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Does anyone have any recommendations for a sharp cheddar cheese that is within a college student's budget (<$10 per pound if possible) and would satisfy a native Wisconsinite? I mainly hope to enjoy it alone or with a simple pairing of wine and crackers, rather than using it for cooking. Thanks in advance!

Grass Point Farms has a Sharp Cheddar! Its is quite good and not over the top priced.. I know you can get it online and I have seen it at a few Whole Foods/...their milk is great too imo

I saw some NY cheddar at aldi yesterday. Also a lot of new goat cheese stuff. Aldi seems to have expanded its cheese selection in my store. They moved the bread up front and added a new refrig. case full of sausage, cheese, hams etc. I would turn my nose up at aldi but I have been going and you can save an amazing amount on basic food stuffs. Especially if you are a college student, whole foods is too expensive. All is not good but most of it is just fine. Now about the NY cheese part for a Wisconsinite, I do not know about that.

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Toria

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
W. Shakespeare

Hoffman's Super Sharp Cheddar. You can get it at Fresh Farms, or you can pay twice as much and buy it at Jewel.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

There was an incredibly good aged sharp white Quebec cheddar sold at Whole Foods, have not bought it lately, but it was reasonably affordable (used to be in the case with other cheeses the store had precut locally), the store-printed label IDed it as Québécois.

Woodman's has "Green Bay" brand sharp cheddar that is pretty decent and very cheap - something like $3 a lb.

Do you want sharp cheddar or aged cheddar? If you want sharp cheddar, take Steve's advice -- Hoffman's is widely available and well within your budget. For aged cheddar, this is my suggestion:

http://aldi.us/us/html/offers/2827_15893_ENU_HTML.htm

If it's still available, please try it and let us know what you think.

If it's not, my suggestion would be to find a way to get into Sam's Club or Costco. Both sell 2lb blocks of 2-year aged cheddar for roughly $12...

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Pi r round.

If you are near Caputo's in Elmwood Park, you may want to try their deli, they usually have reasonably priced items that may fit your budget.

2400 N Harlem Ave
Elmwood Park, IL 60707
(708) 453-0155

I think $10 (and less), can get you some really good cheddars. In fact, for the most part you can spend around that or spend over $30/lb for something like BleuMont's bandaged cheddar.

Something that is very much a supermarket cheese, the Black Creek, from Saputo, is more than satisfactory. I'm trying to get the Locla Beet's cheese guy, Nick Lush (who sounds like the lead singer of a early 1980's English rock band, no?) to write about how good commercial cheese can be.

Not as widely available but good mid-priced houses include Maple Creek, Widmer, and Hennings. I think you could be fine with any.

About the only time I buy non-Midwestern cheese, I buy Jasper Hill's cheese. Their cloth cheddar is more than $10, but Whole Foods frequently discounts it to something close. For the money, there's no better cheddar...for the money to save my locavore cred.

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Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.

The Local Beet's very big list of 2013 Farmer's Markets

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'll poke around at a few stores this weekend and see what I can find.

Sources close to/in Evanston: the two Whole Foods on Chicago Avenue, Marketplace on Oakton, and the Treasure Island on Ridge at Lake Ave. in Wilmette. Also, make a trip to the Evanston Winter Market (9am-1pm Saturday, at the Evanston Ecology Center, on McCormick, just west of Green Bay Road) to sample the fine cheeses from Brunkow Cheese, a fine Wisconsin maker.

Have fun - and Go Cats!

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Food & Flowers: Andre Jordan's sweet doodle for a cold winter's day; diary of an unhappy restaurateur, circa 1881; winter project - try a terrarium

Costco has reasonably priced cheddars, and similar cheeses, such as Dubliner.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Trader Joes at times has the Cabot Private Stock which is very good ... treasure Island has it as well though a little higher priced. Whole Foods Seaside Cheddar is good and usually cheap,often discounted.