Wine, Cheese and Food, Oh My!

Last month LW and I went to McCrossen's for July's wine/cheese/food event. We sat at the bar and enjoyed a nice range of Rieslings and other treats. It began with a glass of Riesling, S.A. Prum "Essence," 2011.  My notes on this opening wine were spare, but included my observation that it had a little fruit to it and an effervescent apple aspect to it.

Our first cheese was the Edel de Cleron, an oozy French cheese that I much enjoyed, which was paired with a Reuscher-Haart, Piesporter, 2010. I noted that this second wine was much sweeter, kind of like my initial stereotype of what a Riesling was before L. of McCrossen's began her campaign of educating the likes of me into the subtler varieties of the grape. Sort of a third cousin twice removed from a Moscato. The cheese had a little bit to it, and yet a smooth finish in the end.

R., the cheesemonger of the event, seems to have a fig tree in his backyard...so each food course had a definite fig presence. I know it's pretty blasphemous, but I'm not actually as smitten with figs and the majority of people who love food. That said, I still enjoyed the arugula-fig salad with fennel marmalade and vincotto.

Next up was a Rippleton sheep's cheese from New York, which I believe may have been the first cheese from this farm to be out in the world...but I may have gotten that confused with some other cheese altogether. It was paired with a Fritz Hasselbach, 2008. The cheese was solid. The wine had a mineral/lime element to it. I kept giggling at the idea of a person coming up to a wheel of cheese and exclaiming 'Sir Rippleton, I presume!'

For the food element of this course we got a "White Gazpacho" with figs, candied walnuts and grapes. When McCrossen's first posted the menu for this event on Facebook, I inquired on exactly how a gazpacho could be white. T. chimed in saying that it was a mix of a number of things, all of which were not actually food ingredients. I believe there was a good helping of failure in it, according to him. So when we first arrived I did try to get a little more information from him, but T. was in fine form and mixed the truth of gazpacho's origin story (bread and water and maybe almonds) with no actual information about what was going into this particular version. Eventually it was allowed that it included honey dew, almonds, bread, cucumbers and lemon or lime zest. It was definitely a step up from gruel, which was T.'s smarty pants answer at first. That said, I think that I may just prefer gazpacho the old fashioned way.

Somehow I missed taking a photograph of the Tomme d'Aydius, a goat's cheese from France that I noted had a "semi-hard, crackling rind." Make of that what you will. The wine was Hexamer, Meddersheimer Rehingrafenber 'Quarzit' Reserve, 2010. Try to say that one time fast. Now three times. This had a little bubble to it when it hit the tongue. The food was a piece of sauteed foie gras with pickeld figs laid across a 'brioche soldier.' I am one of those people who almost always loves foie gras and so this was a hit for me.

Next up was a nice slice of Birchrun Hills Farm Eve's Apple Blue, to which I believe R. did something extra fancy. But now I'm totally blanking on it. Wrapped it in fig leaves? Maybe. The wine was a Karl Erbes Saptlese "Urziger Wurzgarten, 2010. My  notes on the wine were simple "sweet, sweet, sweet."

The final food course was grilled pork with blue cheese baked figs and mint. Succulent, juicy tasty pork. The blue cheese/fig pairing may have been my favorite of the fig aspects.

And that's a wrap. Afterwards we went on our merry way to dart night, where my team lost.

Watermelon Party

The rest of our day was spent mainly lying down, listening/playing music, sitting in grass and watching people play kick ball (including my new fake boyfriend whose name I don't know/with whom I did not in any way actually interact), and having a nice dinner at L. and T.'s. The dinner was quinoa and mahi mahi in a pineapple pepper sauce. I was a jerk and totally forgot to photograph it, so busy was I consuming it. After all those activities we piled into L. and T.'s friend's car an drove to S.'s party, where there a number of cheeses and nice cured salami to much on. Not to mention vodka soaked watermelon.

I spent the majority of the party on their back deck talking to an ever-rotating set of folks, some known, some unknown. For example, I knew E. already. So we talked about things and had our photo taken.

And then we got L. in on the photo action and I made this face. Sad thing is someone hit the back of my head as this photograph was taken, so now my face looks like that all the time. Question: would you be my friend if I looked like that all the time? Because I do.

The birthday boy and the watermelon eater.

It was a good party. I enjoyed meeting one half of the couple who now lives above L. and T. I also commended L. on her choice of bridesmaids, especially the above E., whom I didn't know before the bachelorette weekend and wedding, but whom I now enjoy seeing at events ranging from those featuring  pigoatoysters to surreal parties in Manhattan. That sentence was terribly constructed, the point is that it's always nice to see E. So good times all around. Another late evening, but a fun one.

Morning Time

C., Mr Ass and I camped on the site I had reserved while C. and J. and K. camped on their own site and K. had her own site as well. In the morning - hmm there are too many C's and K's. Let's call my friend and pizza/wine C. C.P. and let's call friend from college C. C.S. and college K. K.H. then J. can be J. and K. can be K. I'm glad we worked all of that out. Anywho. In the morning C.P. and I awoke around the same time. She promptly readied herself for a run while I began eying a box of garlic Triscuits for breakfast. Later on Mr Ass also got up and though it wasn't even 9 in the morning, we began a game of Scrabble. Meanwhile C.S. and J. were having a little time in their hammock. I took a photograph or two, but either I focused poorly or they had multiple chins.
The view of my campsite from C.S., K.H. and J.'s perspective.
Mr. Ass played admirably, but was ultimately defeated.
More of the bounty that C.S., K.H., K. and J. picked up at the farm stand.
After C.P. returned from her run, she, Mr. Ass and I got into Mr. Ass's car and drove to Dunkin Donuts. I ordered myself a coffee and since it was my *birthday* I felt I was entitled to eat my first egg sandwich from Dunkin Donuts since my college years. Strange thing-ish: except for one African American teenager, the entire Dunkin Donuts staff was made up of young men and women from some Eastern European country. I don't know which one, but I'm sure of that. It made me wonder if they were there legally, and if they all were somehow related. A mystery that I'm sure someone could easily solve.

Farmer's Market, Juice and Nails

After the ramen we went to the Union Square Farmer's Market. I picked up two bunches of radishes...delightfully spicy, it turns out.
Appreciated the look of these onions.
And stocked up on tomatoes, among other things.
Then we returned to Brooklyn and got our nails did. This included my first ever pedicure, but there's not proof of that really. I think the reason that many women in my life are so in love with pedicures is that their feet are a tougher sort than mine, far more in need of pampering and smoothing. My feet, however, are rather dainty creatures...I don't stuff them into high heels often enough that I have any real system of callouses, and my feet blister more than anything else no matter what. My point being that while I liked my pedicure, I didn't exactly understand what the big deal was. Afterwards I had a carrot beet juice at BeQu.
I've been rocking the golden nails for some and decided to give silver a shot. L. went with a green. I like the silver well enough, but gold is nicer - at least for my fingers. Though I would consider silver toes and a burgundy set of fingernails. Blah, blah blah.

Running of the Bulls 4-Course Meal c/o Tinto

After dim sum I dropped Dad off at his hotel and returned home. The plan was to then have dinner at Sansom Oyster House, unfortunately Dad called me as I was heading to Center City and said the place was closed. I tried to think of where to go instead, which would be tasty and not too far away from the Oyster House. I landed on Tinto and conveyed the information to Dad. I started with the white sangria, which was good but maybe a tad sweeter than even I like my beverages.
They had a "San Fermin Running of the Bulls" special tasting menu, and we both decided to have it. I had thought that one would choose one thing from each category on the menu but we actually were given all of them for each course. This was the peaky toe crab with some sort of caviar (migas?), piquillo purree and edible flowers. The presentation was lovely.
Next up was the tomato and melon salad. It was fun to look at as well, as each melon and tomato piece was perfectly cubed and aligned on the plate. God bless tomatoes.
The chorizo with eggsalad and mustard was a favorite of mine. I can't help but love cured meat, what can I say?
After my sangria I jumped on late to the pairings that came with each course. This was a good glass of wine, though I can't tell you anything about it that would allow you to ask for it by name.
The artichoke with pink peppercorn, chorizo and meyer lemon was lovely to look at but a little disappointing to taste. I loved the heart itself, but the overall taste verged on just a little too cooked. Not sure if they fried them or baked them (I'd guess fried) but it was like they could have come out of the oil just 30-45 seconds sooner.
I totally forget this dish. It looks really good though doesn't it? On the menu it has a Spanish name (Montadito de Ajoarriero) and I couldn't really recognize any of the ingredients listed under it.
The white asparagus wrapped in jamon serrano and garnished with spanish olives and chives, on the other hand, was quite memorable and t-a-s-t-y, tasty.
The prime dry aged sirloin with veal jus and roasted potatoes was quite a pretty plate if you were to ask me. And the meat was rare but not so rare as to be scary. Though the photograph may make those of you who like your meat brown a little scared. Dad thought that many of the courses were too salty, and I think he had that issue with this one as well.
Rouget with heirloom tomatoes, leeks and a watercress pesto. A nice little fish that I haven't had a lot of experience with. Dad loved the leeks.
Their mushroom dish was also part of our third course. I've had it before and it remains quite a magic mushroom pile of loveliness, without the hallucinations.
Flourless chocolate cake, raspberry jam and sorbet. At this point I was so full that I'm not sure I was able to fully appreciate the dessert, though the sorbet was something special if I recall at all correctly ... which I may not.
While this wasn't the oyster experience we had planned, I was glad for the opportunity to return to Tinto and to give Dad the chance to try a new place in Philly.

Gettysburg Farmer's Market and Battlefields

Saturday I walked to Gettysburg main square to see their farmer's market. Passed this winery place on the way.
It was a biker week convention thing. Motorcyclists everywhere.
The market was small, and our hotel room didn't have a refrigerator, so I stuck to buying baked goods that didn't need refrigeration and some sugar plums.
I passed a tree Lincoln passed by. It was pretty crazy.
This was the tree. I tried to imagine how much smaller it would have been over 100 years ago. Full of hope that tree was, or burdened with the sorrow of what it had already seen? I don't know.
After I returned I met up with E., L., K. and A. and we went to the battlefield that has the Devil's Den and Little Round Top.

Lots of people died here but now it's pretty. I guess it was pretty even when the fields were strewn with bodies.



This statue had soulful eyes.
Motorcycles everywhere.



I worried I would fall down and break my ankle.