Cheese-a-day: Chevre with Honey

This is a picture of the view from the back of the house we're staying at- at five this morning.  I was up, so i went out to go watch the sunrise, which I tried to do, until the bugs were eating me alive, and I had to come back in and snuggle back into my bed for a few more hours. 

Anyway.... so the cheese yesterday was a Honey Chevre, which you can read about here

I served it with toasted Tuscan Pane bread, and apricot jam, and there was also a little container of dark chocolate almonds with turbinado sugar and sea salt to snack on at what we've dubbed "the cheese hour"

I thought it was REALLY good.  the honey adds a sweetness, and there isn't any of the chalkyness that you sometimes get with chevre, and I had let it sit out about an hour before serving, so it was room temp and really pliable.  I think the honey emulsifies the cheese a little- it was really spreadable and delicious, and you could taste the honey in it.  The family liked it too, even more than yesterday's brie, which I thought was surprising.

We still had some cheese left when we were running low of things to put it on, so my sister toasted some more bread, and let me tell you- when it's on warm toast, this cheese goes from a solid, standard cheese, to something amazing and wonderful.

Cheese-a-day: Double Cream Brie

Because of my job, I've been recently very motivated to expand my cheese knowledge.  This week while we're in Virginia, I decided that to expand my palate (and the palates of my family) by trying some awesome cheeses that I haven't tried before (and a few, I must admit, I have, but wanted my family to try)

First up, was a double cream brie that I haven't tried.  It's French, and let me tell you, it is goooooooood.

I served it with fig butter and slices of granny smith apple.

My cousin Dan really liked it- he said it was creamy and smooth, and not too strong, and went really well with the sides- I agree with his assessment.

For me, brie is a "comfort food" kind of thing. It is meant to be mild, and unassuming, milky and buttery, and this one really was.  Delicious! Plus, the fig butter was really outstanding- it's one of my new favorite things.  I think it would go well with just about any cheese, but it really rocked out with the brie.

A preview of things to come:

Chincoteague Island

Next Week

Number 25 

Champagne Grapes

Ball Jars

Pectin

Sugar

I AM MAKING THIS HAPPEN, PEOPLE.

Just some randomness

I have had an early morning. I opened at work, and now I'm killing time at Panera until my theater company meeting. I don't know if it is just my level of tiredness, or my need to stay awake, but these are the things that I am thinking right now.  It's a jumble.  Consider yourself warned.

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The air conditioning is a gentle breeze (or maybe I'm just under a fan), and I'm looking outside the window, it's grey, and a little windy, and all of the sudden, it feels like it could almost, almost be fall.

I know stepping outside will smash this fantasy, and the humidity will curl my hair (even more) and the warm rain will begin on my drive,  and that will be fine, but it's nice to hold onto the hope of fall, and cooler temperatures, for a little while. I love the fall. Sweaters, and a crispness in the air, crunching leaves under my feet, and stirring risotto on the stove. It's my favorite.

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I've had Elizabeth Bishop's One Art in my head all day.   I wonder why that is?  I especially love this verse.  I think it is because I love the word lovely. Also, because it is beautifully written.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

***

We are closing in on the end of my 29th year. I have... not done so well with this year's list, which, I'll expand more on, in a post later, but it's been a hard year- and I got some of the key items done, but I feel a general sense of frustration at how little of the list I've done this year.  Next year's list- I'm making it an achievable- I want my thirtieth year to be a success- unlike this one.

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I think I want to go back to this haircut:

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My Drunk Kitchen is still totally awesome.  

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I just caught myself humming to my music (I have my headphones in)  I am totally one of Those Crazies at Panera, aren't I?

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Pinterest is a thing.  I am on it. 

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Coffee is awesome. 

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I am probably going to regret this word-spew. 

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I can't wait for vacation next week.  Getting through this week is going to be an EPIC CHALLENGE. 

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Edie's music is beautiful. 

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I'm really tired, you guys. 

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Maybe I need another coffee. 

**** 

Maybe not. My eye is twitching. 

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Ooooooh, iced tea. 

There is life outside my apartment

I work ten hour days.  Five of them, every week, at what is at times, a fairly physical job. Once I got over the initial time of just sleeping when I wasn't at work (which was about two months, give or take) I began to emerge and start living life outside my apartment again. When before I couldn't imagine doing anything after my workday, now I can take some time and hang out. (Unless I have to be in the next day at 3am)

This weekend, I was able to do two awesome things: a picnic with my sister and cousin at Druid Hill Park, which was wonderful and relaxing.  We ate, and laid on the grass and talked about lots of things, did a lot of "would you rather" questions, and generally had a good time. 

Then, on Sunday, I made plans to meet Jackie in Fell's Point to get gelato, (note: this is one of my favorite things to do ever)  I left work at three, ran some errands, grabbed dinner at Five Guys, and still had an hour before I was supposed to meet her.  I (miraculously) found parking in Fell's, and walked down to the end of the pier.  The weather was gorgeous, there was a light breeze, and I was just able to sit, and soak in the beautiful day, and the dwindling sunlight.  I could feel any remaining tension seeping from me- I feel like being that close to the a body of water gives me perspective, and I just hung out for awhile, thinking, and watching the families as they strolled up the pier, putting coins into the viewfinders to look at the ships and sailboats floating around.  I felt peace- something that, as unsettled as I've been, has not been easy to come by, lately.  I walked slowly back to the main promenade, and people watched (an always excellent activity) until it was time to meet Jackie. 

We hit Pitango, and I got the Grapefruit Sorbet and Coconut (the grapefruit tastes like you are biting into the most perfect piece of cool, slightly sweetened, tart grapefruit- so good. And the coconut is rich, and has an amazing pure coconut flavor.   We walked down to the edge of the pier, and sat, talking and eating our gelato.  We decided to walk for awhile, and took a large loop around Fell's. 

And now it's my weekend- Harry Potter tonight, dinner at Tim's tomorrow. 

Life is good. 

Culinary disasters and successes

I decided to head to my parents' house in New Jersey for my days off this week, and a few days before, I found a recipe online for Peach Chipotle Gummy Candies.  After turning the idea over and over in my head, I decided that I really wanted to make my own, grown-up gummy candies. I had visions of strawberry balsamic, merlot, white grape and basil... chardonnay.... there were lots of ideas.  So I came home, hit the grocery store for ingredients, invited My cousins Kate and Potter over for dinner to taste the spoils, and got to work. 

Because there was no peach jello at the store, I improvised by making a peach juice reduction, and adding the chipotles. I set them up, and left them in the fridge to cool, and when they were done, tasted them. They were.... not good.  all I could taste was the overwhelming flavor of gelatin. (not tasty)  so round 2, was just straight peach juice.  Those didn't taste like anything at all (until you got to the piece of chipotle, and then it just tasted like... chipotle. 

Frustrated, I tried the strawberry balsamic. While they were tastier (I used an actual Jell-o packet) the balsamic did not set in the gelatin as well as I had hoped, which my aunt pointed out, may have something to do with the levels of acid in the vinegar. 

Sigh. 

It was a good thing I was making dinner too, because I needed some culinary redemption.  We started out with my latest favorite thing to make: 

 photo credit: Walt Hewitt

It is toasted Tuscan bread, with a Greek feta salad dressing, and topped with thinly sliced Persian cucumbers.  So. good.

 photo credit: Walt Hewitt

Then I made a lot of kabobs. (this is actually about half of the ones I made) They are mushroom, orange and red bell peppers, chicken, red onion, pineapples and squash. I marinated them for a few hours in a jarred marinade from Trader Joe's (the Island Soyaki- it's really good)

This is what they looked like all cooked:

 photo credit: Walt Hewitt

And because I believe that no meal is complete without starch, I made my roasted potato salad.

 photo credit: Walt Hewitt

I drowned my gummy candy sorrows in a few glasses of wine, good dinner, and amusing conversation.  My mom reminded me about how when I was little, we had to have a "no jokes" rule at the dinner table because I would laugh so hard I would feel sick. (this was after I was laughing for a significant amount of time over a "that's what she said" setup that Potter did that was perfection. You just can't pass those opportunities up.)

It was great to be home. 

Haircut!

Before: Oh, the crazy. (sidenote: it is insanely humid today- it does not normally look quite this crazy)

I have a confession to make; unfortunately, it will not surprise many of my friends.  I have not had a haircut in over a year.  Part of the reason is that I have been wanting to grow my hair out, and my hair grows insanely slowly. 

Plus I'm lazy. 

So I've finally been pulling myself out of the funk I've been in lately, and I decided I needed to get a haircut to enhance the awesome upswing in my life. Flaunt has been an awesome supporter of my theater company, and my friend Bradley used to work there before he skipped town to go to Costa Rica (and then to Massachusetts)  So I made an appointment, and went over there today. 

Lindsay set me right at ease, and did not even comment on how insanely terrible my split ends were! (for the record: EPIC TERRIBLE. SEE ABOVE)  I was really relaxed and aside from a few directions (wanted to keep the length, need to be able to put it in a ponytail. nothing that requires a lot of futzing with)  I let her go to town, and I am so, so happy with the result: 

Ta Da! (still with the humidity, and I didn't get to take the picture until a few hours after the cut, and it had been subjected to both a long walk and some rain, so does not look like quite the awesomsauce it did immediately after my haircut)

I love it. It's shorter in the back, which you can't tell from this picture- but it has actual layers in it, and it feels so light and amazing. and I know that this probably is understood, but it is way, way, way better than the ten-dollar Supercuts experience that I usually do (I know! I know! Supercuts is terrible! I deserved all of those bad haircuts I got)

I feel like a whole new person!  Getting haircuts always makes me feel this way- small, but important changes that just make you feel better.

I also got some advice on how to style it, and what I was doing wrong ( putting it in a ponytail when wet, going for a year between haircuts.... you know... the usual)

Yay!

Do haircuts make everyone happy? Or is it just me? It's an instant mood enhancer.