Not only do I love to eat, but I love to shop in Kitchen stores. One of my favorite shops is Crystal Crate and Cargo. It's even better when you get a gift certificate from Christmas that hasn't been spent yet. So, I did some browsing. The store features Mario Batalli products, Emile Henry cookware, Wusthof knives, all kinds of dodads and gadgets, gourmet mixes, mustards, noodles, rice, and local products like chocolate covered cherries.

I've had my eye on recycled glass bowls, plates, glasses, and accessories. I ended up buying beautiful green glass bowls. Of course, it would have to be useful and compliment the many green plates (Jadite), forest green glasses, and majolica that I have collected.

I'll have to wait for the holidays before I return. I usually buy kitchen stuff for my family and they gift wrap, so I don't have that to do. Anyway, it is a fabulous store, has friendly, helpful staff, and is a shopping pleasure. I should do their advertising.

Aunt B Eats at the Underground Cheesecake Company. This shop is known for it's cheesecake on a stick and wedding cheesecakes. It was coolish today, I opted for soup. I try everything once, so I chose a bowl of artichoke mushroom soup. This is served with a bread stick for about $4.90. Sorry to say, I thought the atrichoke was overwhelming. I did get a Deelicious cherry almond muffin. This thing was as big as the top of my fist. It was very cakelike and moist. I enjoyed it with my 4 o'clock cup of joe. Next time, I'll just splurge on the cheesecake. Oh no, cheese again.

Second week of my Master Gardener class. First week was about plants- kinds, structures, how they produce food, and unusual plants. That's just the beginning. We had a hands-on lab with all kinds of plants- milkweed, onions, walnuts, corn, wire weed, etc. It wasn't too bad since my major is Biology and I taught 5th and 6th grade Science for years. But, so much learning crammed into three hours.

I guess we got off to a bad start. The lady presenting was very knowledgeable, but she went overtime. Class started at 5:30 and was to end at 9:30. I really dislike going overtime and on top of that, we had to clean up. The worse part, all of those plants have pollen, and it set off my fall allergies. By the time we got done, my eyes were nearly swollen shut and I had a sore throat. To say the lease, I wasn't a happy gardener.

This week we are studying about plant diseases, insect damage, and which plant should go where according to conditions. So, so much to learn. Hopefully, my allergies won't flare up. I know, whine, whine. What happened to my enthusiasm?

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler, another Pulitzer Prize winner 1993. This is a collection of stories of Vietnamese living in American(near New Orleans) who deal with their homeland culture, the war, and the American culture. Each chapter is from a different person's perspective from a successful business man to game show winner. For most, the war is always present even if it is pushed back to give way to making a living and dealing with the everyday stuff of being an "American".

I relate this book to the American Iraqi citizens or American Jewish citizens or German or Japanese American citizens in time of war. There's just no way to get around the tragedies of war. They are a part of every citizen, even those who don't participate.

I know, I'm married to a Vietnam veteran.

Cook Vietnamese style and pair ale with cheese- an overview of the classes I took at the Epicurean Classic in TC. I liked the cold soba noodle salad and the pho, but I was most intrigued with the cheeses.

The ale and cheese class paired cheese and ales from England. I especially liked the Stilton cheeses; three types of Stilton. Two were traditional with blue veining and one white Stilton with fruit (this one with apricots). Very good. I've always liked Stilton cheese, but this one was great! It was paired with a light ale and was very complimentary. Now, you may think of wine and cheese, but this pairing of ale and cheese had the same idea. One could not overpower the other, meld the flavors. The ale I liked the least had fruit added, again apricot. It tasted like a liquor and I could only take a few sips.

This ale (beer) tasting reminded me of the beer we made when we first moved here. It was very "hoppy", but when we took it to a party, everyone liked it. We had it tested at the local college and it was very high in alcohol content, so no wonder it was a hit. Also thought about NB's Breakfast Beer and his Chocolate Beer and all of his beer making trials.

So, I learned about cheeses and ale and Vietnamese cooking. Can't wait to share this with NB since he is the chef of the family.