MY ADDICTION

Every year, Whole Foods has a Twelve Days of Cheese promotion. In previous years, they would release one cheese a day on sale for 50% off. They would release a list of the twelve cheeses and Michael and I would study the list. Then we’d make a list of our own of the cheeses we wanted from the list along with the dates they would be released. Because you couldn’t just go at any time of the day to get your cheese. These cheeses are fancy, normally expensive cheeses and they sell out fast. So instead of stopping at a coffee shop in the morning on the way to work, I was stopping in at Whole Foods for the day’s cheese.

This sounds like a hassle, but really it was kind of fun. It’s like a scavenger hunt for cheese, which has given me an idea that I might talk about later. There was a thrill to successfully purchasing the day’s cheese. It was exciting and a rush to get my hands on a cheese that I would always want to try but would never buy because of the price. And our Christmas Day cheese tray would be phenomenal! This year, Whole Foods changed the way they do their Twelve Days of Cheese and I was not prepared for the change. Michael and I made our list. I wrote the dates and cheeses down on a sticky note which I left on my desk at work. I left it there because I knew that most of the dates landed on the weekday. I knew that I would be going in Friday and Saturday for cheese. I had my plan of attack. So imagine my surprise and confusion when I walked into Whole Foods to grab a wedge of Kler Melk Truffle Gouda and find ALL the cheeses on the list already on the shelf and on sale.

“Um…Are all the cheeses on the list on sale now?” I asked the woman working the cheese counter. “Oh, yes. There is no list this year. We just released all twelve at the same time.” She gleefully replied.

I looked at the cheeses and then I said “But…I need the list. I don’t have my sticky note with me and I don’t remember what cheeses were listed for days eleven and twelve.” The woman just shook her head and again said “There is no list. But we do have this cheese gift bag that already has the four cheeses you have in your hand in the bag along with crackers and raspberry jam.” Yes, despite not having my list, I had four cheeses in my hands, the first four cheeses on our list. I had memorized the first four because those were the ones I was most interested in. One of those cheeses are eaten with a spoon. WITH A SPOON! I mumbled something to the woman about coming back later with my list and then wandered up to the cashier with my four cheeses.

The “no list” threw me off and now I don’t know if I’m going back for the cheeses I missed or for more of the cheeses I already purchased. We also gave in and opened one of those four cheeses already and I don’t remember what cheese it is. Michael and I just spent ten minutes arguing over what cheese it is in the list. So now I feel like we have to start all over again. That wouldn’t be so bad because then we’d have two wheels of the cheese you eat with a spoon, but what if we end up not liking that cheese? So maybe we need to hurry up and eat all the cheeses I bought on Friday. Then I can go back and buy other cheeses or the same ones before the sale ends this week. That’s so much cheese but is it really?

Hello. My name is Cindy Maddera and I have a serious cheese addiction.