My first cheese flight

Yesterday we spent the day with good friends... Sometimes there are people that you don't see often or haven't seen much, but you know that the mix will work and it doesn't take long to get everyone laughing... I hope that's the way our hosts feel about yesterday. Two families, five kids. We were supposed to have dinner and watch a movie but we never quite made it out of the kitchen... And the kids played for seven hours I believe with only one minor injury forgotten quickly enough...

My job was to bring wine. I selected a Barton & Guestier Vouvray, my staple in the cheap but delectable French wine department, and a Beaujolais-Villages from Beaune (Joseph Durhin, I believe) because my normal Beaujolais was on sale and therefore sold out. I also added a sparkling raspberry wine, a cheap wine but one our family likes for something bubbly and fun. The tab at the liquor store was $32.

But then I went to Wegmans. And they had the slate cheese board I'm wanted on sale... And since we eat more cheese than meat in this house, I went for it. It was a slate cheese board so you can write the name of the cheese on it...

My goal was to purchase some fun cheeses that wouldn't be offensive to the children, but yet still be exotic and inexpensive. For budgeting purposes, I considered the expense similar to eating out, since our hosts would be providing dinner ( a delectable feast of salad, Russian baked chicken, rice and beans, bread, cookies, and the cake shown above is the hearty Russian equivalent of apple pie. )

And while I may be frugal, I love good food and I love sharing good food with friends.

Not pictured above is my last loaf of homemade multigrain bread and the little pre-made baguettes my hostess made. And note to self: her kids love crackers. If I every need a gift for them, I'm buying crackers at the warehouse club.

First, in the totally unnecessary splurge department, I bought imported French triple cream butter. It was on sale for $3.99 a half-pound. Consider I normally pay $1.50 for a whole pound for the American substance we call butter, but hey, it's the holidays and I wanted to see if it was good. And it was. Worth the price? I don't know but that's why I call it a splurge.

Next was a cute triangle of Brie de Nangis. It was $2.40 and tiny. But the folks at the cheese shop said the flavor would fall between the medium brie and the intense/earthy brie. I don't like intense brie, but I do like medium brie and I consider myself a cheese sissy for not liking the "intense" cheeses. So I thought this was worth a try. It was delicious.

I checked out the Roquefort for fun, but the smallest piece was a $70 half wheel. Not fun.

I checked out the goat cheeses and purchased an ubiquitous lump of French feta. I'm not sure if it was actually French, or simply made in the French-style, but I bought it. $3.36. My receipt says it was Valbreso. Some internet research suggests that it's a sheep's milk cheese made with the milk leftover from the production of Roquefort.

I then moved to the port salut and selected a Chaumes ($4.35). Because I like Chaumes. According to Cheese.com:

"One of the most popular cheeses in France, produced by the Fromageries des Chaumes, one of the most famous and the biggest cheesemaking company. The soft rind is bright tangerine-orange and the interior is smooth, supple and quite rubbery. The nutty, almost meaty taste and aroma are mild. Affinage takes four weeks. It is used as a table cheese and also for grilling."

According to Wikipedia: "a cow's milk cheese from Périgord (South West of France), made by traditional cheese-making processes. Translated literally, "chaumes" is French for stubble."

And finally the American addition: a big wedge of New York champagne cheddar, $5.66.

On Vouvray

I am no fine wine con...conno...connosieur?... expert. As a matter of fact, I never really drank wine until my birthday party in May 2007.  

I had never had a "theme" party as a kid, so my husband threw me a big "pink poodles in Paris" party where we served brie, fruit and wine.

I had no idea what wine to purchase, but I knew it had to be French. I remembered my French professor remarking in college that for a cheap but drinkable table wine you can't go wrong with Beaujolais.

I went to the liquor store and bought five or six wines in the $10-$15 a bottle range, different brands and colors. Then my friends brought more. I drank wine for months. And tasted many I liked and many I didn't. All French.

My favorites in that price range are Beaujolais (red) and Vouvray (white). French people usually cringe when I say it, but in that poor American price range, I like Barton & Guestier. (Célia brought me an incredible bottle of 2001 Château Beau-Site and told me "Now you have a good bottle of French wine.") My girlfriend Rachel bought me a 2003 Château de Paillet-Quancard which was dryer than we usually liked but also delicious. And it knocked our socks off. That's as sophisticated as I get with the wines.

Considering my mother drinks Chateau Luzerne in the gallon jar that goes for $7 and tastes like someone brewed it in their hamper, I think I've progressed. But I recently had someone ask me what kind of wine Vouvray was. I answered as best I could, but today I noticed this on the back of the bottle:

• Grape: Chenin Blanc
• Region: Touraine, in the Loire Valley
• About the wine: "a lovely wine with floral notes, peach and pear flavors and a refreshing finish."
• Serve: As an aperitif, with cheese and light desserts

I don't have a bottle of Beaujolais in the house right now. They didn't have any last time I had the spare cash. Instead I opted for a Beaujolais-Villages (also red like Beaujolais). What's the difference? I don't know. But this is what the back of that bottle says:

• Grape: Gamay
• Region: Eastern France, on the right bank of the Saône river
• About the wine: "easy drinking wine with soft red fruits and a fresh, fruity finish."
• Serve: Deli meats, grilled poultry and cheese.