Countdown to chocolate and stinky-ass cheese...

Just over a week to go...
My trip to Switzerland is getting closer and closer. It's going to be a LONG-ASS week. My job is really sucking donkey dookie right now...this week is going to suck! At least I have family, mountains, lakes, rivers, chocolate, and stinky-ass cheeses to look forward to. I'm talking about REAL cheese. Cheese that not only stinks, but "stanks". Not that CRAP that supermarkets pass off as Swiss. The "Swiss" cheese found in most stores is full of holes, waxy, and generally offensive. There are a few Swiss cheeses that have holes (small ones), but most Swiss cheeses are pretty much solid. REAL Swiss cheese rules. Cave-agee Gruyere, Emmentaler, Appenzeller, and others...THESE are Swiss. A wonderful cave-aged Gruyere is right up there with Parmigiano Reggiano. It's complex, nutty, a little salty, and a little granular. It's fantastic stuff! I can't wait to smell the "stink" of REAL cheese in the market. Damn the FDA and there damn "pasteurized" cheese requirements. Damn them to hell! I can't wait to get my paws on some Bundnerfleisch or farmers ham, crusty bread, and non-American butter and go to town on some serious eats! If you ever plan on visiting Switzerland just know that it's not very friendly to the lactose intolerant. Poor bastards.

It was an interesting night at the restaurant job this week. A stubborn, hot-headed Albanian waiter and a stubborn, hot-headed young cook got into a fist-fight...on the line...during dinner service. That was fun! I was done for the night sitting at a table waiting for tip-outs from the waitstaff when I heard the commotion and saw a broom go flying. I had been on the line minutes earlier and it was getting ugly in the kitchen. Apparently special orders DO upset us...

I made a kick-ass pot roast last night...absolutely kick-ass. I'll have awesome leftovers for days...

I finally saw The Station Agent thanks to Neflix. Great movie!

I've been wanting to eat at Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor since they opened. I finally got my wish as some good friends took me there for dinner today for a belated birthday celebration. It's another creation of Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's Deli fame. EVERYTHING in the restaurant is American, unlike the deli (except for the Portuguese sea salt and Malabar pepper). Everything was great. I had a really nice cup of ancho beef chili, some great wild mushroom quesadillas with green chile salsa and guacamole, and eastern North Carolina pulled pork with braised greens and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. Yum! I had the special homemade chocolate pudding (made with Scharffenberger chocolate!!!) for dessert. Double yum! Damn fine coffee too! The food at Zingerman's is more simple and homestyle in nature and presentation, but made from absolutely the finest ingredients from reputable purveyors and farmers. Try it some time!

I'd also like to thank my very generous friends for the wonderful gifts. I got to delite quite a few items from my Amazon wishlist...

In international news...
A report in the New York Times says "Independent Monitor Will Confirm I.R.A.'s Disarmament".

In national news...
Dubya- still a hemorrhoidal dickhead despite this CBC Hurricane Rita story.

Dick Cheney- still alive after surgery. Damn it! My birthday wish didn't come true...

On the home front...
I've been burning a butt-load of CDs (copying from CD, not downloading) for my trip. Is a "butt-load" quantifiable? I think it's somewhere between a ream and a peck, but I don't have a Pee Chee folder conversion chart to tell me. Do they still make Pee Chee folders?

Cheers,
Jason