Parsley Creswell Returns (with a Giveaway)

                                                                                                               Parsley Creswell's "Virtuous Salad," Photo by Linda Olle

On the Upper East Side, in a breezy apartment, Parsley Creswell lives a cheese-inspired life. She has a parrot named Gougère, and she dates men with names like Mario Provolone (a renowned tenor). Of course, I’m making this up, or, well, Linda Olle is.

Linda Olle, a regular reader of this blog, pens faux gastro-memoirs – a genre she may have invented. The Upper East Side Cookbook: Main Course is the second book in a trilogy that she’s writing, a series that combines rich prose and even richer recipes: Haggis Meat Loaf, chocolate nib smoothies, Chartreuse à la Thomas Jefferson, and something called Virtuous Salad.

In the spirit of Ruth Reichl, Parsley Creswell eats her way around New York, but not as a writerly gastronome – no, Parsley is an eccentric ex-fashionista who wears corsets and collects exotic recipes. She’s Gretta Garbo with a splash of Ru Paul.

Here’s an excerpt:

With an expensive pair of birding binoculars around her neck, a gift from a swain, Parsely foraged in Central Park for mushrooms sprouting high up on a tree trunk….She placed her treasure in tissue paper and a recycled orange-and-white Zabars bag, then dined alone...

If there were a Grey Gardens cookbook, this would be it. Linda Olle has once again revived her enchanting heroine, Parsley Creswell, and this time we follow her through dumpsters, across Riker’s Island, and to Japan. With each episode, she becomes more complex, more tragic, and more quintessentially New York.

I relate to her upbringing: “…Parsley grew up in the Midwest and believed that she experienced a form of hypoglycemia if she didn’t get a constant infusion of calcium in the form of milk, cheese, or ice cream, especially in the winter.”

Giveaway: So that you can enjoy this curious odyssey -- and perhaps try your hand at Onion Pie or Angels on Horseback -- I’m giving away one copy of The Upper East Side Cookbook: Main Course. To enter, simply name the richest dish you’ve ever eaten. Get your comment in by Feb. 14, 2012. I’ll draw a winner the next morning.

Cheese Journal Giveaway

Dave Selden is a cheese frau’s dream. Okay, this cheese frau’s dream. The Portland beer blogger (he's the author of 999 beers) has developed a series of pocket-sized tasting notebooks for beer, whiskey, wine, coffee and – oh, bless him – cheese.

Each book contains 33 pages, hence the name of Selden’s cottage industry out of Portland, Oregon: 33books.com. A beer-blogger by night and graphic designer by day, he’s pretty much the perfect guy for the job of tasting-book developer.

I have 4 books to give away, and one lucky winner will also receive a complimentary cheese board (pictured below) made by Seldon himself. If you use the book, I hope you’ll let us know how you like it. Pop it in the pocket of your jeans vest, and jot down a few notes at the cheese counter or at a resto when you order a cheese plate.

The notebook is so cleverly put together and so compact, it’s a little frightening. (Does Dave Selden live in my brain?) The top of each page offers room for notes about the origins of each cheese – there’s even a line for a rind descriptor. Thank you, Dave.

The bottom of each page is comprised of a dairy dashboard – there’s a flavor wheel and a texture meter, along with a 5-star rating system. Don’t be scared. The diagrams are self-explanatory. The inside cover also offers some useful notes.

Good design and good cheese? I can’t think of a better pairing. Drop me a comment if you want me to send you a freebie. I’ll draw four random winners on Sunday, October 2, 2011 and ship these off to you tout de suite. 
~
Dave's tasting journals are also available online for $4 each, or 3 for $10. Stocking stuffers? Yup. Each book is made of recycled paper and printed with soy ink. Cowabunga! I hope I start seeing these on retail shelves soon.

Giveaway: Ticket to Birchrun Tasting

I have a thing for Red Cat, a bacony washed-rind made by Sue Miller. I want you to try it. That's why I am offering you, yes you, one free ticket to a Birchrun cheese (and beer) tasting this Friday at her farm in Chester Springs. It starts at 6:30 p.m. You'll have to wend your way there, along beautiful back roads. We'll pet some cows, watch the sun set over the milking barn, listen to cheesemakers and brewers talk shop, and then we'll feast. At least that's my plan.

If you'd like to be my guest, drop me a comment before 8 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, June 14, 2011. I'll roll the dice on my living room table and pick a winner. If you don't make the cut, you can still purchase a ticket. They cost $25 and should be reserved in advance. Here are the deets:

Local Cheese+Local Beer Tasting, June 17, 6:30-8

A Night at Birchrun Hills Farm,

2573 Horseshoe Trail, Chester Springs, PA 19425

Enjoy pairings of six local cheeses and beers at Birchrun Hills Farm in Chester County. Birchrun is home to Sue Miller, one of the area's premier raw-milk cheesemakers (Red Cat, Birchrun Blue). We'll taste her cheeses along with libations from Tired Hands Brewery, Victory, and Sly Fox. Sue Miller and Paul Lawler host (along with yours truly). Tickets are $25. To reserve a seat, email birchrunhillsfarm@verizon.net or call Sue Miller at 610-827-1603.

For a glimpse of Sue Miller's last tasting, click here. 

Giveaway: Guide to West Coast Cheese

Last week, a dear, dear intern at Timber Press mailed me this smarvelous book by cheese expert and one-time blogger, Sasha Davies (cheesebyhand.com). If you follow Madame Fromage, you know I have a wah-wah-weakness for certain West Coast cheeses, namely Humboldt Fog, Red Hawk, Rogue River Blue, and any little puck that Sally Jackson wraps in chestnut leaves. So, it was a pleasure to nibble on this guide over the weekend, when I wasn't prepping syllabi. In the spirit of the new semester, I'm going to give this book away. To win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you must have it.

On the whole, I just want to say that there are a staggering number of good cheese books out at the moment, and this is one of them. It's useful, as any guide should be, and strikingly efficient. The preface offers background on cheese-making, notes on animal breeds, graphic depictions of cheese styles, and suggestions for buying and tasting cheese. Then, Davies offers an alphabetical index of over 300 West Coast cheeses with wine pairings and a few tasting notes on each. If I lived on the West Coast, I'd keep this book in my glove compartment, along with a bread knife and some grainy mustard. Why not add this book to your cheese travel-kit?

For armchair travelers, this guide offers a dizzying range of cheese names that are fun to say: Franklin's Rinconada Teleme, Cougar Gold, Jupiter Moon, Petit Marcel, UFO, Pianoforte, Brewleggio. One can dream...one can dream.

The winner of this treasure will also receive a copy Essential Wines and Wineries of the Pacific Northwest, by Cole Danehover. Why? Because if you're going to drive around sampling cheese, you'll need to know where to stop for vino.

I'll announce the lucky winner on Monday, Sept. 6, 2010 at 6 p.m.. Preference goes to anyone with a VW bus or built-in cheeseboard-dashboard.