Gouda lovin’: Contest seeks cheese fans’ top recipes

If you love cheese, you’re not alone.

When asked in a recent survey which food gift they’d like to receive, more Americans said they’d rather receive cheese (19 percent) than candy (13 percent).

To celebrate this love affair with cheese, the Midwest Dairy Assn. and the American Dairy Assn. are challenging cheese lovers to create their most romantic recipes with cheese and enter “America’s Greatest Cheese Lover Search.”

To enter, cook up a romantic recipe featuring at least 2 ounces of American-made cow’s milk cheeses per serving and, in 50 words of less, describe how cheese has brought romance into your life.

Send entries to P.O. Box 5488, Blair, Neb. 68009-5488, or enter online at www.ilovecheese.com. Deadline is March 14.

That’s the way the cookie (and love) crumbles

The Dancing Deer Baking Co., which specializes in baked-from-scratch goodies, offers valentines for the broken-hearted: a gift package of four large heart-shaped cookies with hand-written messages like “Your Loss,” “Never Again,” and “See Ya.”

“We were sitting around the table at a staff meeting, and we didn’t have many ‘Kiss Me, Will You Be Mine’ relationships,” said Trish Karter, the company’s president. “It’s more like young single guys who can’t make a relationship last, a messy divorce we weren’t addressing the real audience out there.”

So the award-winning company, whose philosophy emphasizes quality natural ingredients, added less conventional options to the more standard sentiments.

The most popular message from the lovelorn: “Too Little, Too Late.” Traditional lovers can personalize the cookies too, or opt for more predictable words of woo, as long as they’re short.

For information, call (888) 699-DEER, or shop online at www.dancingdeer.com.