Cheddar Cheese

Remember that post that talked about going to the church picnic?  Well, I've spent the better part of my life as an Independent Baptist girl.  I know all about "dinner on the grounds" kind of events.  Our church even tried a pig roast one weekend....unfortunately, digging a pit and putting a foil-covered pig in it to cook overnight wasn't a forte of the men I went to church with..... anyway, back to the picnic and food.  I had never been to a FRENCH "after church picnic", so I had no idea what to expect.  David had been to a couple and indicated that the food didn't compare to what we were accustomed to.  He suggested that I make a chicken divan casserole.  He knew that at least the 4 of us could eat that if we didn't like the looks of the other possibilities.

Off to the grocery.  I shipped Campbell's Cream of Celery and Cream of Chicken soup from home.  The French do have a cream of chicken soup, but I haven't seen a celery version yet.  Now, when I say "off to the grocery", I don't mean jump in the car and drive up the street.  I mean get your little roller cart (yep, just like the little old ladies trail behind them) and head off on foot to the grocery.

I have a small convenient store only 1 block from our apartment....it would be like doing your grocery shopping at a BP station at home....not going to work.  My other two options are MonoPrix and Simply.  MonoPrix is a little closer, but it is on the lower level of a department store and always smells a little "off".  I chose Simply, which meant about a 3/4 mile walk.

Walking to the grocery as you pull your little cart can be interesting.  You have to dodge a lot of walkers, many of whom do not know the meaning of "give way".  I don't know about you, but if there are 3 of us walking down the sidewalk and a single person is headed toward us, the group of 3 will usually try to make room for the 1....not in France.  I have literally rammed shoulders with people because after so many times of "giving way", I have decided that THEY will give way.  This makes David laugh, but it's the principle of the darn thing!!

You also have to be on the look out for bike riders.  The sidewalks are split into "biking lanes" and pedestrian lanes.  The bikers don't always follow the rules.  Don't forget to watch for the trams, cars and motorcycles.  It can be a stressful walk.  Don't even get me started on walking there in the rain....

Anyway, I made it to Simply.  I needed several things, so I need a shopping cart.  OOPS.  Didn't bring any Euro coins and you have to have one to unlock the cart.  Off to the service desk to use my PreK level French to ask for change.  The girl has mercy on me and gives me a "token".  I feel like I'm playing Monopoly and just landed on the "get out of jail free" space.  WOO HOO

The cheese aisle in America is pretty standard.  You have your American, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, and maybe a few others.  In France the cheese aisle is like a separate STORE!!  I am completely overwhelmed by the enormity of it, so I just look for "yellow shredded cheese".  Voila!!  I found some. I load it into my cart and head for the check out.  The clerk asks me something in French....I have no idea what she is saying....finally decipher she is asking me if I have a "Simply" card....nope, just get me out of here please....I load my items into my little roller bag and head home.

Well, let me just say all yellow shredded cheese is not the same.  I had purchase something named "mimolette".  I just assumed that was "french" for cheddar....wrong!!  When did I find this out?  When I took my chicken divan out of the oven and noticed that the cheese hadn't "melted".  Apparently, mimolette doesn't melt.

Fortunately, no one at the picnic knew the difference.  Mine was the first dish to be cleaned out and I had people ask for the recipe.  By the way, David was right....past a few chips and a little fruit, the Sternasty kids and mom didn't eat much more than the Chicken Divan.  There wasn't the green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and other "church food" that we were used to.  Past a cut up "salami", there wasn't any REAL food at all, just a lot of cookies, chips, pretzels and a few types of cheese and crackers.  No wonder mine went so fast.

Back to the cheddar cheese.  Remember when we had the delicious BBQ and I took "Pug's potatoes"?  Guess what ingredient I need for those?  Yep, cheddar cheese.  I scoured the grocery for "cheddar" but came up empty.  Sarah was a trooper and went on a "cheddar cheese adventure" with me.  We didn't find cheddar, but found a cheese shop called La cloche à fromage.

Fortunately, between my broken french and the clerk's fairly good english we were able to establish that I needed a cheese that would melt when baked.  She didn't have any cheddar, but sold something called "laguoile".  I bought a hunk and went home to grate it.  I am happy to report it worked like a charm.  We even used it on our skyline coneys later that week.  (yep, I shipped skyline chili too)

It's funny the things that you take for granted and don't even consider might be an issue.  I'll have to share my "sour cream, half and half, and heavy cream" adventure with you in another post.

I will confess that while David and I were at Simply last week,  I wandered over into another section of the cheese "megamart" and was looking at all of the different imported cheeses...France makes a LOT of different cheeses and they import more from several other countries as well.  Well, guess what I found?  A small white hunk of cheese that read "CHEDDAR".  I am now officially in heaven.

Last Christmas, my nephew Max drew my name.  I don't remember what I put on my list, but Max had other ideas for me.  He gave me two books.  I hadn't started to read them yet, but they are now a priority.  (Just in case the picture doesn't work, the books are "Cheese Primer" and "The Pocket Idiots Guide to WINE")

I am off to Italy for the next 10 days so probably won't be blogging.  Wishing you a day filled with Blessings.