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Happy Halloween from us!
Happy Halloween to all of our wonderfully ghostly customers! We hope you have a very spooky day indeed. We’ve put together a few of our favorite ideas for making Halloween fun.
1. Carving Pumpkins
Of course, pumpkin carving is the classic decoration for Halloween. We absolutely love to make our own designs! Traditional faces are easy to carve, but there are so many online tutorials that can help you to create intricate designs that are sure to impress trick or treaters! Do remember to be careful of any open flames when the pumpkins are lit and to keep the pumpkins away from places where people could injure themselves.
Make sure that you don’t waste the actual pumpkin flesh. It’s delicious roasted as a side dish or cooked into a warming soup for cold evenings. Try using a cookie cutter to cut bread shapes such as ghosts or bats for a fun addition to your soup. You can even roast the seeds with different flavors like salt, chilli, or caramel for a quick crunchy snack. Why not try a pumpkin mac and cheese to warm you up?
2. Spooky Baking
We love to get into the kitchen and create something delicious for Halloween!
Spider Cookies
This recipe is lots of fun to make. Get the whole family involved to create a fantastic treat. Use your favorite cookie recipe or even pre-bought dough to make a big batch of cookies. Melt white chocolate and use it to pipe a web onto the cookies. The easiest way to do this is to pipe on concentric circles and then use a cocktail stick to pull the circles into a web shape. Leave this to set. Then melt milk chocolate and pipe on your creepy spiders. You could even add icing eyes or create your own using candy.
Witch’s Hats
Cut puff pastry or pre-made crescent rolls into the shape of witch’s hats. Decorate with a strip of Colby cheese as a ribbon. You could even use sweet or savory filling to make them into pies. Try pumpkin, cream cheese or melted chocolate for fun seasonal flavors.
3. Decorations
If you want to make sure that trick or treaters visit you, then some decorations will send the message that you are happy to meet them. Of course, your pumpkins will light the way but there are some other ways that you can decorate your home.
Floating witch’s hats
Use fishing line to hang witch’s hats in your porch for a fun decoration that can be seen by your neighbors. You could even use battery powered fairy lights or glow sticks to make them light up so that they can be seen at night. Make sure that they are hung up high so that no-one walks into them!
A Halloween tree
You can now find artificial Christmas trees in a huge range of colors, including black and white. Pick one of these up and decorate it as a Halloween tree. There are lots of spooky ornaments available in the shops and online. Add some cobwebs, skulls, and spiders for a truly creepy tree. You can even get orange tinsel or pull out any dark colored Christmas decorations to add some extra sparkle.
How are you celebrating Halloween? Let us know in the comments below! Have a spooky day!
Happy International Coffee Day!
It’s International Coffee Day today!
An estimated 3 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day around the world. We know that lots of you are true coffee lovers so we’ve put together some ideas to help you celebrate this fun day.
Did you know that coffee beans are actually the seeds of the coffee plant? They are the pit inside the red or purple fruit that looks like a cherry. Usually, there are two seeds within each fruit. The cherries are usually dried for some time in the sun before the seeds are removed. These are then roasted and become the coffee beans that we buy, grind, and make into coffee!
Coffee is now produced in over 50 countries around the world, with the majority coming from South America.
International Coffee Day: Celebration Ideas
- We’re starting on a serious note, but it’s an important one. Head to the International Coffee Day website to find out more and to pledge your support for a living wage for coffee farmers. Coffee prices are currently at their lowest point in 15 years and millions of coffee farmers now struggle to make a living or support their families. It’s up to all of us to make a difference to how we buy coffee so that everyone can live a better life.
- Also on the International Coffee Day website, you can find a fun quiz to test your knowledge of coffee.
- If you’re a chocolate lover, why not try our recipe for Coffee Chocolate Truffles?
- Check out our blog posts on all the different types of coffee and how to make them at home. Whether you love an Americano or a Macchiato, trying making it your way today!
- Get a new reusable cup. Lots of us around the world are trying to reduce our waste and a great place to start is with ditching single use coffee cups. You can grab a reusable mug from a wide variety of stores both in store and online. Many coffee shops will offer you some money off your drink for helping to save the planet!
- Try our Shisler’s Cheese House Coffee Mug. If you’re at home, then we’ve created a mug that lets you proudly show off as one of our customers. Perfect for a quick coffee before work in the morning or a cosy afternoon with a book.
- Have a coffee with some cheese! This might surprise you, but Limburger Cheese is sometimes served with a strong black coffee. It has such a strong taste and aroma that it is best paired with an even stronger drink. If you try it, let us know what you think in the comments below!
- If you drink coffee every day, take a simple moment to appreciate all the effort that went into your cup.
We proudly stock REACH coffee. This is specialty grade coffee from the region of Chanchamayo, Peru that is roasted in Cleveland, Ohio. You can order online or pop in to buy some today.
How will you be celebrating International Coffee Day? Let us know; we’d love to hear all about it!
Packed Lunch Ideas For Fall
With many of us back at school and work after a fun summer, many of you will be thinking about options for packed lunches. There’s nearly always someone in the household that needs to take lunch with them in the morning.
Packed Lunch Ideas: Warming Lunches for Fall
As it starts to get cooler, you’re probably going to want something warming at lunch. Why not take a delicious soup, hearty stew or even a rich pasta dish with you to keep the cold at bay. There are so many options for food containers that will keep your lunch hot as you work or learn these days. Not only that, but taking your own along reduces the environmental impact of packaged foods.
Packed Lunch Ideas: Baking Mixes
Our range of quick baking mixes will help you to whip up something quick for tomorrow’s lunch that feels truly homemade.
We have bread baking mixes for Beer Bread, Golden Cornbread, or Red Hot Cornbread. Our Cheesy Biscuits Baking Mix is sure to please someone hungry for lunch!
For the sweet tooth, we have a great range of muffin mixes. These include strawberry, apple cinnamon, chocolate chip, pumpkin raspberry, and “bran”ana.
Packed Lunch Ideas: Trail Mix
We’ve got a trail mix to suit every taste here at Shisler’s Cheese House!
Banana Split Mix: Cranberries, banana chips, almonds, chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate drops, pineapple tidbits, raisins, yogurt covered peanuts, peanuts, and yogurt drops for those of you looking for a fruity sweet treat.
Amish Hot Mix: Hot Cajun sesame sticks, taco sesame corn sticks, redskin peanuts, pretzel twists, and chili bits for spicy food lovers.
Buggy Trail Mix: Butter toffee peanuts, honey roasted sesame sticks, cheddar crackers, pretzel nuggets, and wheat crackers for anyone who loves a bit of crunch.
We also have a Diet Trail Mix, Mikey’s Mix and a basic Trail Mix. You could even combine some of these to create your ultimate trail mix. This is a great snack if you’re sending hungry kids to school. Just be sure to check whether the school has any allergy requirements as you may not be able to send snacks containing nuts.
Packed Lunch Ideas: Dried Fruit
Another great healthy snack is dried fruit. We stock Think Fruit: a fab dried fruit snack. Try pineapple, blueberries, cranberries, peach slices, cherries, and cinnamon apple slices to discover your favorite.
We hope some of these ideas will be useful to you as you plan your lunches in the coming weeks. Something that you might find useful is creating a meal plan so that you always know what’s coming up for lunch and which snacks you need to stock up on. You could even cook batches of meals ahead of time and freeze them for later. A couple of great soups and stews frozen in portions can save a lot of time and headaches later!
What do you like to take for your packed lunch? Let us know in the comments!
Our favorite Shisler’s Cheese House reviews
We absolutely love our customers at Shisler’s Cheese House. We hope that you love our products and that you enjoy coming to see us in store or shopping online. Did you know that our Facebook page is full of Shisler’s Cheese House reviews?
Today we have put together some of our favorite reviews for you to read. If you haven’t already, head on over and like us on Facebook! You’ll get up to date on our latest news and see all of our blog posts over there. You can also leave us a review; we’d love to hear what you think about us.
One of the best cheese mongers in northern Ohio! Rita knows what she’s doing. If you have a weekend out or a couple of days to explore this beautiful part of Ohio you must visit this shop. – Christy
Love this store. They say good things come in small packages. Well, this is one of the best. So much goodness in that little store and they carry my two favorite foods… cheese and chocolate! Rita and her staff go above and beyond to be sure each customer leaves happy and satisfied. – Cheryl
Great selection of quality food and chocolates!!!! I’ve never been to the store, as we live out of state, but have always been extremely pleased with the quality products and shipping that allows items to stay cold, even to Florida. Will continue to order our holiday treats from here. – Jennifer
We live in Maryland and we are originally from Massillon but every year we order Ohio Swiss Cheese from Shisler’s Cheese House, so we always have a little Ohio on our table. – Mary
At Shisler’s, our employees are trained to provide nothing less than outstanding service. Whether you choose to do business at our brick and mortar or online store, your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Beyond insisting that our employees provide outstanding service, we do our best to provide a pleasant work environment for them, in which those service habits develop naturally. If you ever receive anything less than outstanding service, please let a member of our senior staff know and give us the opportunity to correct the situation.
Let us know what you think of our products and service in the comments below or over on Facebook!
Do Mice Really Like Cheese?
We all know the image of a mouse eating some cheese. It’s prevalent in cartoons and we even chose it for our own logo. Many of us would first think to use cheese if we were hoping to catch a mouse. So, we thought it was about time that we found out: do mice really like cheese?
The simple answer: yes! But it’s a little more complex than that.
In various studies, it has been shown that mice will eat cheese, but that they will usually try to eat something with a higher calorie content or carbohydrate content. For example, the BBC conducted a simple study where peanuts or cheddar cheese were available, and the cheddar cheese was entirely avoided by the mice. They, instead ate the nuts, although one ate a grape; they must have been having a healthy day! Peanuts have approximately 50% more calories than the cheese, so the mice are choosing a food that will give them energy for longer.
Mice are more likely to gravitate towards sweet treats such as fruits or even chocolate, it has also been found. They can be particularly sensitive to smell, so a very pungent cheese is likely to put them off rather than entice them. In rural areas, they will look for grains, fruits, and seeds to eat.
So, if you’re offering a mouse some cheese and nothing else is available, they will go for it. But given a choice, they might opt for something with more calories. We think our mouse must simply be a very hungry cheese lover!
There you have it. If you have always been wondering ‘do mice really like cheese?’ then now you have the answer! Do you have other interesting questions about cheese? Let us know in the comments and we’ll try to answer them!
Swiss Cheeses: Learn About Our Range
We stock a whole range of different Swiss cheeses here at Shisler’s Cheese House, so we thought now would be a great time to share them all with you.
How are Swiss Cheeses made?
The process of making Swiss cheeses involves natural bacteria consuming the lactic acid in the cheese. This releases carbon dioxide gas, which forms bubbles that become the holes in the cheese. These are often referred to as “eyes”.
Our range of Swiss cheeses
Our Ohio Swiss cheese is an Amish cheese made in Northeastern Ohio. It undergoes a longer aging process that it undergoes, at a higher temperature than younger cheeses. This produces larger eyes, which is sometimes seen as an indicator for better flavor. It closely resembles the original Swiss Emmental Cheese, which was originally produced in the Swiss canton of Bern. Ours has the signature nutty, bittersweet taste. The milk used in our Swiss cheese does not have preservatives added and is always from cows that have not been given hormones or antibiotics.
We also offer Baby Swiss, which substitutes water for the milk’s whey to slow the bacterial action. This creates smaller holes and a milder flavor, whilst still being delightfully creamy. If you or someone you love likes Baby Swiss cheese, then you’ll be pleased to know we offer a gift box with a 4lb. Baby Swiss cheese and a selection of assorted chocolates. You can also find a 2lb. Baby Swiss cheese in one of our other gift boxes, along with a Troyer’s Trail Bologna Ring, 8oz, of Colby Cheese, Shisler’s Private Label Mustard, Carr’s Crackers and assorted chocolates.
Lacy Swiss is another variety of Swiss cheese, made with low-fat milk. Lacy Swiss was invented by Alpine Lace Brands in 1985 in response to the growing need for healthier alternatives. This cheese is closely related to Swiss cheese, but the whole milk used to produce swiss cheese is replaced with low fat milk to provide a healthier alternative with a lower fat content. It gets its name from the lacy appearance of the slices, which usually have a creamy, ivory color to them. It has a delightfully light and nutty flavor. If you follow a lactose-free diet, then this cheese is naturally free of lactose.
We also stock Lacy Baby Swiss. Lacy Baby Swiss combines the production methods of Baby and Lacy Swiss to create a cheese with very small holes, a mild flavor, and a lower fat and sodium content than many cheeses.
We even offer smoked Swiss cheese and smoked baby Swiss. The smoked cheeses have a creamier texture and a more buttery, slightly sweet flavor, which make them ideal for melting. Light cold-smoking adds an earthiness to the flavor profile for an added smokey, cured taste.
Our final offering is a sharp Swiss cheese. This is a more mature version of our locally made cheese that has been aged for approximately 12 months. This is an excellent substitute for Gruyere cheese, if you prefer the more mature variety. The word ‘sharp’ denotes a strong flavor as a result of a long aging process.
How to enjoy Swiss cheeses
Swiss cheeses are delicious in a sandwich or served cut into cubes alongside salads and hams. They work well with most meats and are particularly good with a beef burger. You can use them in fondue and even enjoy them for breakfast with ham and a croissant. They pair well with apples, grapes, and pickled fruits and make an excellent addition to any cheeseboard.
How do you like to eat Swiss cheese? Let us know in the comments below!
Holidays in July
July starts with Independence Day, but there are also lots of unusual holidays in July! Today we’ll explore some of our favorites with you.
National Sugar Cookie Day – July 9th
This is a day to celebrate those sweet cookies that are fun to make with the kids. Usually, the recipe is simply sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder or baking soda. Our favorites have sprinkles on the top though!
National Pina Colada Day – July 10th
This is a day that you might hope falls at the weekend, as it celebrates the classical tropical cocktail! A blend of coconut cream, white rum, and pineapple juice, it’s sure to transport you to a sunny beach, whatever the weather.
National Mac and Cheese Day – July 14th
One of the nation’s favorite comfort foods is celebrated in July. Whether you make it from scratch or from a box, most people have happy memories of eating mac and cheese. Check out our blog post with five ways to make your mac and cheese sensational to inspire your cooking.
National Hot Dog Day – July 17th
Another celebration of an American classic! We love a holiday that you can celebrate by eating. Pick up some Dick’s Homemade Horseradish Mustard or Tony Packo’s Bread and Butter Pickles to complete your hot dog.
National Ice Cream Day – July 21st
Cool down for the summer with this holiday! Whether it’s chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla, you’re sure to have a favorite flavor. Why not try something more unusual this year? Find salted caramel, pistachio or brown bread ice cream for a new flavor sensation. Did you know that you can even get cheese ice cream? There are ice creams made from cheddar, cream cheese, goat’s cheese, and even blue cheese!
National Chili Dog Day – July 25th
As it’s just not enough to celebrate hot dog day, just eight days later you can celebrate chili dog day!
National Wine and Cheese Day – July 25th
One of our favorites of the holidays in July, of course. The perfect excuse to whip up a delicious cheeseboard and pour yourself a generous glass of wine. You could celebrate with our Red Wine Collection or White Wine Collection. These include a selection of cheeses that we think are well suited to pairing with wine. You can pick your favorite red or white wines to enjoy them with.
National Scotch Day – July 27th
Another holiday that you can celebrate with one of our gift baskets! Our Scotch Collection includes generous cuts of Danish Blue Cheese, Gruyere, Cheddar, and Parmesan. There is enough for around 20 people, so grab a few bottles of Scotch and you’ll have a party on your hands!
National Lasagna Day – July 29th
An Italian classic and a great meal to share with all of the family. You could make it extra special by using homemade fresh pasta amongst the layers of sauce.
National Cheesecake Day – July 30th
Finish off the month on a sweet note with a delicious cheesecake! Whether you like yours baked or not, make one on July 30th to share with your friends.
What are your favorite holidays in July? Let us know in the comments below!
There’s a National Day for Everything!
Did you know that there are national days and months for almost any topic that you can think of? There’s a National Peanut Butter Day (March 1st) and National Deviled Egg Day (November 2nd). National Cheese Pizza Day falls on September 5th and February 28th is National Chocolate Souffle Day! Today we’re going to explore some of June’s more unusual holidays!
National Cheese Day
This falls on June 4th and is, of course, our favorite national day of them all. You can always celebrate with a slice of delicious cheese from our range of beautifully made local cheeses.We also have lots of blog posts about different cheeses and ways to eat them to inspire you.
National Donut Day
June 7th provides the perfect excuse to indulge in a sweet treat, whether it’s the fried variety at the fair or a glazed donut from your favorite bakery.
National Rosé Day
June 8th should be spent with a glass of pink, hopefully soaking up the sun.
National Candy Month
Yes, that’s right! June is National Candy Month! According to the National Confectioners Association this is “a moment to celebrate a classic American manufacturing success story”. Of course, we recommend celebrating with some of our amazing range of candy and chocolates that we have in store and online. Many of them are from Heggy’s, a local supplier that we are proud to support. Founded by Ben Heggy in 1923, Heggy’s Chocolates remains one of the premiere candy companies in America. Over the years, Heggy’s Chocolates has remained a family owned and operated business and today they maintain a high level of commitment to their customers and the community.
If you think that you’ve overdone it stocking up on confectionery, then check out our fun ways to use up leftover chocolate.
National Dairy Month
Naturally, National Cheese Day falls within National Dairy Month. The International Dairy Foods Assocation say “National Dairy Month started out as National Milk Month in 1937 as a way to promote drinking milk. It was initially created to stabilize the dairy demand when production was at a surplus, but has now developed into an annual tradition that celebrates the contributions the dairy industry has made to the world.”
Whether it’s with ice cream, cheesecake or a simple glass of milk, there are lots of ways to celebrate National Dairy Month. Of course, we always recommend starting with a slice of cheese!
National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month
After all that candy and cheese, you might be relieved to hear that June is also National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. Why not check out our salad ideas for ways to use fresh fruit and vegetables to create a delicious meal? You could also celebrate by planting some of your own fruits and vegetables to harvest later in the year. If you’re not experienced in gardening, start with something easy like fresh herbs.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed getting to know some of these holidays. As we’re nearing the end of June now you might need to celebrate them all this weekend! Don’t worry though, we’ll be back to tell you about some more in July.
What’s your favorite national celebration day? Let us know in the comments!
June 16th is Father’s Day!
Father’s Day is coming up on June 16th, so we wanted to get you all ready with some suggestions for brilliant gifts.
We know that you will all want to show your Dads how much they mean to you. It’s certainly a special day to show them your appreciation for all that they do for you and our range of gifts is the perfect thing for the man who has everything. You’re sure to find something that will appeal to every taste, so read on to find out more about our fantastic range of gifts.
Our Gift Box for Dad contains Troyer’s Trail Bologna Ring, Ohio Swiss Cheese, Pepper Jack Cheese, Shisler’s Private Label Mustard, Shisler’s Private Label Hot Pepper Relish, and Carr’s Crackers. It’s everything that your Dad could need for a perfect Father’s Day. If you’re lucky he might even let you share some of his delicious treats!
Pepper Jack is a cow’s milk cheese that has been given a spicy intensity through the use of jalapeno, serrano, and habanero peppers. Troyer’s Trail Bologna Ring is a chunky, all-beef bologna with a smoky taste, created by the fourth generation of the Troyer family. Don’t be fooled by imitators.
You could add a bottle of wine, beer, or scotch if you want to impress Dad even more.
If our Gift Box for Dad doesn’t sound quite right, have no fear, we have a huge range of gift baskets that are perfect for showing him how much you care.
Our cheese lover’s box is extra cheesy! You’ll receive a 3/4Lb. wheel each of Cheddar, Cojack (Marble), Farmer’s Cheese and Pepper Jack. Just like our other boxes, you’ll find some assorted chocolates as well.
For a showstopping gift, our Baby Swiss Cheese Gift Box is certain to create a stir. It contains a whole 4Lb. Baby Swiss Cheese Wheel. Our Baby Swiss is made in Charm Ohio, by the original producer Guggisberg Cheese. It is a young, semi-soft whole milk cheese with small holes and a mild flavor. It also comes with chocolates for those with a sweet tooth!
We also offer a Scotch Collection and Beer Collection for those Dads who like to pair cheese with their favorite drinks. Make sure you include a bottle so that they can enjoy their gift right away! If your Dad has more of a sweet tooth, then check out our chocolate section.
We can’t wait to get your Father’s Day gifts to you all and make it a great day for everyone. Please remember to check our shipping policy if you are ordering online to make sure that your gifts will arrive on time.
If you need some help to pick out a great gift, why not get in touch or pop into the store to see how we can help?
How will you be celebrating this Father’s Day? Let us know in the comments below!
Mother’s Day: get ready with our gift ideas
This year Mother’s Day falls on Sunday May 12, so now is the time to make sure that you have picked up a great gift. As always, we’ve worked to put together a list of ways that we can help you here at Shisler’s Cheese House.
Our favorite way to show her how much you appreciate all she has done for you is our delicious Mother’s Day Gift Basket!
Our Mother’s Day Gift Basket Includes:
- Havarti Cheese
- Assorted Heggy’s Milk Chocolates
- Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Fudge
- Strawberry Caramel Creams
- Yogurt Covered Cranberries
We think you’ll agree that this is a rather incredible selection but in case you need convincing, we have put together some information about everything included. We’re also going to give you some other gift ideas, in case there’s something in there that your Mom doesn’t like! Read on to find out more.
Havarti Cheese
Havarti Cheese is a semi-soft Danish cow’s milk cheese that can be sliced, grilled, or melted. It has a buttery, semi-sweet taste with some acidity. It’s perfect for making grilled cheese, but it would also be great with a fruit platter after a meal.
Assorted Heggy’s Milk Chocolates
Heggy’s Candy Company has built a rich tradition of premium handcrafted chocolates and candies throughout the United States for over 9 decades. Founded by Ben Heggy in 1923, Heggy’s Chocolates remains one of the premiere candy companies in America. Over the years, Heggy’s Chocolates has remained a family owned and operated business and today they maintain a high level of commitment to their customers and the community.
We know that these are great gifts, so we had to include them here!
Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Fudge
If you’ve never tried this, you have got to hope that your Mom feels like sharing! This is a fudge unlike any you will have had before.
Strawberry Caramel Creams
The perfect taste of summer strawberries wrapped up in smooth caramel.
Yogurt Covered Cranberries
A delicious treat and something a little refreshing after all the sweets and cheese.
Order your Mother’s Day gift basket today or pop into the store. Be sure to check our delivery times if you are ordering online so that your gift isn’t late.
Even more gift ideas
We have a whole selection of different gift baskets to cater for every taste. Whether your Mom is a cheese lover, a bologna fan, or wants to try a little bit of everything, we’ve carefully curated our favorite products to make them smile. We even have a basket for those who love hot and spicy foods! If you’d like to, we can help you build your own gift basket with all of your Mom’s favorite things.
If you want to let Mom pick her own selection of treats, we can provide an e-gift certificate. We send you a code immediately, so this is a great option if you’re not able to see your Mom in person (or if you’re a little forgetful and have left things til the last minute!).
We want to wish all of you Moms a very happy Mother’s Day this Sunday. Enjoy your day; you deserve it!
