I nearly missed the chance to snap a photo of these cheeses. I had just put them out at a dinner party I was having, and no sooner had I turned my back on them (whole, in perfectly uncut condition) than were they nearly devoured. In a matter of minutes. More

Love French onion soup more for the topping than for the soup itself? Look no further for some inspiration to French onion-ify your other favorite soups.

Think of this soup topper as a tasty lid that'll make any soup beneath even more delicious. With the addition of bread and cheese, any soup transforms into an instant meal, and the process is just about as easy as it gets. The options are endless for which soups make the best candidates, too. Read on for the how-to and for some of the best soup options for this over-the-top soup topper. More

It's happening this month only. And had I found out about it sooner, I'd have given better notice.

Here's the deal: At participating cheese shops in New York and Seattle, buy select American cheeses for 40% off retail price everyday.

By nature, good cheese is expensive. But this is seriously the best deal on cheese that I've heard about. Ever. And so even though you might be learning about it late (my fault, sorry), it's worth jumping on this bandwagon for the rest of October. More

Yesterday, I looked in the dairy section of my workplace's walk-in refrigerator, as I often do, for inspiration for this column. There sat a sad wedge of provolone, and I pulled it out, along with a small knife. Little by little, it began to disappear. (I use the passive voice here in order not to incriminate myself and my weakness for cheese — be it even the pathetic-looking leftovers.)

There's good, there's bad, and there's better when it comes to provolone cheese. And so, if you've never had the tasty versions — from large, aged, Italian wheels — you'd have no reason to understand why it can be so snackable.

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I feel like I say this a lot, especially when it comes to cheese: I've been meaning to talk about something for a long time. This time, it's about a certain cheesy pie crust, which can instantly enhance any savory hand pie, turnover, meat pie, galette, or rustic vegetable tart. I've even been tempted to use it in a sweet application. It's just that good.

Following is a recipe for this flakiest of pastry doughs — I think the additional fat from the cheese aids in this. Get the tips on how to ensure the most tender and flaky crust, what not to do when you're making this dough, and what kinds of dishes you can create using this recipe as a base.

The only qualm you'll have over this dough is that you didn't discover it sooner. Sorry about that. More

I've been proven wrong again. By myself.

For some reason, I've always — for years — overlooked Grana Padano. I regarded it as a pedestrian, somewhat boring cheese. And maybe it's because I likened it to a lesser version of Parmigiano Reggiano, which is a cheese that I've always felt gets too much attention, anyway.

I've been just about as wrong as a cheesemonger can be. More

How's a cheesemaker to know when a cheese is done aging, without breaking into the entire wheel? To ripen properly — never mind evenly — cheeses need to remain whole, so it's pretty wasteful to remove an entire test slice for the sole purpose of tasting how it's coming along.

But cheesemaking isn't guesswork, and sometimes it's necessary to figure out what's going on beneath the rind. Luckily, there's a tool that does just this. More

Eating cheese at room temperature is one of those basic tenets of so-called "correct" cheese consumption. So last week, when faced with a puck of freezing cold cheese, and without the patience to wait an hour or two for it to come to room temperature, I had a brainstorm: Put the cheese in the microwave, on the defrost setting.

Perhaps I needed to execute more restraint for the amount of time I set, because come to room temperature, it didn't. But what resulted was far superior. More

My best friend just gave me the best birthday present, like, ever. A can of cheese. She knows me well.

Cheese isn't actually easy to gift. Unless you're presenting it to a host or for a housewarming, you can't necessarily count on the gift givee consuming it in a timely manner or storing it properly. Wedges under the Christmas tree? Not so much. In short, it can be an awkward gift. But this cheese, in a can, is another story altogether. And to my delight, it's one of the better American-style cheddars I've ever had. (Not that I'd expect any less from my bestie.) More

I'm in Southern California this week, eating my way through some of LA's best tacos and Thai. Frankly, cheese just hasn't been on the brain. But yesterday, when a quick peek into Silverlake's cute-as-can-be cheese shop turned into an extended exploration of its offerings, I realized that indeed, I can only go so long without some quality cheese time. And considering the gourmet shop's slew of goods, it seems only right to give a prominent shout out for this great little shop. More