Check this out - one for cheese and wine clubs

Awesome!  The Smelly Cheese Co are running a series of cheese based events - well of course!  The only question is - which one to do!  Check it out here.

Coming Soon...

Aghast as we were at the last meeting when S produced a wine that was not only from New Zealand but a Pinot (*gasp*) it did lead us onto a new idea for book club themes - country based.  What a challenge!  How to find wine, cheese, books and chocolate all sourced from a foreign country???  We did conceed that the bread and condiments could be local but the style, yes even of the home made chocolate desserts (for we are not allowed to buy a dessert), must be in accordance with the theme country.  And so, in a voice like the Iron Chef's Chairman Kaga, next book clubs theme country is                                                                    SPAIN!

And I'm on wine duty - an idea where I can find two bottles of spanish wine between $30-$50 each??

Book Club Notes 2 July 2011

At the last book club meeting I asked the question - what could be more perfect on a cold night in the middle of winter then to sit and chat with friends, eat some good food and drink some great wine except to have an open fireplace???  Well, last night I was able to deliver!

• Cheeses chosen were:
• Udder Delights Triple Cream Brie - elegant soft cheese which, as the name suggests, was creamy and melted in the mouth.
• Alexandrina Cheese Company Vintage Cheddar - tasty hard cheese that goes well with everything.!
• Fleurieu Fine Food Fetta Chilli Dip - for a different spin on the cheese requirement - a fetta chilli dip.  Pleasant but not as spicey as expected.  Perhaps that's the fetta.  Or it could be that it seemed mild in comparison to the cheddar.
• Other Condiments:
• Thistle Be Good Bush Tucker Dukka - very nice dukka, used with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip.
• Matchett's Water Cracker - Sesame - also very nice.  Went well with the fetta chilli dip
• Bread - from Victor Harbour - some sort of cheese bread but was lovely and fluffy with nice crusty outer. 
• Wine was Gibbston Valley Central Otago Gold River Pinot Noir 2008 ($38AUD).
• Initial: A little acidic, no body and therefore not like a traditional South Australian red.  A bit rough and not that keen on the after taste.
• Final: Let's hope the sneaky bottles in the cellar pay off! (see the label)
• Chocolate: 
• Dark chocolate mud-cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache and caramel swirl: mmmm.  Recipe courtesy of the Australian Women's Weekly easy cupcake by colour book.  Must have been good because we all ate two each!
• Book theme discussed:
• You'll recall that S picked the theme - a book from 1900 section of the 1001 must reads list released by the publisher Penguin (Australian website).
• Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton (A): Only a few chapters in but very witty with fabulous social commentary.  "The Carrie Bradshaw of the 20th Century".  (A had also read The Great Gatsby)
• Great Apes, Will Self (S): For the first time S had failed to complete her book reading on time.  However she was enjoying the book although found it difficult to get into at times.  It was funny, thought provoking and intense with lots of mind games.  The pace was just starting to pick up.
• The Great Gatsby, Scott F Fitzgerald (T): Ok. Was eady to read with much of the plot travelling along until the last 10-15 pages.  Found it hard to understand how this book would be in a must read list other than that - for the time in which it was written I imagine much of the material would have been considered "racey" and controversial.  The book certainly exposed the seedier side of New York / Long Island party life.

Are bookshops becoming a rarity?

This story in SMH today: Minister predicts unhappy ending for bookshops.  What do you think?  With more and more people buying online are bookshops dead and gone?  Will they become a boutique rarity?

Planning for July 2011 Book Club

The lovely K is off to France and so for the next few book clubs we have the fabulous A joining us.  S has picked the theme - a book from 1900 section of the 1001 must reads list released by the publisher Penguin (Australian website).  S has indicated she will do Great Apes by Will Self; A has already indicated she will do Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford.  Hmmm, what to do.. what to do...  Initial thoughts are:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
• Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar or 
• Animal Farm by George Orwell

What do you think?  And what would be on your list of must read books?

An Update 2/7/2011: When I wrote the blog we didn't have a date for book club but guess what??? It's tonight!  Stay tuned for an update on the evenings festivities.  Here's a teaser - 

Book Club Notes 21 May 2011

What's more perfect on a wintery weekend then to sit and chat with friends, eat some good food and drink some great wine!  Well maybe an open fireplace would have "sealed the deal" but still...

• Cheeses chosen were:
• Note - cheeses were purchased from the Smelly Cheese Co in the Central Markets who were very helpful and made some great suggestions. 
  
• Le Delice des Cremier  - an absolutely divine creamy white mould cheese which was a bit on the salty side but went fabulousy with the bread selection.  The Smelly Cheese Co promised that the cheese would get softer with age - must learn how to do this.
• Mature hard cheese - cheddar with blue vein edge.  Didn't catch the name of the product but was a very nice cheese that unfortunately paled in comparison to the white mould and the blue vein selections.  It did not taste like a blue cheese at all!
• Domain Bress? - a mild blue brie, salty but fabulous with the three seeds bread (strong carroway seed flavour).
• Other Condiments:
• Willabrand Saffron Vanilla Pears - yum! Went fabulously with all cheeses.
• Striezel sweet bread
• Three Seeds bread
• Waffers
• Wine was Jacobs Creek 2005 Johan Shiraz Cabernet ($75AUD).
• Very nice.  Excellent legs.  Initially the flavour was a bit light but developed in body.   Very smooth.  Numbered bottle - 28983.
• Chocolate: 
• Rum and Raisen Slice: mmmm.  S does it again. Lindt, cream, Bundaberg rum, flour, eggs, raisens.  Despite this, not too heavy and not too sweet.
• Book theme discussed:
• Something containing the letter "F" (K).  Interpreted by S and T as "F" needed to be in the authors name.  Completely disregarded by K, unless one speaks with a lisp.
• Bring the Monkey, Miles Franklin (S): A great read.  A spoof on all the "Agatha Christie" like murder mysteries of the time.  The first half was a bit difficult but the second half of the book - a page turner.
• The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle (K): DON'T READ! At first K enjoyed the book but found the second half very disappointing, lacked focus and plot and ended abruptly.
• The Trial, Franz Kafka (T): Interesting.  Wouldn't class as a must read book but did finish it.  The discussion about how the book came to be published is almost more intriguing then the book itself.  Will blog soon about the virtue of formatting!

The Joy of Reading

What draws you to a book?  Is it the cover?  The author?  The hype?  The blurb?  The recommendation of a friend?  The latest book review? I guess what I'm asking is - what makes you decide to go ahead and take the plunge by turning to the first page?  And then, what makes you keep reading?  I have to say, I've rarely stopped reading a book.  When I was in high school, I read every book that was on the reading list with one exception - Sally Morgan's My Place.  Other people have read it and enjoyed it but me - I couldn't do it.  I don't remember much about it other than that I found the rhythm of the book didn't fit for me.  The focus kept shifting from one character to another and I found that distracting.  And that's a trait that I still recognise in myself today.  I will skip or skim sections of a book that shift away from the main character, particularly if the main character's plot is enthralling.  I will grant that when used well this technique can increase suspense and tension.  Switching to the counter plot of the villain and making you think the hero/heroine has no hope.  

I've always enjoyed science fiction, fantasy and yes, trashy romance.  I think because it provided escapism, another reality, an alternate universe.  Offering possibilities far more interesting than my own.  If I truly look deeply within myself I would probably admit that these books may have given me unrealistic expectations or indeed, the opposite! (if you've ever read a trashy romance you'll know what I mean).  These days the books that I usually turn to are the ones with strong female lead characters that are a little bit different, a bit quirky, confident, successful and survive against adversity.  Like Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson or Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan.  Why?  I don't know...  I wouldn't be so pompous as to say it's because I identify with them.  But I usually find myself reading these books until the early hours of the morning, knowing all the while that I have to get up in 2 hours and go to work, not caring! Resenting any moment that can't be spent absorbed in the character, the plot, the tension.  

I think the BBC mini-series Lost in Austen sums this up so well - where the main character loves her Austen books so much that her wildest dream comes true- to become a character in her favourite novel!  I think that's what makes a book truly good for me.  Where the author gets the right balance between strong character, rapid plot development, and sucks you in to another world that is so vivid the reader can't help but imagine themselves stepping through.

Why do you like the books you like?  Is it for escapism? Realism? Inspiration?  What makes you pick it up and start reading?  What makes you keep reading?