Cheese on the menu

I adore hosting parties. Last weekend I threw a birthday party for my friend Luis, and spent the better part of a day cooking for it. But the pièce de résistance no doubt was the cheese plate. OK, so my friends expect a lot from me when it comes to incorporating cheese in my entertaining. But seriously, why don’t more people think of it as standard? It was the easiest, most stunning and arguably tastiest treat I had to offer.

The first step was making a trip to the Essex Market to visit my friend Anne Saxelby. I planned on buying an impressive amount and knew I wanted three cheeses (an odd number looks better on the board). I picked out one stinky, one smoked, and one blue, all happened to be from Vermont (Twig Farm Wheel, Maple Smoked Gouda, and Bartlett Blue, respectively). I went by cheese-making style and appearance, so that each cheese brought with it a whole new experience.

Once home all I had to do was remember to take them out of the fridge 1.5 hours before serving, arrange them on a board, and stick a label in them (I love the ceramic labels that you can use over and over). And just like that I had a stunning addition to the dessert offering (check out the spread in the photo). The cheese got a lot of attention, and it was great to have something salty and fatty to snack on as we ploughed through the wine. Anyone can entertain with cheese, and maybe you’ll give it some thought too. And if you need help, I’m here for you fellow my cheesaholic, so drop me a line.

Comments

[Paul C. Herson]

Caffeine Pills -Effects, Withdrawal and Addiction

Caffeine pills are used worldwide as weight loss remedies and as stimulant drugs. Caffeine pills are the latest rage in the health and fitness industry as well, and they are used extensively as they are known to improve alertness and boost energy in human beings.

Caffeine pills also have side effects, just like any other type of medication, such as increased heart palpitations, headaches, restlessness, insomnia, psychomotor agitation, depression, irritability, disorientation, lack of judgement, peptic ulcers, loss of social inhibition, respiratory alkalosis, hallucinations, erosive esophagitis, etc.

If you ignore the headaches, a major symptom of caffeine withdrawal, that will just make you more tempted to return to the full-caffeine routine, so I recommend you to use pain relievers instead. Just be aware that some pain relievers, like Excedrin, contain caffeine, so you must include that when figuring out your daily caffeine intake! Reducing your consumption of caffeine gradually will also minimize the risk of suffering caffeine withdrawal.

Some people dont even think about the word addiction when they refer to caffeine. As a matter of fact, caffeine is an addictive drug and Caffeine Addiction is a reality in our world that must be treated just like any other addiction.
Some other people frequently say they are addicted to caffeine in much the same way they say they are addicted to shopping, working or television, and the term addiction actually refers to a strong dependence on a drug characterised by severe withdrawal symptoms, tolerance to a given dose and the loss of control or the need to consume more and more of the substance at any cost.
You can find more info at: http://yourcaffeineaddiction.com/

[Antoinette B. Kean]

Burgundy wine
(French: Bourgogne or Vin de Bourgogne) is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France.[1] The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as Burgundies - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Red and white wines are also made from other grape varieties, such as Gamay and Aligot respectively. Small amounts of ros and sparkling wine are also produced in the region. Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of Burgundy wine region, but wines from those subregions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as Burgundy wines.

Burgundy has a higher number of Appellation d'origine contrles (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions. The various Burgundy AOCs are classified from carefully delineated Grand Cru vineyards down to more non-specific regional appellations. The practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy go back to Medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry.

The appellations of Burgundy (not including Chablis). Overview in the middle, the southern part to the left, and the northern part to the right.
The Burgundy region runs from Auxerre in the north down to Mcon in the south, or down to Lyon if the Beaujolais area is included as part of Burgundy. Chablis, a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes, is produced in the area around Auxerre. Other smaller appellations near to Chablis include Irancy, which produces red wines and Saint-Bris, which produces white wines from Sauvignon Blanc.

Some way south of Chablis is the Cte d'Or, where Burgundy's most famous and most expensive wines originate, and where all Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy (except for Chablis Grand Cru) are situated. The Cte d'Or itself is split into two parts: the Cte de Nuits which starts just south of Dijon and runs till Corgoloin, a few kilometers south of the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, and the Cte de Beaune which starts at Ladoix and ends at Dezize-les-Maranges. The wine-growing part of this area in the heart of Burgundy is just 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, and in most places less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide. The area is made up of tiny villages surrounded by a combination of flat and sloped vineyards on the eastern side of a hilly region, providing some rain and weather shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. The best wines - from Grand Cru vineyards - of this region are usually grown from the middle and higher part of the slopes, where the vineyards have the most exposure to sunshine and the best drainage, while the Premier Cru come from a little less favourably exposed slopes. The relatively ordinary Village wines are produced from the flat territory nearer the villages. The Cte de Nuits contains 24 out of the 25 red Grand Cru appellations in Burgundy, while all of the region's white Grand Crus are located in the Cte de Beaune. This is explained by the presence of different soils, which favour Pinot Noir and Chardonnay respectively.

Further south is the Cte Chalonnaise, where again a mix of mostly red and white wines are produced, although the appellations found here such as Mercurey, Rully and Givry are less well known than their counterparts in the Cte d'Or.

Below the Cte Chalonnaise is the Mconnais region, known for producing large quantities of easy-drinking and more affordable white wine. Further south again is the Beaujolais region, famous for fruity red wines made from Gamay.

Burgundy experiences a continental climate characterized by very cold winters and hot summers. The weather is very unpredictable with rains, hail, and frost all possible around harvest time. Because of this climate, there is a lot of variation between vintages from Burgundy.
You can find more info at: http://www.burgundywinevarieties.com/

[Paula]

What a great website. It has to be good because it is about cheese and yes I am also a cheeseaholic. I went to a garden expo recently and you would think that I would have come out of it with a plant or something...but no, I came out with a bag full of cheeses. I found a cheese stand and that was it for me. Great blog. Hope you can check out mine at some point - http://www.only-cookware.com/blog/

[rebekka]

Gorgeous! Is that a clafouti in the background?