Something Tasty: A cheese pairing to try

Valençay

Continuing on in our French cheese expedition, we have Valençay. The shape of this cheese helps it stand out amongst the many goat cheeses typical of the Loire Valley.

I often talk about the lore of the cheese world, and here is some more:

As the story goes, Valençay was originally shaped like a pyramid. But after Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt didn’t go… “as planned”, he got stompy, triggered, and upset at the sight of it, and sliced the top off DEMANDING no cheese around him would be that shape. So now we have the “truncated pyramidal” shape- the flat top pyramid.

Valençay is an ash-ripened cheese traditionally made with unpasteurized milk. Since it’s an imported cheese aged less than 60 days, we get the slightly watered down pasteurized version in the U.S..

Try it with a crisp, mineral-forward white wine or your favorite crusty baguette.

Something True: A truth about myself

Returning to Photography

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be going to Europe in November!

I’ll be traveling around Paris for two weeks, and then heading to the Christmas Markets along the Danube River for another two weeks.

As a recovering photographer, I often struggle with the balance of being in the moment vs. trying to capture it.

Photography can be used as a form of ultra-presence, using the lens to notice all the detail, beauty, and life around you. It can also get in the way- too much emphasis on “getting the perfect shot” can cause tunnel vision so the world (or people) around you become… out of focus.

I got stuck in the tunnel for a while, and have lots of great photographs but few embodied memories from some great trips. So I got bitter, and put down my camera for a while. Years, actually.

It’s weird when something you really enjoy was almost your life-long career, but instead you kind of…stopped all together?

This trip, in a way, will be my return to photography. It’s a bit like preparing to greet an old friend for the first time in a while: Exciting, but a bit scary?

We’ve both changed so much. Will we still get along as well as we used to?

And now even dating a photographer, we’ve never really gone shooting together. So that will be weirdly new. Again, exciting, but eeeek? We both tend to shoot alone, so… we’ll learn a lot no matter what.

Much like returning to dance, my intention is to focus on having fun, staying present, and making great memories. Hopefully capturing a few of them.

With that intention, while I’m away, the newsletter will look a bit different!

I will be recording my meals using a formula I used to include in the Trust Your Taste Workshop, and sharing them with you. There will be lots of cheese. Probably lots of wine. And lots of surprises. Maybe I’ll even share a photo or two, who knows!

There will be an opportunity for you to catalogue and reflect on your own meals along with me that I’m excited to share with you. Next week 😎 

Farm to Fable: How food shows up in storytelling 

Chocolate Muffin Obsession in Olympic Village

The Olympics is in one of the most famous food cities on earth, and yet there have never been more complaints about the food. Athletes are lamenting about quality, not enough animal protein, and the irony is lost on no one.

However! Norwegian swimmer Henrik Muffin-Man Christiansen has gotten the world obsessed with these muffins.

If this has spurred a personal hankering for athlete-approved chocolate muffins, Pamela Vachon has done a round up for you. Try them with some goat cheese or Roquefort if you really wanna be a pro. Enjoy!

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 “an athlete photographing a chocolate muffin”.

OKAY a few things-

I guess that’s what an athletic hand looks like?

Is that muffin on the ground next to a FOOT wearing an athletic shoe (which is not in the image- creepy- is it a ghost)?

AI learns from US right? So when I say “photographing” the AI brain goes to “phone” not “camera”. Interesting. I hate it.

www.annemariepietersma.com