In my family, Opening Day of baseball season is a holiday, celebrated with excitement and traditions.  We always have an all-American meal of hamburgers and hot dogs, and we settle in with our team gear on for the first game of the season.  So how does one make hamburgers and hot dogs special for this very special of holiday?  Cheese.  I have two favorite burgers of late.  The first one is with Grafton Duet on top, so you get the creamy cheddar and the bite of blue.  The second one has an older cheddar, like Grafton Gold three-year old, plus some caramelized shallots that have been slow simmered in butter.  Now, for the hot dogs: just split them before grilling, and at the end of the grilling time, slide some slices of one-year old Premium Cheddar in the split and let them melt for a minute.  Unfortunately, we have a dilemma this year.  Opening Day is Easter.  Hamburgers and hot dogs for Easter dinner?  Stay tuned.  Oh, and if you were wondering?  Yankees.

You've heard the phrase, "when it rains, it pours. "  But what about "when it snows, it_____?" Because we just got a boatload of snow, and the next storm may bring even more before the weekend.  It's breathtakingly beautiful outside, and temps are just right for playing in the snow.  If you're coming up, please stop by for some cheesy nourishment.

There's a great article in the St. Petersburg Times called "Cheese a Good Choice for New Year's Celebrations."  Well, we knew that.  But in Laura Reiley's interview with Max McCalman, America's first restaurant-based maitre fromager (master of cheese), who has just released his fourth book on the subject, Mastering Cheese: Lessons for True Connoisseurship From a Maitre Fromager (Clarkson Potter, $40), he mentions the most common misconceptions about cheese.  Granted, we knew this stuff, too, but maybe you didn't.  Here's an excerpt:  Most people have this idea that cheese is fattening and that unpasteurized cheese is dangerous. Cheese is not fattening, and in fact it can lower bad cholesterol and elevate good cholesterol levels. Unpasteurized cheese is perfectly safe — and perfectly legal — if it is aged at a cool temperature for 60 days. Also, people are concerned when they see mold. Cheese is a living food and the mold is extracting excess moisture while adding flavor. And I hear from lots of people that they can't eat cheese because they are lactose intolerant. There is almost no lactose in cheese. It's drained off with the whey, and remaining lactose is converted to lactic acid in the souring of the milk.  And here's the full link: http://www.tampabay.com/features/food/general/cheese-a-good-choice-for-new-years-celebrations/1060411.  Happy New Year!