Divine

Walnut baguette from Bay Bread, with Gorgonzola Cremificato and Olallieberry Honey.

For those of you who know me, I’ve been pretty public about my severe lactose intolerance for quite some now. A few years ago, I just completely gave up dairy products (except butter), deciding they were just not for me.

Recently, however, I’ve found some new sources of information, and have been looking into lactose contents of different dairy products, and found out that many cheeses really don’t have much lactose in them, as the cheesemaking process by definition separates the curds (milk proteins), from the whey (milk sugars, a.k.a. lactose), and discards the latter portion.

Well, HALLELUJAH!!

I feel as though I have been reborn back into the world of cheese!

At first I experimented cautiously, a little at a time, particularly keeping on the lookout for cheeses with zero carbohydrates listed in the nutrition facts (0 carbs = 0 sugar = 0 lactose). And as I’ve continued to try more variety, I’ve been fine.

Now, I don’t know if cheese is a big deal for you, but it was VERY difficult for me to give it up when I did, and I’d always cheat here and there in the beginning, so I never could tell what was causing my stomach upset. Now that I’ve been able to reincorporate cheese into my diet, well, it’s just great. That’s all I can say about it. Really fantastically deliciously mouth-wateringly great.

Case in point: This completely divine combination of a slice of a fresh walnut baguette, with a bit of creamy, smelly, and wonderful Gorgonzola Cremificato (it’s like a very creamy and not crumbly blue cheese, with even more depth of flavor) and a drizzle of olallieberry honey that’s crystallized a bit from being in my cupboard for a while.

and…

And, yes, I even licked the plate.