Cheese friends are sweeping the nation

What is a cheese friend

A cheese friend is a friend you make out of cheese. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it's true.

What's so great about a cheese friend?

Cheese friends serve lots of purposes. If you are lonely, a cheese friend can give you someone to talk to. If you would like to have a pet but don't want the responsibility or the cleanup, a cheese friend can take the place of that pet you wanted.

Cheese friends won't hurt your feelings. They won't make you cry. They're quiet. They don't have to take up a lot of space. The possibilities are endless!

And there's the smell. If you chose a cheese you really like, a cheese friend can help provide that smell throughout your living space.

The best thing about cheese friends is that once you get tired of them, you can eat them. And then you can always make another cheese friend!

How to make a cheese friend

First, go to the store and buy a block of your favorite cheese. The size of the block depends upon the size of the cheese friend you want to make. If you want a small cheese friend, such as in the image below, a half-pound or pound block should do just fine. Also, keep in mind your cheese friend needs to be fairly sturdy, so you will have better luck if you pick a stiff cheese that's not too creamy; for example, a coverdale or one of the more solid cheddars should work fine, though something like a brie or wet mozzarella would not make a very sturdy cheese friend. And remember that if you want a big cheese friend, you're going to need more cheese, so base how much cheese you purchase upon the size of the cheese friend you want. If you want a human-size cheese friend, you're going to need a whole bunch of cheese.

Next, take your cheese home and cut it up into workable shapes, probably mostly cubes or rectangles though you can be as creative as you want. Smaller cheese friends will not need so many pieces of cheese, so for one of these you can make your cubes relatively small, about the size of the end of your thumb or a little larger. If you want to make a larger cheese friend, keep in mind the bigger pieces of cheese you have the less work you're going to have to do. If you want a cheese friend about a foot tall, you're probably going to want bigger cheese pieces, maybe as big as the palm of your hand, that is unless you're wanting to become a true cheese artist, and in that case you can create a bunch of small cheese chunks and build your cheese friend as an artist would a sculpture.

Tooth picks can come in handy fitting together the pieces of your cheese friend, though very small cheese friends likely won't need any, or no more than one, tooth pick.

How this all began

Thank comedic actor Tracy Morgan and the gang at the television show 30 Rock for the genius behind cheese friends. The March 5, 2009, episode of 30 Rock featured the first cheese friend, named Daniel by Tracy Jordan (the character played by Tracy Morgan). Below is an image of Tracy holding up Daniel. According to the TV program, Tracy makes cheese friends when "something's bothering" him.

Thus began the era of the cheese friend!