Cheese ~ Storytelling ~ Authenticity ~ Creativity

Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Dubliner

Well this is funny- without knowing it- a few week’s ago I wrote a very theme-appropriate letter on the first blue cheese in Ireland, potato commercials, and the green-eyed monster: jealousy.

You have probably tried Kerrygold’s Irish butter- but have you tried their cheese??

They have lots of different cheddars, but today we’re looking at Dubliner.

Most Irish cheddars (that you can find in the U.S., on average) will be slightly more mild and buttery than English cheddars- but not this one.

Dubliner definitely has some funk and goes more towards some of the grassy earthy notes you may find in English clothbound cheddars.

I think people see it in the grocery store and assume that since you can find it packaged outside of a cheese case, there’s not a lot of nuance of flavor.

That is simply not the case- and this cheese is great proof of that. Try it with some wildflower honey to keep the earthiness but cut the funk. Also great with most beers.

Some people love it, some don’t! Try it! You decide!

Something True: A truth about myself

The Dublin Dance Festival

Here’s the truth.

I lived in Dublin the summer after my freshman year of college. I was 1 of 10 Americans studying and working at The Dublin Dance Festival.

I expected to learn a lot about different types of dance and performance art, but I wasn’t expecting to leave questioning what qualified as art in the first place.

Yes, we did learn some Irish step dancing, and it was a modern-based program so we rolled around on the floor a lot in rehearsal…but I also saw a lot of things that made me question…everything I’d ever learned about performance?

Especially as someone with a competition jazz and musical theatre dance background, I was SHOCKED when a headliner’s piece was taking an entire hour to stand up from a pile of feathers, and walk from one side of the stage to the other.

There was one French guy that just took the entire length of Every Breath You Take (I’ll Be Watching You) by The Police to make eye contact with everyone in the theatre. Some people laughed? Some cried? And he just responded to all of it in the moment.

I honestly still can’t tell if I think those pieces were brilliant or complete B.S.

…but I guess I’m still thinking about it 13 years later so…does it really matter?

It clearly made me think. So whatever it is, I suppose it wasn’t a waste of time.

Just a little reminder that what others think about the things we make…kind of doesn’t matter at all?

Of course it does for silly things like our ego, and very real world things like funding, ticket sales, commissions, etc- especially for those of us trying to make a living from our art.

But at the end of the day, it is not the creator’s concern what people will do with what they make. It is just their responsibility to create it.

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Potato Chips in Luck of the Irish

The Luck of the Irish remains one of my favorite Disney Channel Original Movies.

A very clear Michael Flatley- based character called Seamus McTiernan (The Saint of the Step) and a 200 year-old grandfather named Reilly O’Reilly? Questionable accents? Gaelic sporting competitions?

I’m sold.

Reilly is founder of the Emerald Isle Potato Chip Company, which might actually be the most (and only?) realistic part of this movie.

So many of the best American food companies come from immigrant families taking something well-known from their home and building an entire business around it. And sometimes it’s a struggle to get the second generation on board to carry out their new legacy (a conflict present in the movie…kind of).

There’s also some pretty funny corned beef and cabbage sabotage…but I’ll let you watch it.

So give the movie a watch- I probably will tonight- and have some cheese and potato chips.

 It’s always the season for cheese and potato chips.

REMINDERS: April Taste Lab!

Following up on last week’s announcement- it’s time to get your tickets to the FIRST Trust Your Taste Laboratory!

Click HERE to secure your tickets. Space is limited so don’t sleep on this.

Check that calendar- get those tix ASAP.

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:

This week the prompt was “A leprechaun with a pot of golden cheese.”

This looks like it could be the poster for the next Leprechaun horror film. Enjoy.

www.annemariepietersma.com