SAY ‘CHEESE’

Making your own homemade herbed boursin is super easy. Room temperature cream cheese, a little whipping cream, garlic, a mixture of fresh herbs and you’ve got an irresistible tangy cheese spread for crackers, vegetables or to melt over scrambled eggs. It’ll keep for a week in the fridge or for up to three months in the freezer. I prefer the dense texture that my recipe produces, but if you’d rather the fluffier consistency of commercial Boursin add a bit more cream. I served it with plain rice wafers, a mild Italian salami and garnished the platter with tiny blue borage blossoms. Summer is here!

HOMEMADE HERBED BOURSIN
Makes 8 ounces

INGREDIENTS

• 1-8 ounce package cream cheese
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon each of fresh chives, basil and thyme, chopped
• ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

THE STEPS:

1. Place all of the ingredients in either a food processor or a large mixing bowl.
2. Whiz or beat until completely combined.
3. Scrape the cheese on to a large piece of plastic wrap.
4. Roll the cheese into a cylinder, inside the plastic.
5. Chill until firm.

THE LOVE: Experiment with any combination of fresh herbs that you have on hand, but no more than three different varieties. The ground pepper can either be mixed into your boursin or ground on top of it.

For months, I’ve been struggling.

It’s hard to write a blog when you live in a small town. You’ve heard of ‘six degrees of separation’, try three degrees. One grammatical fart and I’m a giggle over drinks at the local bar. It shouldn’t matter to me, but it does. It’s hurtful. How can writing a blog about food invite criticism, you ask, a pie is a pie is a pie. True enough, except my food is the subtext for a different conversation; its more of an edible backdrop to an ongoing soliloquy for my girls. Somehow, somewhere, one over-heard snort too often, and I clammed up. The ease with which my fingertips clicked across this keyboard, sharing stories about my daughters, my relationships and my life has cramped like a Charlie horse. Lately, I spend more time deleting what I’ve written than writing.

Too mushy? People might think I’m a starry-eyed romantic. I am.

Too personal? It’s one thing to pull my panties down, but should I yank on someone else’s?

Too weird? Arguably, my weirdness is probably better left deleted. On the other hand, when I think back to why I started this blog, it was so my children and their children would have an on-line place to go, to hear me tell them a story; even a weird story.

After months of teetering on the edge of a half-baked blog, I’m done. I don’t want to write looking over my shoulder; scurrying under a muffin recipe to avoid being the brunt of a slog fest. I’ll never win over the negative banter. I have to accept that blogging comes with challenges out of my control. I have two choices: stop writing or write what I want.

I want to write. With a smile.

Thanks for reading.