flickr of inspiration- cheese making

I was walking around the Farmer’s Market and came across this store with antique garden supplies. I was drawn to these old french cheese molds. They were awesome. They were also $95 each. It got me excited about the thought, though.

Ok. I have never made cheese. I can’t even really eat cheese while on this anti-inflammatory/hypo- allergenic diet. But I love cheese. Rainbow Grocery was the starting point for me to even really experience real cheese. They have samples out all the time of some amazing cheese from some far away place or some wonderful locale. You can talk to the people that work there and they will tell you everything you need to know and stuff you didn’t even know to ask. Every time I shopped there, I would peruse their extensive collection and read all of the tempting descriptions so thoughtfully written by hand. Kinda like the workers at the bookstore writing a little sign of why this book is their pick. I made the point of taking something home each shopping trip that I never ever had before. I remember the Cantal especially. It was one of the first. Yummers. I realized the carefully crafted cheese was way better than any cheese that I ever had before. It goes back to that whole idea of know your ingredients, know your farmer. Now that I am 99% vegan for the time being, I am going to make nut cheese. So, I have included some cashew, macadamia and almond cheese photos into this Tuesday’s gallery as well. For the full Flickr of Inspiration gallery, click here. And of course, look out for my Nut Cheese post some time soon!

If you are interested in learning about the cheeses that got me all excited at Rainbow Grocery, lucky for you. There is a book! The Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge by Gordon Edgar. He also writes his own blog at Gordonzola. I have taken his list of events from his blog and posted them below to see if he is coming to your area.

cover pic

April 23, 2010, 6:30 pm– MENDOCINO, CA Gordon Edgar at Gallery Bookshop Main & Kasten Streets, Mendocino CA 95460 Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of Cheesemonger at the Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, CA. Call 707-937-2665 to learn more, or visit the link above. May 7, 2010, 7:00 PM – SANTA ROSA, CA Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of his book, Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, at Micro Gallery (at Ray Modern), 602 Wilson St., Santa Rosa, CA 95401

May 16, 2010, 9:00 am — SEATTLE, WA Gordon Edgar at Seattle Cheese Festival Pike Place Market, Seattle WA Gordon Edgar briefly be at the Seattle Cheese Festival. Look for me at the Cypress Grove booth on Sunday until 1 PM at Pike Place Market. Visit the website above for additional information.

May 16, 2010, 4:00 pm — SEATTLE, WA Gordon Edgar at Elliott Bay Book Co. 101 S. Main St., Seattle WA 98104 Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of his book, Cheesemonger, at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, WA on Sunday evening, May 16th at 4 pm. Call 1-800-962-5311 to learn more.

May 17, 2010, 7:00 pm — BELLINGHAM, WA Gordon Edgar at Village Books 1200 11th St., Bellingham WA 98225 Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of his book, Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, at Village Books in Bellingham, WA on Monday, May 17th at 7 pm. Call 360-733-1599 to learn more.

May 18, 2010, 4 pm — OLYMPIA, WA Gordon Edgar at Olympia Food Co-op, 3111 Pacific Avenue SE, Olympia WA 98501 Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of his book, Cheesemonger, at the Olympia Food Co-op’s Eastside location on May 18th in Olympia, WA. The event will include a guided cheese tasting with free samples available. Call 360-956-3870 to learn more.

May 18, 2010, 7 pm — OLYMPIA, WA Gordon Edgar at Orca Books 509 E. 4th Ave., Olympia WA Gordon Edgar will discuss and sign copies of his book, Cheesemonger, at Orca Books in Olympia, WA on May 18th at 7:00 pm. Call (360) 352-1456 to learn more.

May 19, 2010 — PORTLAND, OR TBA

June 8, 2010, 12:30 pm — SAN FRANCISCO, CA Gordon Edgar will read and sign copies of his book at Alexander Book Company, 50 2nd St (between Jessie St & Stevenson St), San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 495-2992