Back in June Stephanie and I brought like 16 tins of fois gras and paté back with us from France, with the idea of throwing a paté party (or partay). But the summer was so action-packed that we weren’t able to find a free weekend to bring people together until last night.

Apparently our timing was right. Not only was the weather unusually warm this weekend, but 23 people showed up (including 2 children)!

In addition to the paté, we also made 4 different quiches, 2 with ham, 1 with rainbow chard and bacon, and one with just rainbow chard, a cake aux olives (ham, cheese, and olive bread), salad, and for dessert bananes flambées—the only thing we managed to take a picture of.

Right now I’m basking in the party afterglow. Our apartment is quiet and clean. And I had quiche for breakfast. Does it get any better than this?

Here are some pics from my latest cheese class, Locavore‘s Cheese and Beer. The Cheese School of San Francisco could become a dangerous delicious habit.

Starting at 12 o’clock and going around clockwise:

1. Delice de la Vallee (made by our instructor, Sheana Davis)
2. Andante Dairy, Pianoforte
3. Bellwether Farms, San Andreas*
4. Harley Farms, Tomato Basil Torte
5. La Clarine Farm, Sierra Mountain Tomme
6. Matos Cheese Factory, St. George*
7. Redwood Hill Farm, Gravenstein Gold
8. Vella Cheese Co, Mezzo Secco
9. Cowgirl Creamery, Red Hawk*

I marked my favorites with an asterisk. Definitely going to have to hit up Cheese Plus with a list. So lucky it’s within walking distance.

Yes it does.

I stumbled upon it over a year ago while looking for fondue restaurants on Yelp. The only problem is their classes are so popular they fill up within days of releasing a new season’s schedule. I tried to stay on the ball for their fall/winter season this year, but even I waited too long. The one class I was really excited about, “Golden, Green and Glorious: Cheese & Olive Oil” sold out. So when I signed up for two other classes (Basic Cheese Primer and Locavore’s Cheese & Beer), I had the good sense to have them put me and Stephanie on the waiting list. I mean if there’s one thing Stephanie likes more than cheese—it’s olive oil.

Well today I got the call. They had two openings—we were in.

They’re located on the second floor of a building in the Marina, at Powell and Francisco. We took a cab there directly from work, walked up the stairs, and heard what sounded like a party down the hall. I could see a group of well-dressed women with champagne flutes through the door. Oh wait, this is for us! This is class. As it should be!

We both got a glass of Grandin Brut NV sparkling wine upon arrival—which I am happy to report was frequently refilled throughout the evening. We were a few minutes early (oh pity, I guess I’ll have to have another glass of champagne), so we mingled with the instructor, Laura Martinez. This was both her first time teaching this class, as well as her first time teaching for the Cheese School of San Francisco.

The “classroom” itself had about 24 place settings, each with 5 samples of cheese to be paired with 5 types of olive oil. Between every few place settings were a number of different accoutrements to go with each of the pairings.

For each course we’d first smell the olive oil to rate it’s fruitiness, and then we’d take a sip just like you would wine, bringing air into the mouth at the same time in order to open up it’s flavor and sense any bitterness. And then we’d swallow, wait a few seconds, and sure enough this peppery intensity would develop in the back of your throat, leading most people to cough—this was its pungency.

Continue Reading…

Literally.

Stephanie and I brought back two backpacking meals from France. Hachis Parmentier for me (ground beef and mashed potatoes), Purée au Jambon for her (ham and mashed potatoes).

Update: Here’s a proper review, requested by my dad. I thought these were ok, but the Mountain House dehydrated meals we got from REI (Mac and Cheese and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce) were better. And easier to make. These didn’t really have room to add boiling water, stir, and then seal, which made them kind of frustrating to prepare. But once we got the contents emptied into our bowls, it was much easier to mix. Otherwise, they pretty much tasted like mashed potatoes with herbs and little bits of meat. One thing we learned is that rehydration takes time, so it’s worth giving it a few extra minutes so you don’t end up with crunchy meat or noodles.

I’ve been looking forward to Capay Organic‘s summer farm tour (and heirloom cherry tomato picking) since I went to their spring farm tour and strawberry picking back in May. This time Stephanie was able to come, and we had a ball: walking around in the hot sun, eating warm figs right off the tree, and picking some of the sweetest cherry tomatoes I’ve ever tasted. These things are candy. And we picked a lot!