I'll have my own Cheese Festival

Say "cheese" and I'm hungry for a block of some delicious Vermont-made creation. So when Jane Lindholm hosted a Vermont Edition program last week devoted entirely to Vermont artisan cheeses, I was out of my head, ready to try many varieties. I figured I'd buy a ticket to the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival at Shelburne Farm on Sunday. And then my world crumbled like a wonderful old blue cheese - the event was sold out! Curses!

So I developed Plan B. Saturday morning, I bundled myself off to the Burlington Farmers Market in search of some locally crafted cheeses to have my own Vermont Fromage Fest. During the Vermont Edition cheese show, I jotted down the name of every cheese and cheese producer that callers and e-mailers mentioned as being a worthy purchase. One of those mentioned was Boucher Family Farm, which just happened to be at the market on Saturday. I snatched up their Gore-Dawn-Zola and Brother Laurent. I also picked up Willow Hill's Autumn Oak and a block of Vermont Ayr. I also had some Neighborly Farms Green Onion Cheddar at home in the fridge.

When I hunkered down to have my own cheese party, my disgust at not getting a ticket to the Cheesemakers Festival subsided with each delectable mouthful of the wonderful selections I made earlier in the day. And I counted my blessings for living in a state where I can easily find some of Planet Earth's finest cheeses each and every day.