Kasseri (aka Kristina M)

Kasseri is a medium-hard pale yellow cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk with very little, if any, goat's milk mixed in, in Turkey and Greece.

Not only because it is a Greek cheese, (Kristina is married to a Greek), Kasseri is an appropriate cheese alias for Kristina simply because it starts with a K as does her name.

I have known Kristina and her sister, Sophia (next post), for most of my life.  They grew up in a house just down the street from the house in which I grew-up.  I remember meeting them one day when I was on a walk with my mom and my two brothers in our neighborhood.  I must have been around 8 years old at the time because I recall the youngest of my two brothers was in a stroller and not even a year old. Kristina and Sophia were also on a walk with their mother that day and she was pushing their brother in a stroller who was not much older than my youngest brother.  The realization that this new family had a child my age, a second child close to my 1st brother's age, and a third child close to my 2nd brother's age is very clear in my mind. 

Because our families lived in such close proximity for such a long time, we had a very close, informal relationship.  All of us, including our parents, spent a lot of time at each other's house.  It was the kind of relationship my mom didn't worry about cleaning the house before her mom came over and vice versa.  In fact, it was rare if anything we did together was planned ahead of time.  It was always, "let's stop by Kristina's house and see if they are home"; or they would pull the car over on their way home from something and end up staying for dinner at our house.

One very clear, bonding memory I have with Kristina when we were young is when we had planned to meet two of the neighborhood boys for a picnic in a fort they had built in the gully behind Kristina's house.  The boys had invited us the day before and I remember being excited.  I was young enough that my mom was still cutting my bangs; she cut them the day of the picnic and they looked horrible.  Despite crooked bangs, Kristina and I went on the picnic.  I think the boys teased me, I got embarrassed and left before we got too far into the picnic.  Kristina was not affected by them as I was and tried to get me to stay.  I remember wishing I could be more like her in those "uncomfortable" situations.

Because Kristina is "slightly" older than I (sorry Kristina), I looked up to her like an older sister .  I think it is because, growing up, she was the "oldest" person I was close to (I have no older siblings or cousins).   As a result, I constantly compared myself to her. Whatever she was doing, I wanted to do too.  Especially when she was in 6th grade and I was in 5th and she got boobs!  

Writing this blog reminds me how much I love Kristina.  She is still so confident and comfortable no matter what the setting.  She is always smiling, knows how to have fun and makes everyone around her feel comfortable.  When Kristina is at the party, you know it is going to be fun.


There are few people who I can go for months, even years, without seeing and still feel as comfortable as I do with Kristina.  Thank you for giving up your trip to Greece this year to join the Grilled Cheese experience.  I am so honored you are going to be a part of all of this.