Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Barnstorm Blue

Not many things excite me more than a new cheese. Here are the stats:

Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Aged 4-5 Months ~ Animal Rennet~ VT- NYC

This new washed blue from Jasper Hill x Murray’s is a creamy crumbly umami dessert.

Thin veining that isn’t spicy or peppery but has a lot going on so it’s a great gateway cheese to those less adventurous in the blue world.

I paired it today in my honey and cheese class with the White Gold everyone loved at the recent taste lab. It was like dipping a savory blondie in a can of store bought vanilla icing- but so much better.

You don’t see a lot of washed blue cheeses, mostly because it’s a pretty difficult thing to get right. Barnstorm Blue is washed in beer from Focal Point Beer Co. I haven’t tried it with beer yet but I. Cannot. Wait. To. Try. That.

It’s only available at Murray’s but if you’re outside of New York you can order it online. 

Something True: A truth about myself

Devising Chaos

Here’s the truth.

For 3 months at the end of 2017 I made and performed crazy new theatre in a barn with 45 other company members. 

It was some of the best work I’ve ever done and the most stressed I’ve ever been (if you’ve ever wanted to know a shortcut to thinning hair- try learning an entire musical in two days…and then doing that every week for about 10 weeks while writing and performing other things of your own from 7am-10pm 7 days a week). 

The wildest part was when we all had to devise something together. Devised theatre is a form of collective creation- meaning we all had to create and perform a new piece around the same idea with no defined production roles.

That’s right. No specific person was named as a director, writer, stage manager, performer, nothing. Everyone is everything. I have enjoyed this method of theatre-making in smaller groups… BUT 45 PEOPLE??

That’s 45 brains, bodies, and egos in one room trying to get something done with no one at the helm.

It was chaos.

Trying to focus everyone to make one decision was like trying to corral a bunch of hungry animals with no promise of food. We were in a barn after all.

What ended up happening…was really unfortunate. And I’ll tell you all about it next week.

Is that mean?? Does it build intrigue?? Idk I’m trying something! You can tell me if you’re upset.

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Milk and Apples in Animal Farm

Entire books could be written about the symbolism of food in Animal Farm (and I’m sure some have- at least a dissertation or two). Since I’m fresh off waxing poetic about “the land of milk and honey” in my honey + cheese class today, my attention was drawn to the milk and apples the pigs get to eat.

The apples and milk are symbols of high status and luxury, “necessary for brain function for the pigs”- and of course no one else. Why do you think Orwell chose them as symbols? Does the metaphor still hold? Idk! Think about it!

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 bunch of animals doing theatre in a barn”.

Well…

This seems closer to Animal Farm than barnstorming. Terrifying.

I’m actually sorry for any specific nightmares this may cause you tonight.

www.annemariepietersma.com