Cardiff (a year after the fact)

Last March my cousin, Alex, went with his rugby team to play in Cardiff, Wales and in Ireland.  I live only a few hours by train from Cardiff, and so I got to visit my aunt Jenny and aunt Kathy, who were traveling with Alex.  Sorry, Jenny and Kak, for taking so long to actually post this.  I had a great time seeing them!

My lovely aunties at Cardiff Castle.

Cardiff Castle's motte and bailey.

Tea time!

More tea time at a church in the middle of the city.

Aunt Jenny.

Victorian tapestry showing Empress Matilda's escape from King Stephen's castle, where she was being held prisoner, by dressing in white and sneaking across a snow covered field.  The war between Stephen and Matilda is really interesting, and if you are a geek like me, look it up.  This is in the hall of Cardiff Castle.

Kathy decided against storming the castle.  I backed her on that decision.  

The main gate of the castle seen from the entrance into the bailey.

The dining hall in the castle.

Daffodils, the national flower of Wales.

Looking out form Cardiff Castle.

Inside the bailey.  I was 'owning' the castle, ala Emily.

No longer 'owning' the castle.

CHEESE!!!!!

This is the main living section of the castle. 

Climbing the many, many steps to the bailey.

'The castle is behind me.'

The bailey, again.

This might have been up for the 6 Nations Rugby tournament (which Wales had just won with a grand slam...meaning they won every game).

The Millennium Centre.

Dr Who is filmed in Cardiff, and this fountain is a major landmark in the show.  The guy dressed as a dalek is standing on a slab that, in Torchwood, transports people to a secret underground base.  These guys were part of a Dr Who tour that I may have stalked for a short while 

This is that fountain from farther away.

Me and the fountain.

Alcohol may have played a part in our dinner choice.  Jenny and Kak couldn't understand the guys in the chippy, so I had to translate. 

Drinks with the family.

For one day I went to see Tintern Abbey (I wrote about that earlier) and on the way back I stopped in Chepstow, a town on the river that is the border between England and Wales.  

Chepstow Castle.  This is potentially the oldest door in Britain. 

The castle is perched up on a cliff above the river.

There is a little alcove in the cliff in the middle of the picture.  Boats used to pull up there and unload cargo with winches, up into the castle

The great hall.

A better view of the supply area.

Hi!

An old Norman church in Chepstow.

This beautiful church had its aisles removed by some dumb-ass Victorians for not apparent, or stated reason.  The result is an awkward looking building that feels like the inside of a thin tube on the inside.

Saturday night out in Cardiff.  Like you do.

More Cheese Shop Fun!!!!

Once again, I LOVE MY JOB!!!  Here are some more pictures of my usual Saturday activities.

Some of our Continental cheeses (for Americans, that is British for non-British-European cheeses).Starting at the bottom and goingclockwise: raclette, Gubbeen, Gouda, Comte (?), Parmigiano, Gruyere, Mimolette, and Beaufort.  THEY ARE AMAZING!   

The shop.

Gjetost.  We had it on taste.....I sold about 1.5 kilos!

What was left of our Scottish cheese we had in for Burns Night, a Scottish celebration of the poet Rabbie Burns.   The big wedge on top is Isle of Mull Cheddar, made on the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland.  I visited there in October.  The cows graze so near the water that the salt in the air and on the grass they eat flavours the cheese, making it sharper than most traditional cheddars.  

Me, doing a little dance, with Stilton in the foreground.

Gen and I.  Enough said. 

Some of our soft cheeses, a bit depleted after the Christmas and New Year rush.  The three round, plastic covered cheeses in the bottom right are Mont d'Or, perhaps one of the best soft cheeses in the world (according to me).  I cut an X in the top of the cheese and bake it, then dip bread in it.  So delicious!!!!

Some Buchette goat cheese logs along with crackers and confit.  They are really nice together.

Blue cheeses (mostly).  Too many to name, but all good.

Our cold fridge, also slightly depleted. 

Some cheese truckles in our cellar.  From left to right: Cheddar (not sure which), Lincolnshire Poacher and Westcombe Cheddar.

Me on my break.

Coeur de Neufchatel, one of our special Valentine's Day cheeses.  We had to cut one up for samples, so we decided to do a bit more than a straight cut.  

Tome de Savoie.  I love the painted name on the top, it makes it look like something from a movie.

So, that is all.  I love my job and I love cheese.

Making Pumpkin Puree

(I meant to do this months ago, but forget)

Here in England (outside of London, at least) buying canned pumpkin is very expensive.  I have a can I bought at Selfridge's for five pounds.  Each Fall I have a major urge to add pumpkin to various baked goods.  In order to give in to this urge and not go bankrupt, I have started to make my own puree.  Here is how you do it.

STEP ONE:  Cut up the pumpkins (obviously)

STEP TWO: Boil, steam or roast them until they are cooked and tender.

LOOK!  THEY ARE COOKED!!!!

STEP THREE: Peel the pumpkin chunks.

STEP FOUR: Puree the mash.

STEP FIVE: Strain under pressure to remove excess water.

For some reason, blogspot is not letting me upload the last few pictures.  Oh well!

CHEESE!!!!!!!

I started working at Paxton And Whitfield in September.  P&W was started in 1797 and is a high end food shop specialising in cheese and cheese-products; that is right, I am a cheesemonger!  I have always liked cheese and have made mozzarella, ricotta, queso fresco and paneer at home.  Long story short: I LOVE MY JOB!

Only four other people work at the shop full time and I am the only guy.  David, who is the son of one of my lecturers at the Shakespeare Institute, left a few weeks after I started to begin his cheese making business.  His blog is here www.jowettcheese.co.uk.  I am hoping to be able to visit his dairy as soon as he begins production some time in the next couple of months.

Here are a few pictures of my work.

Starting at the left and going clockwise: Brie de Meaux, Baltic, Caerphilly Gorwydd and Stinking Bishop.  Stinking Bishop is perhaps one of the prettiest cheeses I have ever seen.  This particular one has a nice pink and yellow patch on its rind.  It is a washed-rind, cow's milk cheese that is washed in perry (an alcoholic pear-based drink, like cider) made from the Stinking Bishop pear, hence the name.  However, this cheese REALLY stinks!  It smells like shit, literally.  Our shop has a strong, cheesy aroma that I no longer smell after walking in the door each Saturday, but as soon as someone unwraps this cheese I know it is out.  Rind-washed cheeses tend to be quite stinky (according to my manager the bacteria that grows on these cheeses is the same that grows on your feet) 

This is my manager patrolling the soft cheese fridge.  To give you an idea of the size of our shop, this picture shows 60-70% of the public area of the shop.

Brie de Meux (I think I am spelling that wrong).  This is our most popular selling brie; we sold ridiculous amounts over Christmas.

This one, in the back, is Geitost, a Norwegian cheese made from caramelising the whey of goat cheese for about 7 hours.  It smells, looks and taste like caramel or British fudge.  It is a love it or hate it type of thing: I am firmly in the love it section. 

I plan on adding more pictures from work soon.  P&Ws website is www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

New Year's Eve, Oban Style!

I went up to Scotland with Tom for New Year's at his friend Fee's place.  It was a laid back trip which included their friend Helen, and Fee's sister and sister-in-law.  The highlight was watching The Hobbit on New Year's Day.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

On our stop in Glasgow, Tom took me to a cheesemonger's in West Glasgow.  I don't remember what it was called.  It was about the size of our shop in Stratford, but set up more like a deli.  

Driving to Oban, just past the fork in the road where you have to choose between Fort William and Oban.   For those of you who have made the journey, it is just past the Green Wellie Stop!  The really cool thing was that as soon as we turned towards Oban, the show appeared.

Just some ducks we fed on our walk in to town.

The harbour at Oban.

New Year's Eve was a house party.  Since Fee and her sister are half German, Jaeger had to consumed (God help us all!)

This is one of the only pictures from New Year's Eve (that does not involve certain people sing their own version of Gangnam Style).

On 2 January we had a great dinner/late lunch, made for us by the ladies.

DELICIOUS!!!!

I had a great time, as expected.  I love Scotland!

Christmas Eve in England

MERRY CHRISTMAS (eve)!!!!!!!!!  I am sitting in Jesse and Andrew's flat in London, trying to cool the brine for tomorrow's turkey before the boys get home from church.  I have been working like crazy at Paxton and Whitfield.  I worked nine out of the last ten days; a few of them 13 hour days.  People go crazy for cheese here.  One man picked up his delivery (which he had placed online) and yelled at my boss for substituting a Dorstone (an ashed goat cheese) for the Cerny (another ashed goat cheese) he ordered since we did not have any left do to a shipping error.  Knob.

I supplied the cheese board for Jesse and Andrew's party tomorrow.  On the menu is: St Wulfstan, Lancashire-Kirkham, Stitchelton, coulomier, cerny, celtic capra, gjetost, berkswell, beauvale and a few others which I cannot remember at the moment.  Also, I brought them half a cooked ham. (worse vegetarian ever!).  The ham was a gift from a friend, and I figured they could use it.

Anyway, tomorrow morning Jesse's godfather and university professor is arriving with his family and coming straight to Jesse and Andrew's, where we will drink, eat, converse, watch movies and play games for the day.  SO EXCITED!!!

I am back to Stratford on Boxing Day for more work.

Next adventure: New Year's in Scotland!!!!!!