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"That's absurd! Why would anyone pay that for just a piece of cheese!"

71.50.206.18
Posted on October 13, 2007 at 17:42:23
Muzikmike
 I forgot to tell you about this woman, I'd guess in her late 70's, who was flabbergasted by the prices of some of the cheeses at Wegman's. She kept picking up chunks and wedges and looking at the per pound prices and saying things like the quote above and tossing them back into the cheese bin like they were Tonka toys. When she ran across a triple cream that was about $220, she went nuts, I thought she was going to faint. Heck, the piece she left and I picked up, was only 26 bucks...sure, there wasn't much there, but it was incredible.

Stupidly, we unwrapped the cheeses last night to put them on a tray and lost track of about 3 or 4 of the cheeses. There isn't any of that one left, anyway.

The Brillat-Savarin was to die for, and you guys have to find some Mimolette, De Gaulle's favorite.

Now, if only I was rich enough to mate the wines from the areas those cheeses come from with the cheeses!

Next time, we go for the Italian cheeses! But to tell you the truth, we could just buy the artisanal cheeses of North America and be happy as hell! Grafton Village cheddar (Vermont) is as good of a cheese as any one of the cheeses I got! I gotta try some Forfar cheddar from Ontario or Fromagerie Tournevent (Chesterville, Quebec) goatmilk cheddar.

Damn...I am hooked! Damn good thing it's a bit of a trip to get there!

Do not buy a copy of Steven Jenkins' "Cheese Primer" if you want to keep your monthly food allowance under control!

I think tomorrow's meal will be hamburgers on the grill and cauliflower steamed slightly, with cheddar wedges pushed between the florets with just enough butter to hold the bread crumbs on top while it's broiled and browned in the oven.

Just a simple Sunday meal.

I've become enamored with Reislings of late...I need to find a damned good one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.. Hell, it doesn't have to be an authentic Reisling, just a damned good Reisling style wine. I love it in all styles...dry, semi-dry and sweet...I'm in love with that grape!
I knew something...I think it was just yesterday but I could be wrong.

 

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There's just something about good cheese that begs for wine..., posted on October 14, 2007 at 09:50:02
Todd A.
 Grazing on cheese and sausage (especially with a little fresh fruit on the side) is a standard weekend pastime around here - a combination that requires some nice wine as an accompaniment. We've discovered that we really like a good viognier, but the surprise this weekend was the J. Lohr "Seven Oaks" cabernet sauvignon. Good legs, nicely balanced, just a little oakey, and a complex, fruity finish....also not cheap at $17, but well worth the price of admission for those that like such things.

I'm surprised that some of those cheeses you describe can be had in Chambersburg, PA., but what do I know living in Minnesota? Anything stronger than salt & pepper is considered contraband here and is confiscated at the border....but I'll keep an eye out for some of those cheeses, and pick some up if we find them. Life is good, eh? So little time, so many new things to try.

 

"... but well worth the price of admission for those that like such things."...., posted on October 14, 2007 at 10:45:00
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 As is usual, the better examples of produce will always risk seeming to be a little expensive to those who have not developed an enthusiasm and subsequent honed palate for such items, but simply a thoroughly justified expenditure for those that have...

This is certainly as true for food as it is for audio(!)... :o)

And yes, there are adequate supplies of a suitably crusty port to provide the ideal accompaniment to this evening's (characterful) Stilton...

I hope you are having a very pleasant Sunday...


Bill.

 

Ah, Stilton...., posted on October 14, 2007 at 11:29:40
Todd A.
 Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses are only two of a great many pleasant (but wet!!) memories I have of your fair country, as well as some excellent drawn ale, the very pleasant establishments that served it, and some truly wonderful people.

Good to see you back, Feets!

 

Yes, Todd..., posted on October 14, 2007 at 14:44:24
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 In fact there are so many "quality of life" advantages that seem so plentiful for those on our island nation in addition to those you mentioned, I look to folk like you to spread the word to give some perspective to those who (even on AA forum pages!) evidently believe that America is the ONLY place of worth to live on this planet!...

Yes, our temperate maritime climate does result in our weather often being sufficiently variable to frequently be the topic first referred to when strangers meet, but such conditions also result in excellent quality of crops (rather than quantity), which naturally has obvious implications both for the cheeses and the ales!...

Ruth's (the lady wife's) convalescence is predictably tiring, but hopefully still allows me a periodic few minutes to post the odd comment...

I hope that you wind down your Sunday in a pleasantly indulgent manner...


Bill.

 

Not all of the USA is the perfect place to live...just, posted on October 14, 2007 at 17:16:56
Muzikmike
 a certain place and it is perfect, better then anywhere on the planet!

I'd type my address here, but I'll just write the name of this perfect place to live...at least for my lazy ass.

Casa Vinyl, Pennsy, Yewza.
I knew something...I think it was just yesterday but I could be wrong.

 

I often wonder what it must be like to NOT enjoy food., posted on October 14, 2007 at 17:36:36
Muzikmike
 What a bore, what a meager existence!

One needs to eat, we may as well make it a great experience as often as is possible. "Expensive" cheese, wine, meat, etc. There is no such thing...well, if it is ppriced according to its quality.

What there is, though, is cheap and not worthy of eating type food...if we can even term it food. Garbage is a better term.

And great foiod can be as inexpensive as the cheap garbage...a great hot dog is still a great culinary experience. A hot dog (or any sausage) made from hooves, assholes, and membranes fit only for use as bags to carry things...that is expensive!

A Nathan's dog compared to a National Ball Park dog...a great Stilton compared to a Kraft grocery store blue cheese? Or, a much more appropriate comparison, Maytag Blue compared to that Kraft blue. The Maytag's about 17 bucks a pound (it may be more, I forget), the Kraft, $2.98. The difference in taste? The Kraft is blue for people who THINK they like cheese.

Fine wines, fine beers, fine meat, fine breads...all aren't inexpensive, but give me food worthy of a king, not food for a pig.

Damn, I love it! I could eat my way through the U.S. and then on to Mexico, then to Brazil, then return north to go to what I'm told is one of the great food areas of the world, Quebec...and everywhere in between all of them...

Then on to Europe! I want to do a double sided alps trip. Italy, then take a train to France. I figure limiting myself to 250 sq. miles of Italy(O.K., convert it to metric measurement if you would, please), then across the mountains limited to 250 sq. miles of France.

I figure that would be a nice food, cheeses, and wine tour. Then, next trip, Portugal and Spain (or maybe Portugal and Spain first...I don't care!).

All I need is the money, the desire's already there!
I knew something...I think it was just yesterday but I could be wrong.

 

I am delighted to hear it, Mike!..., posted on October 15, 2007 at 03:48:47
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 I am always very happy to hear of any who declare themselves ideally suited with their present location..... wherever they live...

I also have a natural respect for folk that are genuinely patriotic to their countries... It’s just that when I find folk of obviously very “fixed” opinion directly or indirectly try to claim that their particular values are automatically those embodied in the ideals of the state (and there are indeed a few such folk on AA forum pages!), and therefore imply that if any others of that nation happen to disagree with their interpretations that such opinion effectively amounts to being unpatriotic, then I experience an extreme distaste for such personalities...

On a general level, from an outsider’s perspective (from TV and film, etc.) it seems worryingly necessary in US culture for all to implicitly declare their allegiance to “the flag” as the flag seems to be prominently in evidence somewhere in just about every public office (and some private offices, too) throughout the land... Is this actually the case in the US, or simply a formula presented by the media?... Such embedded cultural display seems conspicuous by it’s absence in either the UK or in other countries in Europe... I assume that in these other cultures the general view is that patriotism can simply be taken as read, and that therefore no great show of patriotism is required...

The fact that it has primarily been the extreme European cultures (Hitler’s Germany, pre-Gorbachev USSR, Mussolini’s Italy, and Franco’s Spain) that have made a point of making the national/party flag a widespread symbol for the stimulation of automatic devotion and submission from their citizens suggests a query as to whether there may be a continuing risk of a differently-paced steady cultural indoctrination of the USA population?...

Such results need not necessarily be driven by those fostering a specific set of political ideals, of course, as a compliant populace can naturally be used to serve a number of different interests...

Just a thought...


Bill.

 

Granny was a deceptively wise lady..., posted on October 15, 2007 at 04:14:27
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 whose observations, made throughout my childhood and recalled later (Granny died when I was 12yrs old), gave me the cornerstones of a personal philosophy that has served me well in my adult life...

One of the most far-reaching of her comments was, “If you have any choice in the matter, never buy principally on price but on the level of quality that will really meet your needs... If a cheap product does NOT completely meet your needs, you will have a double disadvantage in that whatever money you have spent will simply have been wasted and your life will also be poorer as a result.”... and I have never wanted my life to be poorer!...

The bad news is that I evidently have rather expensive tastes in certain respects... The good news is that I have always managed to find sufficient funds to purchase what I required!...

And since food is obviously the body's fuel, I too see it as entirely logical to avoid low-quality options and to actively seek examples which provide the most effective combination of the pleasure of the repast and effective body maintenance...


Bill.

 

There's a major difference...., posted on October 15, 2007 at 07:18:34
Todd A.
 Between patriotism and nationalism, even though some people seem to equate the two. A healthy dose of skepticism in the populace seems essential to keeping any government in the role for which it was created - to serve the well-being of the people. And it's pretty hard to take anyone seriously that proclaims that they live in the the most wonderful country on Earth (whatever that country may be) if they've never been beyond its borders. Every country I've ever visited has been unique and wonderful, and I always felt that I could be happy living there, even though I was also always glad to return to the familiar warmth of home.


"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then." Thomas Jefferson

I couldn't agree more. Have a great week, Feets..it's back to Erehwon, North Dakota for me.

 

You nicely highlighted..., posted on October 15, 2007 at 08:36:21
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 both the distinction that I had hoped to make with traditional Anglo-Saxon subtlety(!), and the primary reasons why...

Cultural nationalism can sometimes be obviously overt or at other times subtly disguised... It's often a question of looking for indicators that might suggest such tendencies... As an example, although I am sure that all my friends and I are certainly patriotic, I would be very surprised if ANY of us have EVER had a photo taken (for the office desk/office wall or otherwise) where our national flag is identifiably featured in the pic, but I wonder whether this would be also likely to be the case for the "average" American......


Bill.

 

Ah, well...., posted on October 15, 2007 at 17:51:20
Todd A.
 I always did have a talent for stating the obvious. You're right about the photos, though - I can think of one without even trying. My wife took a shot of me standing at the back of a boat in San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate in the background. There was a flag flying on the stern of the boat, and it figures prominently in the photo.

 

Thanks, Todd!..... These days a chuckle is more than usually appreciated, posted on October 16, 2007 at 05:10:33
feet's too big
Audiophile

Posts: 10069
Location: West Midlands
Joined: November 22, 2002
 though I think it fair to claim that my posting strongly hinted at photos with an association of a flag posed with a deliberate intent of conveying “patriotism”, rather than including an ensign in a pic simply since it just happened to be in the frame at the time the shot was taken!... :o)

I do rather like tongue-in-cheek humour...


Bill.

 

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