During my brief stay in Portland, I noticed that cheesemongers would often place the prewrapped pieces price-side down. A little sneaky, if you ask me. I had to walk along the counter, flipping wedges, which, um, cheesed them off a bit. Back here in NYC, the prices are front and center, so I can compare, and be as penny-wise and pound-foolish as I please (”Only $6.49/quarter pound? What a bargain! I’m putting back the one that was $6.79 a… quarter… pound. Oh.”).

I have a serious cheese problem. We live near one of the most amazing cheese shops in the US. I occasionally buy a piece of cheese there without looking at how much it costs, because I would put it down if I looked. My husband has not let me forget that I bought a very small piece of Saveur de Maquis that was like $15 and another time it was a Brie de Meaux wedge that cost $11 and the worst was the time I bought an almost $20 slab of Reypenaer. They were all for special occasions, you know, like Tuesday…