Monthly Cheese Roundup

Happy spring, and welcome to the March edition of Monthly Cheese Roundup! I've found myself a bit overwhelmed by cheese lately, since Cheese of the Month Club keeps sending me disgusting blue cheeses that no one wants to eat. (Have considered feeding them all to Buttons, but Johnny quickly shot this idea down.) The refrigerator's cheese drawer (yes, I've dedicated a whole drawer to the cheese) is currently full of Roquefort, Stilton, Lindberg, and all kinds of other nastiness. (I just realized I forgot to post about February's cheese shipment. Sorry. It was smelly and gross.)

Happily, I think this month's cheese shipment will be devoured quickly. I received Red Leicester, Brie, and Saint-Marcellin. The Red Leicester is definitely my favorite- it tastes like a very sharp and delicious Cheddar. I have been eating it with no accompaniment, but my cheese newsletter recommends pairing it with brown ale. I'll take any excuse to buy beer! The Brie is good, too- soft and creamy. I've found a number of recipes for it, but I think I'm going to try Brie and Asparagus in Phyllo from chef Robert Irvine. (That is, if I can find phyllo here in rural Oklahoma.)

At this point I must make a confession: I am writing this post without having eaten the Saint-Marcellin. I'm a little bit afraid of it. It smells kind of weird, and according to the cheese newsletter, is wrapped in some kind of decomposing grape leaves. (Cheese is INSANE, ya'll. INSANE.) Everything I've read online about it describes it as "complex" and "extravagant". So I imagine I'll get around to tasting it soon (maybe even tomorrow), but I am definitely intimidated by it. (Thanks for ruining my appetite for cheese, Lindberg!!!)

And that does it, folks! I highly recommend Red Leicester if you can find it, and I think everyone could use more Brie in their life. Happy cheesing! 

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Garden Prep

Claremore is a weird and inconvenient place for a number of reasons, but the one that's irking the most right now its is geographical location. Not because it's 25 miles from Tulsa. Not because the weather is bizarre. Not because it's a 9 hour drive from Tennessee. It's because it's right on the line of USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6b and 7a. Here's a map: 

This type of map basically tells you when it's a good time to plant certain crops. Being right on the border of a zone is difficult. Plant my crops too early and a frost will come along and kill them. Plant them too late and they may not have enough time to germinate, or could be killed by being too hot. It's certainly not a life or death issue for me (it is for the plants), but it does make things trickier than I would prefer.

That being said, I think Johnny and I are going to get started on the vegetable garden this weekend. Our house came with a moderately sized plot complete with a cage, mini-trellis, and good beds, but by time we moved in last year it was all totally overgrown and weedy. I got to work on clearing out the beds yesterday.

As you can see, they were in pretty rough shape. I spent Wednesday morning pulling up rogue grass and weeds by hand and hoeing the beds, 17th-century style. (Buttons helped me by digging furiously.) Here's what the garden looked like after I was finished.

Buttons is helping!

It's hardly the same place. The soil in the beds is excellent, and I'm excited to get planting. I'm thinking tomatoes, squash, zucchini, herbs, and peppers. Johnny and I are planning an outing to our local Ace Hardware store to pick up seeds and small garden tools. I also need a new pair of gloves. 

If we can get plants in the ground soon, I think we're going to have a great bounty this summer!

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Horsey horsey

In light of Johnny's post on our new household member Buttons (world's cutest puppy), I thought I'd share another member of the Casa de C-More crew. Meet Gina! 

"Hello, I am Gina and this is a terrible picture of me!"

Gina is a horse, and as I'm pretty sure there's some kind of ordinance against horses living within city limits, Gina currently lives at the RSU equestrian center (where I work). She is a 14 year old Thoroughbred who apparently used to be a hunter/jumper horse. She was donated to the therapeutic riding center last year and after a series of unfortunate events, needed to find a new home ASAP. (Don't worry, no special kids were harmed by Gina.) Since I am a sucker for big Thoroughbreds that jump (and misunderstood horses), I used my income tax refund to buy her. (Thanks, Uncle Sam!!)  She has some bad habits, like biting when her girth is tightened and not jumping fences in a sensible way, but I remain confident she will be a super three-day event horse one day. In the future. In the far, far future. 

Now I just need to find a horse for Johnny!!

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What you need to live

The snow is gone and Spring is almost here! Birds are singing, flowers are blooming; opossums are coming out of their winter hide-y holes to die in the front yard, snow worn gates and fences are demanding attention in the back.

OH! And I guess the baby animals are coming out to play as well! In our case, the half corgi half dachshund puppies(y)!!!

This is Buttons (pushed hard for "Horatio Sanz" but Stephanie would not have it), she is about 4 months old, and currently does little more than sleep and have supa stankee pewpz. Aptitudes for "Fetch", "Chase (giving and receiving)" and "Belly Rubs (receiving only)" are starting to show, but for now the only thing expected of this new household recruit is to remain ABSOWOOTWEE ADOOORUHBULL <3 <3 <3

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