Cheese ~ Storytelling ~ Authenticity ~ Creativity

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Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Vermont Creamery Goat Log

Today we celebrate the humble goat log, and Vermont Creamery’s is one of my favorites.

This is a staple in my kitchen. If I’m traveling or home and have no groceries and don’t know what I’m going to make, I’ll always grab some fresh chèvre (goat in French).

There’s always something you can do with it. And it’s a really great blank (but flavorful) canvas to impress people (or yourself, honestly) by almost doing nothing.

I’ll also just eat it with a spoon for a snack, but I recognize not everyone does that which is FINE.

Whip it up with some honey for a sweet spread, beets for something earthy and pink, or roll a mini log in…anything? Chopped nuts, dried fruit, edible flowers, herbs- ANYTHING.

Spring is a great time for soft goat cheeses, and as we’re all starting to thaw from winter, playing with something as versatile as fresh goat cheese can help bring some easy joy and creativity into your day.

Try it! And tell me what you mix it with.

Something True: A truth about myself

Blank Canvases & Mulberry Trees

Here’s the truth.

I really love painting. I’m not great at it, but I think it’s really fun and I was an art major at some point so I’m not completely terrible.

But whether I’m good or not isn’t really the point.

I always have a blank canvas or two hanging around, and am one of those people who goes into a craft store and sees canvases on sale and gets them “just in case” even though I haven’t used the ones I already have.

Anyone else?

I keep strawberry baskets in case I want to make a castle out of produce containers one day.

I don’t throw away potatoes starting to sprout because “what if I want to make stamps out of them? And make a cool stamped print fabric for something?”

I keep leftover beet juice in a jar in case I want to dye something pink?

I have a very creative mind, and I’m very grateful for that- but the ~*possibilities~* of endless craft and art projects borders on delusion sometimes.

But last summer I just decided to do it. To FINALLY do one of the many things I say all the time. The “Wouldn’t it be cool if— ‘s” of my mind.

There’s a mulberry tree outside in my backyard in California, and when the fruit drops it stains everything beneath it until rain or a garden hose washes it away.

So naturally I wanted to harness this annoying thing and make it into something. And I wanted to do it with my hands for some reason.

So I took a dusty canvas, put on some gloves, and mushed handfuls of dropped and almost rotten mulberries all over it.

I planned on making that a fun pattern as a background for something I’d eventually paint over it…but I kind of just like it as is.

It’s super simple, but it reminds me of a time where I wanted to do something creative- and just DID IT.

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Monet in the Kitchen

Speaking of painting- one of the world’s great painters that should be known for food just as much as his art is Claude Monet.

Everyone talks about how incredible his waterlilies are and how impressive his home garden is (which it is- I’ve been to Giverny where his home is and it’s spectacular).

But the most memorable part of exploring his house was the kitchen.

The impression I got (get it- he was an impressionist painter) was that food, gardening, and painting were all one in the same to him. I’m sure there’s literature to back this up by I haven’t looked to hard for it 🤓 

Anyway! This is his Still Life with Melon. His kitchen is wall to wall blue and white tiles so this plate makes sense to me. The only thing it’s missing is some goat cheese.

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 “Claude Monet eating goat cheese.”

That looks more like a sheep to me in the background— and why does he look like he’s about to get shanked for eating this?

Enjoy your impressionist nightmares.

www.annemariepietersma.com