So why fromage?

It's plain and simple: I love cheese.  I have always loved cheese.  Every and all kinds of cheese: creamy, smoky, buttery, nutty, stinky, blue.  I will eat it and I will love it.  Given the choice between candy and cheese: cheese.  Cheese as an item on a dessert menu: yes, please.  Stranded on an island and I can only have one thing: cheese.  In high school I saw a movie about how cheese was made.  While my classmates gagged as they learned about curds, bacteria and goagulating, my mouth watered, wishing I had a large block of the hardened milk right there on my desk.

I will even settle for good old American cheese slices.  The fake stuff at least resembles the taste of my first food love.  A childhood friend always told me the sliced cheese was reserved for their dog.  She looked at me in disgust as I peeled back the plastic packaging, tearing off pieces of the bright orange square.  I'll take any cheese I can get.

One year for my birthday my best friend gave me a basket of cheese.  A perfect gift.  She also took me to a cheese bar in Chicago.  Just like at a wine bar, you can order flights:  four small wedges of the most delicious cheeses I've ever tasted.  When I went to France with that same friend in college I only had to know one word: fromage.  And even better, two words: trois fromage (three cheese).  I ordered trois fromage pizza, trois fromage sandwich, trois fromage plate.  Needless to say, I had some of the most amazing food of my life.  Now I'm counting down the days until I'll be back (116, eeek!!).

I buy the groceries in my household, so I try to buy things on sale, look for the generic brands and occasionally clip coupons.  I'm perfectly happy filling my cart with cheap, frozen meals and the discounted meat.  But I have been known to spend a ridiculous amount on a couple ounces of brie.  I get mesmerized by the cheese counter at Whole Foods.  Even more so by the display case at Austin's very own cheese shop, Antonelli's.

So while it is true that I love all food, it is cheese that has my heart, and it is cheese that inspired me to start this blog.

Cheese case at Antonelli's

Antonelli's Cheese Shop
4220 Duval St.
http://www.antonellischeese.com/

Louisiana Road Trip

Just before Christmas, my husband and I took a road trip to Louisiana to visit family.  It was also a chance for him to gamble, and for me to eat some really good food.  Our first stop: Breaux Bridge, "The Crawfish Capitol of the World."  And I LOVE crawfish. 

The first time I tried crawfish was at a fraternity party in college.  Oh yes, nothing like pounds of spicy, boiled crawfish poured over plastic-covered tables and plenty of beer to wash it down.  While most other college girls would never be caught sucking the heads of these greasy little crustaceans at a party, I stayed by the table for hours.  Each crawfish is a mini challenge: how quickly can you break apart the shell and keep the tiny tail meat all in one piece?  I'm getting pretty good at it.  So back to the crawfish capitol, we stopped and ordered three pounds, plus a side of boudin.

Next stop: New Orleans.  Where does a foodie even begin in this city?  There are far too many options for our less than 48-hour stay.  Still full from the crawfish, we decided to just have appetizers at John Besh's Italian restaurant, Domenica.  It's located in the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which is absolutely beautiful at Christmas time.  I ordered the truffle risotto and it was amazing!  Give me anything with cheese and I am a happy woman.  Add truffles and I am in my own culinary heaven.

Another highlight from the trip includes the gulf oysters we ate at another John Besh restaurant, Luke.  They're 50 cents each during happy hour!  And by the way, the matzo ball soup there is amazing!  Of course these couple dishes don't even scratch the surface of the great food New Orleans has to offer.  That just means I'll have to go back again and again to get the full experience.

The first post

It is long over due:  a blog about my love for food. 

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to eat.  It is hard for some to believe.  I am a small person, but I am constantly eating (it's all about portion size, people).  And for as long as I can remember, I have loved to eat anything and everything.  I consider myself an adventurous eater and the least picky eater I know.  I think that has to do with the food I grew up eating.

My dad's parents were Polish and Lithuanian.  Growing up, I remember him eating things that may not be so appetizing to others: livers, sauerkraut, all differnt types of sausages and shell fish.  Every Christmas Eve the Petrowski family eats a special Eastern European meal that was always prepared by my grandmother.  Since my grandma has passed away, the cooking of the meal has been passed down to the next generation.  The meal includes a beet soup, gefilte fish (Don't know what that is?  Thank fish meatloaf...sounds disgusting, tastes pretty delicious), sauerkraut with Polish mushrooms, fried fish and shrimp, white beans and the most amazing baked mac n' cheese.  No greens here--it's a meal that's heavy on the carbs and protein; each dish a different shade of the same color. 

At Christmas time, I always get pretty nostalgic thinking about this meal.  I really think it was each one of the ingredients that make up this family tradition that helped create my love for food.

So here's to my first blog!  Cheers and Happy Holidays!