Mice Mouse Cheese Swiss Tomato Grapes Watercolor Painting Illustration
By Charlie

Cheese Lovers

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Cheese” today, I immediately thought of just how much I adore cheese. So, I threw in a couple of happy mice as proxies to model my joy when it comes to this amazing food. In truth, there’s almost no type of cheese that I don’t like and I adore trying all different kinds. I’ve mentioned before that Philippe and I have a dedicated cheese drawer and this is my favorite place in our refrigerator. Though I love cheese with just some crackers or by itself, I can’t deny that I also just like when it’s added to any dish. As a kid, I was an addict when it came to mac & cheese and this is something I still love as an adult. Though, compared to the kind I ate from the little blue boxes, the version that Philippe makes would definitely be considered “gourmet” by comparison. When I was growing up, I ate lots of American “cheese.” This isn’t really cheese at all, but instead a “pasteurized processed cheese product” since it’s cheaper to make. These days, I just stick with the real stuff.

Oftentimes, Philippe and I will get a variety of cheeses and make a cheese board. One would think we’d do this because we were having several people over for dinner to entertain. But, we very often just do it to entertain ourselves and celebrate whatever we choose to make up as a reason in the moment. Around the holidays, we’ve splurged before to get the pricier imported cheeses. This isn’t something we can do all of the time, so it’s a truly special treat. I bought Philippe a little kit one year to make cheese, but he only tried making a goat cheese once, and we didn’t quite have the right ingredients so it didn’t turn out as planned. We might try it again, but we quickly realized that eating cheese is way more fun than making it anyway. During the summer months, though, we just eat fewer things in general so a simple slice of Irish cheddar works to cure our cheese cravings.

This afternoon we were wondering what to have for lunch. We had some ham slices in the fridge and I suggested we have a hot ham and cheese sandwich. Philippe looked at me like I’d uttered completely incomprehensible words and just stared at me blankly. I repeated it as though he hadn’t heard, but as it turned out he had simply never heard of such a thing ever being made. He asked me how to make it and I had to admit that when I was growing up it was more often grilled bologna and cheese. This made his lip curl in a way one might see after drinking a bit of spoiled milk. But, to his credit, he give it a go and we had our hot ham and cheese sandwiches. I thought they were delicious, and he thought they were quite edible, which was not really the same level of praise. Indeed, my taste in cheese has become more elevated while being with him, but I can’t deny I still love the same things I had as a kid. Either way, like little mice, I’m rather happy to be one of those lifelong cheese lovers.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.: Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Red, Vermilion, Leaf Green, Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta, and Ultramarine (Green Shade). Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with black ink  in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop!
 Mice Mouse Cheese Swiss Tomato Grapes Watercolor Painting Illustration Sketchbook Detail

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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27 thoughts on “Cheese Lovers”

  2. Hi Charlie, I loved the smiling mouse !! 🤗
    let me tell you that one of my favourites combinations is a big cup of coffee and milk with a “tostado” also called a “Carlito” at some cities in my country where it’s a classic at coffee shops… I bet you’d love that sandwich as well as it happens to be…ham and cheese!!
    you should Google it and take a look 😄👌
    Ooohh and we also have ham and cheese “empanadas” 😍 and that’s another great one!!!
    have a great week!!

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  4. So cute Charlie! Yeah for the hot ham and cheese sandwich and I agree it is a better choice than bologna. We are getting record heat and no rain here. The lawn is brown and I refuse to water it. Thank goodness for air conditioning. A few years ago we had a heat pump system installed which keeps the house comfortable for less electric usage then multiple fans. Each summer feels hotter.

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  7. vôtre aquarelle ressemble à l’Emmental en France – les souris mangent elles vraiment du fromage ? je croyais que c’était du lard

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  8. I can hardly talk about cheese these days without remembering back to the old American Dairy Farmers commercials quoting the ‘power of cheese’. Sometimes, the commercials are more entertaining than the TV shows!

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  9. I made toasted cheese sandwiches recently. They were quite tasty. I’m looking forward to ripe tomatoes because a toasted cheese sandwich with a slice of garden tomato on it is the bee’s knees!

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