Noord Hollander: This ain't your grocery store Gouda

Picture if you will, a decadent treat, rich with notes of butterscotch, caramel, perfectly firm and crunchy, with the occasional bite of sea salt.

Only it's not a butterscotch rice crispy treat, nor a toffee crunch cake, it's cheese. Blissfully delicious,  fit for royalty, can't get enough of it cheese.

Hailed from the Netherlands, this is Noord Hollander, the golden brittle of cheese.

stjamescheese.com

This deep pumpkin-colored orange beauty bears the traditional and welcoming Swiss eyes and a flinty surface. 

It's a champion cow's milk Gouda, not your run of the mill, trip to the corner market, sort of Gouda. This is the Gouda of mother Queens, Maharajas, and the grandest of Dukes.

  

You'd be hard pressed to find this decadent hard pressed cheese, but trust me when I say that sinking your teeth into the snap, crackle, pop, feel-good, crunchy sensation of unfathomable texture calls for a trip to the specialty shop that will be well worth your while.

And what exactly are those crunchies you ask?

No, they're not Pop Rocks, but bits of amino acid clusters, or what I liked to call the protein gemstones indicative of a well aged cheese. 

These bits become trapped within chains of proteins following acidification and after quite some time, the protein chains begin to unwind, leaving behind those fantastically rich, crunchy deposits, while adding textural intensity throughout.

The end result is a cheese aesthetic perfectly suited for a Facebook cover image, or more appropriately, a Fall cheese board.

Noord to the far left: a perfect stunner for any cheese board

 

Following this description, I may have very well earned myself the title of Noord Nerd. A name I shall proudly bear.

Try some crunchy bits with toasted pecans and any of the following: 

• two fingers of a fine single-malt scotch

• a pint of Amber Ale

• a sweet glass of the noble Sauternes

winesearcher.com

A fine wine fit for four year old Goudas, 

and noble types like you.

For after all my friends, are you not Kings and Queens of doing things?

x

        

Election Day

To be perfectly honest, I've always thought the role of President should be determined by a lottery system, and not by the largely flawed and outdated electoral college system. 

The selected candidate should cringe when their name is drawn, and mutter something to the effect of:

"SCHNAPSCHNITZEL FECKING-FUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!
IT'S MY TURN TO BE PRESIDENT!". 

Anyone who actually fancies the position of President (or Prison Warden for that matter), should be automatically disqualified from consideration. Until then, I shall continue to add to my collection. I do hope this occurs sometime soon'ish, before I'm unable to see out from my rear view mirror.

Get your arsecakes to the polls and vote, my friends.

Happy Election Day!

x

       

In between'ing

Betwixt the Halloween'ing and the Day of the Dead'ing, I find myself wrapped up here on this cozy little Friday.

beyondthecookiejar

If I was the knitting type, I'd say this would be a fine day to crotchet a colossal, snuggly winter blanket.

 Instead, I'm drawing up invoices for exciting what nots on the horizon, visiting site venues for dreams that lie ahead, and having a moment to partake in my favorite act of practicing nothingness. 

www.jocurile.us

Going through old picture postcards

nath.tumblr.com

Reveling in fond days past

MyAsOuMyA

Marveling in the days yet to come.

www.google.com.eg

Knowing all too well that people change, 

while memories don't.

Knowing that someday we'll all look back and know exactly why it happened the way it happened.

letsbe-unique.tumblr.com

On the heels of the much needed weekend now.

Happy Friday, I wish you well.

There is much to do, so I'll bid you a fond adieu.

A beautiful weekend to you, 

the best one ever.

x
        

For Movember

To honor the few good men set to sprout 'staches this mustachio season in the good name of men's health awareness, specifically prostrate and testicular cancer.

Just grow it

and to any special, mustache-twirling ladies who may have chosen to do the same.

Got an impressive 'stache?

Consider the third annual Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships, a gathering of extraordinary gentlemen, set to take place later in the month.

 2013 World Beard and Moustache Championship

 with Nationals set to take place in the city of sin, Las Vegas, California later in the month.

A great big thank you to all the Mister Movembers, those bold enough to take on the moustachios, handlebars, ticklers, flavor savers, fu-man-chus and mighty sideburns this month.

Grow a mo', yo!

For further details on the Movember'isms have a looksie

here:

x
         

The witching hour draws nigh...

Ah, The Night of the Hunter
All Hallow's eve
Devil's Night
Samhain
Harvest Tide
Halloween

My dearest and most treasured of holidays.

 

chapeuzinho.tumblr.com

 
A uncanny night for ethereal and unearthly beings to drift across the surface of the earth.

An evening for chilling, blustery, midnight picnics in secluded spots beneath dark and cloudy shapeshifting skies.

fanpop.com

A twilight of safe refuge for the mismatched,

 

 Laura Tomasic

for those viewed as "different"

for those alienated for being so.

A night for green and gold flashing eyes,
and figures shining white.

 

thinkmestrange.tumblr.com 

An evening for tricks,

treats,

and bloodlusting.

A grand affair of carousing like no other,
with haunty, accompanying theme songs of the Danny Elfman sort.

The dead leaves have taken flight, the cats sparkled, the pumpkins carved and ready for the night's flickerings.

 lovelyluna.tumblr.com

All is set to ride upon the seductive tail of the blood red moon on this enchanted eve.

www.stumbleupon.com

Happy Halloween my thirsty nightcreatures. 
I do hope it’s a spooktacular evening. 
Enjoy the candied confections and the hair raising spirits. 

Above all, make certain to have a safe and wonderfully wicked devil's night.

x
            

For unto the aliens, ninjas, and cowboys, a fire breathing babe was born

I invite you to please read the following in your finest Spaghetti western voice

The West is alive and well,
even today.

 

nowandthan.tumblr.com

 And while living beneath the open blue sky can certainly have its hardships for us here down on the Western frontier, we've gots us a mighty fine troop of fellow comrades on this here fire-spinning ranch.

csebastian.tumblr.com

We've the kind of team that work and sweat together by the light of day, and feign sleep by night to ensure a smashing-good performance for the good showgoers and onlookers.

Together in cahoots, we charmed up a twisty-tale of adventure, mystery, love, and some good old slapstick funnies. All to ensure an epic storyline for the rousing crowds that we gave a lick and a promise to this year.

Then we took that faithful journey, the kind of journey where you don't exactly know if everyone will make it home in one piece. 

shaynabatya.tumblr.com

Yes, that sojourn was made way back in August, all the long while to the Burning Man Festival for we had some big nuts to crack.

Yessir, my fellow brothers and sisters set forth to burn the breeze and deliver one helluva fine show to those nice citizens of Black Rock City, the namesake for the fleeting city admist the normally desolate region.

We've a fine story to tell.

A tale of plot and characters like rowdy, ruthless, goodfernuthin' cowboys about as crooked as a Virginia fence, playing both sides of the law for riches and a fist full of dollars.

A fable of fearless ninjas hard pushed enough to let nuthin' come between their undeniable love,

and a memoir of hell-fired, noble aliens in a relentless and untamed search for justice by good rights.

 

nowandthan.tumblr.com

And so the story goes, that late one Saturday eve just before the sun slanted down in the West, us ash-hoppers gathered to show those nice folks how a fire-breathing lovechild, born out of true, unrestricted love, and free from hate, was brought unto this here world.

Yes folks, once upon a time, when the air was thick with mesquite and dust storms, on a night that can only be wrapped up in one which-i-ma-call-it... declarative sentence.

Gawddamn!

Many thanks to my fine as cream gravy, fellow teammates and conclave staff, and 'specially to our fearless leader, the "Jenneral" for making sure that no one ever hung up their fiddle, and fer getting us to the flinders of that there playa.
 
 Ladies and gents, courtesy of Kp Wedman at Black Rock City, Nevada, I give you your 2012 San Diego Fire Conclave performance.

x
           

The soft ripened cheeses, and science!

The October installment of the Queso Diego monthly meetings included an intimate gathering between the fromagophiles and the bloomy rinds.

It didn't take long for us to become well acquainted with the soft and velvety bloomed cheeses, spanning the course from Bries, Camemberts, Bucherondins and Valencays.

Member Jennifer aged this fresh goaty for ten days before we swallowed it up nearly whole.

Heather made a couple contributions including this here divine, bloomy blue chevre.

A double cream camembert was a much welcome treat to our spread. This was handmade by member Charles using all geotrichum candidum, because we're curdy and nerdy!

Mary Palmer of Taste Cheese was aboard and brought these here lovelies: 

Torta - a vegetarian, Spanish sheep cheese made with cardoon thistle in lieu of traditional rennet, an animal enzyme. 

-and-

 Banon de Chalais - Hailled from France, this tasty is steeped in Brandy and beautifully wrapped in chestnut leaves.

A member's tasting plate.

Lining up the cheese samples

Special guest presenter Aurelio Fernandes from Fytozimus, a specialist Biotech company, joined us to discuss some new plant-derived enzymes for cheesemaking. 

Four artisanal, milk custard glorious, soft-ripened varieties for sampling to include: Brie de Meaux, Explorateur triple creme, Humboldt Fog and Monte Enebro were also generously supplied by Mary Palmer.

The award-winning, Monte Enebro was a featured highlight of the evening. This Spanish, goat-milked beauty is made unique by the use of mold inoculation typically used in making Roquefort varieties.

Member Laurie, delivered a fantastic presentation covering the soft ripened cheeses. Including the cheesemaking process, characteristics and aging profiles.

While member and award-winning cheesemaker, Horace Bixby shared his homemade camembert with us. We reaped the rewards of his cheese expertise.

Yet another delicious eve for the cheese books. 

Thanks to all who attended!

x