The Cheese is Gone…

Friday

There are vast quantities of food in my home at the moment. Some sits by the door in insulated coolers because the fridge is over-flowing. One whole shelf is designated for  cheese. That’s the most tempting. A rich, creamy, grass-fed cow’s milk Feta and a deeply veined blue that melts on your tongue like ice cream. These are from a local farm in Wilton, NH and are my favorite so far. The cooler arrived at the store today but had to be installed and chilled down. Korey picked up an ice chest full of cheese before work so that will go in tonight but the rest is calling to me. The other shelves hold enormous amounts of cabbage braised in Cinnamon-Pear balsamic and Potatoes Anna finished with Pumpkin Seed Oil. Hanni and Lex will be pleased to hear ‘Mummo’ cleaned out the ‘science experiments’ moldering in the back of the refrigerator such as mint jelly from 2010 and assorted pickles.

Left-overs from my dinner, a fresh Bluefish fillet marinated in French Tarragon white balsamic and California Garlic Olive Oil, is squeezed in next to the chocolate fudge sauce I plan to put on my peppermint ice cream before bed.

All sorts of wonderful new products arrived at the store today. A local woodworker brought us a selection of bowls, cutting boards and utensils. More blown glass dipping dishes arrived along with hand blown jars for the salts and herbs. Every time I turned around, someone was walking through the door with more items to fill the little store. A full larder is a good thing.

This weekend is Peterborough’s 275th anniversary. The ads are placed, the press releases written and sent. Now we sit back and wait for the craziness to begin!

Saturday

Cheese dominates my life; cheese filling my refrigerator, waiting for the cheese cooler, having cheese and cooler finally come together for the biggest day the store has seen so far in its short history.

We went through a lot of cheese today. A couple of times during the crush I heard Korey call out to the crowds of shoppers, “anyone in an orange cap can fill a bottle or help you out!” and there was a happy smile under each cap. Our cobbled-together cooking demo was hugely successful and I don’t mind saying the food was really good. The weather could have been better for the tourists but for us it meant they were seeking shelter, warm food, and entertainment. We do well at the entertaining part…

I have the best bosses in the world! Kim manned the food table for our cooking demo at the front door.   She and I managed to pull off Chef Joe’s menu of Braised Pork Roast in Red Apple balsamic, and my cabbage and potatoes; all but the Pineapple Cream Pie. Luckily, Deb came through with homemade apple crisp.

Deb, keeping bottles filled and customers happy!

The new Salt and Herb Tasting room finally has its cheese. We served up three varieties to sample until those ran out – literally every crumb. I grabbed several more out of the case to use as tasters and those flew off the shelves as well.

We were so lucky to have Melissa Spencer from Attar Herbs for the début of the salt and herb tasting bar.  Filling, weighing and stocking these delectables was an education the first time through. Listening to Melissa talk recipes and uses with folks was fascinating.

Her eye for organizing and her help at filling all the tasting jars brought the concept together. It’s so much fun working with smart, creative people.

Say “Cheese!”