LindsayAnn

Haha, you can see I haven't done this picture thing in a while - that didn't work at all. Shoot guys - how do I do this again?

OK, HERE GOES.

Thanks SuziSushi! Snacks...good - that is what I was planning on doing with all of them I will report back my findings (shortly)!

Okay guys (and gals) - I love trying new things....especially snacky type things. I somehow came across the website for a food grocer in Cali....an Asian food Grocer (called 'Asian Food Grocer' - go figure). I have never tried these, but ordered them anyhow (on Monday). They just arrived (WOW, that was actually pretty fast!!!). I need advice on how to enjoy these.....do I eat em straight outta the package? What do you do with them? What are they good to eat with (in combination). And - what is your opinion of them? These mystery items are: 1.) Konjac China Spices Fiber slices 2..) Companion Lychee Konjac Fiber slices (basically look just like item one, jsut a different flavor) 3.) Squid Kizami 2 Oz (dried squid). I have never had this but I love cooked squid, fried, sauteed, marinated....both squid and octopus, calamari....mmm I actually like em really chewy - so I thought i would like these. In the ingredients it's just dried squid, sugar, salt, MSG *I dont usually like to eat MSG but I make exceptions, haha). 4.) Ohmoriya Teriyaki Nori (80 pcs). Tried seaweed I think. These are seasoned. Opinions? Thoughts? Recommendations needed!

Kim: DROOL!!!! I love THOSE prezels - frozen section of the grocery store...right? I cannot remember the brand - but they come in mozzerella/pizza sauce filled, apple/cinnomon filled, and a new one I spotted and purchased a few weeks back GRILLED CHEESE FILLED - YUM - they're good!) Toasted ravioli are something I have WANTED to try for quite some time - but never have. Did you make those? If so how? recipe and technique por favor????? If you bought them and re-heated...please tell me the brand and where I might find them. They look marvolious. P.S. did I mention I LOVE cheese....so cheese filled anything I love. Stuff a sock with cheese and I might even eat it! (kidding....or am I?)

Chris - I love your approach to food, cooking, eating out, etc I don't know what it is - but I like it. One thing that would be sooo hard for me to do is to go without breakfast or even do a purely liquid breakie........ I used to never need breakfast...but now that I teach I wake up soooo hungry! It's like my body knows it is going to need the extra fuel to keep up with the wee ones currently i am doing third grade 3 hours a day (helping out with the kids who have special needs, both learning and behavior - working with kids in those arenas takes EXTRA 'oommph'), 7th/8th lunch recess duty, kindergarten/first lunch recess, and other administrative duties....makes for a VERY random day. So - since you don't usually indulge in breakfast do you find that you often crave these foods for dinner? Steak and egg dinner, pancake and bacon dinner, etc? Keep up with the pictures - I love pictures! We all do!!! And please please post some good fridge/cabinet shots.....love those too I lvoe seeing how we all live differently/similarly!

As someone asked earlier up-thread....is Garlic an herb or spice? that is my favorite....mmmm Wait - is it a vegi actually? Like an Onion....shit.....hmmm.... Spice - Cinnamon - like many have said. Love it in coffee drinks too - just a little goes a long way. (but I like a lot actually!) Herb - hmm.....basil or oregano - shoot you said we HAVE to pick one didn't you? Basil then.....love italian food

pennylane - my fiance will NOT eat the cheese with me, not alone, not with crackers, not with fruit (greg eat cheese WITH fruit? No way!). Not in recipes. Not, not...not at all....it's not getting past his lips. Not even a bland brie. If its soft and squishy he doesn't like it. Now add in smelly - NO WAY!

But Epoisses (sp?) you CANNOT (at least not here) but it in small quantities ---only comes in the little wooden tube - and they way they sell them they are big (like 12 servings of Epoisses, which is like 4 servings for me....so it has to be put back in the fridge because I would never throw out half a thing of Epoisses - too expensive to do that!).

jsmeeker, What do you do about the stink? You deal with it - it's really the BEST option. However, things that help: baking soda in the fridge (put the lil carton in there, opened - right near the cheese. It will absorb *some* of the smell. Or - purchase a small itty bitty fridge only for cheese/stinky things....you could also put aluminum pop/beer cans in the mini - the smell should NOT penetrate the aluminum. What I have done.....is limited the purchasing of such offendors...which is a sucky solution - since i love the stinkers! I could deal with lingering smell in the fridge (I don't LIKE it, but I COULD deal with it) - its the fiance who could NOT. And - he really couldnt....he has SUCH a weak stomache....I couldnt put him through it more than every so often.....he used to smell the odor when he was on the couch and I would open the fridge (kitchen to the family room...now THAT is a stinker)....put it this way - he likes KRAFT MILD OR MEDIUM cheddar.....sharp is TOO strong for him. Oh waht opposite pallets we have. Well - I take that back, I love alot of the stuff he loves (including the kraft), it's just that my likes FAR extend outside of his limited choices......that's all So - sorry I wasn't much help!

A honey whole wheat bagel from Einstein Bagels. NO honey flavor ....just a really really good bagel (my favorite kind from einsteins) - heavy on the plain cream cheese. toasted of course. MMMM ***Okay okay, my second honey whole wheat bagel,....hehe

I just got myself three VERY very nice cheese selections from pastoral cheese in Wrigleyville, Chicago. Two of the three I have had before - one is new to me (at least I THINK it is, I am always buying new cheeses, and I am stupid enough to NOT remember - or pay attention - to the cheese's names). So, the first two I have had before, the last is new (and probably the one I am enjoying the most of the three, at this particular point in time at least): 1.) Keen's English Farmhouse Cheddar - cows milk. This lovely cheese is from England. I love the fact that it is sooo aged that it has the little crystals randomly throughout the cheese. I love this. this is a nutty, sharp cheese. It is dense (not smooth in texture, more crumbly due to it's firmness - I like it like that thou - so those are all positive marks). 2.) Mont st. Francis, Raw Goats Milk - from Indiana. This beauty is a favorite of mine - but I haven't purchased it in a-while....mainly because of the absence of our lovely farmers market (damn chicago winters) - thus - this is a Capriole Farms cheese....the goats cheese vendor in Indiana that I always gloat about. I LOVE this producer - my favorite. I enjoy buying it in the summer even more because I get the satisfaction of knowing that I am buying it RIGHT from the hands of the farmers - fresh fresh cheese is soooo yummy. I cannot wait for summer! 3.) Here we go - the new one (for me it's new, I am sure it's not new on the market). Winnemere, raw cows milk from vermont. It is so creamy and OOZY - I love oozy cheese. It has a nice rind that is darker in color. MMMMM It is sooooo wipe - maybe that is why i like it so much. The cheese monger told me (as I was tasting it) that is was more pronounced in flavor that it normally is (she tasted it when I did) - she was shocked at the flavor. She said "oh wow, it's stronger/stinkier than I thought - a lot stronger than the last time I sampled it. It must be because of it's stage of ripeness." You see, after I tasted the winnemere I tasted a different cheese. I tried the winnemere first - than this other cheese (dont know the name since i didnt buy it, refer back to the beginning of this post where I describe my lack of remembering/paying attention to the names of cheeses that I sample). Right before I tried the cheese that I did not purchase I asked "is this cheese that you're cutting a sample of for me now stronger/stinkier than the Winnemere?". She responded "Yes, it's a bit stinkier". So - naturally I was psyched to taste it. After tasting I commented "Hmm...it is actually much milder to my pallet - that is weird!?!? The Winnemere is much stinkier!". That is when she decided to sample the winnemere...and as she did she said "Wow, you are 100% right - the winnemere is much stinkier than I ever remember it being!". And then she said "You DO like stinky cheese, don't you?". It is soo good - if you can find it GET it. MMMMMM

My parents are serving up lamb AND ham.....yummy. We always have lamb at Easter....ham too. Add on the creamed corn casserole, scalloped potatoes (cheese style - my fav!), salad, fruit salad, rolls, (and I am sure there will be more) and it's one divine meal. Not to mention the desserts (pie and lil' mini cakes/chocolates delight!). YUM YUM YUM - Happy Easter everyone and happy, happy, happy eating!

Gariotin, Thanks! There will in fact be a cheese platter at the reception...although I am sure the guess will like it (I even would, I love when wedding receptions have a cheese course/platter during the cocktail hour) it wont be anything too special....whatever offerings the golf club has....not my choice (at least I don't think so, we will see as the time nears to choose our cocktails - in a few weeks I think). The wedding receptions that I have been to (which has been a TON lately...we are at that age, last year it was 12 weddings thoughout the summer/early fall (one was in the winter)...our summer was anything but our own *but of course fun and I love weddings...just a lot of traveling that is all*) usually have an offering of (if there is a cheese tray, that is): swiss, a brie, cheddar, and usually one other....along with crackers, fruits and the like.

One more thing...I am SOOO excited for May. FARMERS MARKET...which means Capriola farms, the BEST goat cheese producer I know (and I love knowing I get these fresh goats cheeses, AND aged raw milks goats cheeses, FRESH from the farm!). That is not something I can say for most things I put in my mouth! The first week of the market, sometime in mid May (cannot remember the date at the moment)....I will miss! But it's okay - I will be in Hawaii for my honeymoon...I will jsut have to wait for my FAVORITE cheese until the next week rolls around. It sure is a LONG winter without my capriola cheeses....a few of their cheeses I can get at Whole Foods or Marcy's Market inside of Sams Wine Depot....but not all of them. Not many of my favorites ;( And - I like them better when purchased from the famrers market....they taste different - for real!

BTW - Black Diamond, as stated on the cheese label, is a product of Toronto Canada, just thought I would mention, FWIW.

Dave, YUM! So unfair...your statement "All raw milk of course"...the words 'of course' was emphasized in my mind as I read your posting....because you are SOOO lucky that you get to utter those 5 words in into one complete sentence "all raw milk of course". I would never (not in my lifetime at least) be able to utter those words...not truthfully at least. Here in the U.S. of A.....I have to seek out raw milk cheese varieties.... most of what we have available are pasteurized milk products. I can find quite a few raw milk varieties (although, my 'quite a few' would be a very scarce, pathetic, amount for the likes of someone like you!!!) but I have to search for them, and only certain cheeses are available in raw milk form, and they are NEVER aged very well.....stupid government regulations. I mean, come on! The gov't should be focusing on issues like immigration, the wars we are fighting, taxes, healthcare, VIOLENCE, and all of that jazz....NOT cheese. leave our cheese alone. Freedom....we have freedom....to limits. Our freedoms do NOT include purchasing and consuming raw milk cheeses (not many at least).....PATHETIC! It makes me laugh, we have the right to bear arms (own guns), however we cannot make up our own minds as to what cheeses we each choose to consume. Ok, my rant is over. Sorry. I just purchased a very good 2 year old vintage white cheddar.....I cannot remember the name - let me go look for you really quick! Ok, back from the kitchen, its a 2 year aged white cheddar by a company called Black Diamond, Grand Reserve. Ingredients are Milk, culture, rennet, salt, annatto (if colored, and mine is not, so omit that ingredient then!). This particular cheddar is not a normal purchase for me....actually I don't think I have ever purchased it before... there were samples at the store, Treasure Island (Chicago chain, about 5 locations I think. Smaller store than the big market Jewels, Dominicks, etc, that we have in Chicago....they have a lot of specialy products from different states and regions....a larger variety of hard to find products, cuisines (indian, japanese, greek, i.e. and more) and a nice cheese/deli meat selections (all deli meats are Boars Head, most at least). Anyhow - the sample was VERY good, I was surprised...I woulda never grabbed this guy on my own. I also got a fresh goat chevre, its rolled in herbs. Very good and creamy cheese if I do say so myself. Neither of these are raw milk cheeses, unfortunetly ....I wont even go there....I promised you all my rant was over P.S A little off topic...but related (cheese is dairy, yogurt is dairy, that counts, right?). I also picked up two 6 oz (individual serving sizes) plain yogurts - by The Greek Gods company. Very yummy. I got the 0% milk fat variety....imagine how good the 2% or 4% milk fat wold be! These were wayyyy too expensive thou - $1.89 each (for an itty bitty 6 oz! I eat two at once anyhow - that's like $3.78 for my portion at one sitting). As you can see, I will pay good $ for GOOD food

Can you offer any insight, please, into what makes nattou an attractive prospect, or even a plausible acquired taste? It always seems to be mentioned in the same breath as words like 'stinky' and 'slimy'. As a big cheese-fan I can relate to stinky, I suppose, but slimy isn't my favourite texture... ← Yes, it's just like strong smelling and tasting foods like blue cheese or anchovies. The smell and flavour is an acquired taste. As for the sliminess, the Japanese have a special affection for slimy foods like mountain yam and okra. It's just another texture here. Nattou is an attractive prospect because it's healthy, cheap and, if you can get over the smell and slime, tasty. If you can't it's no big deal, and plenty of Japanese don't like nattou. I didn't like nattou until I had it deep-fried. Now there's a cooking technique that will make anything taste good. ← I am also intrigued about Nattou - I have never heard of it before (not surprised thou, since i live in chicago and have never been too far from the United States (I cannot wait when I have the means to travel - some day...) Can you describe the taste a little but more? And - what I really want to know - what makes Nattou so healthy? The fact that it is beans )fiber, protein, etc) or the fact that it is fermented? And, anyhow - what about fermentation makes it healthy???? Signed, Bewildered and perplexed in Chi-town (lol) P.S. I too, am LOVING your blog....I may not 'chime in' or 'comment' often, but boy am I following along

I just had this today, sans the buttered toast (but I love having it on buttered toast also, trust me on that!). Basically, a bowl of soft boiled eggs, yolks completely runny ozzey gooey yumminess....add a little melted butter (no, they don't NEED the butter, but its even better with it....but only a little, trust me a little is all you want - too much and it will overpower the taste....salt, liberal shake of pepper, and OMG it's good...it's ohhhhh soooo goooodddd

Well the blue in the rear of the photo is shown only from the rind...and its a small picture - so it's hard to tell! I need to see veins to identify!!! HAHA so, I will just throw caution to the wind and guess one of my favorite blues....stilton? (my fav, being, Niels Yard Stilton).... I doubt I am right tho....from the appearance of the rind at least!

I am not sure if this qualifies me as a purist what-so-ever (because, like others have commented, what I am about to say is not a preparation, it is an ingredient)....but I will only use the 'REAL' cheese in recipes (heck, I will only use REAL cheese for straight eating also!)...and by 'real' I mean full fat....not that hokey pokey light, low-fat, reduced fat crap. Some of the "light' cheeses are okay...but they are FAR from good, and FAR from their original yumminess.....they lack in so many areas - taste, texture, melting ability, tendency to not get all gelatin-like when cooking/melting them. In my opinion, less of the REAL thing is better than a whole lot of the light versions. Now, I must clarify, I am not talking about cheeses that are NATURALLY lighter/lower-fat by nature (Mozerella, goats milk cheeses, etc....)...I am talking about cheeses that were tampered with by some scientist (food scientist, hehe) in order to make them less fatty. I say, with my cheese give me the fat! ***Disclaimer - I am a HUGE cheese lower....every kind of cheese. Add cheese to just about anything and it tastes better (desserts are excluded from that, at least usually )

Chris....funny you ask. Epoisses sure is salty, and strong too. Having said that., I LOVE me my stinky and strong cheeses....I often eat Epoisses plain....yes - I eat it straight. mmmm.....dip of finger...mmmmm. I do also enjoy it on a crusty bread - french baguette or sourdough (sourdough is by far my FAVORITE bread ever, I love the flavor and the texture). Sorry I couldnt be of more help to you. Anyone out there who can help chris? What would you eat Epoisses with to null some of the saltyness?

KARENR65: I LOVE frozen Cool-Whip....I buy it JUST for the purpose of freezing and eating it! AM I weird? I suppose I am! HAHA

Oh, and I am game for a trip to visit Dave. Now if only I could afford the means to travel there!

Oh, I agree Gariotin...those younger cabs I am sure I could find (actually, no "could" involved...I have seen those before!)...but those are not the ones I want *Whaaaaa*, I want the AGED ones....hehe Like I have complained before....STUPID cheese regulations...stupid people who put STUPID laws/practices into effect..... Ok, I HATE complaining...I am def. not one to complain. So - with that said...I am done