Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Big Cheese!

For those of you who were around this time last year, you might remember when I was invited to participate in a National Dairy Council event highlighting the "3-A-Day" campaign. For those of you who weren't around, you can read all about it here, if you so desire.

I love cheese. And milk. There are few things I enjoy more than a super ice cold glass of milk. And last year's event was tons of fun, so when the lovely Mir invited me to the 3-A-Day event this year, you bet your sweet patookie that I jumped on that opportunity.

And when I found out that the event was being catered by Five & Ten, a local award winning restaurant, well, that just sealed the deal. I mean, get a load of this menu: Spanish tortilla of aged cheddar, local potato and leeks; pain perdue with blackberries and yogurt and maple syrup; biscuits with Georgia gouda and Benton's bacon; local yellow grits with Vella jack cheese, seared skirt stake and poached quail egg; croissant of spice rubbed pork tenderloin with cucumber yogurt raita; peach perfect smoothie and cocoa-berry yogurt tarts.

Excuse me while I wipe my chin. I ate all of those things last night and I still drool when I read about them. Here are some photos so that you can drool, too.




If I had known how delicious the biscuit with the gouda and the bacon was going to be I would have put down the camera, grabbed two of them and headed into one of Mir's closets to stuff my face. Even though I didn't do that I somehow didn't even get one picture to share with you. But trust me, it was to die for.

When we arrived, the lovely Dairy Hosts remembered me from last year (and won my everloving gratitude by remarking on my weight loss!). We gathered in Mir's lovely kitchen for a demonstration on how to make skinny hazelnut lattes and absolutely scrumptious peach smoothies. Here's the recipe for the Peach-Amaretto Frappe:

1 cup fat free or low fat milk
1 large ripe peach, peeled, pitted and cut into eighths (or two canned peach halves, drained)
5-6 ice cubes
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract

Now I will tell you that I drank this fully preparing NOT to like it because of the almond extract, but it was dee-licious. And so refreshing. And the best part is that if you use the fat free milk, it only has 240 calories and 1 g of fat and is 40% of your required daily calcium!

They also had a huge variety of Cabot cheeses and Greek yogurts for us to try. I tried a Cabot pepper jack that was fantastic -- just the right amount of kick and the cheese was so smooth. I'd never tried Greek yogurt before, but the honey flavored one would make a fantastic dessert.


The nutritionist on hand gave us lots of great tips about how to incorporate dairy throughout the day because you know you can't get your 3 servings all in one sitting -- your body won't absorb all that calcium at once. You have to get your 3 servings over the course of the day (that's something I learned last night, can you tell?)

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I would have had a great time even if I hadn't won a fabulous cappucino maker! That was just the icing on the cake. Mir was a great hostess and the Dairy Ladies were super nice. Oh! And Mir's Tuscan plaster wall from hell? BEAUTIFUL! And I'm not just saying that. It really did look fantastic and if I didn't know what a pain in the ass it is to do, I would totally do that in my next house.

So go check out the 3-A-Day site. They have some really great recipes and snack ideas and you can sign up to receive coupons.

Now excuse me while I go grab a muffin and wash it down with some ice cold milk. I've totally flung a craving on myself.

16 comments:

AndreAnna said...

Good grief, I love food.

for a different kind of girl said...

Whatever is in the champagne flutes looks delicious and I wish I had one (or two. maybe three!) now!

I always have Greek yogurt on my 'to get' list, but I never seem to be near a specialty market, which is how I need to find it here. I hear how fantastic it is all the time from people. Must try some soon!

Wineplz said...

oh wow! That's so neat that they remembered you from last year! That would totally make my day (well, along with all that scrumptious food).

Anonymous said...

Oh, man! I'm so sad that I wasn't invited!! Sounds like you had a fabulous time, and you won a cappucino maker? Dang! I don't remember prizes last year...

calicobebop said...

Lady, you flung a craving on all of us I'm sure!

I had no idea that you couldn't absorb all that calcium at once. Good to know!

Sass said...

What andreanna said.

Dairy food has to be promoted? How weird is that.

Anonymous said...

I have totally been craving that Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar ever since Tues night. I HAVE GOT to find it!

Burgh Baby said...

I don't think I like you right now. You show me food I can't have when I'm hungry and throw around fabulous names like "Mir." Hmph.

Live.Love.Eat said...

Wow, I never heard of this plus I didn't know a dairy party could be so fun & delicious. That all looks incredible!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Flung a craving? I think I love you. I'm going to see how many times I can work that into the conversation today. :)

Also? Bacon. Yummmmmmmm. I think maybe you mentioned something about dairy in your post, but somehow, all I got was bacon. Mmmmm. Now I have to find a BLT for lunch, now that I've...wait for it...flung a craving onto myself. Or something. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you had a good time. :)

You know, the caterers THREW AWAY those amazing bacon biscuits, claiming they wouldn't keep. My children were distraught. Hell, so was I.

I have a mountain of leftovers, but with this cold I've just been grabbing a low-fat honey greek yogurt now and then. Those may be my new favorite dairy food. I mean, next to that full spread they fed us. HA.

To answer "for a different kind of girl," those champagne flutes had a chocolate yogurt torte thing (yes, that's the technical term) -- graham cracker crust bits and HUGE raspberries all mixed up in a light fluffy chocolate yogurt somethingorother. Divine.

Anonymous said...

look absolutely yummy. drooling.

Laurel said...

I wish I would have read that after I ate dinner, because now my mouth is watering and my tummy is grumbling, and I have nothing delicious eat. So now I have to go downstairs and figure that out..except I'm weak from hunger. If you don't hear from me in a couple of days, please call someone. They may find me hunched over the computer keyboard.

Laurel said...

Oh, shoot! I got so hungry I forgot to say, "Woo Hoo!" for your weight loss! I love it when people notice. And I also love it when they act like they haven't noticed you've put a little one. (Have I mentioned how nice people have been who have said to me, "You look great! Your not even showing!" I try not to respond by saying, "Do you think it's possible I'm carrying this baby in my love handles?" I think that might be a possibility because they are growing.

Okay, now I really am going to cook something.

Laurel said...

Crap! That was supposed to be "on" not "one." It's the food fatigue talking. (Please make me stop.)

Anonymous said...

Yay, Greek-style yogurt! I admit I hadn't tried any until last month and I'm so addicted now (thanks a lot, Cabot Dulce de Leche)!