Cheese - It's What's For Dinner

Upon awaking, we made apple, orange, carrot, pear, grapefruit juice. Quite a treat.
Also for breakfast? Cream of Wheat. I like mine savory with only salt and milk, Mr. Greens likes it with honey.
Today was a big day over at the parents'. It is my dad's birthday week.On the menu: veggie tray, cheese, olives, and crackers.
Clockwise from top left: Wensleydale with cranberries, Chimay Grand Cru, Mimolette 12 month, Dill Chevre Goat Cheese, St. Andre, Double cream Gouda, and Gruyere Reserve Cheese.

Served with one of the best wines ever: Groth Cabernet Sauvignon
We ate outside and enjoyed the sub 80 degree weather.My plate, one of many:
We all had a hard time choosing our favorite cheese. My tentative top three would be:

The Gruyere - I love little salty, hard bits in cheese.
The Mimolette - sharp, sweet, and surprisingly creamy for a hard cheese.
And the Gouda. That was a tough choice, but I love gouda!
They were all wonderful. Thanks to my mother for picking out such winners. She's a smart lady.
After we gorged on cheese we cracked open another bottle of Groth wine. This time a light Sauvignon Blanc.
Then we ate birthday brownies and drank coffee.
My mom and dad have a tradition of doing "birthday week" which is a week of smaller presents leading up to your birthday. I've always wanted a birthday week, but have never successfully implemented it with the mister. Anyway, today I brought my dad presents for his birthday, which I think he liked. First of all is a really girly wine bag. We thought this was funny. Inside was the requisite scotch and cigar. I buy him the same thing every year. (I do mix up the brands.) You can't go wrong with a sure thing, right?Whole Foods chocolate!
He and the boyfriend smoked their cigars and had a little scotch after lunch.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Risotto and Broccoli with Pine Nuts

Lunch: The boyfriend made risotto and shrimp, I made stir-fried broccoli, and my mother made salad. I would consider all of these dishes our specialties. Well, *ahem*, the three of us have more than one signature dish, but in some circles that might be considered bragging. Onions in a bath of extra virgin olive oilArborio rice and "vegetable" stock. It was really seafood stock (sorry, mom), but my boyfriend pasted the word vegetable over every mention of seafood on the box. I guess you had to be there.Risotto cooking away. It takes close to an hour to cook, but it is worth the wait.

Meanwhile, we all ate cantaloupe, and enjoyed a glass of wine.

My parents went to Groth vineyard this summer. Excellent!My mom brought out some special feta she picked up at the market. As you can see, we made a sizable dent. I like those sundried tomato triscuits.

I couldn't help but take some pictures of the pretty things sitting about.
I chopped up two heads of broccoli. Usually I would cut the pieces a little smaller, at least to "mouth size". I forget how long it takes to cook when I leave huge chunks.

Throw it in the wok with about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a chopped clove of garlic, and a tablespoon of pine nuts. Toss it around until it gets steamed through and has a few dark edges. If you don't like your pine nuts or garlic as burnt, leave those out until the last minute of cooking. I like the flavor that they give the broccoli and don't mind a little crispiness.
Salad before tossing. The ingredients were mixed baby greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red bell pepper, and possibly more. The highlight was the homemade dressing. The base was cottage cheese and yogurt, with lemon, garlic, and several other ingredients. It was slightly creamy but not heavy. Very good salad!
Shrimp seasoned with Tony Chachere's. Sometimes that's all you need.We stuffed ourselves and made plans for the following Sunday. I think we're going to a concert out in Covington, La.


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Dinner was a sloppy sandwich of pulled pork on an Orowheat thin. We were disappointed by the quality of the meat. I did take a picture, but will spare you. I was so tired that I zonked out without making my lunch, breakfast, or generally getting ready for Monday!

Pirate's Booty thief!