You could say I’m a bit of a cheese fanatic. I love everything about cheese, and getting to try new cheeses is one of my favorite things. You don’t have to work too hard to imagine how excited I was to get my hands on two different cheese themed advent calendars.
Every year I miss out on getting one from Aldi. I know they have them, but somehow I always realize they’re available after they’re already snapped up. This year I was a step ahead of them. Many calendar notifications and a lunch break visit later and I had two in my possession. We’re serious about cheese around here and I needed one to sample and one for making mini mac and cheeses.
This calendar offers one half ounce of 12 different varieties of cheeses each day. Perfect for a sampling of cheese or one serving of mac and cheese. The cheeses in the Aldi calendar are primarily gouda varieties with a few cheddars and new friends mixed in.
I didn’t originally plan to grab a second calendar, but after an unexpected Texas visit, I was in easy reach of the Ilchester calendar. Nevermind that I had to go to two different Sam’s Clubs to get there, I had to have it.
Ilchester’s calendar is the passion project of Annem Hobson from So Wrong It’s Nom. She created the original cheese advent calendar and is the whole reason we’re here. Her calendar contains 9 different cheeses from Ilchester and Applewood brands.
I was (only very slightly) concerned that the two advent calendars would cross each other too much, but those concerns were unfounded. The calendars contain vastly different cheeses that I would be thrilled to purchase both next year. There are a few days where the same variety crosses at the same time, but all this shows is how much I need Double Gloucester and Monterey Jack mac and cheese.
Starting tomorrow I’ll be posting unboxing videos and sharing my recipes at both TikTok and Instagram each day. You can find all of the (full size) recipes here.
I hope you join me on this adventure. It’s going to be a blast.