I am sitting at my computer this morning, feeling a wee bit sorry for myself. Otis went off yesterday for a fun overnight visit with a whole passel of old friends in Boston-- I was supposed to go, and then spend Saturday night with my mom, but I came down with a nasty cold and had to stay home.

I did wake up this morning feeling a bit better, after nearly twelve hours of sleep, so I am trying to pull it together and become cheery once again.

One thing that is helping is thinking about my CHEESE! On Tuesday night Otis's parents stopped by to visit on their way back from a long weekend in Camden. That evening, Allagash was having a tasting event at Flatbread for their new beer, Fluxus. We stopped by to taste the beer and to introduce Walter and Jane to Ravinder and Katey. It was lovely to see them, as always, and our old buddies Scott and Tanya were there too, so it was a lovely pit-stop on our way to Benkay for sushi (more on that shortly).

So what is she talking about the CHEESE!? you are wondering. Basically, at the same time as the Allagash event, the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center was holding a raffle fundraiser, and you could choose which of the many lovely items they were raffling off you wanted to win. One of the items was a $50 gift basket from Silvery Moon Creamery. This is the same cheese we tasted over the summer at Vignola with another Allagash beer, the Hugh Malone. So, I bought six tickets and put all my eggs in the cheese basket, so to speak. And I won! Words cannot express how excited I am. I just hope the gift basket includes their Camembert, which was the butteriest yummiest indulgence I can imagine.

See? I am already all cheered up. Now who wants to go out to breakfast with me? Everyone I know is still asleep, and I'm hungry!

More soon, about our dinner at Benkay, beef stew, and the first visit to the freezer for summer tomatoes.