes are high quality because, again, I'm still eating meat. Impossible chicken really tastes like chicken. People don't hate them, including non-vegans such as myself. These products are not all the way there, but they're surprisingly close. Given another decade or two of development, I can easily see them reaching parity on both price and quality.

If we can culture actual animal tissue in a vat, then it's not even a plant-based substitute. It's just meat, the literal protein humans evolved to eat. You simply didn't have to kill an animal to get it.

It does not seem absurd to imagine a future where it is cheaper to grow only the steak instead of the rest of the cow. Plant-based substitutes and lab-grown meats are expensive now, but there's clearly a market and that may well be enough to fund the research to make them taste competitive, as well as scaling up production to make them cost competitive.

Thus, in the future, people may buy lab-grown meats or plant-based substitutes not out of any moral concern, but because it's cheaper and tastes just as good. This is a technological solution to a moral question, and those tend to be the most successful. Personally, I don't think it's a coincidence that slavery abolition went mainstream and actually succeeded right after the Industrial Revolution happened. My expectation is for something similar to happen with veganism, and that appears to be OP's idea as well.

I'm hungry now so I'm going to go make something to eat. It will probably have meat and/or cheese but who knows, I haven't actually decided yet. It's not something I tend to get all worked up about.

I believe that we'll eventually solve the meat eating/veganism issue not by cultured meat, which requires highly controlled production environment, but by geneengineering plants that have flesh that is 85-90% like meat in terms of taste, texture and protein content. This is the most plausible scenario because it will be Good Enough for the overwhelming majority of people while annoying the 5-10% of the most insufferable people on either side, therefore it's funny, therefore it will happen.

[shadowfae]

Might as well keep the food questions going lol.

Favorite restaurant how bout that?

Personally i think i'd have to say any sushi shop. I just really like fish and rice.

I like sushi, but only sometimes! I don’t think I really have a favourite restaurant, it just moves around about what I want.

Currently it’s a nearby pub, because I can eat four yorkies in five minutes and then eat more for three days straight.

I like Denny’s a lot, and there’s a nearby Irish restaurant that I go to sometimes. Arby’s is a restaurant that I’m fortunate to have again, but let’s be real, I would kill several people if it got me some Harvey’s. (There is no longer a Harvey’s in the country. They used to be everywhere. :( )

There’s also a local sub place that I really like, I get their chicken souvlaki, their parmesan chicken, or occasionally their meatball sub.

But although I don’t want it very often, how about my Godawful Subway Order: flatbread toasted with chicken breast strips, chicken souvlaki, extra cheese, black olives, pickles, house sauce, garlic aioli, and ranch. It’s disgusting to everyone but me and Faolan, who has the same terrible taste in Subway that I do.

But they also mentioned my Godawful Starbucks Order, and while I’m a Timmy’s guy any day, here’s that: venti steamed milk two scoops vanilla bean steamed in two shots caramel two shots toffee nut with whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top. It was originally a mod on a butterbeer recipe, but now has been dubbed the diabetes drink. (There is also a cold version, involving a no expresso no coffee frappuccino.) Faolan says it’s the worst thing they’ve ever tasted. It holds up the line every time because it takes so long to make. I, the King of Skittles, only find it nice and sweet. :p

A special shoutout goes not to Olive Garden (my mother makes a better gnocchi soup than they could manage), but to the Spaghetti Factory, which has Triangles and damn good pasta.

A different special shoutout goes to Faolan’s college’s local bagel place, which forever holds a place in my heart as the place where Faolan forced me to eat hot sauce and I almost died.

[hernty45]

Grana Padano

Italy is famous for many thing's, pasta, architecture, coffee, pizza and pasta just to name a few. But could you imagine a world without Italian cheese, No Parmesan on your pasta or mozzarella on your pizza.

 One thing about Italian food is the regional variances. Pizza and pasta types vary from region to region as do such things as breads. Within these regional variances certain areas of Italy do things better than others, whether it be because of the terrain or the climate different products are associated with different areas, such as Parma ham from Parma, pizza from Napoli, meat dishes from Turin and fish dishes from Sardinia.

 Lombardi, the region which includes Milan is renowned throughout Italy for its cheese and sausage. These Italian cheeses are deliciously tasty and make a great accompaniment to any meal.

 Small and medium-sized producers of specialist Italian cheeses in the Alpine regions face a difficult struggle to maintain their existence in competition with the varied palette of factory-made dairy products. Unfortunately, European Union regulations often only serve to hasten their demise, by making often contradictory demands, imposing quotas and limits, or fining them for not fulfilling certain norms, despite the fact that theirs are high quality, often imaginative, products. Italian cheese making is going through a difficult time.

 Stracchino is one of these threatened products. It is a rectangular Italian cheese made from whole milk. It is a rich cheese, pearly white in colour, with a soft, creamy texture and remarkable, delicate flavour.

 Stracchino is sometimes known outside of Lombardi as Crescenza. The name Stracchino cheese comes from the way the milk to make it was originally obtained: it was the milk of vacche stracche, cows exhausted by the journey back down the mountain from the summer meadows. Stracco is local dialect for exhausted - and stracchino is little exhausted one.

 Taleggio is a square Italian cheese weighing about four pounds (2 kilograms), it is a typical Lombard country soft Italian cheese. The rind is brownish and tends to form a mold. Directly beneath this rind, the cheese is soft and soft textured, but in the centre, it is whitish and crumbly. The first mention of Taleggio Italian cheese dates from around 1200, and the method of production has changed little since then, apart from the use of selected enzymes to ensure the quality of the end product. The cheese is still only made from cow's milk. The curd takes 18 hours to form, and the cheese must mature for at least one month before being ready to eat. Taleggio is mild with a slight sourness, becoming quite piquant as it ages. It should not he kept for long periods because it spoils easily. A slice of Taleggio rounds off a meal. It also goes well with hot polenta, and tastes delicious eaten with ripe pears. Taleggio is a favourite Italian cheese.

 Gorgonzola is a very old Italian cheese specialty, and originates from the town of Gorgonzola in Lombardy. First written records of it are from the 11th and 12th centuries. A blue-veined Italian cheese, it is produced today across a wide area of Piedmont and Lombardy, and is popular both in Italy and abroad. Almost every supermarket in the western world will stock and sell Gorgonzola.

 The region produces around three million Gorgonzola cheeses per year, which are exported to the rest of Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, UK and Canada packed as portions in colourfully printed foil wrappers, which must bear the brand figure of the consortium to be genuine. It has a strong, piquant flavour - with a hint of bitterness, and is a true all-round Italian cheese. Gorgonzola makes a good partner to eat with polenta, tastes good - with egg and with nuts, and can be used for creams and sauces. It is delicious with a robust red wine. It also makes a great sauce to go with steak. Gorgonzola is an extremely versatile Italian cheese hence its popularity.

 Provolone Valpadana is a hard Italian cheese with its characteristic shape - round, pear-shaped, or sometimes cylindrical - originally comes from Basilicata in the south, but is also made in northern Italy today, especially in Lombardy. Because of its shape it is also known as pear cheese. Provolone is sold in various sizes, and is made by a similar pasta filata process to mozzarella.The curd is scalded - it is heated until it begins to melt and become stringy (filata), and then wrapped around itself until it assumes its round shape. It is dipped in brine and hung up on a cord to ripen, which takes about a year. The rind is coated in wax to protect it from drying out. Provolone comes in various flavor categories from provolone dolce, which is mild and buttery, to piquant (provolone piccante). The mild version makes a good end to a meal, and the piquant one is often used grated. A smoked version is available in Lombardy. Provolone is a wonderful Italian cheese to accompany a sandwich, its delicate flavor adds to a sandwich without over powering it.

 Probably the most universally famous Italian cheese is Parmesan, avariation on this is Grana Padano which is often compared to Parmigiano Reggiano, despite the differences between them in the method of production and region of origin. Parmigiano reggiano comes exclusively from Emilia-Romagna, and grana padano from the Veneto,Trentino, Piedmont, or Lombardy. Parmigiano Reggiano may by law only be made from the milk of cows that have been fed on grass or hay, whereas other types of fodder are permissible for grana padano.

 This does not mean that it is in anyway inferior. Its manufacture is supervised by a consortium, and only cheeses bearing the official brand mark grana padano are the genuine article. The milk from which it is made comes from two consecutive milkings, and is allowed to stand and partially skimmed to produce an Italian cheese with just 30 percent fat in dry matter. The milk is then heated and micro-organisms added. The cheeses are matured for 1-2 years. Grana padano has a granular texture, and can become dry and crumbly. It forms a thick, smooth rind. The cheese has a harmonious flavour, not too salty and not too mild, with a slight piquancy and a nutty quality. It can be eaten as an appetizer, or used for grating over pasta dishes or green salads.

 So next time you want to eat the real Italian way use real Italian cheese, it will make a difference.

 If you've never tried fresh Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano give it a go, its one Italian cheese that pasta cannot do without.

 I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

[parentingtheoryandpractice]

Assorted Parenting Updates from a while back

I found this post in my drafts folder and I figured it was worth posting, even though it’s now more than six months out of date.

It's been a while since I wrote any updates about my kids, so I figured I'd try to record some stuff for posterity. The one caveat is that everything is great and I wouldn’t tell you if it wasn’t.

A while back, when I felt like I was staring down a lot of years of parenting, I started asking my friends when things got easier. I mostly got two answers: when your youngest turns 3, and when your youngest turns 5. So now, when I have a 5.5yo and an almost 3yo seems like a particularly appropriate time to reflect. 

It really is sort of shocking to me how mature Lydia is. I don’t mean that I think she’s especially mature for her age–more that 5 seems like a shockingly mature age compared to what came before. From the time she was a baby, we did a ton of talking about stuff and explaining stuff, and all that. But at this age she really gets it. Explaining things works. If she doesn’t want to do something, she’s often happy to tell me why, and she’s decent at introspecting, especially if we talk her through it. She seems to accept that there are some things that I will make her do (though I try to keep that to a minimum), and she’ll ask whether I’m forcing her to do something or not. And often she’ll be up for doing it even if I’m not forcing her, even if she doesn’t want to do it, just because I really want her to do it. She recently informed me that she can open all of our child locks, and I was basically just happy about that development. 

By my standards, she’s pretty polite :-).

She’s pretty motivated to observe family rules, and she’s also very much tracking that other families have different rules, particularly around toys and sharing. (In our house, lots of the toys belong to one kid or the other, and a minority of the toys are communal.)

She also sometimes tells me when she thinks I haven’t been being fair to her or paying enough attention to her, which always feels comforting. Though I suppose I never know for sure what she isn’t telling me. 

It’s definitely a bad bet to assume she isn’t paying attention to stuff that people around her are saying.

Her favorite food is pasta with parmesan cheese.

She loves LOL dolls.

She’s been super into singing, and wants me to help her get all the notes perfect. Her favorite songs are Rose Red, Hey Ho Nobody’s Home, and Ah Poor Bird. Other favorites include Once Upon a December, A Million Dreams, and Let it Go.

She builds a lot with Legos and Duplos, and lately she seems to have more of a plan. Like she’ll specifically round up a bunch of a type of piece she knows she’s going to need.

Socializing is clearly important to her, but she seems to get burned out by it too sometimes. And lately she can actually meaningfully spend a lot of time doing pretend play with Zeke, so there’s that too. She has a lot of strategies for getting him to do what she wants when they play. Playing with our nanny is also one of her top things to do.

She started getting carsick lately :-(, whereas she really didn’t before, which is too bad. A lot of the time it doesn’t happen though, and she is fairly self-aware about her triggers.

She has stuff she likes playing on the iPad, and some Wii and PS4 games she likes, but hasn’t ever really gotten into video games or computer games. She loves playing The Sims on my computer with me, perhaps partly because it’s a bit of scarce activity.

For years now she’s had a pretty steady interest in arithmetic. It’s pretty common for her to spontaneously ask about addition, subtraction, and sometimes a little multiplication. We talk about infinity sometimes.

She’ll ask to practice reading with me and Will, but my sense is that her motivation there is largely about connecting with us. I don’t think it feels real to her that she could actually learn to read.

She loves our dogs, and wants more animals. She periodically mentions wanting a smaller dog and a cat.

She’s definitely still a night owl. Our nanny starts at 9 a few mornings a week, and she’s asked me to wake her up for that, since she doesn’t want to miss out. Otherwise, she’ll wake up anywhere from around 8:30-10:30, and she often goes to sleep around 11:30, though sometimes it’s much earlier if she had a jam-packed day, or if she slept less than usual the night before. 

I can definitely imagine what would feel easier about having my youngest child be 5. 

Zeke isn’t quite as into trucks and construction as he used to be, but he likes it a lot. He largely likes watching videos about construction, making slime, playing with kinetic sand, making food, factories, and that sort of thing. Overall, I find his taste in videos pretty soothing. 

He like digging outside.

He has some interest in just about everything Lydia is interested in, and he really likes it when he gets to play with her and her friends.

He likes to play with words a lot, and repeat rhyming and similar sounding words for fun. 

For a long time now, he’s been very good at getting his point across to people, though he’s still definitely at the age where strangers sometimes can’t fully follow his toddler accent. 

He’s gotten pretty good at doing pretend play on his own, in addition to liking it with other people, and sometimes Lydia and I get kick out of listening to him babble to himself when he’s playing in the upstairs area by himself. 

When playing with Lydia, he’s fairly inclined to grab her things, and still sometimes knocks over her creations or gets in her space. It seems normal to me for an almost 3yo, though of course we do our best to stop him. it also seems more deliberate than it used to, in an almost-3-yo-way instead of in a 2-yo way. 

He likes playing with the dogs sometimes, but sometimes doesn’t want them around, and sometimes pokes them sits on them. Again, I do my best to stop him, but the dogs are also fairly skilled at taking care of themselves without hurting the kids, which makes my life easier. He throws balls for Krypto a lot.

Similarly, he’s quite cuddly with me, but there’s often kicking, climbing, and stuff like that mixed in. 

He still gets carsick, though I think less than he used to. This month he’s pretty willing to get in cars to go places he wants, but there have been long stretches of time where he wanted nothing to do with cars.

I basically don’t have to remind him to go to the bathroom anymore, and I believe him if he says he doesn’t have to go. The very high degree of reliability without any reminders is fairly recent though. And I do make a point of getting him to pee before bed, since otherwise he’ll sometimes have an accident at night. Mostly he’s been dry at night for years. 

He’s still nursing, but he’s pretty accepting when I turn him down, and we don’t do it all that many times a day at this point.

I don’t wear him that much anymore, though sometimes I think it would be better if I did, since I think puts him in a good state. As with Lydia, our wearing wound down a lot around 2, with wearing him while out and about being the last one thing to fade away. He’s around 31 pounds, and I’m out of the habit, so it doesn’t feel easy to have him up for long, even though I am an experienced enough wrapper that it’s pretty ergonomic.

Everyone is still sleeping in the family bed, which is a queen plus twin xl. We have no plans to change that system, since it’s working well for us.

Zeke is also basically a night owl, just a little less so than everyone else in the family. He usually gets up between 8 and 9. I try not to let him nap, but even if he has a maximally late-night-inducing nap (like sleeping from 7-8pm) he’s typically not up later than 1am. Which may seem late, but with Lydia thing could get considerably later when she took a late nap at this age. He’s always had a comparatively robust circadian rhythm, for which we are grateful.

I get what’s easier about having a youngest kid that’s almost 3. He’s not in a particularly cooperative stage, but it’s not intensely physical and hands-on all the time the way it used to be. And when I reflect on how much I do trust him, it’s actually a lot. We were camping for a wedding the other week and I asked him to leave an axe alone. Someone there made a point of showing him the axe and how it wasn’t actually that sharp, which I appreciated, and also expressed skepticism that he would really leave it alone because I told him to. But I didn’t have any real doubt that he would leave it alone. Almost always, when he goes into the kitchen, he closes the baby gate after him both on the way in and on the way out. (The baby gates are so the dogs don’t eat food I sometimes leave on the counter. He’s been able to open and close them for a long time.) I basically trust him to run in front of me on the sidewalk, because he’s been reliable for a long time about not going into the street. 

The dogs are doing well. I still spend kind of a lot of time training them, more some days than others. They spend more time outside in the yard than I’d ideally want, mostly to reduce total chaos, but they don’t seem to mind. And I feel better about that situation now that they have each other. Krypto is obviously temperamentally less anxious, but Argos is also obviously better trained. I still don’t have as high a degree of reliability with them around distractions as I would like, but I think we’ll get there eventually.

On my end, maybe the biggest change is that the more years I’ve been doing this, the less I question my overall approach. And when I read articles or books about parenting, I tend to be much more skeptical of what people are trying to sell me. That part feels good! I still think there’s plenty of room for me to get better at things, and I try to, but I also think I’ve come up against a lot of actual constraints, and there isn’t all that much low-hanging fruit anymore.

[onluana]

Wallace

How the Yorkshire Dales are reviving cheesemaking traditions

Cheesemaking has been part of the rural and cultural landscape in the Yorkshire Dales for centuries, with recipes passed down over the years from medieval monks to dairy farmers. Today, traditional skills that were once thought lost are being revived thanks to passionate small businesses who want to spread the flavour of Yorkshire’s bucolic hills and hay meadows.

A selection of tempting cheeses at the Courtyard Dairy © Lorna Parkes / Lonely Planet

‘Gromit, that’s it! Cheese! We’ll go somewhere where there’s cheese!’

When Britain’s Aardman Animations created an unlikely national treasure with a strong Northern accent and an ardent passion for Wensleydale cheese, it brought new-found fame to one of Yorkshire’s oldest foods. Yet, ironically, as Wallace & Gromit’s international star ascended, the Wensleydale Creamery was fighting for its survival. In April 1992, a year after Wallace & Gromit’s first Academy Award nomination, the last creamery in Wensleydale producing Wensleydale cheese shut down and production was slated to be moved to a newer facility in…Lancashire (Yorkshire's arch rival). Local protests ensued in the pint-sized Dales village of Hawes, where the creamery had existed in one form or another since 1897, and within six months, it was back up and running thanks to a buyout by a team of ex-managers and local businessmen. It became a true community enterprise and today is one of the Yorkshire Dales’ most popular attractions, with 300,000 visitors in 2018. There’s a museum (complete with Wallace & Gromit displays, of course), a cafe serving Wensleydale-based dishes, cheesemaking demonstrations, and a shop with truckle-loads of tasters.

Adding salt to the cheese at the Wensleydale Creamery © Wensleydale Creamery

‘When I used to come when I was younger, it would be one room where you’d see into the factory and you’d taste the cheese,’ says Saffron, a 23-year-old cheesemaking demonstrator at the creamery. Originally from Essex, she has been coming to the Dales all her life on family holidays and moved here permanently a year ago.

Over that time she has noticed a growing interest in cheesemaking among visitors. ‘It’s amazing how many more people are getting involved with cheesemaking at home. I have so many people come in and ask me about the intricacies. A lot of them are young people,’ she says.

Return to the farm house

Indeed, small-scale cheesemaking is having a resurgence in this area. Artisan shops are proliferating and the Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival will celebrate its third year on 14-15 September 2019. Its base is the Wensleydale Creamery, with satellite events across the national park such as open farms, tasting competitions and a guided whey walk.

Near Settle, on the southwestern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, theCourtyard Dairy is a cheesemonger and cafe in a cluster of old stone buildings, running cheesemaking courses and housing a small on-site museum about the history of caseiculture (as it’s formally known) in Yorkshire. Its raison d’etre is to support individual farms that still make raw-milk cheese on their own properties.

Learn about caseiculture (that's cheesemaking to you and me) at the Courtyard Dairy © Lorna Parkes / Lonely Planet

‘100 years ago there was probably about 200 farms making Wensleydale cheese, and the good thing is that every one would have been different,’ says co-owner Andy Swinscoe, who has witnessed – and helped encourage – the return of British farmhouse cheesemaking, which all but died out after the Second World War. ‘On my counter I do 30 raw-milk traditional cheeses, and 27 of them have only been going since 2005.’

What the monks did for Yorkshire

New creations aside, cheesemaking in Yorkshire goes back centuries. The skills were thought to have been spread across Europe by the Romans, but it was the French who carried the original Wensleydale recipe into the Dales. Specifically, it was Cistercian monks who settled near Aysgarth and then founded Jervaulx Abbey in 1156 AD.

‘The monks brought over a number of different things from France, one being the white horses. Another being this recipe, which is what started as Wensleydale cheese,’ says Anna Burdon, whose family runs Jervaulx Abbey today. ‘The Wensleydale cheese you know now is the white crumbly cheese, but originally it wasn’t like that, it was more of a blue cheese,’ she explains.

Jervaulx Abbey is now a beautiful ruin but it was once a hive of cheesemaking activity © Lorna Parkes / Lonely Planet

Today, Jervaulx Abbey is a lovely, rambling ruin with a tea room, surrounded by meadows that the monks’ sheep would have once fed on. Originally, Wensleydale would have been made with ewes’ milk instead of cows’ milk. The sheep would have also provided wool, and both these products would have been sold at local markets to finance the monastery – along with other staples that have become synonymous with Yorkshire, like beer.

Evolution of Wensleydale

When the monasteries were dissolved under Henry VIII, cheesemaking was passed on to Yorkshire farmers’ wives. There, the know-how remained, etched into the daily routines of barnyard milking, for hundreds of years. Right up to the 1930s, after the Industrial Revolution broke many of Britain’s cottage industries, Wensleydale was predominantly a farmhouse cheese. Back then it was a moist, soft creation with blue veinings that could almost be spread like butter.

This September the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes will launch an exhibition titled Dairy Days, exploring just how deep Yorkshire’s farming and cheesemaking roots go. It was World War II that sounded the death knell for farmhouse cheese production in the Dales. Cheese rationing was introduced and lasted until 1954. During this period only certain types of cheese were legally allowed to be made: Cheddar, Cheshire, Dunlop (a Scottish version of Cheddar), Leicester and Wensleydale. Efficiency was paramount, and these cheeses could only be made to a specific government recipe that fundamentally changed the flavour and texture of the cheese.

The lush Wensleydale countryside has changed little over the years, even as cheesemaking has had to adapt © Photos by R A Kearton / Getty Images

‘We lost a lot during the Second World War,’ says Andy. ‘The producers that were still making it at farmhouse level couldn’t make Wensleydale how they’d been making it all their lives. They had to make it to this government method, which was fast and produced an acidic, sharp flavour. Which is why between Wensleydale, Cheshire, crumbly Lancashire, when you taste them, there’s very little difference these days.’

The new cheese vanguard

Within the cool confines of Andy’s limestone-walled barn deli, there is anything but homogeny between the truckles of Fellstone, Yorkshire parmesan, Moorland Monster, Hafod Cheddar and Kirkham’s Lancashire. They are members of a growing tribe of British farmhouse cheeses that are uniquely of the place where they are produced.

For Andy, the beauty of British farmhouse cheeses is found in the nuances that come with terroir and technique. ‘If you look at Wensleydale in the early 1900s, farmers were following a broadly regional recipe but each one tweaked it. Then they had slightly different equipment, slightly different cows, and slightly different pasture,’ he explains. ‘The Yorkshire Dales' hay meadows are protected. Per square metre, there’s something like 30 different species of grass and herbs and things like that – and that is your flavour.’

The local cheesemaking community is as diverse as the grass and herbs, but one thing the producers have in common is that they’re all tiny operations. Gillian, a radiography lecturer at Bradford University, makes goat’s cheese with eight pedigree Anglo-Nubian goats near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. Italian Mario produces Yorkshire pecorino, parmesan and blue in a Leeds suburb. Tom and Clare of Whin Yeats Farm make a Wensleydale-style cheese called Fellstone that’s aged for three months until it is nutty, complex and mellow – try it paired with rich fruit cake (a delicious Yorkshire tradition) in the Courtyard Dairy’s cafe. And Sam, currently working behind the deli counter in the Courtyard Dairy, is about to start making his own cheese by borrowing a handful of sheep from a farm down the road and equipment lent by Andy.

Andy’s support of local producers is partly down to a battered hand-written book housed in a glass case in the Courtyard Dairy’s small museum. ‘My great grandmother found her mother’s notes on how to make double Gloucester, and these are them. We thought, if my great grandmother has kept that by chance, there’s other people who will have stuff like that that’s been passed down through their family.’

The discovery of some family cheesemaking tips helped Andy at Courtyard Dairy indulge his passion for cheese © Lorna Parkes / Lonely Planet

This discovery sparked Andy and his wife Kathy’s drive to unearth and share traditional recipes and methods of cheesemaking. They are now working with a farm in Nidderdale to try to recreate how the local cheese would have been made in the early 1900s, using notes they have found in farmers’ attics and barns. And they are spreading the knowledge they’ve accumulated with anybody who takes an interest.

‘It’s about trying to improve what we’ve got here in the Dales and recreate what we once had, so that when people come to the Dales they have a taste of what would have traditionally been made here,’ says Andy. The monks of Jervaulx might not recognise Wallace’s Wensleydale or even Fellstone, but they’d undoubtedly appreciate the cheesemaking legacy they helped establish.

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