I normally like to start off my posts with a little build up to get the reader's motor running. Most times the cheese shots at the top of the page do the trick- nothing grabs attention like a seductive, glistening wheel whispering "slice me." This time, I'm starting my post with the first wedge of cheese I shot for this blog. I'm honoring its impact on what I'm about to share.

I launched "It's Not You, it's Brie" around two years ago. I've talked about a lot of cheese since then, dear readers, but what I haven't talked about much is that I also have been working on a cheese book proposal. I started putting it together about a year before I launched this blog. The thing is, I've had to shelve it numerous times while sorting through life happenings, and I decided not to say much about it until I had something as firm as a wheel of Vella Dry Jack to share with you.

Now, dear readers, things are very firm. I'm very excited to share that I am writing a book about.... cheese!

"It’s Not You, It’s Brie: Behind the Wheel, A Guide to Unwrapping American Cheese & Culture" will guide people through the historical and cultural stories of selected American cheeses and explore how some of our most stand-up dairy gems came to be (and taste!). I'll stray far from the classic 8 styles of cheeses, keep it lively and literary, use my cultural anthropology and professional cooking background to shape cheese stories, attempt on occasion to move beyond humor only a mother could love, and include recipes and pairing suggestions.

It will publish in 2012.

I'm pretty flippin excited.

And I'm very happy to share it with you.

Phew! So, thank you for reading- interacting with you in the comments section and seeing such interest in cheese and the people who craft it has been inspiring. You've been good to me and the cheese world. And as always, thank you cheesemakers and cows and sheep and goats and buffalo and .....you know...  for providing such amazing cheeses to write about.

And heads up - even though I'm cramming a lot of writing into short periods of time, I have no intention of letting the book's progress bring the blog writing to grinding halt. I'll keep dwelling on about my favorite cheeses and include more guests posts and interviews too (so please, if you have any topic or requests, let me know) and let you know when and where I'm teaching classes. I'll also include info about the book's progress, release, promo, and include photos from my "research" farm visits. I love research. I love travel. I also love chocolate and peanut butter, but that doesn't really apply here.

Thanks for reading, thanks for your support and more to come soon!