Camembert: Closer than you might imagine....

Recognize this? Yep, it's a Camembert.

We live a deprived existence here in the States. Having tasted the forbidden fruit of raw milk cheese in France, we are forever doomed to drown in a sea of bad camembert-like substances back home.

But my Omnivore spotted this little round at the Potrero Hill Whole Foods and snatched it up. It is, after all, affined by Herve Mons and it is, in fact, the last one.

Could it really be only $10? He asks a passing cheesemonger, who says she doesn't know but she'll find out. She takes the cheese and strolls off, and my Omnivore goes charging after her. It is after all, the last one, and who knows what's going to happen --she might give it away to the next person she sees. He nabs her a few feet away and gets the cheese back.

"You know, forget it. I don't care how much it is!"

So is it good?

You know what? It is. It's not perfect, but it's the closest thing we've ever had Stateside (that wasn't smuggled in a friend's suitcase.)



Even the kitties approve, after extensive quality control inspections.


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A little weekend roundup:

About a week ago we finally walked into BionDivino, a little wine shop near Polk on Green Street. It was late at night, 10:45 pm to be exact, but the place is open til 11, so we thought we could at least take a peek. Ceri Smith, the owner, seemed more than happy to chat with us and we actually stayed til well past 11:30 talking about Italian wines. After telling her we were planning an Italian Market menu for a party, with a piselli of asparagus and peas and some braised radicchio, she recommended a FABULOUS little white wine called Coenobium, made by Cistercian nuns in the Lazio region. Went absolutely brilliantly with vegetables and cheeses and is fast becoming one of our fave Italian whites.

Behold our newest toy, the Liss Soda Siphon. Guilt-ridden over the immense number of plastic bottles that it our recycling area, but strangely addicted to fizzy water, we researched options for making our own fizzy water -- after all, San Francisco has the best tap water in the country... There was a bit of a learning curve--we were overfilling the bottle, measure out the liter for your first few goes at this--but now we get satisfying bubbly water, and it makes a great noise as it fills.

We went to Cookin' on Divisadero and also picked up a glass dome, the better to keep my cheese on the girolle...

Eggs, wonderful eggs...real eggs. Yes, from a guy my Omnivore actually knows personally. A guy with chickens. We got a few eggs a couple of weeks ago and my Omnivore expressed delight with them and could we get a dozen?

"I'll talk to the ladies..." replied our supplier.

Kitties considering: chicken? Or egg?"