A weekend of good simple eating

As usual the weekend flew by far too fast. Mr. Cheese and I took a much-needed day off on Saturday and drove up to Crossville, TN for the Homestead Apple Festival. We brought home some regionally made and/or grown goodies that I'm super-excited about (yes, I get that excited about food): Mutsu apples, hot sauce, 4-year cheddar from a local cheesemaker, and blackberry jam and pickles from the Mennonite community in Sparta.
We also bought some Norwegian Ski Queen Gjetost cheese at the cheese shop. I sampled a tiny cube of it at the cheese shop and was intrigued, but it was the cool packaging that convinced me I had to have it. Ohhhh myyy....If you're a cheese lover, you must try this unusual cheese. The creamy texture and caramel color and flavoring are unlike anything I've ever tasted. We tried it sliced super-thin on a crusty wheat baguette and it was heavenly. I could eat this every day. Mmmmm...breakfast cheese...
How was your weekend?

Oh Sunset...

Darn you Sunset Magazine, you stir feelings of great envy within me. Heavy (but happy) sigh...

Willkommen Autumn

Although we generally have a spell of "Indian Summer" in October, I do hope that tomorrow will be the last of our mid-ninety degree days. After the hottest summer on record, I'm ready for this:



(All photos taken by me last autumn).

Goodbye Summer

Goodbye Summer 2010. We had fun...
Watching Sailboats at St.Augustine Beach...
Camping in Florida in record breaking 98 degree weather...
On lookout for bison, wild horses, and alligators at Payne's Prairie...
Lovely lazy days and sunsets in Cedar Key...


A weekend of kitsch in Cherokee, North Carolina...
Teaching a nephew to ride a bike...
Good times, summer. See you next year.

Caramel Pumpkin Spice

Hello my friends! Although temperatures here are still in the 90's, our trees are already beginning to show their fall color - a month early for our area. Mother nature seems to be so confused this year. Inspired by the early appearance - visually anyway - of autumn, I curated a "Caramel Pumpkin Spice" treasury. (Go here to see it bigger and shop for something yummy).
Come on cool weather - I'm ready for sweaters, boots, hot chocolate, spiced apple cider, and pumpkin everything! It just seems wrong to be wearing shorts while surrounded by towering trees of yellow, orange, and red.

P.S. Thank you all for your kind, supportive, encouraging comments. I've been contemplating giving up on the blog or taking a long hiatus, because I haven't had the time to be a good member of the blogging community. However, I treasure the friendships I've made through the blogworld, and all of the beauty you guys have brought into my life. So I'm not ready to give up yet! (I just may be a little irregular with my posts).