REUNION and CHEESE Medley

 This photo was taken in 1980.
Check out all the Reunion info at Question 6 below.


 Join Terri and the Gang
for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog post

and link up at Your Friend From Florida

Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

(My responses are in blue)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL CHEESE DAY – June 4th

NATIONAL CHEESE DAY

Moooove over whiners! June 4 is National Cheese Day!

 I am SO glad to hear that this is National Cheese Day.

Although I've never liked cheese curds (and they still allow me to call myself a Wisconsinite), I love CHEESE, and mostly hard cheeses. YUM!!

An encyclopedia of cheese will cover the alphabet and broaden your vocabulary. It will undoubtedly contain more varieties of cheese than what’s found at the local grocer. Cheese is produced from the pressed curds of milk. The milk can come from cows, buffalo, goats or sheep. Temperature and aging affect the flavor and texture of the cheese as well as spices and other seasonings added during the process.

The opportunity to go to a cheese tasting or visit a cheesemonger who is knowledgeable about pairings will improve your enjoyment of the cheese you choose.  Does Stilton melt? (I don't know, but Stilton with cranberries is delicious.) Can you serve Chévre with a salad? Be sure to ask questions and provide your preferences. Your favorite wine might find a new sidekick. You might discover a smokey spread to go with bruschetta or a tangy cheddar to pack with lunch.

In the United States, a road trip to Wisconsin isn’t out of the question for quality and variety. (I added the bold.) But, they aren’t the only place to find outstanding flavor and choice. Local delis have selections of domestic and imported cheeses, and independent shops offer a rotating inventory beckoning us to keep visiting to see what’s new.

You might want to visit the Hawes Creamery in Hawes, North Yorkshire. They give away lots of free samples of the many varieties of cheeses made right there. Delicious! And besides, it's the home of Wallace and Gromit!  You can't go wrong with that. 

Cheese samples at Hawes Creamery

I tried not to be too greedy.

Excellent as a snack on its own, cheese is also a perfect ingredient in pasta, soups, souffle, and many other recipes. We slap it on a sandwich cold but why stop there when it can be grilled and melted like this amazing Swiss and Tomato Grilled Cheese recipe.  When company comes to visit, nothing is better than a cheeseball, especially when bacon is added. 

(My grilled cheese link in #4 below includes recipes to both a bacon/jalapeno grilled cheese and a pepper jack/pesto grilled cheese. They're delicious!)

Grilled cheese with basil pesto on homemade bread

Too delicious!

Cheese is multinational, too! Every nation in the world has its own variety of cheese. Italy seems to have harnessed the market. They did add it to pizza, and that’s pretty amazing.  Savor the opportunity if you ever have the chance to taste cheeses from around the world. For example, hop on over to Greece.  They have this dessert called cheesecake. Delicious!

HOW TO OBSERVE

There are many ways to celebrate National Cheese Day.  Try a new recipe or take a risk and try a type of cheese you’ve never heard of before. Ask for recommendations from friends or share your favorites.  Make sure you post to social media using #NationalCheeseDay

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything above this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

 Aw Maaaa, do you always have to do your giraffe thing??
(cows just across the road)

1.  National Cheese Day is Tuesday, rather than Wednesday, but I think we should celebrate cheese this week!!  Let's start by sharing your favorite cheese with us.  Which one is always in your fridge?

My favorite is probably Dubliner. It's almost always on hand.

2.  What is your preference? Mild, Sharp, or Extra Sharp?  How do you use cheese most often?

Sharp or extra sharp is my favorite. Most often used simply by cutting a chip off the old block.

 Evening grazing

just across the road

3.  Cheesecake?  New York style or what other flavors would you rather have?

Plain cheesecake drizzled with crushed strawberries. Yeah, that would be good.

4.  When you do grilled cheese sandwiches, which cheese do you prefer to use and what condiments do you use, if any?

See photo above. That basil pesto added to the grilled pepper jack cheese is amazing!  RECIPE HERE .

5.  Number 5 on June 5th... Say happy birthday to my sister, Tammy!!

Happy Birthday, Tammy!!

6.  Share something with us about your week. If it includes using cheese in a recipe, please also share that with us too!!

The big excitement of our week was on Sunday when we were reunited with a summer exchange student from Mexico who had lived with us for three months way back in 1980!

Out of the blue, I got an Instagram message from him that read, 'Guess where I am. Viroqua.'

WHAT?? He was in Viroqua, Wisconsin??? That's only three hours from us, although at the time I got this message we were on our way to Wausau. When I found out how long he was going to be in Viroqua, I texted both our son and our daughter who had been his playmates that first time we'd met in the summer of 1980, to see if they could drive the next day to Viroqua to meet Daniel. We'd not seen him since December of 1983. Our daughter drove up from Madison and our son over from Stewart, MN. We drove from Wausau, and all met at Culver's.

From summer of 1980:

 Look at those cute kids!
Photo at the Barron County Historical Society Museum

 From left: Daniel, Angela, Kevy

 I think this photo was taken on the ferry at Bayfield

 AND...

Here they are now!

From left:
Angela, Daniel, Kevy, and Daniel's lovely Lizette

 Even Mr. C. and I were young once upon a time.

 Daniel's little grandson in the foreground

No, it's not like we've been corresponding all this time. So it was such an incredible SURPRISE AND GIFT from God that we got to see him again. He was in Wisconsin for his stepson's high school graduation. And Viroqua of all places, the town where Mr. C was born and the ancestral region - Viroqua/Westby. Thank you to our daughter and son and grandson for driving the few hours (each way) to be part of this reunion.

Daniel and his family are living in San Miguel Allende, Mexico (real people get to live there???!!! - it's gorgeous!) where he traded in the life of an architect for the life of a restaurant entrepreneur. It sounds like he loves it there and is happy with his family and his life. And that makes me happy.

 Somewhere in San Miguel Allende

I remember expecting to see Truman Capote there. Not sure why.

BUT, a funny story here: We visited Daniel's family in late 1983 (they graciously took us many places, including San Miguel Allende, in Mexico and we had an incredible once-in-a-lifetime adventure with them!) and our younger daughter was born in September of 1984. Daniel's mother is convinced that she was named after Daniel and his brother, Carlos, hence, Dänika. Actually, I had never even thought of that. I saw the name Danica in a baby name book and liked it -  but now I'm beginning to wonder if subconsciously that is what attracted me to that name. Hmmmmmm.

 ***

 Tommy & Smokey love napping in the screen room, now that warmer weather is here.

Only THREE DAYS until their potential new caregiver arrives.

:-((((((((

As I wrote last time, I will be sure to let you know how that meeting goes.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

Join me on Instagram: @cranberrymorning 

Thanks for the Medley, Terri!

Hodgepodging the Five Year Old Mind

Red Dahlia, October 4

Join Joyce and the gang

for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog

and link up!

By the way, I love Joyce's new
photo on her sidebar! 

1. It's October so let's get this out there first thing...have you jumped on the all-things-pumpkin bandwagon? How so?

No, although I do have both pumpkins and squash in the garden, which I will probably have to bring indoors in another week or so.

Mr. C. recently bought a loaf of very sweet and moist pecan pumpkin bread somewhere. I took a bite. It was dangerously delicious. So I sliced it up, put the slices in individual baggies, and stored them in the freezer. I don't need that stuff sitting on the counter staring at me. Mr. C. will be able to pull a baggie out and take it in his lunch. I tend not to steal things from the freezer. At least up until now.

2.  "We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible." Francois Duc De la Rochefoucauld  

What's something you once thought impossible, but in hindsight see as more a matter of lack of will?

Cleaning off the vegetable garden. It is a horrid job. Horrid. I love planting, I love canning. That's about it.

 Wood violets near the driveway

3. The rose is America's National Flower, but every state also has its own (click here to see the list). Are you happy with yours? If you were in charge what would you declare your state's flower? If you're outside the U.S. what bloom would you like to see labeled as your country's national flower?

Wisconsin's state flower is the wood violet. I'm happy with that. They're a beautiful little flower. I love how they are out so early in the spring - and then I work at pulling them out so they don't take over. I would prefer that they would stay where I want them without my having to constantly remind them.

4. What have you lost interest in recently?

Decorating for fall. Fall is beautiful all around us, so it's a little hard to get too excited about trying to compete with God's handiwork... besides the fact that I tend to be unmotivated about that kind of thing.

5. In your opinion, who's the best living musician?

Hmmm. Well, I think John Williams the composer would be high on my list. John Rutter, composer, conductor, arranger would be also.

6. S'mores-love 'em or no? Ever make them indoors? Last time you sat around an outdoor fire? Are making s'mores and sitting round a fire pit on your autumn bucket list? Do you have an autumn bucket list?

 Grands, at their backyard campfire

sent to me by our son

I hate S'mores. They're way too sweet. Just give me some chocolate (and it needs to be very dark) and you can keep the rest. I do love sitting beside an outdoor fire, but haven't done it yet this year. Good grief! How did this happen? I love campfires!

No autumn bucket list.

7. Your favorite small town? Why?

 Near Hawes (I think)
or it could be Reeth

My favorite small town would be Hawes, North Yorkshire. It's so near so many places I like to visit, near my favorite sheep, near my favorite cheese, and in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. So much to love.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Photo August 2015

Best friends

Just before a fight

And now they're both five years old.
So here's how the five year old mind works:

The one on the left:  His mom told me that when she mentioned to him that tomorrow was photo day at school, he said excitedly, 'Oh, I'll have to wear something with polka dots!  Oh wait, I don't have anything with polka dots. Hmm. That could present a problem.'  No idea where the polka dot idea came from.


The one on the right:  He was demonstrating to me last weekend, how he catches bees. 'I just catch them by their wings.'  Don't they sting you?? 'No, they just buzz, and then I let them go.'  His dad tells me that it is true. He's caught three bees that way and is convinced, although his family has tried to dissuade him, that bees don't sting -  because he's not yet been stung. Nothing can talk him out it...except, I would imagine, the first bee that stings him. It's only a matter of time.

***

Check out my natural, handcrafted vegan soap!

Buy any 5 or more, Get 1 FREE

'Frosted Apple Spice'

'Pumpkin Spice'

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Shop

 

Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes - Anglophile Friday

The words, 'rennet' and 'bacteria' and 'sour' and 'fungus' and 'coagulate' don't sound very appetizing, do they. Isn't it amazing that they are part of producing an exceptionally delicious product!

It's been a while since we spent time in Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. What an interesting and fun way to spend a day!

Wensleydale Creamery employees hard at work...

...for the final delicious product!

Free samples, yea!

I'm posting these photos although it was a dreary day in Hawes when I took them. I'd love to someday take this trip again with my new camera, because it seems to be more able to bring in the necessary light, even on a darkish day. Someplace I read that you should not post sub-standard photos on your blog. Then again, if I didn't post these sub-standard photos, I wouldn't be posting any photos at all. So, because I'd like to give you an idea of what the little village of Hawes (where the Wensleydale Creamery is located) looks like, I'm including a few photos I took.

Look at that beautiful brick street. This is definitely a place to wear comfortable shoes.

Is this what they mean by 'a one horse town' ??

Barn and pen right on main street, or at least what seemed like the main street.

The rushing stream in March

People seem to maneuver their cars into every possible nook and cranny.

Evidently we beat the hoard of bikers to the cheese samples.

And I don't think they were headed to the Tea Room.

I'd love to rent a room at the back of that tea room.

Look at the view I'd have of the hills behind.

Herriot's B&B in Hawes

If you have plans to visit Hawes any time soon, be sure to book rooms at Herriot's B&B. Check it out.  And don't forget to stop in at the Wensleydale Creamery to sample those delicious cheeses - and to buy a Wallace and Gromit poster, of course!

***

'Lady Mary'

Inspired by 'Downton Abbey'

(quite a long way from Hawes)

Natural, Handcrafted Vegan Soap

A combination of Amber, Vanilla, and other remarkably delicious fragrances!

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Shop 

This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and le chateau des fleurs and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Share Your Creativity and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Anglophile Friday - England Red

 The  British Museum - London

You'll probably realize that I'm getting desperate to find a theme for new Anglophile Friday posts. It's not easy, considering the fact that I've posted most of my photos already. So many of them are now doing re-runs as part of other themes. Thus, although you may have seen some of these, you will not have seen all of them, and never before have they been posted together as 'England Red.'

One thing that's always bothered me about the above photo is that you can actually see those two people in the foreground, real people who are here on my blog. Isn't that creepy, when you think about it? It's like I'm stalking them online!

 Phone Box in Cambridge

And every time I see that sign, I first think it says 'ESTUARY' until I remember that it actually is 'RESTAURANT.' And then, of course, Estuary reminds me of a song that Hugh Laurie sang. (Crazy how this mind works.)

My favorite red door  - in Kettlewell

Bike-in at Littlefairs in Hawes

Double Luck Takeaway - in Ripon

You can see Ripon Cathedral at the end of the street.

Hawling - in the Cotswolds

A little store in Muker

Narrowboat on the canal - Skipton

Someday...

Near Bolton Abbey

Okay, I know. I'm really smitten with phone boxes and post boxes!

in York

 - in Kettlewell

- in stark contrast to the dignified beauty of York Minster

(I'll put York Minster in another post)

the gaudy York sightseeing bus!

Last, but not least...

My very favorite 'red' England photo

Kettlewell

You really notice bits of color when most everything else is made of stone.

Am I complaining?? NO.  The stone is beautiful!

***

'Forest Floor'

Luscious Forest Moss & Wood Violets

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and now also at

our ETSY store

***



 This post is linked to:
Photo Friday 
and
Saturday Nite Special
and
Serenity Saturday 

Have a great weekend, everyone!