Culinary Delights

OK, I'm highly annoyed right now. I just spent 30 minutes writing a blog entry about my undying love for St. Andre triple cream cheese and Porto Rico "strudel cake" flavored coffee, and my f***ing internet malfunctioned, booted me out, and everything was erased.

So let me reword it: I love St. Andre triple cream cheese and Porto Rico strudel cake coffee. I am definitely no culinary snob, but I have great appreciation for these two delicacies and thrive on them here in Tucson. Indeed, they are very close to heaven on earth.

First, the St. Andre, according to www.cheesesupply.com:

St. André is a soft, ripened cheese in the tradition of Brie and Camembert. In 1928 a country cheese maker started the St. André Creamery in Villefranche de Rouerque, France, in the middle Pyrénées, a region also known for Roquefort cheese. Fast forward 40-some years and the soft-ripened, triple-cream cheese named St. André made its debut, with a reputation as a blend of the perfect brie mixed with equal parts of thick, sour cream and whipped sweet cream. St. André is made from cow's milk and enriched with pure cream. St. André is also fairly rare. Containing no less than 75% butterfat for every 100 grams of cheese, St. André is commonly agreed to be 50% richer than the average Camembert. This cheese is a favorite for cheese boards!

I commonly set up snack trays like this between classes.

However, word to the wise: butterfat = "butt, er, fat" as in your "butt, is, er, fat." Eat it sparingly, but love it.

Next up, Porto Rico "strudel cake" coffee. I accidentally found the Porto Rico Importing Company on Bleecker Street in NYC's West Village a few years ago and have been addicted ever since. I order coffee from them every semester and have it shipped to AZ. Their flavored coffee is the best, hands down.



I mean, check out their flavors: Amaretto, Cappucino, Chocolate, Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Cinnamon, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Strudel, Cinnamon, Cinnamon Hazelnut, Cinnamon Orange, Coconut, Double Nut Fudge, Egg Nog, Frangelica, Hazelnut, Irish Creme, Mexicali Creme, Macadamia, Maple Walnut, Mint, Orange, Peaches & Creme, Pecan, Praline, Pumpkin Spice, Sambuca, Strudel Cake, Swiss Chocolate Almond, Tiramisu, Toasted Almond, Vanilla Bean, and Vanilla Almond.

That's just insane. And fabulous!!!

And one last note, while we're speaking of flavored drinks, I am also a huge fan of Pyramid's Apricot Heizen beer... plus the orange bottles are refreshingly autumnal this time of year...


Chin chin!!!