Madame Fromage Returns

June was a funny month. I didn’t blog. I didn’t tweet. Instead, I stole off to meet my muse along the Mississippi in order to finish a novel. The quiet setting was great -- plenty of turtles and river trails -- but I have to admit, I got lonely. I spent all day writing in a blue room and hardly ate any dairy, and that’s when I realized something: cheese is my muse, too.

When I meet a wonderful cheesemaker or peruse a beautiful dairy case, it makes me want to write. And that’s a brilliant discovery! I don’t know why I had to leave Philadelphia to figure that out, but I’m glad I did. When I stopped blogging in June, it was all I thought about. When I ate less cheese, wheels of Gruyere began floating through my dreams.

All this goes to say, I’m happy to be back. Back to the sunlit walls of my old kitchen. Back to my cupboards full of crackers. Back to my crisper crammed with cheese. Back to you. I have lots of stories to share in the coming weeks – from my visit to the Limburger cheese plant in Monroe, Wisconsin to my picnic at the underground “Pizza Farm.”

I also have some news.

Starting in August, I’ll be guest-blogging for Di Bruno Bros., one of my fave cheese shops here in Philly. I couldn’t be more excited. The Di Bruno folks have schooled me on everything from cheese mites to the beauty that is Montenebro, and they’ve been incredibly supportive of this blog. When they reached out to me in April, I was stunned. We ate some really ripe cheese together, and now it’s all love songs in the dark.

So here’s the deal: once a week, I’ll be posting on their store blog, Queso Files, and offering a link here. The appeal for me is that I’ll be able to give you, my dear readers, glimpses into the bat cave…insights into cheese-ripening, tales of artisan makers, and close-up shots of men with cheese tattoos.

As a former newspaper reporter, I love behind-the-scenes work, so I’m eager to get started. My first assignment? Interviews with Di Bruno’s top cheesemongers.