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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
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    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
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    • World Cheese Tour Classes
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Eight Great Values

July 23, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

Just when you think there are no bargains left at the specialty cheese counter, I’ve rounded up eight selections that consistently over-deliver for the price. In my view, these beauties outclass comparable cheeses that cost a lot more. “Value” doesn’t just mean you paid a low price; you can always find inexpensive cheese at the supermarket. Value means you got more than you paid for.

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Tags affordable cheeses, Caña de Oveja, Capriolina, Tomme de Savoie, La Dama Sagrada, Estero Gold Reserve, Valley Ford Creamery, Cougar Gold, WSU Creamery, Hornkuhkäse, Fourme d’Ambert
6 Comments

Top-Value Cheeses for Tight Times

May 24, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Cheese board with great-value cheeses

Left to right: Piave Vecchio, Taleggio, La Dama Sagrada, Point Reyes Toma, Bleu d’Auvergne

Seems like everything’s going up but the stock market. My neighborhood bakery just hiked the price of my favorite loaf by 33 percent. Ouch. That’s serious inflation. Cheese is hardly immune, and the stresses in the grain market guarantee more sticker shock to come. We cheese lovers just have to shop smarter. The values are out there. I’ve rounded up a few well-priced favorites for these inflationary times. There aren’t many cheeses that make me think “Is that all?” when I see what I’ve spent, but these dozen do.

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In Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep Tags inflation, cheese prices, Trader Joe’s, feta, Beecher’s Flagship, Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert, Bleu 1924, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Point Reyes Original Blue, Caña de Cabra, Caña de Oveja, La Dama Sagrada, Matos St. George, Piave, Red Witch, Roth Grand Cru, Taleggio, Vella Dry Jack, Vella Mezzo Secco
19 Comments

Homemade Panforte for Holiday Cheese

December 15, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 50_DSC2623-1.jpg

It’s not the holidays around here without homemade panforte. Although I’ve never met a panforte I didn’t like, I like mine best. It’s moderate on the spicing and heavy on the toasted nuts. Plus dried figs, honey, cocoa, aniseed. Oh, yum. Back in the day when we had dinner guests, I would put thin slices on the cheese board with a mellow, creamy blue (here: Fourme d’Ambert) and open a sweet wine. This year at my house, it’s panforte for two, but that won’t be a problem.

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In From: France, Milk: Sheep Tags panforte, blue cheese, Fourme d’Ambert, cheese board, Far Niente
15 Comments

Best Buys at the Cheese Counter

May 14, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 154 cheese bargains 1.jpg

My recent class on “Best Buys at the Cheese Counter” reminded me—and my students—that a superb dinner-party cheese platter doesn’t have to set you back more than the lamb chops. You can spend $35 to $40 a pound on cheese today, or you can spend half that if you know where the values are. I assembled the seven selections for this class without shopping at a big-box store or chain. I was a little surprised by the class favorite but almost all the cheeses got some votes.

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Tags Ferme de la Tremblaye, Brie, Brie Fermier, goat cheese, Vella Mezzo Secco, Vella Cheese, California cheese, French cheese, Spanish cheese, Gouda, Dutch cheese, blue cheese, Fourme d’Ambert, Stompetoren, Cabot Creamery, Vermotn Cheddar, Cabra al Gofio, Los Cameros
-2 Comments

High Spirits

December 22, 2015 Douglas Fletcher

I know I’m late to this party, but I’m just learning how appealing a fine brandy can be with cheese. Not every cheese, of course, but many firm aged cheeses have roasted nut, caramel and brown-butter notes that complement the heady aromas in a brandy glass.

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In From: U.S., From: France, From: Italy, Milk: Cow Tags brandy, Grand Marnier, Gouda, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Andante Dairy, Fourme d’Ambert, Piave
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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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