h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cheese chocolate? I suspect K would keel over unconscious from sheer bliss if I found him one of those. What's it called?

I work near the Blommer chocolate factory and experience the same thing, if the wind is blowing from the west. I actually don't much care for that smell.

This isn't the first time one of you lovely people has mentioned ginger chocolate. Not so subtle hint time- I would absolutely die of ecstasy if I ate one of those.

I've got something to watchmen post-er to you anyway, it's tubular, dude, and very ergo-gnome-ic in layout.

Cheese ? You must've read wrong P/C - the word I used was cheRRy - & it was quite nice, a bit of chile zing then some cerry sweetness as the chile faded. There's a local woman- http://www.kerstinschocolates.com -who's created some nice products, including the rather addictive chile & lime infused -covered cashews.

Read that(post#18)... but diff'rent strokes...I'll leave it at that.

I mentioned the cheese-chocolate. So I've found the chocolate (I just showed it to he thinks I'm potty)

It's by Zotter (an Austrian company) and is organic and fairtrade chocolate

Close reading of the label says that it's dark chocolate (it's a small bar) with Swisscheese-Walnut-Raisin filling.

I can send some over if you like? With some ginger-chocolate (if we still have some I might also include some of the Ginger Florentiner made)

OK I tried the cheese chocolate. I'd rather chew my own toenails.

Xmas lunch eaten hours ago - we celebrate Xmas eve in the Far North - and then I've indulged in sea fruit from Guylian. Very yummy indeed.

Our lunch was quite frugal compared to traditional standards. I'm not much for these excesses. Gravlax (raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill), pickled sill in mustard sauce, grated mash made of turnips, potatoes and carrots, red cabbage, meatballs, potatoes, bread, cheese, small sausages and sötost of course

Sötöst - which I can't translate into any other language (litterally translated it means sweet cheese) is a traditional xmas thingy here in the Far North I learned from Mum, who learned it from Nan and so on. I'll try to describe it instead. Not that I have any recipe - it's more "a little of this and some of that" cooking.

Melt a huge lump of real butter into a big cooking pan - 10 litres in size will do. When the butter is melting cover inside of cooking pan with the melted butter. Add 3 litres of milk and five or so cinnamon quills. Let boil on low heat until approximately half is left. Add sugar to taste -not too much! Cool to 37C or less.

Batter four eggs and add 1½ - 2 tablespoons of rennet. Mix. Add egg-rennet mix into the milk and pour into ovenproof container and bake for 45 to 60 minutes in 175C. Makes a pudding like thingy that is just yummy!

Oh & I recently tried a South African - http://www.vgchocolate.co.za -with anise...that Was fairly unique and quite good! I found both that & the Chuao somewhat unexpectedly at http://www.winners.ca , they apparently own TJ Maxx, Marshalls & a few U.S stores as well as some in The U..K. & one in Germany(check 'About Us' then 'Our Story' on the site).

>watchmen post-er

a_a_e, I you. A care package should actually be on its way to you after Xmas- I'll let you know when it posts.

Sho, I guess if the cheese is that yucky I should pass on that offer. Though I will gladly accept ginger . Even if it comes from more than one place.

That sötöst sounds like something K would love. I wonder if they sell any ready-made at the Swedish deli? We bought the brown beans, the Bond-Ost, and some cloudberries (which I am selfishly hogging all for myself and not serving tonight, because I *love* them) there.

Here's an odd thing- the one bit about Xmas that I miss since giving up eating animal stuff is pickled herring in cream sauce. How weird am I?

Star anise ?

Yes, I'll definitely watch for that brand name now!

Well, PC, there might be freshly made sötost if you include the Lair in you next trip to the Far North

The Lair is on my list of places to visit when I visit that part of the world. K and I are hoping to visit Germany and Sweden next summer or autumn, but it may have to wait till 2010- depending on (a) how much my oral surgery costs me out-of-pocket, and (b) if I use more than my 12 paid sick days to recuperate. Though I do have three weeks paid vacation left, I want to make that trip worthwhile and visit The Lair as well as perhaps popping in to see Sho, Mala and Bel, all at once or separately.

I might well be somewhere in Scandinavia by then, so good thing the North is on the list, too!

We've just had soooo incredibly many cookies. Yarreau bought five or six kinds, and we each baked seven or eight different kinds...

Dinner will be late and is just potato salad and sausages.

Well, we did Christmas Eve at Ristaurante Ismarah, as my MIL now refers to it.
She ate more than I've ever seen her eat in her life, so I'm chuffed!

Hope you all have a lovely time and so on, we all deserve it!

In Iceland we do two different brown sweet cheeses, Mysingur and Mysuostur. I quite like them, they're kind of caramelly.

The weirdest thing cheese-related I've ever had are those cheese danishes you only get in the US in hotel breakfasts. Ewwwwww.

Personal there...

I hope someone loves me enough to have recorded the Dr Who holiday special for me?

>Well, we did Christmas Eve at Ristaurante Ismarah, as my MIL now refers to it.
She ate more than I've ever seen her eat in her life, so I'm chuffed!



Well done, Ismarah! I'm glad it went well.

Our guests have loved our dinner too.

We had a lovely get together too.

That was fun!

We had a great get together, lots of chatting, and watching two episodes of Garth Marenghi and then "The Happiness of the Katakuris".

Not too many leftovers. Phew!