Simple Pleasures: Homemade goat cheese. And oven roasted tomatoes. And Crostini. And Other lovely things.

Every Tuesday (since early February) I wake up with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, because Tuesdays bring something no other day of the week can bring: a new episode of LOST.

I jumped on the LOST train about a year and a half ago and have never looked back, not even during this season when the writing gets a bit clunky and deliberate, no not even then, and I suggest you do the same.  It's quite a ride, I assure you. Thankfully Neill has been a passenger on the train as well, so we are a content party of three, who gather in front of our tiny  TV, mouths agape (in fascination or disappointment...) for a full hour followed by at least thirty minutes of discussion about what we just witnessed.  Good times indeed.

                                                    (Stanley is a fan too!)

Of course we can't just get together and watch TV, no no no we need to drink.  So we have decided that our drink of choice during the duration of this season will be Absolut Mango as sort of an ode to the fruits they may find while on the island.  Also, eating is helpful, and Jürg and I do our best to put some sort of food on the table.  Some nights (like last) we don't have our act together and it ends up being pasta, but other nights, like last week, we hit a home run, and we make our very own goat cheese.

Yes you read that right, we (well, I) made cheese.  It may very well be one of the most thrilling things I accomplish all year (I aim high), and I simply had to share this with all of you so you can experience the excitement for yourself.  You don't need a must see Tuesday night show to inspire you, goat cheese can be consumed any time, and in an ideal world I would have some every day. I'm serious. There are few things I love more that goat cheese in all its creamy, tangy, sometimes herby splendor.

I never realized that making my own would be so easy, until I came across this incredible blog.  I found it one Sunday evening when the blog creator made a comment on my first Sunny Side Up post, making her the first "stranger" to comment on my blog. Which was thrilling in and of itself, but find the recipe for goat cheese, and so many other delectable dishes was the real prize.  Thank you Giao!

She does an incredible job of teaching you how to bring the pleasure of homemade cheese into your kitchen, and beautifully depicts it in photographs, so I will simply provide you a link rather than recount it here.  However I will tell you that a quart of goats milk cost me $3.50, which is the same price as a typical "log size" goat cheese, and this recipe yields at least two "logs" worth.  Not only do you get the joy of becoming a novice cheese maker, but you save money in the process! Love that!
                    

We paired the goat cheese with some homemade oven roasted tomatoes, homemade crostini, and homemade potato leek soup (not pictured).  The soup was also from the same blog, and simply wonderful.  We already had enough potato's on hand so all we needed to buy was a few leeks and some chicken stock.  Dear friends, I tell you it's possible to eat like a gourmand on a tight budget.

Oh yes! The drinks! How could I forget?  So far we have tried three different types of Mango drinks, one of which does not bear repeating, and we continue to search for more. There are ten episodes left this season, so we have plenty of time to find a favorite.

They are the Absolut Caliente and The Absolut Firefly, which certainly don't lack in either flavor or color.  You would pay $14 a pop for these in Manhattan, but here in Queens we shake and stir to our hearts (and wallets) content.  The Absolute Drinks site has all kinds of great recipes, take a gander for yourself!

Tuesdays are the new Friday's in my book, well for the next ten weeks anyway.