*An update on my knee situation is at the bottom of the post. Many thanks for all of your emails, comments and texts of inquiry and concern. xoxo

As with anything new in life, there come new challenges, good or bad. The not too terrible challenge I have found with my new business, Harmony Boards, is having so much more cheeses, meats, fruits and vegetables to keep track of and prevent from over-ripening or going completely south.

Such was the inspiration for this recipe. I stay on top of the meats and cheeses since they represent the largest expenses. When buying, I look at each “sell” or “use by” date and calculate how much I have on hand and do my best not to overbuy.

The fruits and veggies present issues all their own. We’ve all experienced the joy of buying lovely-looking raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries and the anguish of having them turn on you in a matter of days. Sometimes, literally the next day! I have become basically terrified of berries. With so much energy focused on them, I sometimes lose track of the other produce in my refrigerators. Such was the case last Sunday with two varieties of plums that got pushed to the bottom of the fruit drawer. They needed to be used now. Not tomorrow or the next day but TODAY! I had a family pack of pork chops in the freezer so grilled chops and plums were now on the menu.

While you might think I’d have no interest in purchasing a different cheese than what I use on Harmony Boards, you’d be wrong. I love Halloumi cheese and knew it would pair perfectly with the pork and plums.  Halloumi is a uniquely perfect cheese for grilling. It’s made with sheep’s milk on the Greek island of Cyprus. It has a high melting point so it can easily be fried or grilled. I went to my local grocery store in search of Halloumi but wound up with something else instead. I discovered a similar grilling cheese called Juusto. It is made in Wisconsin in the way that Juustoleipä, also known as bread cheese, has been made in Finland for more than 200 years.

Here is an article all about the cheeses from Bon Appétit to learn more.  I am also using crushed Aleppo peppers on my finished dish. If you missed my mention of them previously, HERE is a link to that.

Oh, I almost forgot, I use Mama Mai’s S&P to season everything in this recipe. Honestly, most of the time, I use it to season everything, but I end up just writing “Salt and freshly ground black pepper” in my recipes. It is easier and universal to write that, but now you know the truth … I use Tram’s mama’s seasoning because I love it!