Cheese is the best present

[gordonzola]

So last Saturday almost the entire cheese department attended the wedding of one of our own. Actually it wasn’t technically a wedding, it was a typical San Francisco queer, pagan handfasting thingy. I don’t have a lot of real description because my present to the lovely couple was co-ordinating all the potluck food for the reception and having it ready at roughly the time the ceremony ended. This meant that I was slaving over a hot stove, sterno, and flimsy, disposable metal pans while everyone else was getting their woo-woo on.*

Luckily dairryiere’s little one was acting up during the ceremony so I had unplanned help. That was good because I’m not a caterer and the job was, of course, bigger than I had anticipated. Food for 100 is a lot!

But I’m not posting to talk about that. My other wedding present was providing the cheese. Since it was for so many people I brought a mix of styles and strengths. The basic; a wheel of French brie (Fromager D’affinois) a log of Bucheron. The more advanced: a half wheel of Basque sheep Ossau Iraty, a couple of pounds of cracked Dutch 3 year aged Gouda sprinkled around the table. The advanced: a quarter wheel of Sottocenere, the battleship grey truffle cheese and a heel of Pata Cabra a firm Spanish aged goat cheese. And the humorous: Two wheels of Tetilla, still pierced from our Folsom St. display. Also I brought 3 cases of flatbread crackers.**

This also lead to making the best baked mac and cheese ever. I grabbed some of the leftovers because there was too much to leave behind. For dinner last night I made a casserole pan of pasta with sautéed onions, fresh mushrooms, re-hydrated porcinis, a pound of cheddar, a pound of Ossau-Iraty, a pound of de-rinded brie and about two cups of Straus milk. My only regret was that the guests had eaten all the truffle cheese because that would have been the perfect fourth cheese.

I think I kinda like cheese.



*Just kidding, the bits and pieces I heard were lovely. These folks have been together through much adversity and since they were teens. The whole thing was really touching.
**Did anyone take a picture of the cheese display?

Comments

[grapesoda.livejournal.com]

mmm cheesy pasta love

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

There is little more loveable.

[shiloho3.livejournal.com]

God that mac and cheese sounds good.
--I friended you a while back. I like your cheese stories- so informative!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Awwww, thanks for reading

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

I try not to laugh when people tell me about their "handfastings"... I really do.

That mac-n-cheese sounds incredible, simply incredible. I love Straus dairy products, though I can rarely afford them.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I know it's pricey. but the cream plug in the whole milk........ yum!

[anarqueso.livejournal.com]

Oh, ooh, argh, is there any left? Can I have some?! Pleeeeeeeeeease?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

all gone. sorry. I actually made it on Monday. We finished it off last night and didn't let A's dad have any.

[clover44.livejournal.com]

I can't even begin to imagine how fantastic that mac-n-cheese was!!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

THE BESTEST EVAR!

[vestalvixen.livejournal.com]

Why does brie taste like semen? (and it's much funnier when one has a friend name Bree, as I do)

[literaticat.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God.

now I am starving.

[marialuminous.livejournal.com]

Next time I have a pound of brie left over, I am making this mac and cheese. You are an inspiration to cheese-lovers everywhere.

i know how much you love dream posts

[starfiend.livejournal.com]

in a little fragment of my dream last night you quit rainbow for something uncheese related that was only going to employ you for two weeks.

Re: i know how much you love dream posts

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

ha. I don't mind dreams if they're about me! And that's a funny dream.

How are you doing up there anyway?

[stopword.livejournal.com]

This post has given me a case of the vapors. I need to sit down with cold cloths on my pressure points in order to calm down.

Hubba hubba!

[prof-southbay.livejournal.com]

Yum! Yum! Yum! I had cheese for breakfast this morning.

Hey, by the way, what was the name of that Italian cheese that you brought to my place?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

ha. I totally don't remember.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. You can mace mac and cheese for me any time.

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

You made mac n' cheese...with a half wheel of Ossau-Iraty...and you didn't call me? *wipes away solitary tear falling down sunken face* Hey, man, that's cool. No really.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

well, I still have some left. You can come on over and finish it off with me

[cuervolinda.livejournal.com]

This also lead to making the best baked mac and cheese ever. I grabbed some of the leftovers because there was too much to leave behind. For dinner last night I made a casserole pan of pasta with sautéed onions, fresh mushrooms, re-hydrated porcinis, a pound of cheddar, a pound of Ossau-Iraty, a pound of de-rinded brie and about two cups of Straus milk. My only regret was that the guests had eaten all the truffle cheese because that would have been the perfect fourth cheese.

Please have sex with me right now!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I get off work at 7 PM. meet me at my apartment. cool?

[defenestr8r.livejournal.com]

holy chevre, that man'n'cheez sounds good!

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Wow. And I thought the cumin gouda I've been using was swank and nummy. (Actually, it can probably use a second or third cheese to round things out. I wonder what would work well?)

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

well, the more cheese the better I say. Get some cheap cheddar to bulk it up. then add either something much sharper, stronger, or goo-ier. The cumin will dominate so I wouldn't probably use a very expensive third cheese. The Fromager D'affinois or a nice Emmental would do.

[thesaucyone.livejournal.com]

Oh dear lord, Gordon, you have killed me dead. I want that mac and cheese!!

In foodie news, guess where I'm going for dinner tomorrow? That's right, French Laundry!! Woohoo!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

bring a doggie bag to me when you're shopping on saturday.

on a tangent

[chitinous.livejournal.com]

Please confirm or deny
Swiss cheese deaths??

Re: on a tangent

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

now that's just stupid. ;)

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Ok...reading that has set off embarrassing amounts of salivation. I want your mac and cheese so bad right now, it hurts! Or maybe I should just go eat dinner.

I've been secretly mourning the fact that I forgot to get my cheese-gift from you last time I saw you, but since you bought me lunch, I shouldn't complain ;)

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I thought about that forgotten cheese gift. I didn't mention it because I hoped you had forgotten.

[elementa.livejournal.com]

is this true???

http://www.livejournal.com/users/overheardnyc/754105.html?style=mine

someone else already asked that question in this entry's comments.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

of course not.

[alice-ayers.livejournal.com]

Hey, I friended you because we have friends in common and I like cheese, too.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

yay!

[masscooper.livejournal.com]

Did you know that there is a word for "to tempt with cheese?" it is conquesor.

The noun form is supposedly conquesorer, but that doesn't sound nearly as good as conquestodor.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

beats the crap outta "turophile".

**Drool**

[queen-beeanna.livejournal.com]

GIVE ME THE MAC N CHEESE!!

Do it, I need it!

*compulsively chews computer mouse*

Re: **Drool**

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

You should visit more. When's the wedding, btw?

[brooooke.livejournal.com]

i added you as a friend ... found you through ericka. intrigued by the cheese.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Your name is so familiar. You were on the zinesters list, right? What zine did you do?

[reddawn.livejournal.com]

Don't think I didn't notice that you forgot to give me my cheese present when you were here.

I had to google "handfasting". Fucking hippies.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

damn. you Northwest folks are too shy. Demand your cheese!