American as Apple Pie

I have never lived in the Midwest. However, my dad grew up in Illinois, so I was raised to enjoy a fair number of Midwestern traditions. One of these is apple pie with cheddar cheese. My grandfather taught me a wonderful saying when I was a very tiny girl.

“Apple pie without some cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.”

I love apple pie with cheese. I was raised to love it. But since I have never actually lived in a place where people commonly enjoy apple pie with cheese, I routinely get strange looks when I cut a nice, thick slab of cheddar to go with my apple pie.

Now, I ask you, what is so strange about this? People drink milk with pie. People enjoy ice cream with pie. People scoop large dollops of whipped cream onto their pie. Plenty of other dairy products are perfectly acceptable to enjoy with pie.

Just not cheese. Except for those of us who know better.

So, I challenge you all this holiday season. Try this once. Cut a piece of quality cheddar cheese (not nasty cheese), and try this with your apple pie. You probably won’t be instantly converted to an apple-pie-with-cheese-die-hard like me, but you might be surprised at how well the flavors complement one another.

Yum.