I can remember my mother telling me that for a proper Welsh Rarebit (no not a virgin from Cardiff) you should use Lancashire cheese and that it should be finely grated and mixed to a thick paste with a small quantity of milk. You can then mix in a little mustard powder, Worcestershire saurce, herbs or any other flavouring you prefer, before spreading it on the bread which should have already been toasted on one side and lightly buttered on the other. It's well worth the trouble.

Cheese sauces are wonderful with many things - just make as per a standard white sauce from a butter/flour roux, add the milk and when it is getting warm stir in finely grated cheese (blue cheese is even more delicious), and keep stirring until it has thickened.

My great favourite is cheese straws. I usually use a strong Cheddar plus about half it's weight of ground parmesan. Because Cheddar is quite oily, I reduce the amount of fat for the pastry. A rough guide would be 3oz of Cooking Fat, 4oz (finely grated Cheese), 8oz Flour, + 1 tsp of cayenne pepper & 1 tsp salt. Blend these in a food processor (you can use the grating disk for the cheese) and then add water slowly until it balls into a dough. Roll flat (1/4 inch) and cut into 1/2 inch x 3 inch strips. Place on a greased baking sheet - I prefer to put a twist in them as beside making them more attractive it also tends to stop them sticking - then cook in a hot oven until golden.