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.