Day Thirty

Success. For the month I have indeed had cheese:

four tablespoons of Grana Padano,
a half inch cube of Gruyere,
a piece of lasagna,
a half inch cube of plastic cheese.

So. It has not been thirty days completely without cheese.

Day Twenty Nine

Almost there. Avoiding all food, including CHEESE!

Day Twenty Eight

Really, japchae, made with julienned onions, carrots, mushroom; and spinach; and marinated beef; mixed in sweet potato noodles that cook clear -- seasoned with sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil. Never even thought of cheese.

Day Twenty Seven

Maine shrimp, loads of little local pink curly cues, brussel sprouts with caraway seed, roast potatoes --- and no cheese!

Day Twenty Six

My thoughts turn to Day Thirty One -- will I return to old habits? Or will I do another thirty days without cheese?

Day Twenty Five

Danger comes in funny places.... Whole Foods, Hadley -- gruyere samples. Then a dinner with friends - that innocent looking lasagna contains -- oh shock! -- cheese -- a one piece cheat.

Day Twenty Four

Another day without cheese, sort of. Today I bought temptation: Chevre, Grana Padano, and feta. Not for me, of course!

Day Twenty Three

Airy fairy grana padano on a scrambled egg sandwich -- excuse, alternative to salt! Oh cheat, thy name is rationalizing.

Day Twenty Two

Black bean yam burrito, yummy -- it didn't even need cheese!

Day Twenty One

" I and my snow camel declare this another day without cheese!"

Day Twenty

I made sun-dried tomato risotto using sushi rice. I added two tablespoons, two light as a fairy, airy tablespoons of grana padano! Sin oh sin, you are called cheese. Sushi rice is not quite so creamy as arborio rice.

Day Nineteen

Stuffed eggplant with sausage, eggplant, tomato, onion, breadcrumbs and a tablespoon of grated grana padano when rounded to the nearest cup measure is ZERO. So, I say, another day without cheese.

Day Eighteen

Butter is not cheese.

Day Seventeen

Cheese looks like plastic.

Day Sixteen

Asian food has no cheese.

Day Fifteen

See the cheese in Antonio's window in downtwon Amherst!! See the cheese sprinkles on the all veggie no cheese!! Oh, yummy.

Later in the day at a fartsy tartsy wine and cheese reception at the University Gallery my fingers, independent of me, snagged a cube of cheese and jammed into my mouth. My brain said: "It would be impolite to spit this out in a crowd of architects and designers, so chew it and suffer. " I did. It tasted like plastic.

Day Fourteen

As much snow fell as I've had cheese this month.

Day Thirteen

Pickles. Pickles. Pickles. Turmeric makes them yellow up. No big cheese craving, but some awarness I'd really like a piece of pizza, and it would be nice to have that tang of parmesan along with the veggies. Best not to even walk Antonio's -- even its for the all veggie, no cheese slice.

Day Twelve

I was at Bella Luna Saturday, and I didn't even think about cheese. I thought about stars.

Day Eleven

Cheese came into my presence on some noodles today. I cheated, stole a noodle, and licked a spoon.

Day Ten

Does milk count as cheese?

Day Nine

Funny, if you dont' think about cheese..... it disappears from your life.

Day Eight

Factoid of life:

I won't lose weight, even with no cheese, unless I up the physical activity!

Weigh-in: 138.6
Goal: 130

Day Seven

Pan, pan, pan. Picante pan, bicicleta y pan, pan, pan, pan.

"Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francis.

Day Six

Little Happy New Year!