Sweet Cheese

You may not know it, but some really good cheese is made right here in the South. Like everything in the food industry cheese has gone green, if you will. It’s an evolution that makes plenty of sense to me. Sweet Grass Dairy makes sense to me.

As farmers markets started to appear all over the place, we all started to learn more about the way our food is produced and we learned that we don’t have to eat food that is not produced in a sustainable, organic “like” way. If we choose not to, that is. And the more we learn, the more we choose not to eat the garbage that is the food offered in traditional grocery stores.

Ten or so years ago, when small “Green Markets” started popping up around Atlanta, those who shopped there were learning about vegetables. We learned how farms at these Green Markets practiced sustainability. We learned that no pesticides were being used on the produce from these farms. We started to see the chef from our favorite restaurant shopping at theses markets. It all started making sense and soon we wanted to get all our food from like minded producers. Not just our vegetables, but our meat, bread and dairy products etc.

And so it is. Now days you can be a locavore. You can get a large percentage of you food from a local producer. You can know just how the vegetables were grown, how the pig was raised, or the cow or the chicken or even the goat who’s milk went into to the cheese you bought this Saturday at the local Green Market. Because these producers are at the market each weekend not only selling, but educating and answering any and all questions. You can visit most of their farms if you like and see for yourself.

I started with cheese , didn’t I? That’s because Friday night Stacey and I participated in a cheese dinner at The Feed Store. We ate food is what we did, that’s how we participated, we ate. And we did it well. We ate the menu below and never complained. Not once.



Amuse Bouche
“Mediterranean Feta” – Cerignola Olive Petal Confit
“Heat” Green Tomato Pico de Gallo – Tortilla Chip

Appetizer
Pan Seared Foie Gras – “Lumiere” Stuffed French Toast – Ellijay Apple Sauce

Soup
Georgia Shrimp and “Thomasville Tomme” Bisque – Berkshire Pork Lardon Toast

Salad
Baby Arugula – Sous Vide Candied Beet – Fried “Green Hill” – Black Pepper Vinaigrette

Entrée
Churrasco Beef Tenderloin – Grilled Sweet Onions – Black Eyed Pea, Collard Green, and “Sevenwood” Casserole

Dessert
“Fresh Chevre” Ice Cream – Scuppernong Syrup - Mint


Sweet Grass Dairy is located in Thomasville, Georgia, not far from Tallahassee Fla. The young man who reps Sweet Grass (Gabe) lives in Tallahassee. He was at the dinner and I think he was pleased with what Peter and Cooper, the chefs at The Feed Store did with the six different cheeses they worked with.

I guess this was my point when I started this, you can get a lot of different food stuff from nearby. It takes a little effort and I have never fully embrace the idea. Just lately I am finding I want to embrace the idea a little more. I wanna eat the freshest food as often as possible.

This was a really good start.

Then, on to Knoxville

We got home from NYC late Thursday night and fed the dogs, they were starving and thirsty. We need to look into someone taking care of them while we’re away.

Anyway, Friday morning we got in the car and drove to Knoxville. We were having dinner with a friend, at a fund raiser, for Knox Heritage. This is the mission statement for Knox Heritage. “Knox Heritage advocates for the preservation of places and structures with historic or cultural significance”. Our friend is the executive director and she kicks ass, she’s awesome.

Friday night was a “Blues Brothers” themed dinner. It was held at Iron wood Studios, which was perfect because the whole vibe was gritty, kinda greasy chicken and this was a metal fabrication garage, so……



The food was spot on, just right, Jake and Elwood would have loved it. The apps were cheesewiz on a ritz or ruffles and onion dip. These were served by chicks on roller skates. For dinner they served beer can chicken, mac and cheese, corn pudding, and more. It was all real good and there was plenty

After dinner a Blues Brothers act did a show and it was great. They had a good band and did all the songs and acted out a few short pieces. They had the whole crowd dancing. It was a good party and Iron Wood is a cool studio. Click HERE to go to their web site and check out some of their sculpture’s.

We spent the next two days hanging out with our friend. We shopped the farmers market in the downtown square. We brunched at a restaurant that billed itself as a southern/latin fusion joint and they pulled it off just fine. We had huge biscuits and gravy with flat iron steak and chorizo sausage. They served Alan Benton’s bacon, that will tell something about this place. We had two fried eggs which topped off a stack of corn tortillas, black beans, wilted greens and other stuff I can’t remember cause about that time I went into a food coma and it lasted for the rest of the trip. I kinda remember sushi, I remember Bloody Marys, I remember wine, I remember grits, eggs, and cheese biscuits the size of my head.

I don’t remember driving home or anything else.

Some Photos from the last few days

MATISSE SCULPTURE’S AT MOMA





















CELLOPHANE PREFAB HOUSE AT MOMA














SYSTEM 3 PREFAB HOUSE MOMA

















KIM’S LOFT DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE

24 Hours in NYC

So our plane lands about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. We wait in line for a taxi which is the only time I can remember when the cabs were not waiting for us. We head to Mineta Lane where “our” apartment is. Well it’s actually my cousins apt. but we call it “ours” whenever we’re there. Look for the key in the hiding place and can’t find it cause she is already home from work. So we check in, catch up, have a cocktail then head out on our three block walk to the le Poission Rouge. This is where the Tuxedomoon show is happening. Gut Bucket opens the show and unlike their name they are not hard to listen to. Our roommate leaves soon as she works very early the next morning. She works on the Law and Order SVU television show and they start shooting early in the a.m. Stacey and I stick around drinking very expensive drinks and enjoy a very good show. I mean very, very good. Just as I expected. So about 2 a.m Thursday morning we leave the bar and head to Mamon’s, which provides us with the best falafel sandwich in the city. Mamon’s in on MacDougal St. about one block from “our” apt. We take our sandwiches and head to the benches on the corner of 6th ave and Bleeker street, which is about 100 steps form “our” front-door. Damn good sandwich and good place to sit at 2:30 a.m. in NYC. Then it’s to sleep and awake about 9 a.m. I run around the corner to the Cafe Reggio which has been serving coffee and lite fare since 1927, a quaint spot indeed. I grab a couple cups and back in “our” apt we plan our day. 11 a.m. finds us just a few blocks away at Ditch Plains enjoying brunch. Very good food and service. Eggs Benedict and a killer BLT. We then walk about 20 blocks or so grab a cab and head to MOMA. We hardly ever go to NYC without a visit to MOMA. Even on a 24 hour trip. We want to see the prefab houses that are on display in an empty lot on 54th st. There are 5 houses that have been trucked in and assembled for all the MOMA visitors to enjoy. Stacey and I have been looking at different prefabs for years, with dreams of building one on our lake property. Of course you can’t go to MOMA without a walk through the galleries, so that’s where we start. Tons of good stuff to view, some new to us, some we have seen before, but I never get tried of anything showing at MOMA. We have a coffee at the Museum Cafe and then head outdoors to the prefabs. These prefabs are fab. Two in particular would be prefect for us and something we could afford. Maybe a lake house is in my near future. We go to leave and decide to take a second look at a couple of the prefabs. After that we head across the street to an Irish Pud for a pint and to make a dinner plan. We drink and go through our NYC restaurant guides looking for the prefect place to end our visit. We decide on Artisanal. Artisanal is a restaurant that specializes in cheese and wine. It also has a full menu. We ate there years ago and always wanted to return, so we take the opportunity to do so. We decide to walk the 30 or so blocks from MOMA to Artisanal almost stopping at another restaurant we came across. Their menu is on the sidewalk and looks good, but we move on and I’m am very glad we did. We get to Artisanal and sit in the bar area and start scanning the menu. We order a glass of wine each, Snails and a Tuna Tatar for starters. It’s all so good. We eat slow so we can enjoy every bit of this dining experience, also we have plenty of time to get to the airport. We order more wine and decide to split the hanger steak with pomme fritts and wilted greens. This turns out to be a great meal, good food, drink and the perfect pace. I also had the perfect dinner companion. By this time it is 7:30 Thursday night and we have been in the city for 24 hours. So we pay the check, walk out the front door, I stick my hand in the air and as if by magic a cab appears and takes us straight to the airport for our 9 o’clock flight back to Atlanta.

How to get free tickets to the show

and a chance to meet the band.

The band is Tuxedomoon, Stacey and I are gonna fly to NYC tomorrow and see their show tomorrow night. Read the e mails I traded with one of the guys who works for the band to see how I “worked” this out. Remember the first e mail is the last one on the page, so scroll down and from there read up.

Hello Tracy

you are both on the band's guestlist, and a meet and greet with the
band has also been organised .
the person that will introduce you to the band is Carlos Beccera
(their manager), he will be at the merchandise stall .
regarding the CD, no worries i have send it registered and it takes
longer to arrive from Europe .
enjoy the show and the CD when it arrives .
best regards
Thierry

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 3:20 PM +0000 9/15/08, statra2@comcast.net wrote:
>Hello Thierry
>My wife and I have booked a flight to NYC on the 17th, is the offer
>to attend the Tuxedomoon show still open for us? Please let me know
>so I can buy tickets to the show if need be. I have not received my
>parcel, maybe not enough time since you mailed the last one, I
>remain on the lookout.
>Thanks
>Tracy Hartley

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9/5/08 Hello Thierry

I,m sorry for being such an ass, but this has been

frustrating for me. Now I'm gonna be a bigger ass

and take you up on the invite to see the show in NYC.

I can't believe they are playing in the states, I know

it's only their 4th time in 20 years or so. My wife

and I can be in NYC the 17th so just let me know

what I need to do on my end.

Thanks

Tracy Hartley

---------------------------------------------------------------

> -------------- Original message ----------------------
>From: Thierry Steuve
>> Hello Tracy
>>
>> sad to hear that the second parcel never arrived either .
>> if a customer is unhappy, we are unhappy as well .
>> I will personally resend you a copy by registered mail today .
>> if you happen to be in New York on the 17th, i will happily invite
>> you to the Tuxedomoon show @
>> http://lepoissonrouge.com/html/index.html
>>
>> please give me a sign when it reaches you and accept our apologies
>> for all this mess .
>>
>> kind regards
>>
>> Thierry
>>
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 12:53 PM +0000 9/4/08, statra2@comcast.net wrote:
>> >Please refund my $ if you can't get the disc to me. i ordered the
>> >disc in may and nothing. can't you even send me a email telling me
>> >whats going on. I will contact my credit card soon and have the
>> >transaction refunded if I have to.
>> >thanks for nothing
>> >Tracy Hartley

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8/20/08 Hello Mr. Thierry

I have not received my disc as of today 8/20/08. I ordered it in May and after

receiving your e mail I expected to see it soon. Whats up, could you please

let me know

Thanks

Tracy Hartley

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>> > -------------- Original message ----------------------
>> >From: Thierry Steuve
>> >> dear tracy
>> >>
>> >> first of all let me thank you for your order with crammed discs .
>> >>
>> >> we had a few complaints the last 3 weeks from customers who have not
>> >> received their order .
>> >> I would be grateful if you could tell me if yours arrived safely ,
>> >> since we had some problems with our postal services .
>> >>
>> >> best regards
>> >> --
>> >> for more information | interview requests | CDs | guest lists |
>> >> photo passes | etc.
Thierry STEUVE

laurie anderson goes underground

Yesterday Stacey and I went to the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech to see a live show by Laurie Anderson. Laurie Anderson is now 60 years young, maybe that is why the show started at 5 p.m. Everyone knows old people go to bed early, just ask Stacey and me.

I got to be honest, I almost went to bed early yesterday. This show started slow and then slowed down. The title of the show is “Homeland”, and Ms. Anderson, or is it now Mrs. Reed, had lots to say about the state of America and the most recent wars we have started. It’s a dark subject and the sound matched. Lot’s of low end, rumbling sounds from both bass guitar and keyboards. I think the fact that there was really not much of a visual show, which is what I remember most about previous shows, made the performance seem even darker.

Don’t get me wrong, this was just the first half of the hour and forty minute show. Just when Stacey nodded off, Ms. Anderson introduced her band and then invited her husband to join them for a number. So from stage right appears the godfather of all that is New York cool, Lou Reed. The old man took his seat on stage, yes he sat down, strapped on his guitar and they played a song, “the art of conversation”. Earlier in the day I had watched a video of them doing this song at Joes Pub in NYC. So it was cool to see it again, live.

Lou played one song and left the stage to a few folks trying to give him a standing ovation. The next song was far more upbeat then the first part of the show and got us all going again.

Ms. Anderson then invited Mr. Reed out again and BOOM, it was like the Velvet Underground had taken the show over. Suddenly a wall of sound was upon us. Along with the guy playing cello, Ms. Anderson’s electric violin, the fellow playing the hollow body electric bass and Kevin Hearn, of the Barenaked Ladies who was working the according, piano and synth, it was a beautiful thing. I found it to be very V.U. like and why not Lou Reed was playing the electric guitar. It made the show one of the best I have ever seen. Lou and I go way back, I could go on for pages and pages about the records he has been a part of and the “scene” he created along with the likes of Warhol, Burroughs, The New York Dolls, the Chelsa Hotel and on and on and on and on….. Sorry if you missed it.

Pigs Foot Bloody Mary

I got a pigs foot cooking on my stove right now. It was in the oven, but now it is on top and I’m gonna cook it along with chicken broth, celery, onion and bay leaf, for about 4 or 5 hours. Then I will have one of the ingredients I need for a Bloody Mary recipe from Cochon, a restaurant in NOLA.

I found this recipe in the latest issue of Garden and Gun magazine. I thought since I have been there and done that, I might as well try making this drink at home.

Step by Step: The Cochon Bloody Mary

1.Clear your afternoon (ideally a Saturday) of any responsibilities

2.Gather the ingredients:
1 can V8 (46 oz.)
2 tbsp. finely ground pepper
2 tbsp. whole grain mustard
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1.5 oz. pork broth
1.5 oz. lime juice
2.5 oz. lemon juice
3.5 oz. hot sauce (preferably Crystal brand)
2 oz. green hot sauce
1.5 oz. red wine vinegar
1 oz. olive juice
1.5 oz. okra juice (the brine from a jar of pickled okra)
vodka of choice

3. Mix it up: Combine everything in a pitcher – except vodka – and stir. To serve: Fill glass with ice. Add about 2 ounces of vodka. Fill with Bloody Mary mixure. Sit, garish, and serve. The mixture can be made ahead of time and kept in a sealed pitcher for up to a week.

Yield: ½ gallon (10 – 12 servings)

Tomorrow I am going to give a painting demo at the Serenbe Farmers Market. I plan on serving Pigs Foot Bloodies to anyone interested. I also plan on having a few myself, as public speaking is not my strongest point. So I figure if I give out drinks and have a few myself no one will notice weather I’m even there or not. Hell I may not know if I’m there or not.

For those of you who reside in the Huston, Tx. area this is a great hurricane party drink. I would suggest adding one ingredient, a piece of heavy duty plywood. That would be to pull up over your head after you get your Bloody Mary and before the storm hits!