Legendary rocker Tom Petty sang “the waiting is the hardest part,” but I disagree. It’s the topic. The topic is the hardest part.

In this year of cancellations, it’s been challenging to come up with column ideas. But out of the blue a Monroe Times reader offered up a suggestion. 

Here’s the story: a number of years ago I was in the Green County Garden Club. I don’t think this group exists anymore, possibly having morphed into the Green County Master Gardeners. I recall Eunice Witt as a member we all admired for her gardening expertise. Eunice’s obituary notes involvement in various garden clubs and designation as “Iris Lady of Dutch Hollow.” Her place of birth is specifically pinpointed as Dutch Hollow, Sylvester Township, Green County. But since Eunice’s green thumbs didn’t transfer to me, this column isn’t about gardening.

In one of my recent columns, I put out a call for Cheese Days collectibles and ephemera as we work toward establishing a “Cheese Days Hall of Fame” visual archive at the Historic Green County Courthouse. Pauline Wyss, who was also a member of the Green County Garden Club, read the article and kindly mailed in a pocket-size festival pamphlet from the 1960s. In the enclosed note, she recalled some cheese bread I brought to a garden club potluck, along with the suggestion that perhaps I could share a cheesy recipe in a future column. 

I love cheese. I love bread. And I loved her idea. I am guessing I had made a batter bread (no yeast, no kneading required) made with aged Cheddar. I included the recipe in a cookbook I once compiled and titled “Cat Hair Lasagna.” (There’s a story there too, but not for today…) 

In addition to loving cheese and bread, I have a bit of an obsessive interest in kitchen tools and gadgets. Recent acquisitions (during this time of pandemic cooking at home) include immersion blender, ice cream maker, and microplane grater. Late last year after using my daughter’s KitchenAid mixer I had to have one of my own. Merry Christmas to me. 

Making yeast bread with a dough hook is easy, so I decided to try out a copycat recipe for Stella’s Hot and Spicy Cheese Bread. If you’ve been to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Madison, you may have seen shoppers (like me) carrying big cheesy loaves and pulling off chunks to eat while making the rounds at the market. Stella’s also has a brick and mortar bakery location or you can find their breads at grocery stores in the Madison area. 

A food blog from “Brown Eyed Baker” was my source for the copycat recipe, which is toutedw as a “rich brioche-like bread loaded with cheeses and speckled with crushed red pepper flakes.” Brown Eyed Baker lists her source as Cook’s Country magazine. I’m all about giving credit where credit is due. 

Brown Eyed Baker’s version calls for Monterey Jack and Provolone, but I wanted to keep it local and accessible, so I subbed in Fontina for the Provolone. (Grande Cheese in Juda makes Provolone, but only for wholesale.) I found locally made Fontina at Alp and Dell Cheese Store in Monroe and Decatur Dairy in Brodhead. There are many sources for local Monterey Jack, and I picked some up at Maple Leaf Cheese Store in Juda. The verdict? Yum. This copycat bread is delightfully delicious like the original. It yields a big loaf with golden crust outside and cheesy tunnels within. You can make it “hot and spicy” to taste, by adjusting the amount of red pepper flakes added. 

I’m no food blogger, but if you’d like to see a few photos and a link to the recipe, go to greencountywi on Facebook. Look for the post from Sept. 5. If you’re not a Facebooker, go to greencounty.org and click Things to Do. If you’re avoiding the internet entirely, just call me with your name and address. The recipe will arrive to you by mail, just like the note that came from Pauline.

— Noreen Rueckert is director for Green County Tourism and Green County Cheese Days. She has the best office in the county — overlooking Monroe’s Square from the tower of the Historic Green County Courthouse.