Day Three Forty Nine - Hot Chocolate Marriage Mondays

Gosh it feels like the arctic out there, doesn't it? While running this morning, it was 5 degrees out with a wind chill of negative 5. There are very few days I can remember when the actual temperature, not the wind chill factor, was in the single digits. How to warm up when its sooo cold? How about having a nice steaming cup of hot cocoa? The good old fashioned children's favorite is perking up around town, sometimes spiked or simple and straightforward or even dressed up with a unique twist -- you name it, the hot chocolate is quite the popular winter beverage. Decadent, fun, and warming, how could you go wrong?

Why not pair a cheese with that nice cup of hot chocolate on a frigid day like this one?

What sort of cheese could work?
Contestant Number # 1: Cowgirl Creamery's Fromage Blanc - Bright white, super young and fresh are the best ways to categorize our first contestant. Made with whole milk not cream, allowing for a lower fat cream cheese style consistency on the tongue, this is milky, lactic, and all around smooth and silky. This fromage blanc is infused with its specific terroir -- grassy, citrusy and bright! It melts in your mouth but will this youngster be able to hold up to the sweetness of our hot chocolate?

Contestant Number # 2 : Rogue River Blue - A raw cow's milk blue cheese done right! Boasting classic blue veining, that nice spicy punch, piquant and invigorating all at once. Hailing from Oregon, this award winning blue is wrapped in grape leaves during its aging process. Wheels of Rogue River are turned multiple times per week infusing an earthy twang to the cheese. Creamy, rich, and decadent but not over the top -- a perfect mixture of opposing flavor nuances. But will those work with a cup of hot chocolate?

Image courtesy of http://www.artisanalcheese.com/

Contestant Number # 3: Vermont Butter and Cheese Bijou - Meaning jewel in French, this final contestant sure is precious. Pasteurized goat's milk with a natural rind crafted into two ounce cylinders, Bijou is modeled on the classic Loire Valley cheese, Crottin de Chavignol. But our dear Bijou is imbued with that classic Vermont terroir with the stamp of American artisanal cheese all over it. Goaty, grassy, and lactic but with a light creamy sweetness. Will our little jewel win this week's prize?

Image courtesy of http://www.vermontcreamery.com/