…just like Robert Frost once said…(?)

        One of our favorite regulars brought us about five pounds of green beans and ten or so massive cucumbers from his garden upstate.  Needless to say I ran home and started cooking.  For the rest of the week I brought greenbeans and cucumbers everywhere, feeding the vegetable deprived cheese-lovers the world over.  We actually have a big jar of them in the back fridge here at the shop; they are sitting in some spicey pickle brine for a few more weeks before we devour them.

We inspired The Hold Steady….

http://stereogum.com/archives/hold-steady-loves-oasis-sort-of_011315.html

Each time I take a trip to the Greenmarket I feel more and more compelled to move out to the country and raise some sheep, the world’s most amazing animal (more on this later.) Inspiration hits me even stronger when I am confronted with people who have actually done this….and are successful at it! A number of years ago an American woman and a German man met in Brazil and decided that neither of them wanted very much to leave. Both being ardent environmentalists they began to make the most of the land, organic farming came naturally to them and soon they were helping other farmers in the area to convert to organic production. The town where they are located is in the state of Rio de Janeiro and is an old mining community.

I like fruit pastes but this is something different, this tastes like actual fruit. It comes in fig, peach and guava. With some salty sheep’s milk cheese and a bottle of something cold and white, or some Spanish cider you really have an entire afternoon planed for you.

Tomorrow will break my two week non-cooking spell. I moved into a new apartment and it has taken this long to get someone from the gas company to come and turn on the meter. (If they don’t show up I will find a way to turn it on myself.) Over the past two weeks I have done some creative, though tiresome, raw cooking. There have been coountless experiments in salads, beans and canned varieties of fish and there has been more cheese than usual. By now all I want are casseroles and cassoulet, roasts and lasagna – but there were a few glorious and lactic days where cheese was the main dish. I don’t think I have eaten this much cheese outside of work in a while. Each dinner I prepared was so varied almost based solely on cheese selection. It began with the fresh mozzarella and the tomatoes and basil growing on my roof. Then things became a bit more serious. There is an amazing semisoft goat’s milk cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm in Vermont called Manchester that the whole cheeseshop has been fawning over all week. This barnyardy cheese on some sesame bread is pretty good, add some mustard greens for some spice and some sardines on the side and most major nutritional needs are covered. Then came the Flor di Capra over white beans and tomato with a touch of cilantro. My trip to the farmer’s market only further complicated things. I’ve recently become obsessed with Dancing Ewe Farm run by Jody and Louisa Somers up in Granville, New York. Sheep being my favorite farm animal and Italy being my favorite cheesemaking nation, Dancing Ewe makes very traditional Italian cheeses in the US- even the equipment is Italian. And I may never tire of a baguette with fresh sheep’s milk ricotta and some honey. My recipe list goes on and I cannot wait to see the Keyspan guy arrive tomorrow, but for one more night it is all about queso. It has been tasty but tiring and it sort of makes me feel like this guy: