Back from Wisconsin! (with a lesson about cheese!)

So... I got back from Wisconsin at the crack of yesterday after a lovely vacation and visit with the fam and drinking with my friends from high school. In addition to the sadness of leaving vacation and facing work again, I heaved a sad sigh as I climbed into the car to go to the airport because I HAD FORGOTTEN TO BUY CHEESE CURDS! I mean, how could I forget such a thing? Such a beautiful yummy thing as cheese curds? Such a reminder of home as you can really only get them in Wisconsin?!

But, my fear and sadness was for nought, as well, I hadn't completely forgotten that ALL AIRPORTS in Wisconsin have a cheese shop in them (seriously. I'm not kidding. The Appleton Airport doesn't even have a McDonald's, but they have a cheese shop!)

So here they are:



Now, some people DON'T KNOW what cheese curds are! Hmmmm. Ok, so when you make cheese, you have milk and some flavorings, and you add an enzyme and it makes the milk curdle. So you have CHEESE CURDS. And then you push all the curds together and drain off the excess fluid (called whey) until you have a big block or maybe a wheel and then you age it. CHEESE! (Incidentally, tofu is made almost the same way, but with soy milk and a different enzyme). And cottage cheese? Curds and whey.

So cheese curds are a really mild cheddar cheese (because they're fresh and haven't been aged at all) and because they're so fresh, they're a little salty and if they're REALLY fresh, they squek when you bite into them. Seriously. Love.

My dog also likes them, because they're dog-sized bites of cheese.

Then we got home and Dan's mom had sent us this!



A Shiner Bock nightlight. Sweet.

Also, I did some knitting! (of course!)

I cast on for Birch while sitting in the airport in Baltimore. And ALL THOSE stitch markers had everyone wondering what I was knitting, because there were LOTS AND LOTS of knitters catching that flight to the twin cities! It was great! And we had fun hanging out at the gate.



And people think I'm knitting jewels or something into my Birch, but nope, just lots and lots and lots of stitch markers.



It's shaping up, no? I think the main reason people think I'm using jewels is because I'm using those awesome stitch markers that my secret pal gave me (I'm also using the yarn she gave me!)