Now that another Polar Vortex is quickly approaching, I have officially decided that Fall is my favorite season. I made a mumkin this year, so how could it not be!?
Normally, I would say Spring, but I think beautiful, warm spring days are like Maryland blue crabs. We like to think there are enough to make us happy, but we always have to go further south for a consistent supply.
I mean, my birthday is right in the middle of this so-called Spring. Yes, the average temperature on my birthday has been 60.8 degrees, so it may not seem like Spring is a myth created by greeting card companies. BUT it has been as cold as 37 degrees (my ninth birthday) and as hot as 92 degrees (my 19th birthday). AND the temperature jumped 34 degrees on my fourth birthday. Do you know how hard it is to find a suitable birthday outfit to wear while ripping all the curtains rods off the walls by pretending I'm Tarzan when it is low 50s one minute and high 80s the next? (Yes, I am the reason we can't have nice things.)
But back to the glory that is Fall. To celebrate this wonderful season when you can wear sweaters without 15 additional layers and boots that aren't snow-proof, I went to Millstone's first annual Apple Harvest Festival in Parkton, MD, to enjoy some cider and blue grass.
My perfect picnic means all the cheese I can find because cheese is delicious. However, if you aren't in the mood to buy and eat your weight in cheese, a good rule of thumb is to bring something soft, something hard, something aged, and something blue.
You can then round out your cheese board (or in this case, cheese basket) with something sweet, something savory, something salty, and something tangy.
After raiding The Wine Source and some online shopping at Mouth.com for my favorite cheese and snacks, I created a delicious, appropriately-cheesey basket with a little something for everyone!
CHEESE
Something Soft: Chreve- Goat (Cherry Glenn; Boyds, MD)
Something Hard(ish): Tekenink Tomme- Cow (Robinson Farm; Hardwick, MA)
Something Aged: Piedmont Reserve- Sheep (Everona Dairy; Rapidan, VA)
Something Blue: Smokey Blue- Cow (Rogue Creamery; Central Point, OR)
SNACKS
Something Tangy: Lemongrass-Dill Pickles (Tanner's; Baltimore, MD)
Something Sweet: Eastern Shore Autumn Wildflower Honey (Waxing Kara; Chester, MD/Owings Mills, MD)
Something Savory: Finocchiona Tuscan Salami (Olympic Provisions; Portland, OR)
Something Salty: Sea Salt and Pepper Pistachios (Gilded Nut Snack Co.; Portland, ME)
Vehicles: I usually bring 2 demi baguettes (one sliced ahead of time, because I always seem to forget a knife).
DRINKS
Water & Coffee.
I like to use my S'well bottles, because they keep the water cold for 24 hours and the coffee hot for 12 hours. They're also magic and have no condensation, so you can throw them in whatever bag you want and you don't have to worry about them sweating all over everything else.
My favorite it this Bikini Pink bottle from their Satin collection. You can buy them from the website, but if you are in Baltimore there are plenty of places to check them out. Trohv in Hampden and Becket Hitch in Green Spring Station both carry them, and The Monogram Shop in the Roland Park area sells monogrammed S'well Bottles!
So go enjoy the last bits of Fall you can! Winter is coming...
