Bean soup with whole wheat/spelt crackers and cheese

I told the cheese guy I was interested in trying an unpasteurized Italian or French. I told him I took up making notes of their names because I have a bad habit of losing the labels and forgetting what I bought, then I forget the names of the ones I love. He looked at me sympathetically. We chatted it up. It became clear I probably know more than he does and he soon confessed he only recently started working there and was at the beginning of a rather steep learning curve. He asked me if I cared to try anything. I said, no thanks, I'll just buy what I think I'll like and let that be the test. Nonetheless, when he couldn't answer another question he called over another woman with more experience and she insisted we open up something and try it. So the three of us stood there testing cheese for several long pleasant moments. It was fun. I'm surprised how many times I have Haystack recommended to me. It must be the single cheese produced locally. I was under the impression all their cheese varieties were fresh but I noticed a new type we didn't see when we visited the farm a few years ago with an affinage of over a year. I didn't try it this time, but now I wish I did. I will next time.

I used the milled wheat to make saltine crackers in the same fashion as the cheese crackers. It's easy as hell and it's fun, plus you get to play with the rolling pin. They would have been better if I had used butter or lard instead of vegetable fat. That's OK, they were only to carry the cheese and substitute for croutons for the soup. 100% whole wheat and spelt crackers.