...Toooo Meeeeeee!

I turned 23 yesterday! And so far, 23 is awesome.

Mine and T's birthdays are two days apart (although not of the same year), so we had a joint event, which involved the usual activities like dancing and drinking, but also pole dancing lessons. Which are too much fun for me to try to explain. Just know that it would take far more than one hour to make a proficient dancer out of me. We all learned some new moves (well, they were all new, really) and had a blast, though. Definitely the most-fun part of the night.

Pole dancing classes. I highly recommend them.

Thanksgiving rehashed

Half an hour before both Kaisha and I are meant to be at LM's for thanksgiving dinner:

Me, covered in flour, pumpkin, and other baking materials: Hello?
Kaisha: Hey, what are you and Peek bringing to LM's?
Me: Peek's bringing wine, and I'm bringing pumpkin pie. How bout you?
Kaisha: What? I have to bring salad! How come I'm the only one who has to do any work?
Me: Work? I just baked two pumpkin pies! From scratch! I made the crust and everything!
Kaisha: Oooh, you baked the pies. I thought you were just buying them. I feel better now. Sorry.
Me: Heh, whatever.
Kaisha: So how's the baking going?
Me: Apparently if the radius of the pie is one inch bigger than it says in the recipe book, it more than doubles the baking time.
Kaisha: Lame.
Me: Yeah. Hey, when you get there, can you tell Laura I might be a little late?

Dammit!

There are too many books coming out that I need to own! Forever in Blue! Folio's entire line! Mislaid Magician! And now, Wintersmith! The sequel to The Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky, two of my favourite books. And this one comes out in three weeks!

Heh, I just realized that all of the books I just listed (with the exception of the Folio ones) are actually "teen novels". Arrested development much?

We Interrupt You for This Important Announcement

Forever in Blue, the fourth Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book, is due out in January.

That is all.

Food Review: Bleu de Bresse

Today I went to my favourite local cheese shop, Les Amis du Fromage. Twenty minutes of harrowing decision-making later, I walked out with three never-before-tried cheeses, all from France: a double cream brie (I never turn down the opportuniy to have brie), a firm/semi-firm Tomme de Montagne, which I will taste tomorrow, and a soft creamy blue cheese, Bleu de Bresse, which is of course the subject of my review.

It should be known that I love blue cheese. I know, it has mold, blah blah whatever-cakes, but it is delicious. The blue cheese my mum and I (the only two blue cheese enthusiasts in the house) usually have is a firm, crumbly and very strong specimen. It has some serious bite to it, and you only need the tiniest bit of it, unless you're looking for a flavour overload. Which I sometimes am, to be fair.

Bleu de Bresse, in contrast, is soft, creamy and smooth (other than the blue bits, I mean). As opposed to my "standard" blue, which collapsed into crumbles when you cut it, BdB is more spreadable than cream cheese. This is an advantage, since I'm far less ervous about eating a coveted cheese if I'm not terrified that that the cheese-gold could fall off my cracker and be wasted. The taste itself is quite nice, but a lot milder than my standard (which I have decided to call Crumbleu). It has the same blue taste, but it's a lot more subtle than the Crumbleu. If cheeses were, say, cocktail bar patrons trying to pick you up, Crumbleu is standing on the table, all "Hey, look at me! I am HOT. Wanna go home with me?", while Bleu de Bresse is more subtle, making eye contact and smiling at you from the opposite end of the restaurant before actually approaching.

Of course, I don't put cheeses and (in my case) guys throught he same selection system. The Bleu de Bresse is dreamy, but my Crumbleu isn't getting the boot by any means. It's just lucky it's a cheese, and not a guy at a bar.