Family, Food, History, Uncategorized

Spoiled

34 Comments

I have been frustrated the past several months over the unavailability of Italian Parmesan cheese in our town. Wisconsin Parmesan is readily available, but the authentic stuff from Italy is nowhere to be found. (Isn’t that the most pathetic and self-absorbed sentence you have read lately?) I confess a sort of snobbery about cheese, but I blame it on living with someone from Wisconsin. Even he admits true Italian Parmesan is the best.

I got sort of impulsive a week ago and found this fancy-shmancy source for real Parmesan, and I ordered a 10 lb. slab. It arrived last week. I was surprised at just how much cheese this was. I warned our children and our daughter’s best friend that they would be receiving large chunks of Parmesan. It is truly wonderful, and nothing like the stuff from Wisconsin. I cut the slab into wedges, sealed them in our food sealer, and figured out the most expedient way to ship it. I have freezer packs and insulated wrappers for it, and will send it off on Friday.

I am an only child, and I always resented it when people said I must be spoiled. Well, I suppose that getting this cheese is pretty self-indulgent, but at least I am sharing it.

When have you been spoiled? How do you spoil yourself?  Who do you like to spoil?  What is your favorite cheese?

34 thoughts on “Spoiled”

  1. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    During the first half of my life, I never considered myself spoiled. We made all of our own clothing, grew our own food, did our own housework. My mother’s phrase was, “You don’t need that.” Whatever “that” was. She even grew the flowers for our weddings. She was so focused on saving money that she made Kool-aid without enough sugar to stretch it so it tasted like weak, colored water. When I tasted Kool-aid made to the instructions it was good.

    Now is another story though. In my last 30 years, I have lead a charmed life in which I have much of what I want, and more ( including really good cheese, Renee). I also understand that I have much of this because I was provided a good education and work skills by those that came before me. For all this, I am deeply grateful and consider myself lucky.

    So at this point in life, I am spoiled, yes. The dryer repair guy is here. Later.

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    1. It’s nice to know that my mother wasn’t the only one cutting corners. The first time I had Kool-Aid at someone else’s house I was amazed. My mother also used less sugar. And we did powdered milk until I was in first grade. Once I had “real milk” at school, I wouldn’t drink the powdered milk anymore. That being said I think I’m incredibly spoiled. Who could ask for a better life?

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    2. So, the dryer is running again. And guess what the problem was? It was unplugged! As part of our Reno project the electrical box was found wanting and needed to be re-wired up to code. We were grateful to know this, because it was a fire hazard. Apparently the electrician unplugged it, tied the cord into a neat knot that we could not get to, and forgot to plug it in again. Soo-ooo the CenterPoint Plus repair guy got to tell us that one.

      Pretty embarrassing.

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  2. Velveeta cheese makes the grilled cheese sandwich so I’ll go with that one as favorite.
    A few weeks ago I splurged on pickled herring.
    I spoil my budgie birds.
    First born kids are NEVER spoiled. Believe me.

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  3. I’m the youngest. I know I’m spoiled. Not with material things; I didn’t grow up that way, but I know I got away with stuff my siblings never would have. And I know I’m mom’s favorite. 🙂

    Like Jacque, I think we all got where we are with a bit of fortune, luck, people who guided us toward these positions, and a lot of hard work. It didn’t just happen for any of us.
    And you can never go wrong with some good cheese.

    For a while I was on a big kick of cheddar cheese and crackers. I like the firmness of extra sharp cheddar. But if I eat more than a couple pieces my forehead sweats. It’s weird. Mild cheddar and ham and cheese sandwiches are not a problem.
    Deep Fried cheese curds are my favorite cheese.

    Back in the ’80’s, there was a restaurant that served Mozzarella sticks that were the size of a small log. They were AWESOME! They’d kill me now, but man they were good.

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    1. Well then! I’m going to treat myself to a beer (it’s PM here) and sardines on Ritz crackers. Ex-wife hated the fishy smell. I swear I didn’t eat them out of spite.

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  4. Parmagiana-Reggiano cheese is hands down my favorite. Also love a good sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, and manchego.

    Spoiled, me? I’d rather not be. I’ve never felt “special” in my life, although I realized at a very early age that I was “different” in that weird sort of way that I suppose nerds and geeks and brainiacs see themselves.

    I suppose the closest I’ve come to feeling spoiled is the few times years ago when we dined at big-buck restaurants or stayed at hotels where the nightly room rate is closer to a monthly mortgage payment. We usually did those hotels on the company dime, so it wasn’t something we’re accustomed to experiencing. I always felt uncomfortable because you KNOW the staff are all sucking up to you just because they think you’re loaded and may give them a big tip or something, but they really resent you for being rich (which we weren’t).

    We spoil ourselves with good wine, good food (usually made at home), and the occasional bottle of Champagne.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  5. I’m not going to be able to choose a favorite cheese. Because it just depends. And this is going to show my spoilededness as well because I’ve had some amazing cheese in Italy, including Parmesan Reggiano. Fabulous. However squeaky fresh cheese curds also do it for me. And there’s a vendor at the Madison farmers market that does fried cheese. Wonderful. Pretty much any cheese is good for me…bring it on!

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  6. I remember a time when I couldn’t choose between two pairs of shoes, and my mother let me buy both of them! (There must have been a sale.) The fact that I remember being spoiled in that instance supports the fact that for the most part, as a child I was not.

    My indulgences are usually food related – there is one more back of Cadbury mini-eggs in the cupboard, and yesterday I snagged a Chicken Quesadilla at Taco Bell for no good reason.

    In some ways I feel “spoiled” beyond measure – I’m never hungry, I have a warm (or cool) house, and everything I need. I wish I could spoil all the little kids who don’t know when they will eat next.

    I understand about the cheese, Renee. I have lots of favorites, among them: Provolone, a good white cheddar, English cotswold … that said, I don’t have to have my favorites all the time – love the variety.

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  7. I love good cheeses, and “good” in the context of cheese means flavorful and bold, to me.

    One of my favorites is Gamle Ole, a semi-soft, Danish cow’s milk cheese that’s aged at least 40 weeks. It has a pungent aroma, most people would call it stinky, but the flavor is out of this world. Husband won’t come near it, let alone taste it, and that’s fine with me. I have not been able to find it for sale anywhere in the US during the last fifteen years. Prior to that there was a shop in Atlanta that sold it, though it cost an arm and a leg to ship it.

    Other favorites include the Swiss Gruyère and Emmental. Those are much milder, with a distinct flavor, and fortunately are readily available at local cheese shops. I also love the Italian Gorgonzola, a veined blue cheese. A soft French Brie is another delicacy that’s available in most cheese shops.

    I’d like to give a shout out to Lovetree Farmstead Cheeses. This small mm and pop operation is located in the Trade Lake area of Northern Wisconsin. They are expert cheese makers, and their sheep’s milk cheeses have won several prizes at regional and national cheese tastings. They are available at the St. Paul Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, and I believe they go to some market in Minneapolis on Sundays. If you like bold flavored cheese, give them a try.

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  10. BIR has already alluded to this in a personal way, but, at the risk of being platitudinous, in a global sense we are all spoiled. We use more than our share of resources and create more than our share of waste and pollution. Individually there isn’t much we can do to change that except to acknowledge it with humility and empathy for those less fortunate in the circumstances of their birth. With that in mind we can encourage and support change that will make the planet more equitable.

    There aren’t many cheeses I don’t like except those that have to call themselves “cheese food” (I’m looking at you and your ilk, Velveeta). As Sherrilee commented, different cheeses have different applications and different contexts, which is why we generally have seven or eight different kinds on hand at all times. We get a substantial quarter wheel of Manchego at Costco for snacking and usually have some brie on hand as well. I consider Wisconsin sharp cheddar a sort of utility cheese—one I use more as an ingredient than as a stand-alone cheese. I used to get a Basque cheese called Ossau-Iraty that I liked a lot but I haven’t seen it around lately. Trader Joe’s has a goat gouda that I like a lot.

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      3. Our “cheese wars” here are about price, so for Husband I buy the standard brands like Crystal Farms. Just looked in our cheese drawer, whcih has a couple of those generics (colby, mozzarella). For me I have a Kerrygold Reserve Cheddar, a DeMill Monterey Jack (some kind of European import), and a Wisconsin brand Stone Ridge 4-Year White Cheddar.

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    2. It is true, that culturally we are so accustomed to having so much and to wasting a great deal. In that regard we are all very spoiled. When the Texas cold snap occurred 6 weeks ago, I looked at some of those pictures and started to think about how used to reliable infrastructure we are. That does not lie up in the “spoiled” column, but it does line up in how much we take for granted: heat, plumbing, insulation, and hygiene.

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    1. I forgot to watch episode 1, but we caught epi2 last night and will watch 3 tonight, then catch up with epi 1 in a rerun.

      There is a blog post for discussion—favorite Burns/Novick documentaries.

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  13. I think that is considered a first world problem, when you can’t find Italian Parmesan and must settle or something from Wisconsin.

    I love a good sharp cheddar. The older the better. I also love a farmer cheese with caraway seeds, because cheese and caraway seeds are just made for each other. A smoked gouda is really good in a grilled cheese sandwich, too. Edam and brick are also favorites. I really just like cheese. Not so fond of bleu, although I won’t reject it outright. But to me, the less moldy ones are more to my liking.

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  15. Love most cheeses including cow, goat and sheep cheeses. French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Norwegian, bleu, yellow, white, brown….even my homemade goat cheese.
    I have gotten very good at spoiling myself…horses, goats, chickens…and very expensive olive oils.

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