A cheese kiss to you! QuesoBeso

As you may know, I really like cheese.  I've always had an affinity towards savory foods more than sweets but cheese itself has always held a special place on my palate.  A few years ago I had the opportunity to sell cheese at a farmer's market.  For two years I sampled, bought, sold, cared for, cut, packaged, served, & read about CHEESE!

My newest (and cheesiest) endeavor is writing a cheese app.  Yes, a program for your mobile device. A little something you can carry with you and use daily - when you REALLY need to know more about CHEESE.

The app will be called QuesoBeso.  Bruce (my husband) came up with the name as a way to describe the database I created which describes all the cheeses I have encountered.

QuesoBeso will be a regional, local guide and the first version will be QuesoBeso, CA.  It will cover all things good and cheesy about the state of California, my home state.

The Culinary Vixen blog will continue but with a decidedly pro-dairy bent.

I'll be tweeting @CulinaryVixen as I do my cheese research around California.

QuesoBeso has a Facebook page which is here: QuesoBeso's FB Fan Page  I'll be posting lots of cheesy pictures and comments as I taste my way across California's cheesy landscape.

My first big research trip is a boondoggle to San Francisco in two weeks.  I would love suggestions from anyone who knows of a good place in San Francisco to get a good cheese fix!  Email, tweet, comment, love your cheesy ideas...

Follow @QuesoBeso

Slow Food Dinner - Hayes Street Grill - The Pass

We were seated very close to the kitchen, which I loved. We could look over and see the staff tending to the wood fire oven which was used to grill a few of the seafood dishes. The entire restaurant was used for this dinner so the staff had to prepare about 80 plates for each course and then they were served all at the same time. Not an easy task! We were impressed. But we were the only ones looking in the kitchen. The rest of the guests were content listening to the fishermen describe their boat and their families and the types of fish they caught. We were more happy to watch as the guys in the back of the house took those beautiful fish and prepared them carefully into a VERY tasty meal.

Slow Food Dinner - Hayes Street Grill #2

I wonder why they sat us at our own table...

Slow Food Dinner at Hayes Street Grill

Here I am at the seafood dinner at Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco. We were the only ones with children with us. We had a table to ourselves, which is unusual as Slow Food dinners are meant to bring people together. We didn't mind, it was a great meal.

Slow Food Nation 2008 - Bread Snail

We took the kids to San Francisco for the Slow Food Nation weekend. They loved this snail at the tasting pavilion. It's made of loaves of bread.