It’s that time of the year…The holidays are here!
So, have you figured out what to give each of one of your family, friends, uncles and aunts, and especially that cheese lover on your list? If not, culture is here to your rescue. Here’s who and what made it to our shortlist of cheesy, fun, classic and evergreen gifts for the season. Things that we surely wish someone gifts us!
Cheese Advent Calendar
After creating a frenzy with her initial prototype, blogger and cheese lover Annem Hobson came out with the first ever cheese advent calendar early this month. In her own words: “For years, chocolate has dominated key retail periods, and as a huge lover of cheese I want to turn this on its head.” Ah, the woman after our own heart!
The Cheese Advent Calendar costs £8 for 24 pieces of individually wrapped cheese. With 5 varieties available. Get the deets here. (p.s: Hobson’s creation is exclusively available at Asda)
Price: £8.00
Buy it here: www.asda.com
Cheeseful Greetings
The Cheese School worked with a local artist to create a full alphabet of cheese greeting cards. A perfect cheese gift for anyone and everyone. The front of the card is beautifully illustrated, the interior is blank waiting for just the right message, and the back has the glorious cheesy details.
Price: $75.00 (set of 26)
Buy it here: thecheeseschool.com
For The Turophile Who’s Also A Bibliophile
From basics to the more adventurous types. The Book of Cheese: The Essential Guide to Discovering Cheeses You’ll Love, maps the world of cheese using nine familiar favorites, what author Liz Thorpe calls the ‘Gateway Cheeses’.
Price: $27.19 (hardcover)
Buy it here: www.amazon.com
Taking Cheese To A New ‘Height’
From the studio of John Luttmann of Artifaqt, comes this awe-inspiring, hand-crafted Cheese Tower. Luttmann is a maker who has “always had a fondness for useful items made well and beautifully”. And this tower shows his commitment and attention to detail. Also check out Luttman’s Cheese +Libation Lover Collection, and Longboard.
Culture subscribers use promo code: culture while checking out, to avail a special discount from the maker. (And do thank John from us!)
Price: $575.00
Buy it here: www.artifaqt.com
Pin Me That Cheese
Just in time for your cheese-mas shopping! If cheese is your life and you adore your life, then you ‘have to have’ these heady hat pins (or wherever you wanna pin them). From the church of the cheese goddess, come these cuties—Bent River Camembert and Marieke Gouda pins.
Price: $10 (each)
Buy it here: https://www.cheesesexdeath.com/shop/
Charmed by Cheese
From The PhCheese—a blog dedicated to expanding general knowledge and appreciation for all things cheese—come these tiny adorable collector’s items, to show-off around a cheese lover’s neck or wrist. The cheese charms are available in sterling silver or gold vermeil.
Price: $19.95-28.95
Buy it here: https://squareup.com/store/the-phcheese/
My Framed Cheese
“I love you so much, I’ll frame you and put you on my wall. ” Now, don’t we wish we could all do that to our favorite cheese? Immortalize it in a frame. Mike Geno hears you turophiles. He does! A fine artist from Philadelphia, Geno specializes in realistic paintings of objects such as cheese!
Price: $500.00 upwards
Buy it here: www.mikegeno.com
Make Your Own Curd
Brainchild of Marco Salvitti of Milan, Italy, The Shepherd’s Cheese Kit is a DIY vegetarian kit and the only one where you don’t need to use a microwave. “I want the people to have fun trying to stretch the curds simply using hot whey and water, as every Italian cheesemaker has done ever since,” says Salvitti
Price: $37.83
Buy it here: www.etsy.com/shop/
‘Take Note’ Of This Gift
Price: $5 (single book)
Buy it here: www.33books.com
You Can Never Go Wrong With A Plateful Of Cheese
If you’re still not undecided on that perfect gift, then there’s always that good ‘ol platter of artisan cheese to fall back on. We give you two of our tried and tested:
Lazy Lady Farm Collection
Laini Fondiller has been making cheese at Lazy Lady Farm since 1987. A true pioneer, Laini began making goat cheese in the dark ages of artisan cheese making in the United States—sans resources, books, equipment, or supplies; no anything to help a young cheesemaker. Today she produces over 20 varieties of goat and cows’ milk cheese on her remote, off-the-grid, solar and wind-powered farm.
The collection includes three ripe and ready small format cheeses from Lazy Lady Farm. (Cheeses are contingent on availability and rotate seasonally)
Price: $50
Buy it here: www.saxelbycheese.com
Murray’s cheese
Murray’s always has the answer for the best holiday cheeses. And this season’s quintessential spread is no less. Packed with everything you could possibly want, from a nutty, Alpine classic to silky, savory prosciutto to some expertly crafted morsels of chocolatey goodness—this is IT!
Price: $180
Buy it here: www.murrayscheese.com
If Not Cheese, Then Chocolates?
Oh, these little pieces of love… You can never go wrong with chocolate, can you?! Get in the Holiday spirit with Poco Dolce’s Snowflake Olive Oil Truffles. EVOO blended with bittersweet chocolate to produce a silky, dark chocolate ganache which fills a crisp shell that’s topped with a rich cocoa butter snowflake design. You’ll love this beautiful ode to winter. Or, try the Poco Dolce Mint snowballs. Inspired by the changing seasons and designed to have a refreshing taste of winter in each bite
Price: $26 (9 pc box.)
Buy it here: www.pocodolce.com
And Again, culture To The Rescue
Well, if you still haven’t been able to decide what to give that cheese lover of yours, you can never go wrong with culture (nuf said!!). Check out our store for subscriptions, gift sets, box sets, and merchandise.
Happy Giving this Holiday season!!
Monisha Awasthi
Monisha is culture's Digital Editor. A mediaperson and a trained chef, when Monisha is not busy getting her daily dose of oxygen on social media, you'll find her developing new flavors in her suburban kitchen. Her favorite cheese: Pecorino Toscano
