Wine and Stinky Cheese

This year, my wine club has evolved into a tasting club. It's a way of getting to enjoy a variety of other yummy things besides wine. But of course, we kicked off the year with wine -- because we knew how to do that.

This month, however, was another fine delicacy ... cheese! I think I begin to salivate just thinking about it. It was my turn to host, so I first had to venture off to get the yummy cheeses. I went to a little cheese shop called France 44. It's a cute little shop attached to a large wine store. Which was good, because I needed to pick up a bottle of wine, too. (Of course, I left with three ...)

We started off with glasses of Saint-Hilaire blanc de blancs and two-pepper cheddar croutes. A yummy little cheddar-type cracker I made with my own two hands. Absolutely delicious. Truth be told, I probably had a few too many before the party started.

The first official cheese was the Camembert au Calvados. It sort of smelled like cabbage, but was a soft creamy cheese with apple-y notes. I must confess, I was the only one who did not enjoy this cheese. Everyone else loved it and some even declared it their favorite at the end of the night. But, it did pair very lovely with the blanc de blancs.

We then moved on to a lively Sancerre (La Croix au Garde, 2006) for the next two cheeses. If you've never had Sancerre, I highly recommend it. It's like the finest sauvingon blanc you'll ever drink.

The first was the Montgomery Farmhouse Cheddar. A sweet cow's cheese. Now this was a lovely cheese for me. While it's aroma was faint, it tasted of the countryside in England where it was made with loving care. I could have eaten a whole block of this. (Mind you, it's price tag and scarcity will help prevent that.)

The next cheese was our only goat cheese. The Valencay Cendre from France. This was a pyramid of moldy goodness. The cheese monger suggested I let this sit out for a bit and let it get all gooey and have people just spoon it out. It wasn't as sweet as domestic goat cheeses ... but it was pure perfection for me. You just wanted to steer clear of the moldy rind.

The next fromages were paired with a chardonnay. We had the Rex-Goliath, which was not oaky or overly buttery, but paired well with the next two items.

The next piece of heavenly goodness was the Cahill Irish Porter Cheddar. This Irish beauty might be intimidating by looks, but I say go for it. It actually tastes like chocolate! Definitely one you could eat on it's own, but the subtle chocolatiness made the chard even a little brighter.

Ahhh... the next cheese was by far my favorite, a beautiful Aged Pecorino Toscano from Italy. These sheep's milk cheese was the highest in fat content (50% fat!) but worth every tiny morsel. It was definitely my favorite of the evening. It's a nutty hard cheese that when drizzled with the balsamic reduction ... if you closed your eyes you could pretend you were in Tuscany and all your cares disappeared. I do think it may be the perfect cheese for me.

Closing out the night, we opened a bottle of Sauternes. This yummy dessert wine was a tad to sweet for some, but paired beautiful with the next little creation.

A very strong blue cheese. The Sweet Grass Dairy Crossroads Blue. This lovely cow's cheese hails from a small dairy in Georgia. This is not your Kraft's dressing blue cheese. This is a true blue cheese, where a little goes more than a long way. Perhaps my second favorite of the evening, it also was highlighted with a little balsamic.

Alas, we did not end the evening on a high note. Based on my internet research, I knew we needed to eat the last cheese at the end. It's pungent smell had made my kitchen a danger zone for the last 24 hours, but letting it air out before the party helped some of the aroma dissipate. The cheese monger actually told me he thought this might be the crowd's favorite. Unfortunately ... he was very wrong. The Cato Corner Hooligan was by far the ladies' least favorite cheese of the evening. Now, online reviews raved about this cheese ... and I have to admit, it did taste good at the cheese shop ... but perhaps I was drunken by all the cheese. It tasted good with my rosemary cracker, but I think that is because the rosemary cracker was divinity on it's own and helped mask the pungency of the cheese.

Oh, well, all in all, it was a yummy evening with great cheese and heavenly wine and good conversation. Next month is chocolate ... and I can't wait!

March Madness

And so it has begun. The madness of March. College basketball at its finest. D doesn't watch basketball of any sort all year long, but come the office pool and I must hunch over his bracket worksheet to help him select the winners.

It's kind of funny. Because I attended a Big Ten school, that had both a kick-ass men's and women's team, I used to be really into basketball. But then I married a guy who had no interest in the sport and eventually my own enthusiasm waned. Now, I'm here in the office and he's out watching the basketball games.

Of course, I think it's my expertise at guessing that has helped him fair well so far in the pool -- but he's the one who carries the enthusiasm. Most importantly, my alma mater won its first round game. Now, I will just hold my breath to see how well they do the rest of the tournament.

My junior year, our women's team won their tournament. It was a marvelous night of riots, school spirit and unity. The students poured onto the street sing the school song, congratulating each other (did it matter that, really, we had no part in the actual win of the game?) and knowing that the next day classes would only be consumed with talks of the great game.

It is an experience you hope that all people get to have at least once. That unified, jubilant experience of team success.

Stress

I went to see the doctor today. Basically for the last month, I've just felt a little off. It's hard to articulate, but I knew something wasn't right. My favorite, is every time I would mention it to someone else their first thought was "maybe your pregnant?" Alas, that I can very strong confirm is not the case. (And if there were any doubts, it was confirmed by a medical professional earlier today.)

Instead, the prognosis with my slight elevated blood pressure was that my hormones have gone awry and that I have too much stress in my life. This isn't the first time a doc has told me that. The other time was probably about four years ago. Back then I didn't agree with the doc, and attributed it to his other suggestion that it was too much caffeine. This time, I think the doctor might have something.

Due to the great US economy, I've found myself working 11 - 12 hour days the last month (when the symptoms started) and letting things get to me. I have tried to put forth a new attitude, but realized I am just lying to myself. So today, as I put this in writing, I will need to truly put forth a new attitude or will be putting my health in serious jeopardy. (How's that for pressure.)

So, I'm looking at ways to lower my stress level. Scheduled a massage, considering acupuncture, going to commit to working less so I can come home and cook more dinners (a great stress reliever for me) and spend time doing things just because they are fun. I prescribe this to everyone.

Not Too Far From the World of Wall-e

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my bus (which, I don't even want to calculate how many minutes of my life are spent waiting for the bus...) I saw a man walking and listening to his iPod. It was clear that he wanted to separate himself from the rest of the world and just linger in his individual reality. It got me to thinking about the Disney movie Wall-e. Now for those who haven't seen it, it truly is a fantastic movie. I was hesitant at first thinking it would be dull, but was pleasantly rewarded with my time deposit devoted to the move. (And with a two-year-old, it was quality family fun.)

In the movie -- which takes place in the future -- humans are pretty much individual islands floating about. Because their bone density is so little (and they are beyond morbidly obese) they move about via little pods and they have absolutely no direct content with any other humans. It's all through technology -- video phones, social networks, etc. In fact, there is one scene where two men are literally right next to each other, but instead of making eye-contact and conversing, they talk to each other through their computer screens. It's a sad fate for the human world.

This man, oblivious to his surroundings, enjoying his own world, made me realize that we may not be too far off from that future depicted in Wall-e. Will we become a society where natural contact becomes obsolete? It makes me look forward to weekends like this when I have a girls night out planned. Social interaction with people face-to-face is so darn important.

Sometimes it's so much easier to send an e-mail then pick up a phone ... but what a difference picking up that phone can make. Keep this in mind the next time you're about to hit send.

Religion

Last night D and I attended a going away party for an old friend of ours. It was good to see some people we haven't seen in years, and it was good to get D out to socialize. My fabulous sister graciously agreed to watch K for us. Of course, we didn't start the night out right, because we told her to be there around 5, so we could have dinner together and hang out with her in advance. Alas, at 5 o'clock ... we were still at Target doing our grocery shopping. (Which is not normal for us, but I had the important matter of getting my hair done in the morning which delayed our weekly trip to get the essentials.)

When we returned home from the party she gave us the report. K had been "pretty" good. But due to her unfamiliarity with the night time routine, he managed to delay his bedtime longer than usually. Of course, I'm used to the throwing the pillow off the bed game, but she is not. Perhaps one of the funniest things was when she told me that he looked at the clock when she told him it was bedtime and he told her no it wasn't. (No, he can't actually read the clock, but D has taught him what 8 o'clock looks like, so if it's not exactly 8 o'clock, he doesn't think it's bedtime -- and this is on a face clock, not a digital clock.)

Then, when it came to story time, he picked one of his Tomi DePaolo books. But it was the book that he chose that was the funny thing. The Clown of God. My sister was a little surprised that we would own a book that she believed to be religious in nature. Of course, it's a lovely story and it does have a moral about how everyone's life has a purpose and we can all please God. In fact, we have a couple other stories that have religious themes ... and K happens to really like all of them.

Sometimes I wonder if we are doing any harm to our son by not having him participate in organized religion. However, I am a very spiritual person who does believe in the presence of God. I just struggle with what I've come to learn as hypocritical people gathering in a building, praising a lord and then disrespecting him as they walk out and go on about their "regular" lives. At least, by reading him these stories it does open it up for conversation. Letting him make up his own mind about what he decides to believe. Of course, my grandmother was devastated when we did not get him baptized ... but after she thought about it, she came back to me and told me that she really respected my decision to let him choose his own path. And, as a religious studies minor -- I have a variety of tomes that K can peruse when he's interested.

Of course, the basis of many religions is to force others to believe what you believe in. But for the number of religions that have that approach, there are just as many that ask their believers to open their minds to others, treat them with kindness and allow them to see the light on their own. As long as my son chooses something to believe in (that refrains from causing harm to others) I hope that it will help him find happiness throughout his life.