Eat, drink and be merry.

Chew my food more and slowly.

Ross and I got engaged over Thanksgiving.  It was a very spontaneous proposal, and it was especially wonderful to have both of our families around to celebrate.  Plans are already in the works.  It's awesome to have my Mum and soon to be sister (Heidi) and mother (Liz) in-laws around to help plan.  I would be lost in the weeds without them.

Right now I'm in the middle of writing a post for the Formaggio Kitchen blog about these three pieces of cheese, can anyone tell what the difference is between them?

I've also been writing recipes for Create A Cook where I'm currently teaching.  I was surprised at how much I enjoy writing recipes.  It makes me want to see if there are more opportunities out there for me in that field. 

Dinner tonight is going to be a simple fish stew - we'll see if that recipe makes it up here.

Sticking with tradition I made my dear friend Hans his birthday present today, which is large amount of spaetzle, with emmanthal cheese, caramelized onion and bacon.  Lots of bacon.  I felt I needed to share a quick photo of what I spent a chunk of my day doing.

Also, the oven is totally the way to go when cooking a large amount of bacon.  Trust me. 

Having just finished my second week as a part-time Cheese monger at Formaggio Kitchen it seems like a good time to write about some of the cheeses I've tasted.  These two I actually brought home for dinner this week on the recommendation of one of the more experienced cheese mongers. 

First, half a piece of Charolais.

Charolais is a goat cheese from Burgundy.  It can be sold either very fresh or slightly aged.  This piece was on the more aged side.  It's got a bloomy rind and the center of this pieces was firm and chalky.  I thought the flavour was kinda plain, but on the earthy side.  In my mind I kept thinking the flavour was not unlike cream cheese and sour cream (but more complex) it had a sourness and a creaminess at the same time.

The next piece was  Mothis Feuille.

This is also a goat cheese, but from Poitou.  When I was being shown how to set up the fresh goat cheese case my manager told me that this specific bloomy rind is common in cheese of that region.  It's aged sitting on a chestnut leaf, which I'm assuming is a tradition and doesn't do much to the flavor.  But I'm new to this.  This cheese is much creamier with a very small center that's chalky.  I found the flavor more pungently earthy than the charolais, slightly bitter and more salty.  For some reason as I was spreading and eating this cheese I kept thinking about melted rubber.  I think it's got to do with the texture of the gooeyness, and it's shininess.

Also - the combination of apples and comté is a new favorite.

The book that was recommended to me the first day was Steve Jenkins "Cheese Primer" and it's been very helpful.  Also very inexpensive to buy used online.

I'm really enjoying my new job.  I'm learning a lot every day I'm there and trying to read up on cheese when I'm not.  There's a lot to learn which can feel a tad daunting but the rest of the staff have been very patient and supportive.

More cheese next week.

The job I most coveted through this process, is as a part time cheese monger at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge.  I'll only be there two days a week but I'm thrilled to be able to learn about cheese from such a respected institution.  And also be so close to so many awesome products.

My next job which I'm also really excited about is at Create A Cook teaching culinary classes to 9-11 year olds.  I saw an ad on craigslist for a teaching position there and as luck would have it a friend from culinary school is one of the main organizers at the school, and things just fell together.  I'll be observing classes next week and hopefully I'll get my feet under me soon after and begin to teach classes.

Life is very exciting for me right now.  It's a really great feeling.

My time for the past few weeks has been occupied with finding a job, which I think I've done.  I'm really excited because it's the job I was really coveting.  I'll put a link up here when all the details get straightened out.

I've also been up to my eyeballs with bureaucratic crap.  Both immigration-wise and life in general.  Balls. 

Not much else to report.  Excited to spend this American Thanksgiving in Anguilla (seeing both my partner's family and my Mum and Uncle).  Haven't been able to visit down there in awhile, and the last time I was there was for more solemn circumstances.

Life's moving on in general.  Looking forward to getting on with it.

I spent the better part of last week in Toronto, my Omi passed away late Monday night.  She was a very important part of my life, and much of the person I am today is because of her.

As luck would have it I was in Toronto the week before because of a surgery that didn't actually happen.  It was really fortunate that I got to spend some time with her before she passed.

Neat lady, great cook.  I'm going to miss her a lot.

Turned in my thesis last week.  Feels good. 

Time to gather myself, and try to enter the work force.  I'm excited.

My thesis is almost done, just getting the last bits together.  Compiling the appendix, getting my citations in order.

I will officially be done at the end of September, a month away at this point, but I'm still nervous.  With the research and writing done it's all the little bits that need to be tied together.  My appendix of articles are PDF's, and I'm not sure how I go about labeling them in a pleasing way.  I think I also need to firm up the format of my citations.

The amount of work it still needs will not take me even close to a month to do, maybe a day or two, but it still weighs on me.  And this is the hard stuff to get done.  The little stuff.  Whomever coined the phrase "the devil is in the details" must have been nearing the end of their thesis.

Even though I just got back from Canada, I will be heading back to Toronto for surgery in a few weeks.  I have to get my wisdom teeth out, and apparently I wont be able to have solid foods for a few days.  In order to make these few days livable I'm compiling a list of things that are yummy and mushy.

-Pudding
-Congee
-Polenta
-Creamed spinach
-Creme caramel
-Mashed potatoes and gravy
-Schneenockeln (aka floating island)
-Chicken soup with griesnockle (cream of wheat dumpling)
-Cream of mushroom soup
-Chopped liver on fresh challah bread
-Ice cream
-Poached eggs

Savory mushy things were harder to think of than sweet mushy things.  Any suggestions are welcome.