The Slap

An excellent Australian television drama series based on the 2008 controversial novel The Slap written by Australian native Christos Tsiolkas. The eight part series explores what happens when a man slaps someone else's bratty undisciplined child at a birthday barbecue get-together. Each episode of the series is told in the point of view of one of eight different people that attended the barbecue and how the repercussions of the slap affect this group of family and friends.

Though at times disturbing it is a believable story that I enjoyed. The series features great performances by Melissa George, Jonathan LaPaglia, Alex Dimitriades, Sophie Okonedo among others.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/about/

Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar

The Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar is a farmstead type cheddar from Prince Edward Island that is made using the traditional English cheddar making methods.  The cheddar is wrapped in cloth to age, yet it is allowed to breathe and remain moist.

This pasteurized cow’s milk cheddar aged 18 months is somewhat crumbly but creamy in the mouth, with a smooth earthy flavour with a distinct pleasant tang.

The Avonlea cheddar pairs well with Guinness beer or a nice Portuguese port.

The Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar is produced by Scott Linkletter of COWS Creamery in Charlottetown, PEI. COWS is also well known for their famous ice-cream.

http://www.cowscreamery.ca/

http://www.cows.ca/avonleacheddar

Coeur Du Berry

Le Coeur Du Berry is a lovely French pasteurized goat milk cheese shaped in the form of a heart. Coeur Du Berry has a fresh white paste with a distinctive earthy tangy flavour and the ash covered rind leaves you with a pleasant smoky lingering taste.

This heart-shaped chèvre is a must for Valentine’s Day. Offer it as a gift or share it with your loved ones.

Available with a plain natural rind or ash covered.

Coeur Du Berry is produced by Fromagerie Jacquin in La Vernelle located in the south of La Loire in France.

http://www.fromagerie-jacquin.com/

Keith Haring

The Brooklyn Museum will be exhibiting the early works of Keith Haring this spring from March 16 to July 8, 2012. The exhibition will be featuring Keith’s works circa 1978 to 1982 from when he first arrived in New York City through to when he started his studio and began making public and political art on the streets.

 

I fell in love with Keith Haring’s work after attending a live Grace Jones show in New York in the 80’s. Keith not only painted Grace in his original heavy brush stroke style but he painted a large circular canvas and the canvas stunningly became Grace’s costume gown as she was hoisted up. A true masterpiece!

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/keith_haring/

http://haring.com/home.php

Grey Owl

Grey Owl is a striking ash covered pasteurized goat milk cheese.

The edible dark vegetable ash rind contrasts beautifully against the snowy white uncooked paste that is quite dense. The fresh crumbly texture is quite smooth and creamy in the mouth with a sweet tangy nutty flavor.  

Grey Owl cheese pairs well with a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.

Grey Owl is produced by Fromagerie Le Détour located in Notre-Dame-Du-Lac, Québec in the region of Lac Témiscouata near the New Brunswick border. Grey Owl cheese is named after a legendary conservationist, who inhabited the region of Témiscouata; Archie Belaney who was known under his adopted Ojibwe name “Grey Owl”.

The milk for Grey Owl cheese comes from Saanen Goats, a Swiss breed of dairy goats.

http://fromagerieledetour.ca/

Photo source: informedfarmers.com

Alfred Le Fermier

Alfred Le Fermier is an excellent organic raw cow milk artisanal cheese from Fromagerie La Station de Compton.

Alfred Le Fermier has a lovely orange tinted yellowish washed-rind that produces a nice woodsy rustic aroma due to the cheese having been ripened for eight months on spruce boards. The cooked, pressed, firm, golden paste leaves delightful nutty, butter and floral lingering flavours.  

Alfred Le Fermier pairs well with a California fumé blanc.

Alfred Le Fermier cheese is named in honour of Alfred Bolduc.  Mr. Bolduc was the first of the family four generations ago to settle in Compton, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.  An eye-catching silhouette of Alfred Bolduc is pressed into every wheel of cheese the Fromagerie La Station make.  Fromagerie La Station produces excellent farmstead organic cheeses and raclette.

Read on my visit of Fromagerie La Station de Compton

http://www.fromagerielastation.com/

Page Eight

 

Page Eight is a BBC film written and directed by David Hare. The spy thriller set in London and Cambridge, England stars Bill Nighy as MI-5 agent Johnny Worricker. Johnny is left with a secret file that could bring down the Prime Minister and his government, then his closest friend who is also his boss, suddenly dies. He is then compelled to carry out the unspoken and make the report public. During this time he also grows suspicious of his beautiful young new neighbor who seeks his company, the political activist neighbor Nancy Pierpan, is played by Rachel Wiesz.  Johnny is then forced to walk out of his job, and then out of his identity to find out the truth.

Bill Nighy is quite riveting and captivates you into this mystery drama. The film also stars Michael Gambon, Judy Davis, and Ralph Fiennes.

 

Banon

Banon is a raw goat milk cheese fabricated in the village of Banon in the Haute-Provence Alps of France. The lovely 100 gram chèvre is presented wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia. 

Le Banon cheese is golden cream coloured with a soft moist pungent uncooked un-pressed paste.  It has a nice sweet nutty taste with a lot of character.  Its unique flavor is developed when the cheese is matured in the chestnut leaves. Le Banon was awarded AOC status in 2003.  

Read more on: The conditions of production for Le Banon AOC:

http://www.banon-aoc.com/en/conditions.html

Handcrafted Wooden Cheese Board

This Christmas we received a lovely handcrafted wooden platter for our family Christmas exchange. The beautiful maple platter was created by Stinson Studios.  The handcrafted serving board is made from a single piece of selectively harvested wood and then cut to highlight the natural beauty of the maple wood. The board is designed with a slight dip ideal to serve a pâté or a soft cheese, nuts or olives.  It’s quite the ideal cheese serving board platter and a lovely handcrafted piece of art

Stinson Studios is a family business located in rural Eastern Ontario. They create wonderful wooden bowls and structural burls. Their wooden pieces truly reveal and accentuate the beauty of nature.

http://stinsonstudios.ca

Un gros merci à Clément, Émile, Julie et Patrick pour le joli cadeau de Noël.

George Carlin - Perspectives on Life

I always enjoy George Carlin’s perspectives on things. Hope you enjoy this...

 

"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards.

You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...then you finish off as an orgasm."