Cheese ~ Storytelling ~ Authenticity ~ Creativity

Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Rush Creek Reserve

It’s officially Rush Creek Season!

Stats: Cow’s milk ~ Washed Rind ~ Bark-Wrapped ~ Wisconsin

The release of Rush Creek Reserve symbolizes the start of the holidays for me because of it’s seasonality (all cheese is seasonal, but you can really only get this cheese for a few months and then it goes away for the year).

This cheese is a perfect example of how the diet of an animal impacts the cheese. The richness of this cheese, in part, comes from the change of the season, and the cows at Uplands Cheese switching from grazing on pasture to being fed hay and grain as it gets colder.

This cheese can only be made while the cows are on that seasonal diet. Think of how you might switch from lighter cooler foods in the spring and summer to stews and roasts and warm hearty foods in the fall and winter. Cows kinda do the same thing- especially in places where it gets very cold like Wisconsin.

Rush Creek isn’t smoked, but can get pretty bacon-y sometimes, so I dare you to roast some brussels sprouts or potatoes or autumnal root vegetables and dip to your hearts delight.

Something True: A truth about myself

Corporate Comparison

Here’s the truth.

I have never had a corporate job…until now.

Yes, I somehow made it through my entire 20’s by freelancing in the gig economy.

I recently took a seasonal job as a Corporate and Concierge Gifting Associate to help with the mad dash of work October- January and I must say- it’s the best case scenario for me (for right now).

I get to be a professional gift giver through the holidays, and I get to talk about cheese all day! I get to use a lot of skills I don’t often get to use in a professional way, and I’m actually really good at it.

And consistent income? What a thrill! What a rush!

And yet…the first few weeks have been filled with a ton of shame.

I have had a lot of feelings about avoiding the corporate world until now- and turns out- I feel really behind. Like this is what being an adult is, and I’m just now putting my big girl pants on to get a “real job”.

Until three weeks ago, I had never used Microsoft Teams, or Outlook, I had never had a “work computer” (especially a PC), I had never said “the cell didn’t populate” or “let’s circle back” or “ping me” (I still won’t say that- I refuse).

As with starting any new job, I knew I needed a beginners mindset- but WOW.

I forgot how much I hated asking for help or clarification, or consistently being in situations where I need to ask what different acronyms mean or be reminded how certain things work. 

I hated feeling like I was catching up with the rest of the world and didn’t even know I was behind- but…am I really behind? (Spoiler: No, I’m not.)

So I had to take stock. What do I think being an “adult” actually means?…

It’s an ever-evolving answer, but as of right now I think being an adult means:

• Having important conversations, even when they’re difficult

• Taking accountability for my words and actions

• Taking care of myself and dealing with the consequences when I don’t

…the list goes on but you get it- and oh! look! I guess knowing how to respond to a calendar invite without e-mailing everyone that was invited isn’t on that list! (I have since learned how to do this but yeah that was embarrassing).

We are all making own own way, and creating our own path. And there’s a lot of people and companies and institutions and systems telling us the “right” and “wrong” way to earn a living.

Just like the cows, we all go through different seasons of work.

And we all, at one point or another, compare the way we live and work to others, and then decide if what we’re doing is good or not based on that comparison.

And my big profound statement on all of it is…

That’s a bummer. It’s so completely normal and human, but it’s a bummer. So what if we didn’t do that?

I’m going to try not to, and I’ll ping you if anything changes (JK DON’T TELL ANYONE I SAID IT).

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Wine in The Frogs

Wanna know what happens when Nathan Lane and Stephen Sondheim write a musical together based on a play from 405 BC by Aristophanes??

Allow me to introduce you to- The Frogs. We don’t have the time for a summary so please look it up- it’s so delightfully strange.

The main character is Dionysus, so of course there is mention of drama and wine- two of my specialties.

The “Hymn to Dionysus” includes these lyrics:

Out of wine comes truth,
Out of truth the vision clears,
And with vision soon appears
A grand design.
From the grand design
You can understand the world.
And when you understand the world,
You need a lot more wine.

If I didn’t know this came from a very niche cult musical written by the minds of two of my favorite creative geniuses, I would assume this verse was an Italian proverb hanging in the kitchen-library of a very philosophical wine mom.

Which is why I love it.

Maybe Aristophanes had a morning toga that said “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my Oinos “ on it. Who knows!

Until 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:

So the support team got back to me and said my prompts were “too specific” 🙄 . So here is the back log I’ve owed you.

This was “Dr. Phil and the witch in snow white bobbing for apples”. TERRIFYING. Who ARE these people??

This was from last week: “A town on the moon made of pasta”….what….is…happening? Is this a close-up of a town submerged in a bowl of cereal?

And finally this week… “A stressed out frog having cheese and wine at their corporate job”. Is that line…it’s mouth? Is that a stream of tears? And what’s that grey thing- a lone hole punch? As we get into the holiday madness…let’s all try to not be this frog.

www.annemariepietersma.com