Can't find buttermilk at the grocery store that your Thanksgiving recipe demands? Not a problem, because we have a buttermilk recipe for you. Homemade is always more fun, plus you can brag to your friends.

Back in the day, however, buttermilk was a different beast. Based on my reading, it seems the story is this: Raw milk was not churned right away since a certain volume of cream would need to be collected and the milk and cream needed time to sit and separate. Bacteria naturally found in the milk would multiply, the milk would sour, and the "buttermilk" that was left behind after churning was, as a result, not the same as what is left after DIY-ing your own butter from pasteurized and homogenized milk. And neither of these versions is the same as the cultured buttermilk sold commercially at your local grocery today.

The Boston Globe talked with Peter Lovis, owner of the 150 year old Massachusetts' cheese store, The Concord Cheese Shop. Check out the interview to find out what a pro cheesemonger thinks about chain grocery store cheese, cheesemongering as a new profession, and how he came to be owner of the time honored store.

Also be sure to attend the 3rd Annual Crucolo Parade at his store, where a 400 lb. wheel of cheese from a tiny village in the Trentino region of northern Italy, will arrive in a horse-drawn cart.

The success of Beecher's Handmade Cheese's first quick service store is making owner contemplate opening more locations. Kurt Dammeier says, "It turns out people want to eat cheese sandwiches." Yes Kurt, we most certainly do. We most certainly do.

Beecher's airport location offers a similar menu to its Pike Place café, although there isn't any cheese-making on the premises. Dammeier says the current line-up of soups, grilled sandwiches, breakfast strata and mac-and-cheese will soon be expanded to include "other healthy things which go with soup and mac-and-cheese," such as salads.

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Celebrity chefs Gale Gand, Jon Ashton, and Avery Pursell are competing in Challenge Butter's inaugural holiday recipe contest, “Recipe for Caring Holiday Celebrity Chef Challenge.” The California based butter company will allow fans to vote via Twitter and Facebook for one of the following recipes: Coconut Pecan Butter Crunch Cookies, Savory Olive and Parmesan Scones with Lindsay Olives, or Apple Pie with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce.

The winning chef will receive $5,000 to donate toward his or her charity; the runners-up will receive $2,500. Prizes awarded to voters include a $2,500 grand prize, as well as coupons and one of 10 holiday Good Cook Bakeware prize packs.

From an unhappy law student to a successful cheesemaker: Lisa Jacobs of Jacobs Creamery is living the cheese dream.

Her first batch of cheese happened by accident. “The facility where I leased space was a milk bottler. One day, they got some water in a huge batch of milk, which means you can’t sell it. But you can make cheese with it. So the guy called and said, ‘We have a thousand gallons. Come make cheese.’”

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Photo by jen stevenson

With turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce to think about, cheese's role in Thanksgiving dinner may be overlooked. Don't fret -- these cheesy treats will ensure cheese is an unforgettable addition to your feast.

If you want some Thanksgiving-worthy cheese ideas, look no further than the archives of our Cheesemonger columns. From cheese balls to the tastiest homemade cheese crackers, to spreads, accompaniments, and all the best things to serve with a cheese platter, here's your go-to Thanksgiving guide on how to incorporate copious amounts of cheesy goodness into your meal next week. You can thank us later.

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Photo by Nora Singley

Pule is an extremely rare cheese made from donkey milk. Interested? Even if you are, the outrageous price may deter you from ever getting a taste. Try the runner-up in most expensive cheeses: Murray's French Gruyere called Beaufort D'Ete.

Slobodan Simic, the head of the Zasavica donkey reserve where the cheese is made, told Reuters that it would probably fetch "three, four or five thousand Euros" per kilogram, or between about $1,700 and $2,900 a pound, if it were sold in the free market, given its rarity and the expense of producing it.

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Photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis

Microbiologists have identified the yeast gene that is responsible for the foamy head atop your favorite beer. Now that they know what is responsible for it, they can work with it to create a head that doesn't dissolve too quickly. Cheers to science!

Now that we know exactly which gene is responsible for beer foam, Villa says it's possible to manipulate that gene to create beer with foam that lasts longer — potentially for hours and hours, as our colleagues at Science Friday reported.

He also says the same gene responsible for creating the head on a beer is present in wine as well. His team experimented with these genes and came up with a wine that looks like a beer. "It creates a different kind of wine with a lot of foam," Villa says. "You can play around a little bit."

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ANICAP (Association Nationale Interprofessionelle Caprine) is funding the first ever campaign for French goat cheeses: The Original Chevre. The campaign aims to bring awareness to the origin, tradition, and craftsmanship involved in the making of chevre.

Chevre is primarily made in eight regions across the French countryside located South of the Loire River: Poitou-Charentes, Loire Valley, Burgundy, Rhone-Alps, Provence-Cote d'Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine. The unique terroir of each region, created by a tradition of cultural and environmental influence, is unmistakably tasted in the flavors of each cheese

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Barrie Lynn, a self-proclaimed “cheese impresario,” often meets hesitation when she tells people to pair Wisconsin cheese with Tennessee Whiskey. But usually after a few sips and nibbles people are nodding in agreement. Do you think you're up for trading in beer and wine pairings for some stronger spirits?

I first tried Lynn’s pairings at a Japanese sake/Wisconsin cheese tasting in 2010 (Who knew rice spirits are so good with gouda?). In 2011, the festival offered pairings of rum and cheese, Scotch and cheese and dessert wines and cheese.

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Photo by Paul Watson