Foodie Duty - Sublime and Simple

I love food.

I am a gourmand always battling my gut. Usually my tasty tendencies win out, but that's okay with me. I always say I'd rather be fat and happy than skinny and bitchy. But I digress.

I am going to try and post some of my dining discoveries every Friday - this will push me to expand my edible horizons weekly and also provide you with some unique content (I am now sounding more like a news producer than a dining diva.)

Anyway.

Last night's dinner was a battle between The Sublime and The Simple.

Starting with The Sublime:

I bought this amazing wedge of cheese at The Fresh Market. It's called Gourmandise by Rambol. It was $4.20, but I don't recall what the price was per ounce.

The cheese was uber soft, like a triple creme. The wedge had these layers of mild, buttery cheese alternating with streaks of walnut flavored creme and bits of real nuts. I was in heaven, slicing off bits of cheese and eating them sans crackers. I really wanted to eat the whole wedge but that would have put my caloric intake really overboard.

Round two was a healthy sample from the store's olive bar. I'm not a fan of green olives, but I had to try a couple of the kind stuffed with feta cheese. They were firm and tangy like I expect a green olive, but filled with nuggets of Greek cheese. A pleasant, zesty surprise from the blue cheese variety. I was heavy handed when spooning the roasted garlic cloves into my container. I love roasted garlic, but it has a way of affecting my digestive process.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

I was pleased with the roasted red peppers - tender and full of that gentle flavor I expect from a roasted red pepper, but my favorite sample from the bar were these two small green stuffed peppers. They were stuffed with strips of provolone cheese and a pepperoni type meat. Tasty, little orbs I salivated over.

I was crushed when they were all gone.

Now for The Simple:

I rounded out my meal with a couple of simple additions - a bit of The Fresh Market's New York Deli Mix. The FM has dozens of scoop-yourself varieties of nuts, snack mixes, dried fruit and candy. The New York Deli Mix is similar to Gardetto's blends - pretzel sticks, mini cracker sticks and my favorite - flavored Melba toast. The whole blend is zesty, crunchy and wonderful.

And I washed it all down with an American classic - a cold bottle of Miller Lite.

A great meal (albeit unconventional), indeed.