From our 2012/13 Gift Guide: American Idyll

GET IT? Our mongers say: If the proof is in the pudding (here pudding = cheese, duh), a taste of this selection will show anyone that American cheesemaking has come into its own.

This stuff makes us feel patriotic:

• DELICATE Vermont Butter & Cheese Cremont
• BUTTERY Champlain Valley Triple Cream
• FUNKY Meadow Creek Grayson
• TANGY Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze Cheddar
• LICORICE-Y (for real!) Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue
• HEARTY Urban Oven Olive Oil Crackers