Admit it, you have a weakness for cheese straws! We certainly do, and this recipe from the Baker Chick looks awesome. The best part is that they take less than an hour to make:

I decided to make these with whole wheat pastry flour which I am trying to use more lately. I have to say it didn't change the consistency at all and the texture was still light and crispy. I actually didn't feel that bad eating these, (in moderation, they do have lotsa butter and cheese.) Wouldn't they be perfect with a bowl of tomato soup? These are very simple to make and took me no more than 30/40 minutes start to finish!

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Dean Foods and Tetra Pak have teamed up to donate milk to hungry children in North Texas, some of whom may not have access to a refrigerator. That's where Tetra Pak comes in with aseptic technology that allows kids to take home unrefrigerated containers of milk once a week, along with other, non-perishable foods:

Dean Foods and packaging company Tetra Pak have donated 250,000 special cartons of milk that stay fresh for a year to the North Texas Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids program. That’s $92,500 worth — a three-month supply for the program — which the companies’ workers helped distribute at an event on Wednesday. Employees at Dallas-based Dean Foods came up with the idea of donating to Food 4 Kids in September 2010. But the company’s local Oak Farms plant doesn’t make milk that can sit unrefrigerated on shelves. So Dean started working with Tetra Pak to produce milk in aseptic packaging.

This might be best fried cheese dish we've come across all week. Of course, there's only one way to find out for sure, and that's to make it! Luckily the whole recipe is brought to us by serious eats. Check it out:

Churros de queso, not to be confused with the ridged, sugar-and-cinnamon coated churros commonly served with chocolate sauce and coffee, are a savory Nicaraguan finger food. These index finger-sized pastries are rolled and filled with firm, salty, white cheese that resembles mozzarella in texture.

Churros, also called by the diminutive churritos, are a common item found in Nicaraguan bakeries, but they are most commonly served at afternoon parties and especially kids' birthday parties, there known as piñatas after the totem of the celebrations

Most of the time eating fills you up, right? Well some argue that it doesn't do the job quick enough. Enter this anti-hunger additive that has been approved in the UK. This additive is designed for dairy products like ice cream, flavored milks, and other cold desserts. What do you think?

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has given preliminary approval to a novel ‘anti-hunger’ ingredient designed to be added to a number of dairy products including yogurt.

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Jesse Werner is the young cheesemaker at Plymouth Artisan Cheese in Vermont, and he runs a tight, historically accurate ship. Coming off a second place ribbon at the ACS conference in Raleigh earlier this month Plymouth Artisan Cheese scored this great profile in the Boston Globe:

“I was excited about the possibilities,” says Werner. Nothing in the rental agreement stipulated that the cheese needed to be historically accurate, but Werner made that part of his mission. “Coming in, I really wanted to re-create that early cheese from 1890, to abide by the recipe and try to reposition and rebrand Plymouth cheese,” he says.

Two years old and working on their second location, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco beat out over 70,000 small businesses from around the country in the Mission: Small Business competition. The Huffington Post's Aaron Sankin profiles The American and the American love of cheese.

It's an objective fact that people love cheese. But until now, we weren't quite sure how deep that love really ran.

On Tuesday morning, San Francisco's foremost cheese purveyor (of the grilled variety), The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, became one of a dozen small businesses from around the country to win the Mission: Small Business competition.

Although milk prices have risen slightly, grain prices remain too high for many dairy farmers in California to hold onto their farms. AgAlert author Ching Lee asked local farmers, accountants, and dairy economists about the future of dairies, their banks, and their customers.

Just in recent days, [dairy farmer] Joaquin Contente said he learned of at least 16 dairies within five miles of his operation in Hanford that have shuttered their doors or are in the process of doing so. He noted that while a good portion of those dairies were "at the end of their financial rope," others calling it quits are just fed up with the business and want to get out before they lose all of their equity.

"They don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't blame them," Contente said.

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Beecher's Handmade Cheese took the Best of Show ribbon at the American Cheese Society Conference in Raleigh earlier this month for their Flagsheep, a cow and sheep's milk blend. Florence Fabricant at the New York Times took note:

Flagsheep, an aged mix of sheep’s and cow’s milk that comes from Seattle in tall 16-pound clothbound cylinders, beat out 1,710 other cheeses at the event in Raleigh, N.C. It has a richly grassy aroma and flavor, and a firm texture that suggests Cheddar. And what has the folks at Beecher’s especially proud is that it was made with pasteurized milks. (Pasteurization kills some beneficial bacteria that could enhance aging and the quality of the cheese.) “It’s a testament to the cheesemaking that a pasteurized cheese could win,” said Elena Santogade, the company’s lead cheesemonger.

Shredded cheddar cheese, pecans, a buttery shortbread crust - this pecan cheddar shortbread recipe is all of those things. This recipe calls for a creole kick with cayenne pepper and Cajun seasoning. Try baking some of your own to get a homey classic with a spicy twist.

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Photo by ShardsOfBlue

Admit it, the concept of this sandwich has your little hungry heart beating with joy! Say no more, and give this recipe from Food52 a shot. We suspect you won't be disappointed:

"Sandwich" really does not apply here. The very word conjures up rules about crusts, watercress and cucumbers.

When you take a buttermilk waffle and make it into a Buttermilk Black Pepper Bacon Waffle, then you coat it with butter, grill it in a pan and melt a half cup of cheese between those two slabs of bacon-y waffle divot-ed goodness... that my friends is a SAMMICH

Find the recipe here