Too much cheese?

I don't think it is possible to eat too much cheese but we are blessed this season with an abundance of the good stuff from both sides of the pond. I went to Trader Joe's the other day and bought a few cheeses for our upcoming work party. The next day, my wonderful friends Alison and Max gifted us with a blessed abundance from Dean & Deluca. There is a lovely roquefort, an enormous, tasty Brilliant Savarin and a yummy Basque goats cheese. To gild the lily, my Mother sent us a sampling of cheeses from Renard's Cheese in Door County. MMMMmunster, WI cheddar and the classic holiday cheese spread. We are now swimming in cheese. Twelve lovely pounds of cheese.

I've also decided to make crème fraiche for the first time. I found the recipe in Medrich's Cocolat, but it is also available online. It's simple but you need to plan ahead. What you do is:

Heat 1 c. heavy cream (not ultra-pasturized) to 105 degrees

Remove from heat

add 1 tbsp. of buttermilk and stir.

Let sit, lightly covered for 12-36 hours in a warm spot until it has thickened and has a lovely nutty taste. I made 5 cups. Mine didn't thicken too much but has that lovely nutty taste and besides, it's "whipping" cream. Now I get to make tarts and desserts and .... yum!

Long time no keep

I made Thai chicken basil for dinner on Wednesday night and wanted to put bean sprouts in to the mix. When I went to the store I found that bean sprouts now come in restaurant sized packages of about 2lbs. Now I don't mind having 2lbs of bean sprouts but what with take out last night and working late tonight, the bean sprouts were not going to get eaten. I took to "The Google" and found out that the Japanese keep their bean sprouts in water in the refrigerator and change the water every two days. I'm giving it a try, has anyone ever done this? If it doesn't work, I'll let you know. Going to use them Sunday.