Date: 2006-12-24 21:23 Subject: Be of good cheese this yuletide Security: Public Location: Rancho Lake's richly appointed home theatre Music: The hobbits crawling up Mt. Doom Tags: baking, cheese, child, funny

This afternoon the_child and I went to the house of tillyjane and AH for a pre-Christmas dinner. Sister E. was there, as was a friend from their choir, and S., who is my long-lost step-step-brother. We enjoyed the cheese board and watched A Christmas Story, which I still find pants-wetting funny, then eventually had a terrific dinner -- rump roast, Yorkshire pudding and green beans, with a green salad featuring walnuts, feta, cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

( The cheese board )

Dessert was a bit more problematic, with an attempt at an Arabian ribbon cake which resulted in one of the ( ugliest baked goods I have ever seen in my life. )

It was reported to be tasty, but since I'm not crazy about dried fruit, which is the intralayer filling, I skipped it in favor of some plain spice cake. the_child did make the icing, under grandmaternal supervision.

Amusing note: tillyjane, having procured sparkling cranberry-apple juice for the_child, offered her sparkling crappleadberry juice. I have trouble even saying that, but it was a genuine, spontaneous speech error.

As for the cheese board, it was lovely as expected. The two established favorites on the board were Manchego (an old friend) and Sottocenere al Tartufo (a recent friend you're probably sick of hearing about by now). The new friends were the aforementioned Meadow Creek Dairy cheeses recently procured courtesy of icedrake and katfeete.

( Mountaineer )

( Mountaineer Hot Pepper )

( Appalachian )

( Grayson )

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah or holiday/solsticial felicitations of your choice, y'all.