This blog was intended to be for those who would care to elaborate upon any discussions that take place on The Star Tribune Crossword Corner, hosted by the impressive Ms. C.C.
WM, I went in search of Abbaye de Belloc yesterday. I did not find it, but I did buy another type of French Pyrenees hard sheep's milk cheese called Ossau Iraty. Are you familiar with it? It was not quite as expensive as I had anticipated the other to be, but it was still quite delicious.
After having visited the gourmet market down the street and finding neither the rendered duck fat I needed nor the Abbaye de Belloc, I proceeded to Whole Foods, confident that they would likely have the cheese, at least. Unfortunately, they let me down. As with the other store, Whole Foods had neither the Abbaye de Belloc nor the Graisse du Canard. I also asked whether they had ever heard of Wabash Cannonball. They had not. So, having inquired with the buyers of that fancy-schmancy store about three items and striking out on all three, I felt like a bit of a hifalutin' gourmand.
The Sun-Sentinel has a feature in the Thursday Food section where people write in to ask if anyone knows where to find this or that food item locally. Maybe I will give that a shot for the Abbaye de Belloc.
PMT...You ARE a high falutin' gourmand. Ossau-Iraty Pyrenee is pretty much the same cheese from the same region in southern France...IMHO, the Abbaye de Belloc is a teensy bit more sophistcated, more hazelnut overtones...a good place to contact or at least look at their website...www.cowgirlcreamery.com
They do ship cheese in excellent condition and also now have a store in D.C. They are some of the best cheese people in the country. I find them to be better than even Artisan Cheese in NYC...AC has "aging caves"...large temperature and moisture controlled rooms and are under the often mistaken impression that they are improving cheeses which come to them in already perfect condition...so you can definitely trust the Cowgirl Creamery ladies...I think they also carry Wabash Cannonball...also try to find anything by Redwood Hill Farms...they are friends of mine up in Northern CA and are the only humane certified goat dairy in the country...all their cheeses are very French in style and flavor...those should be available in Whole Paycheck...er Foods. The fresh chevre in little 4 oz tubs is to die for...and believe it or not, it hasn't been whipped up...you'll know what I mean when you taste it...light and fluffy, just the way it comes from the make tank. Yummy.
I am really surprised that WF didn't have even tubs of frozen duck fat??? Try www.igourmet.com...they usually have pretty much everything. I often get bulk Spanish sea salt from them...very reasonable. I think that Fabrique Delices who make great pates, make tubs of frozen duck fat.
If you are looking for particular food or cheese resources...let me know...I have a gazillion(or pretty close) bookmarks on Food and cheese. I always feel really spoiled because we have such great local resources all around the bay area a hugh advantage of having such an ethnically diverse population...even Fremont, just a short drive away has the largest concentrated Afghan population, I think, in the US...fabulous restaurants and bakeries and groceries...even our own little city has a lot to choose from...like I say...very fortunate. We can eat our way through numerous cultures.
Oh...another seriously yummy goat cheese, from Spain, that I think I have gotten from WF...Garroxta(say gar-ocha)...make sure you get a fresh cut piece...I always ask them. It is a cheese that degenerates quickly once cut...delicious, not goaty. Its a smallish, grey rinded cheese that should be pristine white inside!
Darn...another absolutely fabulous place and possibly the best customer service in the whole freakin' country...
www.zingermans.com...in Ann Arbor Michigan of all places...pretty much anything your baby heart desires and they are really nice people to boot...if they don't have it they will try to locate it and they actually respond to your emails...I absolutely love them...have met Ari and some of the people who work there at a couple of big food shows(SF and NYC)...best "go to" place in the whole country. Check it out.
Happy Sunday Afternoon, I'm not complaining, but I have to say I'm a little jealous of you folks who live closer to the fun stores.
I'm hesitant to purchase fresh food over the internet. No problem for you in the past, WM? Spices and seasonings are no problem, but since shipping. out to the middle of wherever it is we are, is quite expensive, I don't want to try it unless I am sure I won't be disappointed.
I will be going to Sebastopol in the next month or so and will definitely tell my sister that we'll have to go to Redwood Hill Farms. Sebastopol also has a great farmers market about a mile down the road from Sis's place. Come to think of it, I'm jealous of her too!
Now, I'll clear my head and re-convince myself that simple is just fine! :o) We don't have much choice, so it has to be. Talk about gourmand...Fred and I had chili dogs for dinner last night! We don't live close enough to a city where there is a real butcher shop and no Whole Foods either, so we make do. We get Casper's hot dogs from Costco. They are quite good. They have real casings that snap when you bite them. Topped with some homemade chili that I pulled out of the freezer, a little coleslaw on the side and we were all set.
I know I've told you that I know very little about cheese, so thanks for the cowgirlcreamery. I spent a little time in their library reading up on various cheeses. I was a little mind-boggled at the list they had.
All this thinking about tasty food and I was reminded that until about six months ago we had a dingy little restaurant about 15 miles down the road. (Just a little jaunt for us.) Once a month, they would cart in a truckload of fresh oyster from the Bay area and have an "Oyster Night" at the restaurant. Just a plain table, a salad, fresh bread and a huge bowl of steamed oysters. The tables were a mess of opened and cracked shells when our gang was through, but so good and so much fun. Sadly, the economy got to them and the place closed. We haven't had oysters since....bummer
CA...so sad about the funky little restaurant...those are sometimes the most fun! If you are going to be in Sebastopol on either May 9th or 10th...let me know. We are going up, probably on the 10th(but either day would work) for the dairy tour and to see the goats. Since I have been through the dairy tons of times I will probably keep an eye on Lucy...probably upstairs in the office. They only open the dairy to the public 2 weekends a year. There is a lovely produce market just across the street with a great coffee bar and it is also the only time you can actually buy cheese directly from the dairy. They have picnic tables at the farm and lots of lawn area...really pretty for a picnic. You can order online, but it is pricey. They also attend the Sebastopol Farmer's market at last check...and they also often bring some the awesome goat yogurt made a young lawyer who rents out the old cheesemaking facility on the farm...Num num num!
I would also have to consider myself a fairly plain cook nowadays...I like to have really fresh ingredients and let them shine through...nothing wrong with that. And, don't knock Costco...depending on what your store carries, they often have some really good cheeses available. Marin French Cheese makes a brie that has actually won awards at the American Cheese Society...its sometimes surprising what you can find. I always buy their 3 yr old Parmeggiano Reggiano( I think I have misspelled that!)...They have a lot of seriously excellent products. I don't usually buy produce from them because of the quantity and also because a lot is shipped in long distance. They do carry some excellent tomatoes that are grown mostly in Canada...
AS far as ordering online...the Cowgirl Creamery people ship mostly out of the Petaluma warehouse, so its not too far away. Zingerman's is most definitely awesome and like I told PMT, the service in incredible...I don't get much from them because they are very expensive, but if you are looking for something very special they are definitely the place to go and everything is uber-guaranteed. I buy a big bottle of a particular Provencal olive oil at the beginning of summer to go with the tomatoes from the garden, very pricey...but worth a summer full of decadence. I would probably not order cheeses during the hottest months of the year, because, no matter how many cold packs they stick in...it still gets into a 100+ degrees inside a UPS truck...BLEH! Once or twice, I have ordered from D'Artangnan in New York, but again, in the fall and winter. A friend and I were cooking lamb tenderloins with slices of foie gras on them(we do outrageous stuff 2-3 times a year). They are also pricey but a very good company for outrageously good meat and pate products...especially exotic things.
Everything you have ever mentioned always sounds good to me...we definitely find that for just the 2 of us, simple is often better...especially comfort food in the colder months, fresh from the garden in the summer. We are expanding the raised bed areas this year, so I am looking forward to trying tokeep stuff planted all year round, plus I have an Herb/kitchen garden.
Just remember, that to get all the selection I have available I deal with awful traffic, Spare the Air Days...higher prices and a lot of people with "attitude" in various communities... We can also rarely have a fire in the fireplace during the winter. We do get that lovely fog rolling over the Santa Cruz Hills...but you, most likely have unutterable loveliness...some trades are worth it ...don't you think?
Ok..this was my short break for a bit...this painting is getting way more involved than I intially planned. It is fun to take a break from the serious stuff and talk food for a bit...
WM, I don't think we will be getting to Sebastopol until the first week of June. My sister's younger son will be graduating from high school and we are invited to the "Thank God We Got Both Of Them Through That Much!" party.
Thanks for the ordering advice. I appreciate it. You are right, it is always a trade-off with what you have and what you would like in a perfect world.
I've never tried goat yogurt. I have just recently learned to tolerate cow's milk yogurt. Same thing with cottage cheese. There are always foods that don't sit well on our palates. I try to revisit those things once in a while and see if I can learn to like them. I've been successful with beets, eggplant and cottage cheese, but no luck so far with okra or figs. I will keep on trying. I don't like the idea of saying, "I don't like that" if I haven't even tried it for 30 years.
We do have some very nice olive oil in our area. Sciabica's, which claims to be the oldest olive oil producer in California is located in Modesto. It must be good for you. Old Grandpa Sciabica (I think he is in his 90's) is still at work every day and tells everyone to drink 1/4 cup of olive oil a day.
PMT, So far, I think Live are good musicians. I read the lyrics and listened to "Pillar of Davidson" twice. I'm not sure I really GET it. I understand the "warm bodies" lyrics, but is "Pillar of Davidson" referring to the Harley Davidson plant in York, PA? Who is "the shepherd", is it The Man, or is it "I"? I don't mind songs with a message, I just want to understand what the message is. If it weren't for lead singer Ed Kowalczyk taking pity on the audience and coming right out explaining at 3:18, "It's a work song..busting your ass for The Man..It's a song that that you can sing, and maybe feel a little bit less lonely." I would be totally lost. Unless it is in another language, I don't think songs should need to be explained.
Just a thought. Is it possible that Live fans are doing what young people have done for generations, rebelling with a form of music their parents won't like or understand? Is it young people elitist, as in, "you're too stupid to understand", which is pretty much the same thing.
The Beatles did similar, only they didn't seem to take themselves as seriously as Live seems to. Pink Floyd didn't bother with obscure lyrics; they just came out and said, "You're stupid." I rather admired that.
I shall now go and pick up on a hip-hop number on YouTube, followed by a current top-ten country song. I really am trying to expand my horizons.
WH, stop herding the goats for a while and stop by.
Clear Ayes, I took Sciabica's flavored olive oil survey. It turns out that I am mainstream. Who'da thunk it? I voted for 'garlic flavored' as my favorite. That choice was the top one on their poll result. No surprise. When it comes to olive oil, mainstream is good ... at least amongst informed aficionados. I do appreciate the tip about Sciabica. Olive oil is something that is very important to me and, while my mainstay brand is not from California, I am aware of the fact that California plays a role in olive production.
Some years ago, I contacted the Santa Barbara Olive Company. I wanted to know if their olives were "organic". The woman who I spoke to was very pleasant and very forthcoming. She informed me that, while their olives were not 'certified' organic, it was primarily due to the cost in both time and money to get the certification. She assured me that they had been growing olive trees pesticide free on their land for far longer than the seven years that the California Organic Foods Act of 1990 required. She told me that the only thing that they had done to eliminate pests was to plant chili peppers in between the trees to help ward off the deer. This told me a lot. If the deer accepted them then they must be OK.
I believed this (and still do) because of what I had read in William Dufty's book, The Sugar Blues. In that book he pointed out how the British or other Europeans had conducted tests using livestock. They used chemical fertilizers on one lot and organic fertilizers on another and then let the sheep loose to graze. The sheep all shied away from the field that had been fertilized with the man-made chemicals. Everyone of them went to the other field. We hear little to nothing about this kind of thing in the mainstream American media. The Europeans are way ahead of us on the issue of 'Frankenfoods' and it is largely due to the brainwashing that is possible because of the criminal corporate control of the mass media here.
As for LIVE ... Sure they are good musicians. Are they great musicians in terms of their technical facility? Well, perhaps not compared to many of the classical or jazz musicians that I listen to. However, as I have said before, it is not the technical facility of the artist that speaks to the honest truth of what they are trying to convey. That being said, I am very impressed with you for connecting the dots between the band and the York Harley Davidson plant. I had not done so. When it comes to song lyrics, I approach them much like poetry. They are not always rational and, yet, I sometimes just get them on an intuitive level and do not feel a pressing need to try to explain them. However, in this case I should have made the connection.
A couple of years after stumbling upon LIVE's recording Throwing Copper I was still under the mistaken impression that they were from Texas. I was finally stripped of my illusion by a young woman who I had hit it off with. I was aboard a live-aboard dive vessel headed for Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas when I mentioned to the young dive captain that I liked a band (which I suggested that she had probably never heard of) called LIVE. She just looked at me mouth agape for a moment and then said something to the effect of, "Wow! That's so cool. I am from the same town as those guys. In fact, the Dam at Otter Creek is just a couple of miles downstream from where I grew up." That was how I found out that the group was not from Texas, that they were from Pennsylvania. Never-the-less, I had never made the Harley Davidson connection. Suspecting Kowalczyk might be of Ashkenazi descent I had been trying to make some Hebrew connection.
"Who is "the shepherd", is it The Man, or is it "I"? I think the reference to the 'Shepherd' is to either the bigwig(s) who own(s) the company or the government. It doesn't really matter which. Either way it simply refers to our 'handlers' ... whoever they may be. Which I think leads to your next question.
"Is it possible that Live fans are doing what young people have done for generations, rebelling with a form of music their parents won't like or understand?" I don't think it is simply about one's own parents. I think that rock and roll and any other form of expression that is appalling at first glance (Guernica) is an artist's attempt to rage at the machine. This is good. People who just want to hear nice pretty sounds or look at nice pretty pictures are zombies, the walking dead. As has been said: If you're not pissed off (at least to a degree) then you're not paying attention.
Good Wednesday morning all, It's been a little quiet on this corner lately. I've made a couple of brief comments on the other corner which were ignored, but I guess invisibility can be a good thing on occasion. We got the sheep sheared, a chore which everyone dreads but has to be done. A character in one of Wendell's books says, "What can not be helped must be endured." Speaking of which, I pulled out my copy of What Are People For. It is dedicated to Gurney Norman, who was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford in the early sixties, after Wendell, and has just last week been named Kentucky's Poet Laureate. Those of you who are of a certain age may remember the Last Whole Earth Catalog, published by Stewart Brand. There was a "novel" printed in the margin of the LWEC titled "Divine Right's Trip". It was written by Gurney Norman. The circle closes. WAPF is a great collection of essays. "The Pleasures of Eating" will resonate, I'm sure. "Why I am not going to buy a Computer" was originally published in The Progressive and drew heavy fire from feministas and techies. His response, "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine", just dug the hole deeper. The Machine, of course, is the same on PMT mentioned in his comments above. You will like this book. PMT: I am reminded of Don McLean's line in American Pie: "But the Music wouldn't play" The damned Iphone is perverse, to say the least. That doesn't mean you should quit. The tests with livestock mentioned ago e were done at least in part by Sir Albert Howard, who wrote a book about it and was subsequently margin alized by scientific colleagues. More Machine. One of the reasons I quickly gravitated to this corner, and will stay until it no longer exists, is the erudition and depth of knowledge among the several of you. I too was blown away by the ability of CA to make the HD connection, as I have been by each of you on many previous occasions. Only long term curiosity, wide ranging interests, and a lifetime of "paying attention" gets a person to the point where all of you are. That brings me to PMT's last line above and my close (it just stopped raining and the Sun came out). When I read it I got the same rush a shot of Patron or Cabo Wabo gives me. I have to tell a brief story. In 1996/97 I was president of a small farm group, the National Family Farm Coalition, which attempts (still) to lobby for progressive farm policies and is affiliated with an international group called Via Compesina. At the annual meeting that marked the end of my tenure, I gave a little farewell speech in which I advised farmers that since the agribusiness/government Machine was designed to crush them, the only response was to get outside the system or at least operate on its margins. I have since taken my own advice. In closing I said, "I have been told that I am "too angry". I say to you now that if you aren't pissed off, you haven't been paying attention". Another circle closed. Thanks for the memory, PMT. Wolfmom: Hang 'em very high. Leave 'em hanging till the rope rots. I be in as time permits, but I love reading all your musings, recipes, rants and thoughts. Thanks. Windhover, busily.
PMT, I can't take too much credit for the Harley Davidson thing. Fred and I took a tour of the plant a few years ago while we were on a cross country driving trip. I had googled Live earlier with your first link, I think that was a couple of weeks ago. So I did know they were from Pennsylvania.
That was a wonderful vacation, by the way. We were on an autumn driving trip from Baltimore to Ontario in October. Fred had never been to Niagara Falls. We had to correct that. We had a meandering route and whenever we saw an interesting byroad or roadside sign we turned off. That's how we wound up taking the factory tour ("That sounds interesting. Let's stop and take a look.") We did the same thing on the way back.
I love the culture, history and architecture of Europe, but the U.S. is really a beautiful country. We've taken a couple of driving trips and I'm always astonished at the physical beauty of this country.
Hmmm, your last couple of sentences... I think we may have to re-explore our discussions on art :o)
I'm off this morning for a class on Japanese temari balls. I don't think I'll be making more than one. I don't need more things, even if they are beautiful. But I am curious about how they are made, so....
Well, now you've done it. I was all ready to charge out and take on the Machine, or at least sow a little grass seed, and thought I would just take a quick look at WAPF. So 2 and a half hours later, my ass is glued to the couch and my nose is in a book. Thanks a lot. Your penance? When you get into the book yourself, annotate the poems "damage" and "healing". Word to the wise: if Amazon has back ordered this book, find it used instead of waiting. North Point is a pretty small division of a pretty small publisher (FS&G), and they don't reprint or even ship titles until there is a critical mass of orders. Anyway, you can bet that any one who is willing to sell this book used hasn't read it so hasn't damaged it. Windhover, tardily.
WH, thanks for the info...will check out some used book stores...the other two books arrived last night. I have a lot to finish up before the mural meeting tomorrow and Bill has gone to watch our granddaughter because our daughter called and said she wasn't feeling well...worrisome(and I am a sort of panicky type sometimes) but I am hoping she is just over-tired...will be back later after 6 or so...sorry guys.
16 comments:
WH,
You can search YouTube for this one by typing this title into the search field:
Live - Pillar of Davidson (1999-12-18 - #06)
PMT...Listened...read lyrics...thinking
Will most likely order the Stonehenge book...
WM,
I went in search of Abbaye de Belloc yesterday. I did not find it, but I did buy another type of French Pyrenees hard sheep's milk cheese called Ossau Iraty. Are you familiar with it? It was not quite as expensive as I had anticipated the other to be, but it was still quite delicious.
After having visited the gourmet market down the street and finding neither the rendered duck fat I needed nor the Abbaye de Belloc, I proceeded to Whole Foods, confident that they would likely have the cheese, at least. Unfortunately, they let me down. As with the other store, Whole Foods had neither the Abbaye de Belloc nor the Graisse du Canard. I also asked whether they had ever heard of Wabash Cannonball. They had not. So, having inquired with the buyers of that fancy-schmancy store about three items and striking out on all three, I felt like a bit of a hifalutin' gourmand.
The Sun-Sentinel has a feature in the Thursday Food section where people write in to ask if anyone knows where to find this or that food item locally. Maybe I will give that a shot for the Abbaye de Belloc.
PMT...You ARE a high falutin' gourmand. Ossau-Iraty Pyrenee is pretty much the same cheese from the same region in southern France...IMHO, the Abbaye de Belloc is a teensy bit more sophistcated, more hazelnut overtones...a good place to contact or at least look at their website...www.cowgirlcreamery.com
They do ship cheese in excellent condition and also now have a store in D.C. They are some of the best cheese people in the country. I find them to be better than even Artisan Cheese in NYC...AC has "aging caves"...large temperature and moisture controlled rooms and are under the often mistaken impression that they are improving cheeses which come to them in already perfect condition...so you can definitely trust the Cowgirl Creamery ladies...I think they also carry Wabash Cannonball...also try to find anything by Redwood Hill Farms...they are friends of mine up in Northern CA and are the only humane certified goat dairy in the country...all their cheeses are very French in style and flavor...those should be available in Whole Paycheck...er Foods. The fresh chevre in little 4 oz tubs is to die for...and believe it or not, it hasn't been whipped up...you'll know what I mean when you taste it...light and fluffy, just the way it comes from the make tank. Yummy.
I am really surprised that WF didn't have even tubs of frozen duck fat??? Try www.igourmet.com...they usually have pretty much everything. I often get bulk Spanish sea salt from them...very reasonable. I think that Fabrique Delices who make great pates, make tubs of frozen duck fat.
If you are looking for particular food or cheese resources...let me know...I have a gazillion(or pretty close) bookmarks on Food and cheese. I always feel really spoiled because we have such great local resources all around the bay area a hugh advantage of having such an ethnically diverse population...even Fremont, just a short drive away has the largest concentrated Afghan population, I think, in the US...fabulous restaurants and bakeries and groceries...even our own little city has a lot to choose from...like I say...very fortunate. We can eat our way through numerous cultures.
Oh...another seriously yummy goat cheese, from Spain, that I think I have gotten from WF...Garroxta(say gar-ocha)...make sure you get a fresh cut piece...I always ask them. It is a cheese that degenerates quickly once cut...delicious, not goaty. Its a smallish, grey rinded cheese that should be pristine white inside!
Have to go paint now...
Darn...another absolutely fabulous place and possibly the best customer service in the whole freakin' country...
www.zingermans.com...in Ann Arbor Michigan of all places...pretty much anything your baby heart desires and they are really nice people to boot...if they don't have it they will try to locate it and they actually respond to your emails...I absolutely love them...have met Ari and some of the people who work there at a couple of big food shows(SF and NYC)...best "go to" place in the whole country. Check it out.
I am familiar with the Artisan Cheese' web site. I did some price web comparisons to see if they were competetive price-wise and also so that I would know what to expect to pay when I finally find the Abbaye de Belloc.
I am not sure I have ran across CowGirlCreamery.com, though. I will be sure to check them out. I will also look into Zingermans.com and be on the lookout for the Redwood Hill Farms Chévre and the Garroxta.
Thanks a lot for all the great info :)
PMT...you're welcome...and anytime.
You share music...I share food...
Happy Sunday Afternoon, I'm not complaining, but I have to say I'm a little jealous of you folks who live closer to the fun stores.
I'm hesitant to purchase fresh food over the internet. No problem for you in the past, WM? Spices and seasonings are no problem, but since shipping. out to the middle of wherever it is we are, is quite expensive, I don't want to try it unless I am sure I won't be disappointed.
I will be going to Sebastopol in the next month or so and will definitely tell my sister that we'll have to go to Redwood Hill Farms. Sebastopol also has a great farmers market about a mile down the road from Sis's place. Come to think of it, I'm jealous of her too!
Now, I'll clear my head and re-convince myself that simple is just fine! :o) We don't have much choice, so it has to be. Talk about gourmand...Fred and I had chili dogs for dinner last night! We don't live close enough to a city where there is a real butcher shop and no Whole Foods either, so we make do. We get Casper's hot dogs from Costco. They are quite good. They have real casings that snap when you bite them. Topped with some homemade chili that I pulled out of the freezer, a little coleslaw on the side and we were all set.
I know I've told you that I know very little about cheese, so thanks for the cowgirlcreamery. I spent a little time in their library reading up on various cheeses. I was a little mind-boggled at the list they had.
All this thinking about tasty food and I was reminded that until about six months ago we had a dingy little restaurant about 15 miles down the road. (Just a little jaunt for us.) Once a month, they would cart in a truckload of fresh oyster from the Bay area and have an "Oyster Night" at the restaurant. Just a plain table, a salad, fresh bread and a huge bowl of steamed oysters. The tables were a mess of opened and cracked shells when our gang was through, but so good and so much fun. Sadly, the economy got to them and the place closed. We haven't had oysters since....bummer
CA...so sad about the funky little restaurant...those are sometimes the most fun! If you are going to be in Sebastopol on either May 9th or 10th...let me know. We are going up, probably on the 10th(but either day would work) for the dairy tour and to see the goats. Since I have been through the dairy tons of times I will probably keep an eye on Lucy...probably upstairs in the office. They only open the dairy to the public 2 weekends a year. There is a lovely produce market just across the street with a great coffee bar and it is also the only time you can actually buy cheese directly from the dairy.
They have picnic tables at the farm and lots of lawn area...really pretty for a picnic. You can order online, but it is pricey. They also attend the Sebastopol Farmer's market at last check...and they also often bring some the awesome goat yogurt made a young lawyer who rents out the old cheesemaking facility on the farm...Num num num!
I would also have to consider myself a fairly plain cook nowadays...I like to have really fresh ingredients and let them shine through...nothing wrong with that. And, don't knock Costco...depending on what your store carries, they often have some really good cheeses available. Marin French Cheese makes a brie that has actually won awards at the American Cheese Society...its sometimes surprising what you can find. I always buy their 3 yr old Parmeggiano Reggiano( I think I have misspelled that!)...They have a lot of seriously excellent products. I don't usually buy produce from them because of the quantity and also because a lot is shipped in long distance. They do carry some excellent tomatoes that are grown mostly in Canada...
AS far as ordering online...the Cowgirl Creamery people ship mostly out of the Petaluma warehouse, so its not too far away. Zingerman's is most definitely awesome and like I told PMT, the service in incredible...I don't get much from them because they are very expensive, but if you are looking for something very special they are definitely the place to go and everything is uber-guaranteed. I buy a big bottle of a particular Provencal olive oil at the beginning of summer to go with the tomatoes from the garden, very pricey...but worth a summer full of decadence. I would probably not order cheeses during the hottest months of the year, because, no matter how many cold packs they stick in...it still gets into a 100+ degrees inside a UPS truck...BLEH! Once or twice, I have ordered from D'Artangnan in New York, but again, in the fall and winter. A friend and I were cooking lamb tenderloins with slices of foie gras on them(we do outrageous stuff 2-3 times a year). They are also pricey but a very good company for outrageously good meat and pate products...especially exotic things.
Everything you have ever mentioned always sounds good to me...we definitely find that for just the 2 of us, simple is often better...especially comfort food in the colder months, fresh from the garden in the summer. We are expanding the raised bed areas this year, so I am looking forward to trying tokeep stuff planted all year round, plus I have an Herb/kitchen garden.
Just remember, that to get all the selection I have available I deal with awful traffic, Spare the Air Days...higher prices and a lot of people with "attitude" in various communities... We can also rarely have a fire in the fireplace during the winter. We do get that lovely fog rolling over the Santa Cruz Hills...but you, most likely have unutterable loveliness...some trades are worth it ...don't you think?
Ok..this was my short break for a bit...this painting is getting way more involved than I intially planned. It is fun to take a break from the serious stuff and talk food for a bit...
Cheers, WM
WM, I don't think we will be getting to Sebastopol until the first week of June. My sister's younger son will be graduating from high school and we are invited to the "Thank God We Got Both Of Them Through That Much!" party.
Thanks for the ordering advice. I appreciate it. You are right, it is always a trade-off with what you have and what you would like in a perfect world.
I've never tried goat yogurt. I have just recently learned to tolerate cow's milk yogurt. Same thing with cottage cheese. There are always foods that don't sit well on our palates. I try to revisit those things once in a while and see if I can learn to like them. I've been successful with beets, eggplant and cottage cheese, but no luck so far with okra or figs. I will keep on trying. I don't like the idea of saying, "I don't like that" if I haven't even tried it for 30 years.
We do have some very nice olive oil in our area. Sciabica's, which claims to be the oldest olive oil producer in California is located in Modesto. It must be good for you. Old Grandpa Sciabica (I think he is in his 90's) is still at work every day and tells everyone to drink 1/4 cup of olive oil a day.
PMT, So far, I think Live are good musicians. I read the lyrics and listened to "Pillar of Davidson" twice. I'm not sure I really GET it. I understand the "warm bodies" lyrics, but is "Pillar of Davidson" referring to the Harley Davidson plant in York, PA? Who is "the shepherd", is it The Man, or is it "I"? I don't mind songs with a message, I just want to understand what the message is. If it weren't for lead singer Ed Kowalczyk taking pity on the audience and coming right out explaining at 3:18, "It's a work song..busting your ass for The Man..It's a song that that you can sing, and maybe feel a little bit less lonely." I would be totally lost. Unless it is in another language, I don't think songs should need to be explained.
Just a thought. Is it possible that Live fans are doing what young people have done for generations, rebelling with a form of music their parents won't like or understand? Is it young people elitist, as in, "you're too stupid to understand", which is pretty much the same thing.
The Beatles did similar, only they didn't seem to take themselves as seriously as Live seems to. Pink Floyd didn't bother with obscure lyrics; they just came out and said, "You're stupid." I rather admired that.
I shall now go and pick up on a hip-hop number on YouTube, followed by a current top-ten country song. I really am trying to expand my horizons.
WH, stop herding the goats for a while and stop by.
Clear Ayes,
I took Sciabica's flavored olive oil survey. It turns out that I am mainstream. Who'da thunk it? I voted for 'garlic flavored' as my favorite. That choice was the top one on their poll result. No surprise. When it comes to olive oil, mainstream is good ... at least amongst informed aficionados. I do appreciate the tip about Sciabica. Olive oil is something that is very important to me and, while my mainstay brand is not from California, I am aware of the fact that California plays a role in olive production.
Some years ago, I contacted the Santa Barbara Olive Company. I wanted to know if their olives were "organic". The woman who I spoke to was very pleasant and very forthcoming. She informed me that, while their olives were not 'certified' organic, it was primarily due to the cost in both time and money to get the certification. She assured me that they had been growing olive trees pesticide free on their land for far longer than the seven years that the California Organic Foods Act of 1990 required. She told me that the only thing that they had done to eliminate pests was to plant chili peppers in between the trees to help ward off the deer. This told me a lot. If the deer accepted them then they must be OK.
I believed this (and still do) because of what I had read in William Dufty's book, The Sugar Blues. In that book he pointed out how the British or other Europeans had conducted tests using livestock. They used chemical fertilizers on one lot and organic fertilizers on another and then let the sheep loose to graze. The sheep all shied away from the field that had been fertilized with the man-made chemicals. Everyone of them went to the other field. We hear little to nothing about this kind of thing in the mainstream American media. The Europeans are way ahead of us on the issue of 'Frankenfoods' and it is largely due to the brainwashing that is possible because of the criminal corporate control of the mass media here.
As for LIVE ...
Sure they are good musicians. Are they great musicians in terms of their technical facility? Well, perhaps not compared to many of the classical or jazz musicians that I listen to. However, as I have said before, it is not the technical facility of the artist that speaks to the honest truth of what they are trying to convey. That being said, I am very impressed with you for connecting the dots between the band and the York Harley Davidson plant. I had not done so. When it comes to song lyrics, I approach them much like poetry. They are not always rational and, yet, I sometimes just get them on an intuitive level and do not feel a pressing need to try to explain them. However, in this case I should have made the connection.
A couple of years after stumbling upon LIVE's recording Throwing Copper I was still under the mistaken impression that they were from Texas. I was finally stripped of my illusion by a young woman who I had hit it off with. I was aboard a live-aboard dive vessel headed for Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas when I mentioned to the young dive captain that I liked a band (which I suggested that she had probably never heard of) called LIVE. She just looked at me mouth agape for a moment and then said something to the effect of, "Wow! That's so cool. I am from the same town as those guys. In fact, the Dam at Otter Creek is just a couple of miles downstream from where I grew up." That was how I found out that the group was not from Texas, that they were from Pennsylvania. Never-the-less, I had never made the Harley Davidson connection. Suspecting Kowalczyk might be of Ashkenazi descent I had been trying to make some Hebrew connection.
"Who is "the shepherd", is it The Man, or is it "I"?
I think the reference to the 'Shepherd' is to either the bigwig(s) who own(s) the company or the government. It doesn't really matter which. Either way it simply refers to our 'handlers' ... whoever they may be. Which I think leads to your next question.
"Is it possible that Live fans are doing what young people have done for generations, rebelling with a form of music their parents won't like or understand?"
I don't think it is simply about one's own parents. I think that rock and roll and any other form of expression that is appalling at first glance (Guernica) is an artist's attempt to rage at the machine. This is good. People who just want to hear nice pretty sounds or look at nice pretty pictures are zombies, the walking dead. As has been said: If you're not pissed off (at least to a degree) then you're not paying attention.
Well...I am apparently paying attention.
Good Wednesday morning all,
It's been a little quiet on this corner lately. I've made a couple of brief comments on the other corner which were ignored, but I guess invisibility can be a good thing on occasion.
We got the sheep sheared, a chore which everyone dreads but has to be done. A character in one of Wendell's books says, "What can not be helped must be endured."
Speaking of which, I pulled out my copy of What Are People For. It is dedicated to Gurney Norman, who was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford in the early sixties, after Wendell, and has just last week been named Kentucky's Poet Laureate. Those of you who are of a certain age may remember the Last Whole Earth Catalog, published by Stewart Brand. There was a "novel" printed in the margin of the LWEC titled "Divine Right's Trip". It was written by Gurney Norman. The circle closes.
WAPF is a great collection of essays. "The Pleasures of Eating" will resonate, I'm sure. "Why I am not going to buy a Computer" was originally published in The Progressive and drew heavy fire from feministas and techies. His response, "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine", just dug the hole deeper. The Machine, of course, is the same on PMT mentioned in his comments above. You will like this book.
PMT:
I am reminded of Don McLean's line in American Pie:
"But the Music wouldn't play"
The damned Iphone is perverse, to say the least. That doesn't mean you should quit.
The tests with livestock mentioned ago e were done at least in part by Sir Albert Howard, who wrote a book about it and was subsequently margin alized by scientific colleagues. More Machine.
One of the reasons I quickly gravitated to this corner, and will stay until it no longer exists, is the erudition and depth of knowledge among the several of you. I too was blown away by the ability of CA to make the HD connection, as I have been by each of you on many previous occasions. Only long term curiosity, wide ranging interests, and a lifetime of "paying attention" gets a person to the point where all of you are.
That brings me to PMT's last line above and my close (it just stopped raining and the Sun came out). When I read it I got the same rush a shot of Patron or Cabo Wabo gives me. I have to tell a brief story.
In 1996/97 I was president of a small farm group, the National Family Farm Coalition, which attempts (still) to lobby for progressive farm policies and is affiliated with an international group called Via Compesina. At the annual meeting that marked the end of my tenure, I gave a little farewell speech in which I advised farmers that since the agribusiness/government Machine was designed to crush them, the only response was to get outside the system or at least operate on its margins. I have since taken my own advice. In closing I said, "I have been told that I am "too angry". I say to you now that if you aren't pissed off, you haven't been paying attention". Another circle closed. Thanks for the memory, PMT.
Wolfmom: Hang 'em very high. Leave 'em hanging till the rope rots.
I be in as time permits, but I love reading all your musings, recipes, rants and thoughts. Thanks.
Windhover, busily.
PMT, I can't take too much credit for the Harley Davidson thing. Fred and I took a tour of the plant a few years ago while we were on a cross country driving trip. I had googled Live earlier with your first link, I think that was a couple of weeks ago. So I did know they were from Pennsylvania.
That was a wonderful vacation, by the way. We were on an autumn driving trip from Baltimore to Ontario in October. Fred had never been to Niagara Falls. We had to correct that. We had a meandering route and whenever we saw an interesting byroad or roadside sign we turned off. That's how we wound up taking the factory tour ("That sounds interesting. Let's stop and take a look.") We did the same thing on the way back.
I love the culture, history and architecture of Europe, but the U.S. is really a beautiful country. We've taken a couple of driving trips and I'm always astonished at the physical beauty of this country.
Hmmm, your last couple of sentences... I think we may have to re-explore our discussions on art :o)
I'm off this morning for a class on Japanese temari balls. I don't think I'll be making more than one. I don't need more things, even if they are beautiful. But I am curious about how they are made, so....
WM, LOL
I'll be back later to catch up on WH's post.
Well, now you've done it. I was all ready to charge out and take on the Machine, or at least sow a little grass seed, and thought I would just take a quick look at WAPF. So 2 and a half hours later, my ass is glued to the couch and my nose is in a book. Thanks a lot. Your penance? When you get into the book yourself, annotate the poems "damage" and "healing".
Word to the wise: if Amazon has back ordered this book, find it used instead of waiting. North Point is a pretty small division of a pretty small publisher (FS&G), and they don't reprint or even ship titles until there is a critical mass of orders. Anyway, you can bet that any one who is willing to sell this book used hasn't read it so hasn't damaged it.
Windhover, tardily.
WH, thanks for the info...will check out some used book stores...the other two books arrived last night. I have a lot to finish up before the mural meeting tomorrow and Bill has gone to watch our granddaughter because our daughter called and said she wasn't feeling well...worrisome(and I am a sort of panicky type sometimes) but I am hoping she is just over-tired...will be back later after 6 or so...sorry guys.
Off to paint...WM
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