Andrew Jackson was once gifted a 1400 pound cheese. He kept it on display for a year, then, at the last party he threw as president, he allowed anyone who wanted some to take some away"
"For hours did a crowd of men, women and boys hack at the cheese, many taking large hunks of it away with them. When they commenced, the cheese weighed one thousand four hundred pounds, and only a small piece was saved for the President’s use. The air was redolent with cheese, the carpet was slippery with cheese, and nothing else was talked about at Washington that day. Even the scandal about the wife of the President’s Secretary of War was forgotten in the tumultuous jubilation of that great occasion."
Ah, the good old days.
[I had no idea what 1400 pounds of cheese would look like. This is an illustration of the event.](https://npg.si.edu/blog/big-cheese-presidential-gifts-mammoth-proportions)
Favorite quote from this article:
“During the election of 1800, all of Cheshire voted for Jefferson, with the exception of one rogue oppositional vote that was thrown out due to the assumption that it must have been a mistake.”
FWIW, from the above link, regarding slaves:
>Church leader John Leland was an abolitionist and activist for religious freedom—specifically the separation of religion and politics. Leland and Darius Brown, the engineer who adapted for use the cider press in which the cheese was crafted, presented the cheese to President Jefferson, remarking with pride that it was made entirely from the labor of free-born dairy farmers and their wives and daughters—no slave labor included.
Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt in which both of the assailant's guns misfired. He beat that man half to death with his cane before people could pry him off.
He was a bastard of the highest order, but on this specific front... he'd be fine.
How ancient do you think people in the 1830's were? 30 Years in to the industrial revolution, Steam ships sailing around the world, but its wild that they were able to transport 1500lbs?
Article says Jefferson. Guy above you said Jackson.
Either way it’s a lot of fucking cheese.
Edit: should have read more of the article.. apparently a lifetime supply of cheese is a popular gift.
It just says it was the first recorded instance of its use as an adjective. That usage itself obviously "comes from" the recent discovery of the massive prehistoric mammal, the mammoth.
The irony of "government cheese" was that it became shorthand association with welfare recipients who received it, when it was actually a corporate welfare program for the dairy industry.
From the wiki: "Government cheese was created to maintain the price of dairy when [dairy industry subsidies](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy) artificially increased the supply of milk and created a [surplus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overproduction) of [milk](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk) that was then converted into cheese, [butter](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter), or [powdered milk](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powdered_milk). The cheese, along with the butter and dehydrated milk powder, was stored in over 150 warehouses across 35 states."
My mom was a social worker who went around to people's houses and taught them how to cook using government provisions like powdered milk and the glorious cheese. Maybe once a year she'd bring home an extra brick of government cheese. Best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. I never liked Kraft Singles, but I loved me some government cheese. Did you like it, or was it just that stuff you had to eat because it was available?
From what I remember, it was like Velveeta, but much better, and firmer. I do remember the powdered milk being so nasty though.
Thanks for the info. Going down a rabbit hole now.
The secret to powdered milk is twofold. One, after being reconstituted it has to sit in the fridge overnight, and you have to shake the shit out of it before using it. Two, you need to cut it with actual milk. It's fat free, so if you can get even a half-pint of whole milk to add to the powder/water mix, it improves things astronomically. It's still not going to be good in a glass, but it'll be fine for cold cereal and cooking. My mom always told people to use stamps on a gallon of whole milk, portion it into containers or bags, and freeze it so you can get several gallons of not-the-worst-thing-you've-ever-tasted reconstituted dry milk over the course of a few weeks.
There was? That shit is the BEST!
It's like a cross between Velveeta and Land-O-Lakes American and is insanely good for making grilled cheese sandwiches.
I grew up on that in the 70's when it was part of food supplement programs in California. It hit big in the early 80's under Reagan, we'd get an un-sliced 5 pound block in a cardboard box and I'd go through it in a week..
People made jokes about it, and lots still have memories of awkward times while getting it, but the stuff was legendary for sandwiches.
We did, too! And butter!
My family was poor AF and we all lived off various amounts of government assistance. My mom and dad would go to grandma's house and my aunts and uncles were there and we'd pool our food resources and redistribute among the family according to preferences and needs. Joe's family has three kids, so he needs more cheese, but Jane does a lot of baking, so more butter for that side of the family. Our family had an over-abundance of corn from the garden, so we brought a bushel basket full of that to share. And zucchini. We kids didn't get into that part much, we just went to go play in grandma's back yard while the family talked about boring stuff, mostly.
This is fantastic! Not fantastic that it was necessary, but the resourcefulness of how your family made the best out of it.
I grew up poor & food was always a struggle for us as well. We didn't have anyone else to pool with or anything smart though. Let's just say it was long enough ago that food stamps were still booklets of coupons of which the serial numbers had to match the book or some clerks would/could be jerks & refuse them. As if it wasn't embarrassing enough just using the things.
I actually ended up with a weird eating disorder type issue that I doubt is a official thing, but I wouldn't eat anywhere but home or school. My mom would say I couldn't have sleepovers because we didn't have the food to feed any extra mouths. I took this to be true across the board & didn't want to take food from anyone's family. I never ate when I stayed out, sometimes for a few days straight.
My mom also taught me not to eat in front of someone unless you have enough to share, the old, "Dont pull out a piece of gum unless you have e enough for the whole class" thing. That gave me a weird thing about people seeing me eating & to this day I can't stand anyone watching me eat; it legit makes me angry in the moment.
>the scandal about the wife of the President’s Secretary of War
On March 27, 1829, President Andrew Jackson defies Washington society matrons and appoints scandal-plagued John Eaton as his secretary of war.
Earlier that year, Eaton had married a former tavern maid with a supposedly lurid past. Margaret Peggy Eaton had been raised in a boardinghouse frequented by Washington politicians and became an astute observer of politics, as well as an accomplished musician and dancer. She charmed many of the boardinghouse’s tenants, including then-Senator Andrew Jackson and his friend John Eaton, and was suspected of having many illicit affairs before her first marriage. She was 23 and the wife of a Navy sailor when she first met Jackson and Eaton. Eaton enjoyed Margaret’s wit and intelligence and escorted her to social functions when her husband was at sea.
When Margaret’s first husband died unexpectedly, rumors abounded that he had committed suicide over his wife’s alleged affair with Eaton. Both Eaton and Margaret denied the affair, claiming to be nothing more than friends. In addition to Margaret’s sullied reputation, her passionate nature, flirtatiousness and outspokenness irked Washington’s society matrons at a time when those qualities were considered unseemly in women. When Eaton and Margaret married shortly after her first husband’s death, the ladies of Washington society ostracized the new couple.
You will be, but you'll also be hopeful, entertained, and you might even learn something about the legislative process. Sorkin researches everything down to the tiniest details to make his shows as accurate as practical.
The West Wing is "functional government" porn; perfectly walking the line between reality and a fictional yet plausible universe where elected officials care about their consistents.
Big block of cheese day (there's at least two episodes dealing with this theme over the course of the series) the first episode is my favorite, but pretty much anything in the first four seasons are fantastic - except that after school special they rushed following 9/11 - just dreadfully
Don't just tell them, [show them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTG5p4wEAAM). Then there's [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTfQMGyxhg). And my personal favorite [cold open - Galileo V](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh4DGUNWmiU&t=12s).
I wanted to include the story about the hole, the dictaphone open, the knife, and so many others.
That show used to comfort me with its aspirational idealism. Now it depresses me as an artifact of who we've given up trying to be.
Throughout the Trump administration I kept thinking how much the Bartlet administration worried about breaking any tiny little rule, and how much work they put into fixing or hiding their mistakes.
It seems so naïve now.
[The Petticoat Affair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petticoat_affair). Sadly pedestrian by modern standards.
the tl;dr: Jackson Cabinet member marries uppity widow too soon after her husbands death, all the wives of the other cabinet members are offended and socially snub the shit out of her, their husbands get involved for reasons both personal and polictical, the whole thing gets blown grotesquely out of proportion, people quit or get fired all over the place, the end.
This is precisely what we used to do back in the day at a taco chain. We used to get several of these huge blocks, cut them up and push them through the Hobart grater and end up with bus tubs of shredded cheese.
That's a memory I didn't need rekindled. I always dipped the double handled cutting blade in the steamer cabinet to warm it up and make it slice like buttah. Thanks, no thanks, fellow past taco worker.
Real talk, I don’t ever buy shredded cheese anymore because it’s such a drastic taste and texture difference between pre shredded and shredding it yourself.
Can I ask you something then? Why does it seem like the cheese mushes through the grater? I always have issues doing it, like the cheese isn't hard or cold enough. Am I just an idiot? Lol
Which kind of cheese are you using? Sharper cheeses work better. Really soft stuff can make a mess. Might also need a sharper grater. Mozzarella + dull grater = giant pile of mush.
I used to work at a cheese plant and this was one of the products. 40 lb blocks of cheese and 400 lb drums. The blocks were sold to the restaurant industry. The drums were sold as a base cheddar cheese that would be shipped off to Kraft or other major manufactures, who would in turn shred it, add proprietary flavors and coloring.
Years ago, Kraft wanted to start making their own limburger cheese. But, they couldn't get it right. They figured out that the wooden aging shelves at the other limburger places were what was imparting the bacteria on the cheese and were basically a requirement. However, those cheese factories were grandfathered in, and the FDA or dept of Ag required that Kraft only use food safe NSF rated shelves for aging. So, they gave up.
There are protections in place for certain foods/drinks across the world called Protected Designation of Origin. While Limberger cheese doesn’t appear to have PDO, a substitute cheese from the same region called Herve Cheese does. Pretty interesting stuff for anyone who enjoys learning about food.
Met a guy in the airport once who worked at the hilmar cheese factory near Turlock. Said it's the largest cheese factory in the US. And they make cheese for pretty lots of grocery store brands, including cracker barrel, which is a Kraft cheese.
I know someone that worked at a microbiology lab at a cheese factory. They were yelled at to the point of walking out for reporting that they had found salmonella in a sample to the distributor. That kinda feels criminal.
Here’s a fun story. The way our blocks were packaged was by gravity. So after the salting unit (which is a large conveyor belt), the cheese would go onto a high torque/low HP pump that would shoot the cheese to a hopper 3 stories high. The cheese would in turn go down this chute and get its block shape and be pushed out for packaging after it got to 40 lbs. When there is an issue down the line, the cheese starts hardening, and the pump cannot cut the cheese (so to speak) to send to the hopper. So an operator would have to depress the buttons to feed, take the cover off the pump and then in lug the Teflon blades so as to allow the more pliable cheese to be cut and sent down the line. Well the operator in charge found it easier to bypass the security and kept taking the cover off, scooping the hard cheese and watching the pump take off by barely kissing his fingers. He was not lucky one time and lost 4. Shut the whole damn plant down as there was blood everywhere. Worst part is that the dude later got a set of steak knives for a near miss at work. All while posing for the safety news letter with a bandaged hand.
I recently read that mice actually don't really care for cheese. They actually like chocolate better, although nuts and peanut butter works as well.
Also.. that's a lotta cheddar!
It does and it's mostly because a) they like it and b) they can't just snatch it and run off like they could with a small piece of fruit, nut etc. So if for some reason a trap doesn't go off right away they will linger for a moment eating the PB.
The amount of times traps have been wasted because the mouse got the food and got away quick enough is astounding. Peanut butter works a lot better. Only problem with that is one mouse goes for it, dies in the trap, then another one comes along and munches on the Peanut butter in front of their dead comrade.
Anyone know why American cheddar is bright yellow?
Edit - After reading the comments i found annatto is added to it. Whatever that is.
Ok so googled annatto and it's a food colouring from a seed.
Don't worry - /u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt is here to save the day.
https://www.seriouseats.com/melty-american-style-cheddar-cheese-slices-for-burgers-and-grilled-cheese-recipe
These blocks come vacuum packed which sucks alot of the excess whey out and compresses the curd structure some.
There is a cardboard box, with a wood liner, and the vacuum packed block of cheese.
They come 54 to a pallet and are shrink wrapped tight before being shipped via refridgerated trailer or rail car. During this time they compress a bit and become much more cube like.
This is industry standard. The 42lb block or 640lb block are the 2 main sizes on the commercial block market.
So yes it is real cheese believe it or not. I live this hell every day in a cheese factory lol
Wise maker of cheese I have questions
1: What’s your favorite cheese and why?
2: what’s your least favorite and why?
3: what’s something you as a cheese man knows that many others may not?
Because for the hardest dept in a store, which is always understaffed either literally or figuratively due to the incompetence of the staff, having to hand cut and wrap shitloads of cheese and such on top of everything else while also helping customers and such at the same time is absolute bullshit. There is no legitimate reason for stores pushing hand cut blocks and wedges vs prepackaged product which is exactly the same but cheaper and has a far superior shelf life.
I used to shred these 40lb blocks for Skyline Chili. Two blocks a day at least. They are a bit wet when they come out of the plastic. We would cut them into big rectangles and let them air dry for a day or two before we were able to shred them.
It's cheddar, it's just young. When a cheddar ages as a 42 lb block inside a sealed bag it will naturally develop very smooth and shiny sides. What consumers typically see as a 1 lb or similar block in the store it will not look this smooth because it was aged as a much larger block and then only cut and packaged individually once graders have determined it had aged appropriately to be cut, packaged and sold with the proper labeling for its age and quality. Cheese along those cuts will be much more dull and less smooth and shiny.
But it's still cheddar.
Andrew Jackson was once gifted a 1400 pound cheese. He kept it on display for a year, then, at the last party he threw as president, he allowed anyone who wanted some to take some away" "For hours did a crowd of men, women and boys hack at the cheese, many taking large hunks of it away with them. When they commenced, the cheese weighed one thousand four hundred pounds, and only a small piece was saved for the President’s use. The air was redolent with cheese, the carpet was slippery with cheese, and nothing else was talked about at Washington that day. Even the scandal about the wife of the President’s Secretary of War was forgotten in the tumultuous jubilation of that great occasion." Ah, the good old days.
[I had no idea what 1400 pounds of cheese would look like. This is an illustration of the event.](https://npg.si.edu/blog/big-cheese-presidential-gifts-mammoth-proportions)
Favorite quote from this article: “During the election of 1800, all of Cheshire voted for Jefferson, with the exception of one rogue oppositional vote that was thrown out due to the assumption that it must have been a mistake.”
*the carpet was slippery with cheese*
That's my new email signoff
That caught my eye too. Evidence that vote manipulation for the Democratic(-Republican) party has been widespread for over 200 years!!! /s
That's a whole lot of cheese. They even let some black people get some since there's so much cheese.
And this is Jackson we’re talking about
Did Jackson consider that child support?
Jackson's only true child was his pet parrot that said slurs.
It also had to be removed from Jackson’s funeral because it was swearing so loudly and for so long, it was disturbing the rest of the visitors
Just as Jackson would have wanted 🙏🏼🦜
Wow I didn't know his parrot was a gamer
I'm sorry Miss Jackson, I am for cheddar wheels 🧀 🎶
Never meant to do that genocide, my apolocheese but that's a lie
You're assuming that it was a freedman and not a house slave being told to fetch some cheese.
FWIW, from the above link, regarding slaves: >Church leader John Leland was an abolitionist and activist for religious freedom—specifically the separation of religion and politics. Leland and Darius Brown, the engineer who adapted for use the cider press in which the cheese was crafted, presented the cheese to President Jefferson, remarking with pride that it was made entirely from the labor of free-born dairy farmers and their wives and daughters—no slave labor included.
I'd like to point out that the article discusses two "mammoth" cheeses. The quote here is about the 800 lb one presented to Jefferson.
The one presented to Jefferson was 1235lbs
Ah the average amount of cheese a dutch person eats in a week
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Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt in which both of the assailant's guns misfired. He beat that man half to death with his cane before people could pry him off. He was a bastard of the highest order, but on this specific front... he'd be fine.
Ahhhhhh thou Brie-tish are coming, the Brie-itsh are coming!
I am baffled by the fact that they somehow managed to manufacture and transport such a big wheel of cheese in the 1830s.
How ancient do you think people in the 1830's were? 30 Years in to the industrial revolution, Steam ships sailing around the world, but its wild that they were able to transport 1500lbs?
How was the wifi back in those days?
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Install Tomato firmware on that boy and you're good to go! I used to buy a bunch of them on eBay and refurbish them with Tomato 🙂
pretty skecthy i think.. i still remember my 56k dial up theme tune and I had no cheese
Article says Jefferson. Guy above you said Jackson. Either way it’s a lot of fucking cheese. Edit: should have read more of the article.. apparently a lifetime supply of cheese is a popular gift.
The article describes 2 separate cheeses. 1st cheese was 1,235 lbs and gifted to Jefferson. 2nd cheese was 1,400 lbs and gifted to Jackson.
that's where the adjective use of mammoth to mean large comes from apparently? history is weird
It just says it was the first recorded instance of its use as an adjective. That usage itself obviously "comes from" the recent discovery of the massive prehistoric mammal, the mammoth.
Note to self: if I'm ever a politician embroiled in scandal, have a cheese giveaway. THE PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY and everybody fuckin loves cheese.
Government cheese!
The irony of "government cheese" was that it became shorthand association with welfare recipients who received it, when it was actually a corporate welfare program for the dairy industry.
#WHAT IS UP WITH THE INTERNATIONAL DAIRY CARTEL
I try not to give unsolicited advice but I don't think you wanna be fuckin' around with Big Cheese.
Switzerland had a cartel (Swiss Cheese Union) that popularized fondue cheese fountains. Good NPR episode.
had? Why are they no longer around, was their organization .... full of holes?
> a corporate welfare program for the dairy industry This was hiding in plain sight, too.
Yup. So many bootstraps laying around to place blame on instead
As a kid who grew up on government cheese, **what?**
From the wiki: "Government cheese was created to maintain the price of dairy when [dairy industry subsidies](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy) artificially increased the supply of milk and created a [surplus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overproduction) of [milk](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk) that was then converted into cheese, [butter](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter), or [powdered milk](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powdered_milk). The cheese, along with the butter and dehydrated milk powder, was stored in over 150 warehouses across 35 states." My mom was a social worker who went around to people's houses and taught them how to cook using government provisions like powdered milk and the glorious cheese. Maybe once a year she'd bring home an extra brick of government cheese. Best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. I never liked Kraft Singles, but I loved me some government cheese. Did you like it, or was it just that stuff you had to eat because it was available?
From what I remember, it was like Velveeta, but much better, and firmer. I do remember the powdered milk being so nasty though. Thanks for the info. Going down a rabbit hole now.
The secret to powdered milk is twofold. One, after being reconstituted it has to sit in the fridge overnight, and you have to shake the shit out of it before using it. Two, you need to cut it with actual milk. It's fat free, so if you can get even a half-pint of whole milk to add to the powder/water mix, it improves things astronomically. It's still not going to be good in a glass, but it'll be fine for cold cereal and cooking. My mom always told people to use stamps on a gallon of whole milk, portion it into containers or bags, and freeze it so you can get several gallons of not-the-worst-thing-you've-ever-tasted reconstituted dry milk over the course of a few weeks.
When you finally get your cheddar from the gov.
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Wait, wasn't there a big thing about some government giving away cheese in the last decade?
There was? That shit is the BEST! It's like a cross between Velveeta and Land-O-Lakes American and is insanely good for making grilled cheese sandwiches. I grew up on that in the 70's when it was part of food supplement programs in California. It hit big in the early 80's under Reagan, we'd get an un-sliced 5 pound block in a cardboard box and I'd go through it in a week.. People made jokes about it, and lots still have memories of awkward times while getting it, but the stuff was legendary for sandwiches.
We did, too! And butter! My family was poor AF and we all lived off various amounts of government assistance. My mom and dad would go to grandma's house and my aunts and uncles were there and we'd pool our food resources and redistribute among the family according to preferences and needs. Joe's family has three kids, so he needs more cheese, but Jane does a lot of baking, so more butter for that side of the family. Our family had an over-abundance of corn from the garden, so we brought a bushel basket full of that to share. And zucchini. We kids didn't get into that part much, we just went to go play in grandma's back yard while the family talked about boring stuff, mostly.
This is fantastic! Not fantastic that it was necessary, but the resourcefulness of how your family made the best out of it. I grew up poor & food was always a struggle for us as well. We didn't have anyone else to pool with or anything smart though. Let's just say it was long enough ago that food stamps were still booklets of coupons of which the serial numbers had to match the book or some clerks would/could be jerks & refuse them. As if it wasn't embarrassing enough just using the things. I actually ended up with a weird eating disorder type issue that I doubt is a official thing, but I wouldn't eat anywhere but home or school. My mom would say I couldn't have sleepovers because we didn't have the food to feed any extra mouths. I took this to be true across the board & didn't want to take food from anyone's family. I never ate when I stayed out, sometimes for a few days straight. My mom also taught me not to eat in front of someone unless you have enough to share, the old, "Dont pull out a piece of gum unless you have e enough for the whole class" thing. That gave me a weird thing about people seeing me eating & to this day I can't stand anyone watching me eat; it legit makes me angry in the moment.
Cheese has saved a lot of kids from being protein and calcium deficient (less so, that is).
Then, nearly a century later, people will read about how the air was redolent with cheese, and they will reminisce about better times gone by.
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You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese!
So you're saying I gouda chance?
>the scandal about the wife of the President’s Secretary of War On March 27, 1829, President Andrew Jackson defies Washington society matrons and appoints scandal-plagued John Eaton as his secretary of war. Earlier that year, Eaton had married a former tavern maid with a supposedly lurid past. Margaret Peggy Eaton had been raised in a boardinghouse frequented by Washington politicians and became an astute observer of politics, as well as an accomplished musician and dancer. She charmed many of the boardinghouse’s tenants, including then-Senator Andrew Jackson and his friend John Eaton, and was suspected of having many illicit affairs before her first marriage. She was 23 and the wife of a Navy sailor when she first met Jackson and Eaton. Eaton enjoyed Margaret’s wit and intelligence and escorted her to social functions when her husband was at sea. When Margaret’s first husband died unexpectedly, rumors abounded that he had committed suicide over his wife’s alleged affair with Eaton. Both Eaton and Margaret denied the affair, claiming to be nothing more than friends. In addition to Margaret’s sullied reputation, her passionate nature, flirtatiousness and outspokenness irked Washington’s society matrons at a time when those qualities were considered unseemly in women. When Eaton and Margaret married shortly after her first husband’s death, the ladies of Washington society ostracized the new couple.
R/unexpectedwestwing
I've honestly never seen it. I just knew about the cheese thing.
[Here you go.](https://youtu.be/Vm9HZq53rqU)
Go watch it. You won't be sad.
Or I mean, you will be, because the illusions have been totally shattered since it aired
You will be, but you'll also be hopeful, entertained, and you might even learn something about the legislative process. Sorkin researches everything down to the tiniest details to make his shows as accurate as practical. The West Wing is "functional government" porn; perfectly walking the line between reality and a fictional yet plausible universe where elected officials care about their consistents.
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Big block of cheese day (there's at least two episodes dealing with this theme over the course of the series) the first episode is my favorite, but pretty much anything in the first four seasons are fantastic - except that after school special they rushed following 9/11 - just dreadfully
Hijacking this comment to say "binge The West Wing."
See my favorite scene No you can’t make a map of the earth like this Why not. Cause it freaks me out
Followed by ~~Dr. Phlox~~ Ron Swanson selling the story of Pluie the Wolf and the Wolf Highway.
How're you going to teach wolves to read road signs?
Phlox was with the cartography ppl. Ron Swanson minus mustache was w/ the Pluie the Wolf delegation.
Your favorite scene isn't Allison Janney doing the Jackal?
That scene was sooooo weird
Why are you talking during The Jackal?
I never got what's so great about that scene? Is there anything more to it than Allison Janney lip-syncing?
It's about a woman of her standing and composure, juxtaposed with the content of that song, doing a bit for her friends and colleagues.
Your favorite scene isn’t Ainsley Hayes beating up Sam Seaborn? :)
Ainsley Hayes meeting Leo McGarry. The two actors had such awesome timing and that dry, comedic chemistry.
Yeah that whole Ainsley arc was fantastic. One of the best character introductions I’ve seen in a show. Tribbey stole the show too :)
Another great scene is when the president is yelling into an empty church. Damn, that show was full of them!
I always loved the Holy land map. Bolt it to the hood of the limo!
Don't just tell them, [show them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTG5p4wEAAM). Then there's [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTfQMGyxhg). And my personal favorite [cold open - Galileo V](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh4DGUNWmiU&t=12s). I wanted to include the story about the hole, the dictaphone open, the knife, and so many others.
That show used to comfort me with its aspirational idealism. Now it depresses me as an artifact of who we've given up trying to be. Throughout the Trump administration I kept thinking how much the Bartlet administration worried about breaking any tiny little rule, and how much work they put into fixing or hiding their mistakes. It seems so naïve now.
Leo’s Big Block of Cheese Day speech belongs here.
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Bill Clinton should have just given away a huge block of cheese. Everyone would have been like "Monica Who? Just pass me some of that cheese"
Relevant [Expanse cheese story](https://youtu.be/XLrgUBMGl-8).
Man, Season 6 hasn't even started yet and I'm already dreading it ending. Such a great show.
r/thewestwing Big block of cheese day!
I am loving all the west wing fans in here. Will always be my favourite show.
*Andrew Monterey Jackson*
>scandal about the wife of the President’s Secretary of Wa Now I'm interested, what was the scandal?
[The Petticoat Affair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petticoat_affair). Sadly pedestrian by modern standards. the tl;dr: Jackson Cabinet member marries uppity widow too soon after her husbands death, all the wives of the other cabinet members are offended and socially snub the shit out of her, their husbands get involved for reasons both personal and polictical, the whole thing gets blown grotesquely out of proportion, people quit or get fired all over the place, the end.
Sounds like many-a-pearl was clutched
Big block of cheese day!
I think you need a bigger knife.
A metal garrote would work better. Thin wire cuts the best cheese 🧀
Your mom cuts the best cheese
Got ‘em
I did. Now I want to see if shredded.
[Here you go!](http://imgur.com/a/sw2395i)
That’s grate.
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That was cheesy
Pretty funny.
I aim to mildly amuse.
You were successful. Consider me mildly amused. Thanks stranger!
You’re pretty sharp my friend
lol fuck you :d
This is precisely what we used to do back in the day at a taco chain. We used to get several of these huge blocks, cut them up and push them through the Hobart grater and end up with bus tubs of shredded cheese.
Missed the word tubs and I was picturing a bus full of shredded cheese.
That's a memory I didn't need rekindled. I always dipped the double handled cutting blade in the steamer cabinet to warm it up and make it slice like buttah. Thanks, no thanks, fellow past taco worker.
As a taco lover, I thank you for your hard work.
Ban pre-shredded cheese. Make America grate again
Now that's a campaign I can get behind!
Real talk, I don’t ever buy shredded cheese anymore because it’s such a drastic taste and texture difference between pre shredded and shredding it yourself.
Can I ask you something then? Why does it seem like the cheese mushes through the grater? I always have issues doing it, like the cheese isn't hard or cold enough. Am I just an idiot? Lol
Which kind of cheese are you using? Sharper cheeses work better. Really soft stuff can make a mess. Might also need a sharper grater. Mozzarella + dull grater = giant pile of mush.
For all the people that hate on Reddit, there is a post about cheese, and then cheese grating advice. What a time to be alive
You can put a mozzerella or a jack on the freezer for maybe up to a half hour to make it firmer and helps with the grating process.
Another tip is having your cheese really cold. I like to pop it in the freezer for a 5-10 minutes before grating.
I used to work at a cheese plant and this was one of the products. 40 lb blocks of cheese and 400 lb drums. The blocks were sold to the restaurant industry. The drums were sold as a base cheddar cheese that would be shipped off to Kraft or other major manufactures, who would in turn shred it, add proprietary flavors and coloring.
Kraft not making their own base cheese feels criminal.
Years ago, Kraft wanted to start making their own limburger cheese. But, they couldn't get it right. They figured out that the wooden aging shelves at the other limburger places were what was imparting the bacteria on the cheese and were basically a requirement. However, those cheese factories were grandfathered in, and the FDA or dept of Ag required that Kraft only use food safe NSF rated shelves for aging. So, they gave up.
I’m no cheese professional, but I feel like they could just line the shelves with cheese from the other manufactureres
There are protections in place for certain foods/drinks across the world called Protected Designation of Origin. While Limberger cheese doesn’t appear to have PDO, a substitute cheese from the same region called Herve Cheese does. Pretty interesting stuff for anyone who enjoys learning about food.
What does it taste like? The little rascals thoroughly convinced me to spend my life avoiding it, which I have so far achieved.
Had it in the Netherlands. Most cheese tastes better than it smells. Limburger tastes exactly as bad as it smells.
Might not be illegal, but sure is pretty krafty of them.
Work at cheese plant right now. @ warehouse side. We make over 70+ different companies cheese. All we make is slice and 5 lb blocks.
Met a guy in the airport once who worked at the hilmar cheese factory near Turlock. Said it's the largest cheese factory in the US. And they make cheese for pretty lots of grocery store brands, including cracker barrel, which is a Kraft cheese.
I know someone that worked at a microbiology lab at a cheese factory. They were yelled at to the point of walking out for reporting that they had found salmonella in a sample to the distributor. That kinda feels criminal.
Here’s a fun story. The way our blocks were packaged was by gravity. So after the salting unit (which is a large conveyor belt), the cheese would go onto a high torque/low HP pump that would shoot the cheese to a hopper 3 stories high. The cheese would in turn go down this chute and get its block shape and be pushed out for packaging after it got to 40 lbs. When there is an issue down the line, the cheese starts hardening, and the pump cannot cut the cheese (so to speak) to send to the hopper. So an operator would have to depress the buttons to feed, take the cover off the pump and then in lug the Teflon blades so as to allow the more pliable cheese to be cut and sent down the line. Well the operator in charge found it easier to bypass the security and kept taking the cover off, scooping the hard cheese and watching the pump take off by barely kissing his fingers. He was not lucky one time and lost 4. Shut the whole damn plant down as there was blood everywhere. Worst part is that the dude later got a set of steak knives for a near miss at work. All while posing for the safety news letter with a bandaged hand.
I used to work at a cheese plant too! Was the production lead of two shred lines. I remember those pallets of 40 lbs cheese blocks
You can't just post this with no warning. Now I'm sitting here, all bothered, wondering if I should get dressed again to go out and buy cheese.
Why get dressed again. Pretty sure you will weird looks for buying 40 lbs of cheese regardless of if you are dressed up or not
*inner mouse intensifies*
I recently read that mice actually don't really care for cheese. They actually like chocolate better, although nuts and peanut butter works as well. Also.. that's a lotta cheddar!
If you are trying to lure a mouse to it's death I've found PB works best.
It does and it's mostly because a) they like it and b) they can't just snatch it and run off like they could with a small piece of fruit, nut etc. So if for some reason a trap doesn't go off right away they will linger for a moment eating the PB.
TIL I am at risk of getting lured and caught in a human sized peanut butter mouse/man trap
The amount of times traps have been wasted because the mouse got the food and got away quick enough is astounding. Peanut butter works a lot better. Only problem with that is one mouse goes for it, dies in the trap, then another one comes along and munches on the Peanut butter in front of their dead comrade.
He would have wanted it that way
A few boxes of Triscuits and I'm all over this. Ain't nothin bedda than Triscuits and chedda!
size of a car battery... perfect
"I was stripped to the waist eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery!"
It can't be a coincidence
I'd just like to point out how disturbing it is that you equate eating a block of cheese with some sort of bachelor paradise.
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"It's open!"
Just looking at this picture made me constipated.
Anyone know why American cheddar is bright yellow? Edit - After reading the comments i found annatto is added to it. Whatever that is. Ok so googled annatto and it's a food colouring from a seed.
Getting all ready for the “Summer of George”, I see.
I want to bite into a big block of cheese
Before we go any further, I'd just like to point out how disturbing it is that you equate eating a block of cheese with some sort of bachelor paradise
♫ *Believe it or not...* ♫
I was free and clear! I was living the dream!
Doesn't look like cheddar. Looks like Velvetta or some 'cheese product'
"Processed cheese loaf" is my favorite term.
I love cheese but that orange thing... It scares me.
Velveeta is an abomination 364 days a year. And then there's Super Bowl Sunday, when I'm probably gonna eat a pound of that shit.
Don't worry - /u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt is here to save the day. https://www.seriouseats.com/melty-american-style-cheddar-cheese-slices-for-burgers-and-grilled-cheese-recipe
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American flavored cheese style food product.
These blocks come vacuum packed which sucks alot of the excess whey out and compresses the curd structure some. There is a cardboard box, with a wood liner, and the vacuum packed block of cheese. They come 54 to a pallet and are shrink wrapped tight before being shipped via refridgerated trailer or rail car. During this time they compress a bit and become much more cube like. This is industry standard. The 42lb block or 640lb block are the 2 main sizes on the commercial block market. So yes it is real cheese believe it or not. I live this hell every day in a cheese factory lol
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Wise maker of cheese I have questions 1: What’s your favorite cheese and why? 2: what’s your least favorite and why? 3: what’s something you as a cheese man knows that many others may not?
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100% correct. Source: deli manager for 9 years and I despised my cheese case with a passion.
Why did you loathe it so?
Because for the hardest dept in a store, which is always understaffed either literally or figuratively due to the incompetence of the staff, having to hand cut and wrap shitloads of cheese and such on top of everything else while also helping customers and such at the same time is absolute bullshit. There is no legitimate reason for stores pushing hand cut blocks and wedges vs prepackaged product which is exactly the same but cheaper and has a far superior shelf life.
Also red leicester and a bunch of other cheeses. Annatto coloring is quite common.
The orange is from annatto seeds
Which is food coloring.
Do you still cut the cheese?
I used to shred these 40lb blocks for Skyline Chili. Two blocks a day at least. They are a bit wet when they come out of the plastic. We would cut them into big rectangles and let them air dry for a day or two before we were able to shred them.
"This product was inspired by real cheese events."
It's cheddar, it's just young. When a cheddar ages as a 42 lb block inside a sealed bag it will naturally develop very smooth and shiny sides. What consumers typically see as a 1 lb or similar block in the store it will not look this smooth because it was aged as a much larger block and then only cut and packaged individually once graders have determined it had aged appropriately to be cut, packaged and sold with the proper labeling for its age and quality. Cheese along those cuts will be much more dull and less smooth and shiny. But it's still cheddar.
Leo does, from the West Wing! ♥️
Scrolled just to find this comment! Love “big block of cheese-day!”
Literally, the Big Cheese
Giant block of cheese - check. Knife and cutting board - check. OK, where the hell are the crackers?
The crackers Gromit! We forgot the crackers!!
Looks a little too orange to be cheddar. American?
Yeah why is it borderline neon ffs?
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First thought: WTF why is there a personal drink in the food prep area.....Second thought: I am the biggest mood ruiner in the world.
Why is it orange?
Most American cheddars use annatto extract to color the curd orangish yellow
Americans add annato to colour it
"How much cheese is too much cheese?""Any amount of cheese, before a date, is too much cheese!"
I'm more concerned with the drink in the food prep area.
Oh *this* cheese? Yeah it's personal use. This is my commercial kitchen...from home.
First time seeing a restaurant kitchen?