Years ago, maybe fifteen or more, I read a travel article about hiking in the Vermont woods in autumn. In the itinerary described, one spent a week hiking through the glorious flaming foliage, not camping out nightly, but rather hiking from cozy B&B to cozy B&B, being welcomed each evening with a glass of wine and some good cheese and offered dinner, sleeping in a soft, fluffy bed each night, chowing down on a good breakfast each morning, and being sent off with camera and lunch in hand to amble through the woods to the next stop with bags ferried by car. I have since that time dreamed of making this trek, but because it requires a fair amount of preplanning (and our lives have not run on that kind of schedule for years) we’ve never been able to fit it in. But the dream persists.

Thus, I was ingrigued by an article by Wendy Knight in yesterday’s New York Times about touring the Vermont Cheese Trail. Instead of simply walking through the woods (which would be lovely) I learned that it’s possible to combine glorious foliage with glorious fromage. With good cheese topping my list of delectible edibles, this combo speaks to my heart. If, like me, you’re a lover of the beauty and bounty of nature, this is an article worth reading and the trip would be worth taking. If you’re not into a walk in the woods, but still like to read and learn about artisanal cheese, I can recommend a pair of beautiful books that Mike recently bought me called Cheese A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best and The Cheese Plate. Both are filled with photos so luscious you can almost smell the cheeses and packed with information about how the various cheeses are made, and more importantly for those of us not planning to make our own, about selecting, buying, storing, serving, and pairing great cheeses with the right wine and other foods to heighten the pleasure of eating them. Enjoy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *