Queso, Tamale Pie, Biscuit Bites, Oh my! Find them all in the latest Tillamook Home Entertaining Digital Cookbook.

‘Tis the season for holiday home entertaining! Our new Recipepalooza digital cookbook features tips*, recipes, and inspiration for home entertaining so you can be the hostess with the mostess. Maybe you need an all-natural Queso recipe to curve hunger before the main course? Or a mouthwatering Pepper Jack Mac & Cheese that’s sure to impress? Polish off the evening with Blueberry Mazurka and send your guests home happy!

Visit Tillamook.com/entertaining for more yummy inspiration! Happy holidays (and home entertaining)!

*Does not include tips on handling in-laws.

By Loafy

I love my Tillamook Cheese Cookbook and I began to wonder how these well-worn pages came together. So I sat down with our very own Kathy Holstad to learn more about her experiences creating the Tillamook Cheese Cookbook.

Q: How did you first taste Tillamook?
A: My grandparents were Tillamook dairy farmers, as were my great-grandparents. So, Tillamook Cheese was, of course, always in their fridge. It is what I grew up on – in our house and in theirs. My Grandpa lived to be 94 years old and he claimed that a hunk of Tillamook Cheese, a bowl of hot oatmeal, and hard work every day is the reason why he lived such a long and healthy life!

Q: What inspired you to create the Tillamook Cookbook?
A: When I started working at Tillamook in 1997 there were no formally tested recipes or food photography. My goal was to someday have a collection of recipes that could be put into a beautiful cookbook because it had never been done before. The 100^th Anniversary of the Tillamook County Creamery Association seemed like the perfect time to make it a reality.

Q: How long did it take?
A: We created, tested, and photographed all the recipes over about 12 years, and then it took 1 year to put the actual cookbook together with our publisher.

Q: What was the hardest thing about writing a cookbook?
A: Picking which recipes will go into the book – they’re all so good!

Q: What was the most fun part about writing a cookbook?
A: Hands down working with the generational family farms for all the photos. They were so honored to be a part of it (and some were so shy!).

Q: What was one surprising thing you learned through the process?
A: The amount of creative people it takes to create a really great cookbook.

Q: What is your favorite seasonal ingredient used in the cookbook?
A: Crab, squash, or apples.

Q: What’s your favorite recipe overall?
A: That’s a hard question as there are so many! The Scalloped Potatoes (page 63) are very simple, but the addition of the different kinds of delicious Tillamook Cheese make it very special.

Q: What’s your favorite recipe for a quick weekday dinner?
A: The Everyday Macaroni and Cheese (page 98) is a great base, but I add other ingredients to make it different every time. I may add shrimp and Cajun seasoning one time, or chicken and nutmeg the next time, and always play with the cheese combinations. Have fun with a basic recipe! Instead of all Medium Cheddar, make it with half Pepper Jack and half medium, or a blend of medium, Vintage White Extra Sharp and Monterey Jack…mix it up!

Q: Which recipe sounds the hardest, but is the most worth it?
A: The Mega-Cheesy Mac & Cheese (page 114) with crab. It has a lot of ingredients, but it is so worth it!

Q: What’s your favorite part about working for Tillamook?
A: The farmers, the family atmosphere, and the fact that everyone works so hard to make amazing Tillamook products to share with our consumers.

By Gillian

Apparently it’s National Cookbook Month? Who knew! It’s the perfect excuse for me to spend some time in the largest independent bookstore in the world, Powell’s books. They have everything, including the perfect ambiance to curl up with my smart phone and their cheese cookbook section to explore some cooking resources…

Some of my favorite new online finds:

• I couldn’t help but fall in love with this illustrated cooking blog by kids, Kids Draw and Cook. A recipe I can’t wait to try: Zucchini Bread by Emily. What a fun thing to do with little ones!
• For the best cheese mobile apps, Slashfood.com has a good list.
• For a run down on the best cooking apps, I like AppAdvice.com’s list.

Now, I know everything is going digital these days, but I still can’t get over the nostalgia of cracking open that cookbook that has my mother’s and my grandmother’s recipe smudges. Here are some cheesy classics I look forward to passing along to my own children:

• Cooking with Cheese: 70 Best-ever Recipes by Roz Denny, is touted as the ultimate cheese cookbook. A recipe I can’t wait to try: Classic Fondue (page 63).
• Grilled Cheese Please! by Laura Werlin, one of our favorite authors and cheese experts. A recipe I can’t wait to try: Double Cheddar and Tomato Jam Grilled Cheese (page 9). Here’s a review of her book from TastingTable.
• The Guide to West Coast Cheese by Sarah Davies. While this is more of a resource book than a cookbook, it appreciates cheese in plain form. A cheese I can’t wait to try: El Dorado Gold out of Somerset, CA (a goat cheese that goes perfectly with an IPA!). Here’s an interview with the author by one of my favorite food blogs, The Kitchn.
• As part of the Tillamook Team (and a Tillamook Cheese lover), the kids will definitely get my well-worn copy of The Tillamook Cheese Cookbook: Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence by Kathy Holstad. My favorite recipe: The Ultimate Comfort Food Macaroni and Cheese (page 129). FYI, here are our top 10 all-time favorite Mac’n’Cheese recipes.

For a comprehensive resource on a variety of cheese books, you can also visit the book review on Fork & Bottle.

Happy cooking!

By Gillian