Cheese ~ Storytelling ~ Authenticity ~ Creativity

Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Harvest Moon

The U.S. has some incredible cheeses inspired by it’s European counterparts, and 5 Spoke Creamery’s Harvest Moon is one of them. Last week we talked about Mimolette-

and the creation of this cheese was actually in response to the 2013 FDA ban on Mimolette. I know! Wild.

Where the outside of Mimolette looks like the surface of the moon up close, the rind on Harvest Moon looks like the moon we might see in the sky on a cool autumn night- bright white and dotted with orange craters.

Highly recommend pairing with something butterscotchy or your favorite kind of candied nut.

Something True: A truth about myself

Intentional Endings

Here’s the truth-

I often struggle with endings.

Writing them and experiencing them. Which is why I really appreciate well-crafted endings all the more.

My recent trip to Canada with the creative coaching group I’m a part of The Spark File included a wonderful farm-fresh dinner with a music performance at Saunders Farm.

The weather was perfect, there was a full moon.

Tasty food, great music, impeccable people- of course no one would want an evening like that to end.

But the ending to this night was so magical.

This whole night was a culmination of a year-long creative effort by my friend Angela and her team to start something brand new, and the room was filled with people that love and support her.

It was a gift to be there. The end of the evening really felt like a beginning.

The last song was a community song- we were all encouraged to turn over our menus, the lyrics to the song were printed on the back.

I immediately started crying. Partially because I knew a few different stories of why this song was special to different people in the room, partially because the timing seemed almost mystical- and honestly, I was full (creatively, spiritually, and literally) and in awe of how perfectly the night was coming to a close.

The song we all sang together was Harvest Moon.

I would go on a limb to say that we (the royal we) probably spend way more time thinking about beginnings than endings- which makes sense. Normally there is some air of sadness that comes with an ending, and spending time with anything resembling sadness doesn’t sound fun.

But crafting an ending to anything- a dinner, a show, a business, a trip- is a wildly creative (and difficult) act. And it can be a beautiful thing.

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Endless Pasta in Strega Nona

As spooky season comes to a close, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite grandma foodie witch- Strega Nona.

To no one’s surprise, this was one of my favorite books as a child.

Strega Nona has a magic pot that makes pasta (yes, we all want one). She casts a spell, the pasta appears and the pot keeps making pasta until she blows three kisses to it- then it stops.

Big Anthony discovers her magic pot, and wants to use it to feed the town, but doesn’t know about the three kisses. The pasta overflows and almost engulfs all of Calabria until Strega Nona stops it. Big Anthony is forced to eat all the pasta as punishment.

Moral of the story: Anything in excess is too much? You should “blow three kisses” and have gratitude for your food? Don’t eavesdrop on the village witch? The choice is yours.

Till next time,

Anne-Marie

P.S. - Sunday Scaries

A terrifying AI image to help us all rest knowing AI bots could never replace a real human artist:

THE AI BOT IN BEEHIIV IS STILL DOWN. I now owe you two MORE.

Unreliability in tech. Spooky!

www.annemariepietersma.com