Tag Archives: cheese

July 2026 Literary Calendar

Events in the month of July for writers and readers

Good Care Month

National Anti-Boredom Month

National Blueberry Month

National Culinary Arts Month

National Lost Pet Prevention Month

National Picnic Month

Social Wellness Month

South Asian Heritage Month

Wild About Wildlife Month

  • July 1 – American Zoo Day (U.S.); Canada Day; International Joke Day
  • July 1-7 – Clean Beaches Week
  • July 2 – Freedom from Fear of Speaking Day; World UFO Day
  • July 3 – Air Conditioning Appreciation Day; International Plastic Bag Free Day
  • July 4 – U.S. Independence Day
  • July 6 – International Kissing Day
  • July 7 – Global Forgiveness Day; Tell the Truth Day; World Chocolate Day
  • July 8 – International Paramedics Day
  • July 11 – E.B. White’s Birthday; International Essential Oils Day; World Population Day
  • July 14 – Bastille Day (France)
  • July 17 – World Day for International Justice; World Emoji Day
  • July 18 – Nelson Mandela International Day; World Listening Day
  • July 20 – International Chess Day; Space Exploration Day (U.S.)
  • July 21 – Ernest Hemingway’s Birthday
  • July 22 – World Brain Day
  • July 24 – International Self-Care Day
  • July 25 – National Wine & Cheese Day (U.S.)
  • July 29 – International Tiger Day
  • July 30 – Paperback Book Day; World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
  • July 31 – J.K. Rowling’s Birthday

Famous July Birthdays

Other July Events

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Filed under News

Spread This!

Be careful what you say.  And write.  And post in an advertisement.  In trying to keep Americans’ spirits energized for the upcoming holidays, the Giant Foods grocery chain created this jewel for its food platter offerings – without fact-checking the verbiage.  In the midst of a lethal pandemic the last thing anyone desires is a “super-spreader” event.  I mean, we already have one in the White House.

Giant Foods apologized for the ad and promptly pulled it.  I have to admit all that cheese, shrimp and wine looks delectable!  Just don’t breathe on it!

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Filed under Curiosities

Dutch Cheese Dethrones Swiss

Bill Schlingsog, left, of Middleton, WI passes off the championship trophy to Peter Piersma, a judge and Dutch representative, at the 2012 World Champion Cheese Contest Wednesday, March 7, 2012, in Madison, WI. The top winning Gouda was made by Freisland Campina Company in Wolvega, Netherlands. AP Photo/Andy Manis.

I wish I would have found out about this sooner.  A cheese festival!  Hundreds of cultured spectators nibbled on cheese and crackers (as if they had anything else) and waited patiently for an hour before dozens of judges named a Dutch Vermeer the world’s best cheese Wednesday night.

Once a nondescript industry affair with only by a handful of spectators and reporters, World Champion Cheese Contest is now a must-have ticket for Gouda connoisseurs.  The event sold out all of the 400 tickets in the first year they were offered.

Held every two years in Madison, the contest typically draws more than 2,000 entries from nearly two-dozen nations.  Usually only the judges taste the cheese, but this year’s ticketholders sampled 15 of the top entries, while mingling with Wisconsin cheesemakers and the international panel of judges.

The spectators witnessed a mild upset in the judging.  Swiss cheesemakers had won the past three contests and comprised two of the top three finalists this year.  But, it was a low-fat Gouda named Vermeer from Friesland Campina, a company based in Wolvega, Netherlands, that took top honors.  Who could have imagined there’d be drama at a cheese contest?  And, between the Dutch and the Swiss at that?

Friesland Campina didn’t have any representatives in Wisconsin, but will receive its formal award at a banquet in Madison next month.  Dutch judge Peter Piersma woke up the cheesemaker’s plant manager, Piet Nederhoed, with a phone call.  It was about 1 a.m. Holland time.  I know I would have been awake all night waiting for that call!  Seriously!  I’m as much a cheese lover as I am a rum and chicken fried steak aficionado!  I guess I’ll have to wait until next year’s festival.

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Filed under News