Gift Guide 2013: Still Time.....

Say cheese. You can't do it too often. 

I'm repeating myself here, but since I first posted this gift, 4 years ago, it's become much easier to find. And I still think these cheese papers make a fantastic gift: it's impossible to have too many. 

Here’s the problem: If you love cheese as much as I do, you always buy too much. Then you watch it wither away in your refrigerator, dying a slow and horrible death. In order to protect it, you need to wrap it away from all the aggressive odors that inhabit your refrigerator, waiting to pounce. But plastic or foil simply suffocate your cheese. Waxed paper is less lethal – it allows it to breathe – but offers little in the way of protection. If you want to make your cheese happy, this is the answer. 

Somebody once brought me a package of cheese papers, and it changed my life; I’ve been grateful ever since. I’m pretty sure your friends will feel the same.

A package costs $9, and they're available in all sorts of supermarkets (even Safeway!), kitchenware shops (Sur La Table) and gourmet emporiums (Dean & DeLuca).  And while you're at it, buy some for yourself. You won't regret it.