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Welcome, cheese-fans! This July for our gluten-free, nut-free, and vegetarian option, we have American Beauties- a scrumptious line of gorgeous American cheeses and treats. For 2023, we have six curdboxFLEX boxes planned that will run through once before repeating (after that—who knows!) Read on to learn all about this month's gorgeous collection of all American cheeses and pairings.
The American Beauties July 2023 curdboxFLEX
Prairie Breeze by Milton Creamery
First up is the wildly popular Prairie Breeze by Milton Creamery in Iowa. In some ways, Prairie Breeze is a quintessentially American cheese—because it started out in a traditional, time-honored fashion, and then got an innovative modern twist to make it something new. To be more specific: Prairie Breeze starts its life as a typical English cheddar, but then then gets a special dose of bacterial culture that makes it sweet, like pineapple, and and also get those little tyrosine crystal crunchies that are common in aged Gouda. A true American innovation, Prairie
Toma by Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.
Next we have another American darling: the award-winning Toma from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company. Based off of an Italian toma, which is a simple, all around table cheese, Point Reyes in California's West Marin wanted something elegant but approachable. Their Toma is a washed curd cheese, which means the curds are gently washed before salting and aging, resulting in a cheese with a sweeter profile and softer texture that tends to melt well. Its paste is luxuriously soft and supple, and it has a rich buttery and creamy taste, with just a little bit of tang. Toma is basically your "everything cheese"—it's great for cooking, but it also is complex and flavorful enough to hold its own on a cheeseboard, too.
Seascape by Central Coast Creamery
Our final cheese is another California creation from Central Coast Creamery in Paso Robles. Kellie and Reggie Jones are the husband and wife duo behind Central Coast Creamery. Reggie has worked in the dairy business for over 25 years in a variety of capacities before he and Kellie fulfilled their dream of starting their own business together. Central Coast Creamery handcrafts small batches of cheese from milk sourced from local dairies. Seascape is their mixed-milked cheddar cheddar-style cheese, made with both cow and goat cheese. It's firm and crumbly, complex and creamy, with a mouthwatering tanginess from the goat's milk.
Classic Popcorn by BjornQorn
This popcorn is rich and savory, so much so that you'd never guess that it's vegan! The key is nutritional yeast, which is naturally full of that umami flavor that adds savory depth. That's not the only unexpected part of this popcorn—it also is solar-popped. Founders Bjorn and Jamie met at college and hatched a plan to make popcorn that harnessed the power of the sun. Their first invented popper used reflectors to focus the sun's rays on their kettles, but they now have a bigger facility that's solar-electric. But the real reason we're excited about having BjornQorn in the box is because how fun and delicious it is to eat popcorn on a cheese plate. (A lot of people have had cheese sprinkled over popcorn, so why not popcorn sprinkled on cheese?) It adds crunch, salt, and umami depth to each of the cheeses.
Michigan Cherry Spread by Brownwood Farms
Ohio's Brownwood Farms uses the best cherries they can find from the Cherry State to make this superlative cherry spread. Unlike many cherry spreads out there, this one maintains its fresh fruit character, making it like the quintessence of ripe summer fruit. It also has a gorgeous red color—put this in a small bowl and it's like rubies glowing on your cheese board.
Lightly Salted Potato Chips from Route 11 Chips
Route 11 Potato Chips from Virginia respects the Art of the Chip so much that they hand-fry these kettle chips in small batches, so each chip reaches its own personal zenith of lightly-salted-savoriness.
And that's our beautiful, all-American box! We are so pleased to be able to offer an allergy-friendly box that's as delicious as can be!
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Did you take some photos for the 'gram while enjoying this box? Please tag us @curdbox, along with our cheese and pairing partners @miltoncreamery, @pointreyescheese, @centralcoastcreamery, @bjornqorn, @brownwood_farms, @rt11potatochips. We love to see our cheese lovers enjoying their boxes!
