January 17, 2006
            Letter #3-2006

  

'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet,

'what's the first thing you say to yourself?'

'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?'

'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing,' he said. - A.A. Milne.

___________________________________________________________________________

“. . . I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?”

It sums up the way we look at things, doesn’t it?
Who am I going to meet?  What am I going to learn?
Life is so full of possibilities.

 My pace has definitely slowed.  Since I left my real job, I work hard less than half the year.  
 In what my husband calls my “semi-retirement” I have time to putz without feeling too guilty.  
I love it.  Every day is a gift.
This winter is no doubt to be “the coming of the first grandchild”.
Projects abound.  And they are PINK!

This is my slow time of year and we take our annual trip to see family in Florida.
 I will be writing and sending my Cheese Lady letters from afar.
But you will not be able to buy cheese.

I will be back on the 5th of February.
The CHEESE SNUG will be open again.

Friday February 10th  from 12-7

Saturday February 11th from 9-2.

______________________________

CHEESE news
This afternoon I am meeting with Gina Lister at the Hearthstone.
We are working on some wine and cheese offerings
for February and March.
I'll keep you posted.
________________________________
Piave Vecchio
Last week I wrote about Parmigiano Reggiano.
This Italian cheese is not as well known but, in some ways, as perfect.
I always think of Piave as one of those cheeses to be eaten
 a sliver at a time.  Piave is not "in your face'.  It is a taste of
far off places.  Simple times.  Sunshine.  I love it.

Piave Vecchio

Often likened to the king of Italian cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, Piave is a deliciously nutty, pasteurized cow's milk cheese from the Veneto in northern Italy. It has a concentrated sweet, crystalline paste with a full, tropical fruit flavor and slight almond bitterness. Aged for six months, Piave is wonderful as a table cheese, shaved over a salad of bitter greens, or enjoyed with an aperitif. Like Parmigiano, Piave has an affinity for both red and white wine.

Region: 

Veneto

Country: 

Italy

Type: 

Hard

Beverage: 

Old World Red

Milk: 

Pasteurized Cow

Piave Vecchio

Piave cheese is named after the river Piave, in the northernmost part of the province of Belluno, Italy. Piave is born from the cheese making traditions of the land surrounding the ancient river, in which the curd is cooked and the cheese is aged until it is hard. The cheese has an intense, full-bodied, slightly nutty flavor that increases with age and makes this cheese absolutely unique. It has notable similarities with the more well-known Montasio cheese. This particular variety is Piave Vecchio, which means it is aged for one year. It is the quintessential accompaniment to oven-baked polenta or frequently used grated on top of regional Veneto pasta dishes. This is one of the Salumeria staff's favorite eating cheeses, and if you are a cheese lover it will quickly become yours too!


Take care, Kathleen