LMAO...

Poof. I think whoever is pulling them or having them pulled has a sense of humor.

Alien abductions? Crop circles? Cattle mutilations? I'm sold!

I only noticed so quickly because I just posted a bit ago. But as we were saying they don't take away entire post I guess we were wrong.

Wouldn't it be easier if they just left it alone instead of having to remove post after post about them removing posts?

Can we please make this the.....cheese forum? I'd really like to discuss cheese(with minimal cracker comments please)

Cheese? And here I was thinking you were all about tea bread.

LMAO.

I love cheese it ties right into my other obsession, wine. I work in the NY wine and cullinary center when I am not being a student. I use to work in 3 different wineries in the area, and have a lot of contatcs throughout the region due to my job at the center.

I also make wine, this year 40 gal approximatly 10 cases or 120 bottles.

How does this tie to cheese? Of course I would like some wine with my cheese.

Actually Komi,to let you in on my little secret: cheese produces the best thoroughbred horses in the world!!

sounds like an interesting place to work. Who knew? Off topic conversations are the best.

For starters, I thought wine had more to do with thoroughbreds than cheese.

Second, the honey and lemon chevre I had today was ... wierd.

Third, and most importantly, I am craving a Paulliac or St Julien or St Estephe. I've been off wine for a while, but the holidays have drawn me back in. Maybe it's time for a wine shop run tomorrow.....

Now you may all chat about a topic I know nothing about... like tv and sports.

I have had a honey and lemon chevre before and I felt kinda the same way it is good but... really? Maybe with a nice tart dry Riesling.

Remember red wine is just heart medication I might as well start while I am young. I should be in good shape I have been drinking good wine with my parents since I was 12 making it with my dad al

yes, I did. The probable last post on the other thread.

I admit I have difficulty assigning a mental avatar to me_171. Unlike a turkey or an elf or a slice of tea bread..... But I'll get there.

In the meantime, 12 is probably about right for me too. Being in England at the time, it was all "claret".

C'mon, where is everyone? Let's see if we can get to a 100 post about cheese without being bumped off.

What a riot - T-bred, let me see if I can remember what I posted to you, thinking the thread was still here to be posted to.

It was like what happens to Scott, kinda. He says he composes while he's in and out of the house, only to find GW has logged him off. This time, I was composing off and on (big dog caught bunny, cat stalked chicken stew, friend called about big dog show tomorrow, etc.), then previewed and submitted, only to find the whole friggin' thread was gone. LOL

Best I recall, I thanked you for saying what you'd meant in your post about a troll, saying it had sounded to me that you were certain about what you were saying.

Then added - Note to self: Buy Snocaps, movie or not.

Komi - good one! (tea bread) If you've got a TV & cable, just once, check out "The Closer" on TNT, I think. It probably won't be back on for awhile, but it's a well-written, funny show w/ a woman as the main character who's smart and competent and attractive and ditsy all at once. Kiera Sedgewick, if you're familiar w/ her - I wasn't. Closer here means she gets people to confess. There's virtually no physical violence except the murder that's already happened when the show opens.

Me - One other entire thread vaporized on this side a couple of days ago.

Lucky you, having the nice wine experiences growing up. I've been experimenting, looking for the least expensive Cab that tastes good to me. Luckily, my palate isn't very discerning.

Any suggestions? Barefoot on sale is the best so far.

Whitecat8

I had a ham and gouda quesadilla today. Not the aged gouda that smells like old socks, the nice, smoked gouda.

I haven't found a wine that particularly works with that, though.

T-bred - What do cheese & thoroughbreds have to do w/ each other? Growing up, I wanted to *be* a horse. Maybe if I'd only had cheese...

WC8

Both Whitecat8 and turkeytaker try any red from Chile should satisfy both of your needs and is more bang for the buck.

You know when I first started posting I took heat for my user name, I thought it is clever I mean it is me right? Well I use is for several usernames throughout the internet and it is easy to remember plus it has a 7 and a 17 and no one usually puts a 171 after their name to it is usually available.

I could change it but then no one would know it's me!

Oh also Whitecat8 I make a cab. :)

Funny, Me.

As for Chilean wines, Frontera was a no-go for my palate, but it's nice and inexpensive. Could be they don't make a Cab but a Cab/Merlot or some such.

Love the Australian wines - Arthur? Yellow Tail, Lindemann's (sp?) - not remembering some more of the less expensive ones.

Turkeytaker - Would a Shiraz be a possibility for your quesadilla? Too wimpy?

Komi, what will you get on your wine run?

Drinking a Jacob's Creek Cab this minute...

WC8

"I could change it but then no one would know it's me!"

That was the part that was funny to this me. In the me(antime), you (Me) posted, "Oh also Whitecat8 I make a cab. :)"

Wines seem hard to this lower-case me. One of our cousins has been making them for years, and they don't quite me(asure) up to commercial wines, to be polite.

WC8

Ah yes generally a valid point except...
Think of the difference of orchid growers like us to commercial orchid growers to the general give it a try orchid growers.

I have been making wine for almost 12 years I started learning from my dad when I was 12 and I am almost 24. and since I was 21 have been learning and working with commercial wine makers to tweak my technique.
Most home wine makers have been doing it for less than 5 years.

Home winemakers generally buy juice and/or buy concentrate.
I hand harvest from my cousins vineyard grind and de-steam and press myself after picking through for only the good bunches.

I also have plans for starting my own commercial winery.

At our rental cabin we did a dinner that we sponsored for a benefit auction and they requested my Cab. Franc and said it was the best they had had in a long time.

So in my case commercial wines may not compare, but in my benefit because of the attention I can give the small batch.

In other words I do not take any offense to your comment, but I live in wine country and it has been part of my life. Hopefully I am a commercial wine maker who is still learning. I also am making a Dry Cab rosé (which was a pain) a dry riesling, and a tramminnett. (Which is a hybrid with Gawerstraminer parentage)

Like I said wine is my other obsession.

I don't know that "growing up with" is necessarily a good thing. It can be (1) costly and (2) a hurdle to trying other things.

What will I get on my wine run? Well, if I go, I am going to go the the big box store equivalent for wines (not the nice wine store, where I would be tempted to buy whisky too). If I can find a St Julien or St Estephe that looks drinkable and within my budget for every day wines, I will get 1 or 2 of those. (I don't expect to find a Paulliac in that price range.) Then, I have my fingers crossed that in the last couple of years, they have found a better buyer for Chilean reds. The last few I got from them were not that good - not as good as the selections at other stores. I find that Australian, Californian, and Argentinian wines give me a headache, and I have a definite preference for cabernet so my choices are pretty limited.

Cheese-wise, I am in the market for a simple Jarlsberg.

about "Dry Cab rosé (which was a pain)"?

Look for the Chilean wine that comes in the burlap bag those seem to be tasty and around $10.

I am assuming you are asking why it is? If not just ignore the following remember you asked for it lol.

To most people rosé = sweet, this is not really true maybe you could say blush = sweet.

But onto why it is a pain:

All grape juice is white when pressed to get a red color and that tannic tast from red you have to begin the first part of fermentation on the skins.

(That is unless you buy juice that is hot pressed, then the color is there, but the flavor is not resulting in the less than spectacular home made wines.)

So anyway to make a red easy grind, de-steam and throw yeast in after about a week depending on testing press off the juice and you have a red wine that has to sit and age and clear up ect.

To make a rosé however you grind, de-steam and measure sugar levels and adjust so that you will have the desired alcohol level and sweetness in the end. Then put yeast in to start the fermentation.

Now the pain part, every 15 min I had to go repeat the test check the color and taste so that it would be a rosé with just enough tannic acid to give it the right taste, but not too much so that is just taste like a light red. After it is just right I have about another 15 min at the most to get the juice off the skin so that the taste does not change.

If I had a larger operation this is easy just open the valve and the free run comes off. (A good Rosé will be all free run meaning it is never pressed.)

So I couldn't open a valve I had to use a bucket and a mesh sieve to scoop out the juice from the skins for 6 gal worth in very cool skins in the middle of the night.

As a side not I used the remanning skins (which still have a lot of juice in them) plus another 30lbs. of grapes to make my red, this lead to a nice full bodied taste.

But so far it has been worth it, it is not bottled yet but it is on track and clearing up. I am very excited about it.

Me, You're right, this cousin has been at it maybe 5-6 years. He orders liquid something through the mail, rather than picking his own grapes.

Congrats on the kudos for your Cab. Franc.

Gosh, I meant to comment only on my cousin's results by saying wine-making seems difficult, but he's not an example of the real thing, from what you say, so I've lacked info.

By contrast, you've grown up in the tradition and are indeed an accomplished professional who doesn't have his own commercial winery yet.

Is the tramminnett similar to a traminette? Different?

Will you be able to grow orchids in the winery? What a combo.

WC8

Well I may have misread your post, and I hope you don't think I took it the wrong way. Just telling my story.

I probably just misspelled traminette your spelling looks better.

My plan orchid wise is to use photos of orchids I have grown for the labels
(my dad has a photography studio and he has also taught me some about this not a professional but I dabble).

Each time an orchid that is on the label is in bloom it will be displayed in the tasting room and that wine will be on special.

I could probably even write off some of the orchids as a business expense.

It all comes down to this ("write off some of the orchids as a business expense."), doesn't it? j/k

Sorry - didn't mean to pull that on you. I had a prof who would phrase his follow up questions as, "say a little more", instead of saying "explain why you said X". Hot seat.

So anyway, yes, I asked because of "dry" and "pain". I don't like sweet at all, so.... Sounds like you might end up with something really beautiful and tasty. Good luck.

I have been mulling on the difficulty of doing things on a home scale. Pho soup, for example. This line of thought stems from an incredibly good szechuan sauce on steamed chicken the other day, which led me to realize that I never make Chinese sauces from scratch and wonder how difficult it might be. uh, tangental....

Interesting wine conversation! Recently has some Rutherford Ranch Chard and Merlot- both were very good.
We write off wine as entertainment exp, but orchids- would love that)
If you don't want the threads pulled out- limit topics to such as these:
'Have a dying phal, now what'
'Spike- to leave it or cut it' and such
Any other discussion is at your risk..
Hate to see people leave the forum!

Discussion should stay related to orchids, but on this side we should be able to talk about whatever we want, it is the off topic area.

I think we're neglecting cheese now. I know I am. for the last week I've been sick and the loss of appetite has caused me to fall seriously behind on my cheese consumption. Last night I managed to nibble some Drunken Goat but couldn't go beyond a couple sips of Les Jamelles pinot noir. It's sad, I tells ya!

I'm confused when you're saying "de-steam." Is it de-stem?

Off and on I've contemplated making my own cheeses but I don't think my fruit room/server room/wine cellar would be a good place to age them. My last batch of paneer ended with a dumbbell rolling off the counter and chipping the tile floor. I'm surrounded by fantastic artisinal cheesemakers. No need to further endanger the integrity of my home.

My parents made wine for a while. Not a good idea.

me 171, are you kdding me- talking about orchids on the dark side??- I don't even want to talk about orchids on the Discussion side, lol
Shady- I have substituted cilantro tofu (from publix) for paneer- comes out well.
If you want to bake ricotta cheese in the oven - works as a substitute for paneer- a little sweet tho.

lol yes de-stem sorry about that.

Sambac I was just pointing out that on this side any topic should be fine and censorship over here is even more ridiculous than on the other side.

Wow! I can't believe I signed on tonight and this was still here! I was beginning to get a little paranoid!

Happy to report I had a cheese omlet for breakfast,grilled cheese and soup for lunch and a cheeseburger and cheesy fries for dinner-life is good!!

An old dairy farmer who dabbled in racehorses once told me cheese curds were the secret to his success. Actually, my horses are terrified of cheese.

Wine I know nothing about except my parents once made something called "glug" in the cellar with an uncle who I was convinced was Al Capone. I waited for DCFS to show up every night. I think that Glug may still be there-I'll let you know.

Whitecat,thanks for the re-statement. I always try to defend the underdog myself. :)

To all: Be fruitful and....eat cheese!

Komi, that's too bad those wines give you a headache.

I used to make lots of Chinese foods from scratch, including sauces. The ones I made turned out but don't remember specific sauces. My mom always said if you can read, you can cook, and I believed her. Mostly, it works.

Me - your idea about pairing orchids and wine is terrific. Maybe I could give orchids to clients, prospective clients, vendors, etc. as marketing and write off the whole home operation. (Call tax person.)

T-bred - the dairy farmer fed his t-breds cheese curds before/during/after mating and swore by them? Not quite picturing this.

Huge treat early this a.m. - FOUR hoot owls calling outside!! One was on our next-door neighbors' roof, and I saw it fly off. It and another were in trees just across the street, calling, and DH and I went outside and could hear 2 other owls answering way in the distance.

It went on for about an hour. We live in the 'burbs and have never heard owls before. Sure hope this is a good sign.

Whitecat8

for a moment I wondered if hoot owls were edible. Then (thankfully) I had a moment of clarity.

Yes, too bad those wines give me a headache. Many other things give me headaches, including most mixed drinks.

Impressive you made Chinese sauces from scratch. Me being a book type, I've just ordered 2 English books on Chinese cooking (Hunan and Sichuan) and 2 Japanese ones (Sichuan and sauces).

On my brief trip to Beijing and Shanghai, my favorite was the Hunan restaurant someone took us to. Absolutely delicious.

I did *not* make it to the wine shop today but I did have wine and cheese for dinner!

I'd have taken your hoot owls over the idiotic bird who thought my cementboard siding was a tree, this morning.

I am highly impressed with the Chinese sauces from scratch. There's a spicy oil sauce that goes with sliced tongue and tripe that I'd LOVE to be able to make. Anyone have an idea on the name or how to make it?

Stacy

I'm not a fan of Chinese food by a long shot, but I would imagine the sauces are just a case of getting the right stuff in at the right proportions. I make a Vietnamese spring roll that has a sauce containing something like a dozen ingredients. Sheesh! I always make a double batch and freeze the extra because it's such an undertaking.

Owls! I would love to see some owls. Those, hawks/falcons and shorebirds are where my life list is lightest.

Soon I'm off to work for what feels like the first time in ages. I'll have to be careful to not overdo it and have a relapse.

The other day I had an interesting cheese that might be of interest.

It was a soft cheese I think cow's milk, but what was interesting is that truffle was infused during the process. Very earth and truffle tasting, so if you like that taste look for it.

I like out in the middle of nowhere in the summer I hear screech owls regularly along with the occasional hoot owl. Very fun to listen to.

What wine do you serve w/ sauteed hoot owl? Which cheese? Me, can you help us out here?

Yeah, the sauces I fixed were like any other recipe - so much of this and that, cook like this for this long, etc. The hard part back then was finding the ingredients.

Stacy - those sauces were more mundane than one for sliced tongue and tripe. Dog people who feed raw food to their dogs swear by tripe. We got some by mistake one time, thinking we were getting the usual frozen beef w/ a small % of organ meats. Oh, my gosh. As the stuff thawed, I thought one of the critters had crawled in the fridge and died, and I kept counting noses.

Me, the 1st time I heard a screech owl was on a camping trip. Scary.

WC8

Haha probably not, well unless you want to treat it like chicken then I would say what sauce/seasoning are you using on it.

Scariest camping experience for me was halfway up Mt. Marcy in the Adorondacs there was a bear ripping through someone's food bag and walking through our camp. Could hear people in other camps blowing their bear whistles to try to scare it off.

[off topic] Another one bites the dust! the 'plea' message is no longer!

[on topic] I had veg. lasagna for lunch today (it has cheese). And I'm drinking an Australian merlot (Penfold's something or other). Yummy! And I'd eat way more chinese food if DH would come around. He fights it, but enjoys it when I force the issue. When he used to work evenings, Fri was chinese food night!!! Now, maybe I get it once every 4-6 weeks :(

Carolyn

Hey Stacy,

Got the two Fuschia Dunlop books today (Sichuan and Hunan) and neither have much to say about tripe, and no sauce for it. I think I know what you're talking about, though, and the sauce I had on the steamed chicken was similar.

Tomorrow I should get the two Japanese books on sichuan. Hoping for the jackpot on one.

These two are going to be a good read, though, and I'm really looking forward to it.