GTO

Kim, that all looks amazing. I can live without the celery however. I hate it so much. I'm loving your spice cookies, I thought they were salted at first. Blether: I suppose it would be pretty sexy in slow motion.

Good to know Blether. I've always wondered why people sit in the window seats at Subway, the ones that sit snugly to the glass in front of the street. "Everybody! Look! Watch me eat my sandwich!" I'd find it very embarrasing. Sandwiches are not sexy.

Me too, Blether. I think all the effort went into the pasta, which is fine by me.

I kid you not, Blether. The box says 1-2 minutes but I swear, it was straight in and straight out. It came from an Italian comapny called La Campofilone. I'm probably mistaken about the tablet, it just looks like fudge is all. Either way, it looks good.

Chappie, that sounds amazing. I'm looking on my shelf now and I have popcorn...I have Marmite but it's 1:30am - Maybe tomorrow.

Blether: You're not fobbing anyone off with that, it looks like textbook fudge to me, I'll bet the texture is awesome. Tonight I tried again with some extremely temperamental Linguini I bought last weekend. It caught me completely off guard the first time, since even though it is INCREDIBLY delicate, it's dried pasta, so I thought it would take a a minute. It took literally 10 seconds.

This probably won't work but the first thing that occured to me, was to do a kind of "Bouquet Garni" of smoked bits. A piece of Muslin cloth filled with toasted spices and smokey, charred wood and simmered in your sauce. Would that work, or am I being crazy?

That one takes the biscuit for me. I'm willing to try most things but not that...not that.

My favourite market stall was today selling fresh limes for 5p (10cents?) each, so I got a few and did a noodle stir fry. I've never seen so much juice from one lime, they were fantastic.

I love those people who try and flick noodles up into their mouths by keeping close to the bowl and moving their head back and forth like a chicken, flicking them in.

I want to sleep in that cake, Marlene.

Dana is absolutely right. Dina Cheney, in her book "Tasting" recommends that you serve your cheeses with accompaniments such as: Grapes, apples, pears, figs & dried apricots. She also suggests nuts and bread (such as a baguette), aswell as slices of cured meats & wine. All are important, so that you can draw comparisons and relate flavours etc.

Ah, that makes sense. My card reader has decided it doesn't want to work anymore, so there won't be any pictures for a bit until I get a new one.

I absolutely hate celery with a passion. I go out of my way to express my dislike of it. You know how, over time, you can gradually work something into your diet that you didn't like previously? Celery refuses play ball with me. I find the taste very "chemical-y" . Other than that, I have never met a vegetable, or a fruit for that matter, that I didn't like. I'm very easily pleased when it comes to flavours, I honestly can't think of many things that I dislike, other than strong fish and offal. I'm not mad on celeriac either, since, obviously it tastes like celery.

Mushroom Pate - You should be able to freeze it too.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, cookwithlove, about a Goat's milk cheese similar to Mimolette. The only thing I can suggest, is to look for the "fruitiest" Goat's cheese you can find. 'Blue de L'Herault' is a blue Goat's milk cheese. The little book I have describes it as being "sharp and tangy" - Like Mimolette.

remind me never to piss you off, Gastro. I don't fancy seeing myself on a "poop" list.

I've already started the Pecorino but I will break out the camera and get them up soon.

I have never met a cheese grater that hasn't been an absolute ergonomic nightmare. Every grater I have ever had has led me further towards the conclusion that there is no way of comfortably grating cheese. Did you come across this one at all, Fat Guy? Fox Run Craftsman - It looks pretty huge.

Cooking while wearing glasses is worst when you're frying something. You think you've gotten away with it, then you take them off to find the lenses are COVERED with tiny drops of oil. It's always on the inside of the lens too, how does it get back there? I hate it when people salt for saltings sake (Check that alliteration). As soon as food is served, before they even taste, they salt the hell out of it.

Yeah, very nice looking Gnocchi, Peter. Good to see you've got the wine out while you work, dinner at yours looks nice and relaxed. I did a Risotto with Chili Pecorino tonight, it was good.

I'll be looking for that, thanks, gariotin. I'll be looking out for little craters in my Mimolette next time too. I just got back from the Cheese Society again with three more, I can do pictures sometime if anyone wants to see. I got a cut of "Blackbomber" - An incredibly cool and tangy Cheddar with a jet black wax coating, which looks really bad ass. Smoked Poacher - Another Lincolnshire native. Very nicely rounded, good smoked flavour with no nasty aftertaste. And finally, Pecorino Chili - Which is, believe it or not, Pecorino with flakes of chili! This one os very clever, at first, it's all cheese, no spice and then all of a sudden the chili comes in. I'm loving this writing about cheese lark, I could do it all day, lol.

I just have images of someone being tarred and feather now...

Hi, Cookwithlove. Raclette, Ricotta and Mimolette are all cow's milk cheeses. I've never had Mastelo before but if I remember rightly, it's kind of like halloumi/mozzarella. Fregola, I've never heard of before, so I can't help you there. Raclette is from France and really needs heating or grilling in some way before it really shines. Ricotta, obviously is from Italy and is a heated Whey "cheese". I think it's kind of like the Italian cottage cheese, only better. Mimolette is one of my favourite coloured cheeses. It's from France and is often aged well beyond 20 months, which is why it's so strong and fruity. It's colour comes from a natural dye called "Annatto", which features in many orange coloured cheeses, including one of my favourites, Shropshire Blue. Hope that helps, I'm just starting to learn too but it's fascinating isn't it?

Deb at Smitten Kitchen just posted up a piece on Hamantaschen. Have a read, her writing is always fun.