We sent to see Wings, the 1927 silent film, with live piano accompaniment by Andrew Simpson. It won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. The showing was at the Portrait Gallery, and since that is near Cowgirl Creamery, we went there afterwards. All of the cheeses we got were very good.
Gabietou, an Alpine cheese made from French cow’s and goat’s milk, was a semi-soft cheese.
Colvander, was from Chapel Hill Creamery, in North Carolina. I generally stay away from anything to do with Chapel Hill, but as this is about cheese, I’ll let it slide this time. It was a firm cheese made from raw cow’s milk.
Baserri, from the Barinaga Ranch Farm, in California, is made from sheep’s milk.
We went to the National Air and Space Museum for the annual Flight Jacket Night.Richard C. Kirkland, pilot, author and artist was the speaker. He flew 103 combat missions in P-38 and P-47 fighters with the famed “Flying Knight” squadron in the southwest Pacific during World War II. He and his wife had nine children — and of course now have multiple grandkids and great grandkids.
We are members of the Air & Space Society, and the staff, including Elizabeth, Rachel and Christina did an excellent job of the program and the reception beforehand. The food and drinks were excellent, and the setting couldn’t have been better — right in the middle of the new exhibit, Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight.
Highlight for us: the cheese. All surprisingly delicious – not like the cubes you get at many receptions:
1. (Alpine) Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese. Artisanal American cheeses reminiscent of French Gruyere style cheeses. It was awarded Best of Show at the 2010 American Cheese Society conference, an accolade it won in 2001 and 2005 as well. Pleasant Ridge Reserve was named U.S. Champion at the 2003 U.S Championship cheese contest. It’s the only cheese ever to win both national competitions. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made from the non-pasteurized milk of a single herd of Wisconsin cows fed & managed using natural, “old world” practices. Dodgeville, WI, Uplands Dairy.
2. Cheddarwith Carmelized Onions. MODESTO, CALIFORNIA Fiscalini Farms. This cheese has a firm, crumbly straw colored flesh; a nutty, slightly smoky, earthy taste; and a more round finish than most aged cheddars. It looks like it might have been Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, but it was hard to tell at the reception. It hand-turned daily for the first two months of its life, and it is aged for 18 months. We skipped the onions, but they say it is delicious with many types of fruit and even red / white wines.
3. Amablu® “St. Pete’s Select” blue cheesewith a fig chutney. Cave aged a minimum of 100+ days in Faribault, MN at the Faribault Dairy Company. Our first cheese aged in genuine sandstone caves; Hand-made from unpasteurized cows milk from local farmers.
If you are passing through the Philidalphia area and need food, don’t hesitate to stop in at Pottstown Limerick, KPTW. The Fairway’s Pub & Grill (610-495-7626) is a few hundred yards up the road from the FBO, but don’t let the name fool you. Yes, it is a ‘pub & grill’, but Marty, the chef, makes up daily specials depending on what he was able to buy at the farmer’s market that morning.
We had crab cakes, which is one of Marty’s own special recipies. They were great! In fact, we had a nice conversation with him. He gave us his cell phone number, and said to call the next time we were flying in and he would prepare something special for us.
This guy owns a bar & grill, is the chef at the place, which is across the street from an airport (outside of the SFRA). What a dream job!.
