Celebrating

There are two meals, if you can call them that, that DP and I make for special occasions. One could be considered Italian, the other relatively British, reflecting two of my favorite places, though I don't think I had either of these there.

The first is what we can call our Millennial Meal, because I believe it got started right around 2000. Prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, crusty bread, and balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil (little oil, lots of vinegar). Being relative non-drinkers, we usually have sparkling cider. This year we also had mulled Glogg, from Ikea, but something we first had in Chicago from the Swedith American Museum's Christmas festival (it's like spicy grape juice, sometimes with kick, in this case not). In a pinch, we make a mean wassail, with slices of orange floating in spiced cider. I distinctly remember eating this all Y2K New Year's Eve while watching the new (yes, I know, false) millennium arrive all over the globe on CNN. We ate this again on this New Year's Eve and New Year's night, watching the Met Opera telecast of I Puritani on tv. Not quite puritannical, though, I know.

The second meal is more of a tasting--DP buys several cheeses (when she was in Manhattan, she got them from Murray's and the Ideal Cheese Shop. Now she goes to Balducci's), plus crackers, marinated olives, and spreads, sometimes various meats like soppressata. I'm very partial to Saint Andre, which might as well be butter. Oh, so creamy. I also love Wensleydale with cranberries. And Pecorino Toscana. And any good sharp cheddar. This year it was Australian. These last two cheeses go well with pickle (we like Branston's--for you non-Anglophiles, pickle is a chunky, vinegary chutney-like spread. You have to try it to understand; I'm not sure the US has anything comparable). Or quince paste (membrillo, in Spanish). Or, this time we had a Stonewall Farms Farmhouse Chutney which was really good. All on Carr's water crackers. DP loves Stilton and so had that. I like it if there is a lot of membrillo on it too. And we had a brie en croute, which wasn't as creamy as I expected. Maybe we over/underheated it. I'm not sure when the cheese thing got started. We had seen a Wallace and Gromit movie (seriously) and were inspired to try some various cheeses. I think there had also been an article in one of my magazines about NYC cheese shops. And some Italian-American colleagues of hers took her along to a small Italian deli down on the Lower East Side to buy cheese and sauages for the holidays (if I remember correctly, they differentiated between a table cheese and a basket cheese). It's definitely a post-Chicago thing. And we've also started sharing it with my folks when they visit. They love the olives and trying all the different cheeses. We lose track of what we've had and liked, or not. And none of us speak cheese-lover's lingo, but we do love it. I think DP likes it best, especially because she often gets several free tastes when she's at the special shops choosing. So this year, we had all our cheeses with my parents on Christmas Eve as we set up for Christmas and then DP and I finished off the rest after they were gone.

Either of these meals goes well with panettone or some other kind of fruit dessert, like our fruitcakes from Shropshire or my mom's from the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. Or my shortbread, amaretti (we got this new "soft" one this year that is very tasty), or these great spiced cookies from Speculaas that I bought in Tarrytown. This year, we continued another tradition, that of a steamed plum pudding with brandy butter. I like William-Sonoma's brandy butter with its bits of citron and ginger best, but this year's Elizabethan brand of butter and pudding were very good. And that brandy butter will be good on plain ol' out-of-the-box gingerbread when all the fruitcake is gone. Of course, we drink tea--usually Earl Grey--with the dessert.

Now with the holidays over, we are done with all the edible indulgences until the next celebration. It's going to be a long time to Valentine's Day. Hmmm, cheese isn't exactly right for Chinese New Year. But, hey, Groundhog's Day is one of my favorite holidays! Perfect for something tasty . . .