A belated ode to my beloved cheese.

Cheese all across our great nation!!

You guys!!! I cannot believe this happened, but yesterday was National Cheese Day and we MISSED IT!!! Well maybe you didn't miss it, maybe you spent the day indulging in all varieties of milk's greatest reinvention, but I missed it so I probably need spend the rest of this week eating copious amounts of all varieties of cheese to make up for it. Here to help me and anyone else who considers "cheese" a major food group celebrate a belated National Cheese Day, are some cheestastic finds from around the web. 

*salivating*

DomaineHome had me at hello leading with that absolutely ridonky looking picture of my beloved mac cheese, but the other recipes in this roundup (like the Chili Cheese Twists and Snap Pea Salad with Burrata!) look (almost as) amazing. Click HERE for all 5 recipes in their cheesy glory! 

SHUT.UP.

So I know that technically Grilled Cheese has its own day of the year, but given the primary cheese element involved, I think we'd be remiss not to give a nod to some of the epic grilled cheese creations featured HERE.

I love my chalkboard cheese slate because it looks cool while serving a very practical function. But if chalk isn't your style, check out some of the other awesome cheese boards the always unique Uncommon Goods has for sale. (I also really like this nautical themed one, might be perfect for father's day!?)

Uncommon Goods also sells a "Make your own Italian Cheese" kit and a "Make your own Artisanal Cheese" kit which I'm extremely curious about... Make my own cheese you say!?

In case you'd forgotten, one of my most favorite mac cheese spots in NYC is right HERE.

And finally, because come on... a nacho chip bleeding cheese!? That's amazing hehe.

The Mac Daddy

Time to get your (mac)cheese on.

When a macaroni and cheese aficionado such as myself tells you that she's just eaten a "top 3 mac cheese of her life", it's time to take note. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Beecher's New York, a Seattle import which rocked my (mac)cheese-loving socks off this past Friday night.

According to their website's extensive "Our Story" section, Mr. Kurt Beecher Dammeier was a cheese lover from childhood and his artisan cheese obsession eventually led to the 2003 opening of Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Pike Place market. In June 2011, an NYC outpost was opened at the corner of 21st and Broadway, a cheese shop and cafe upstairs with the warehouse-chic decor clad full bar and restaurant "The Cellar" downstairs. Cue Friday night...

Delightfully cheesey

The Celler at Beecher's is a great spot for group dining. With an extensive drink menu (I took down 2 of their spicy "Henry Ward Beechers" with delight) and meats and cheeses galore, it's easy to chat and graze for hours, but my suggestion is to go for the full meal experience. Sharing one of the cheese covered flatbreads (the "meat: charcuterie, smoked flagship" blew our minds) a veggie plate and the burrata amongst my group of 5 allowed for tasty flavors and a good sampling with enough room left to hit the pièce de résistance hard core... I present to you, the self-proclaimed "World's Best Mac & Cheese":

Be still my heart...

One of six different mac cheese variations on the menu, the World's Best is not messing around. Baked to crispy on top and at the edges, creamy, gooey and just shy of too decadent on the inside, Beecher's mac was a lifetime favorite. (Due to variety of ingredients and texture, I cannot easily rank Beechers against the breadcrumb-on-top Chat n Chew brilliance or a few other variations of the classic I've encountered, so please accept my "lifetime favorite" as a highest possible accolade). Simply put, this mac cheese rocked my world and the tastes I managed to snag of the pork belly version (ordered without fennel by 2 in my party) only served as evidence that I must come back again and again until I've had one of every mac on the menu.

A peak into The Cellar

And in case you were wondering, Beecher's has plenty of non-mac entrees (Dr. H thorough enjoyed his Littleneck Clams) but the mac cheese is definitely their finest. Lastly, it should be noted that Beecher's "cheese-osophy" is that the cheeses are all au naturale, meaning they contain no additives or preservatives and the milk-makers (cow, goat, etc) are all hormone free. Plus, according to their website, they now have a gluten free mac cheese available! Now isn't that just cheese-tastic?