Say cheese

We had a neat Enrichment activity. ..Did you know you can wax the cheese you buy at the store and keep it un-refrigerated for up to 2 years?

I bought a 1 pound block of regular ol' mild cheddar and coated it several times by dipping it in a special cheese wax* that had been melted down in a crock pot. According to our teacher, I can stack the waxed blocks of cheese in small rubbermaid container and store them about two years in a cool location (like my basement). The rubbermaids keep the mice out. My brain was programmed to think this was somehow impossible, but I guess they have been making cheese this way for centuries. Now I can have my own little cheese cellar downstairs -how picturesque. FYI, if you start out with mild cheddar for example, after 2 years it's supposed to taste something like medium to sharp cheddar.

*p.s. You have to use a special wax made for dipping cheese. The wax can be purchased from Hoegger's goat supply at: http://hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3573&cat=0&page=1 Happy Cheesing!