Cheese, Please.

MmMm...DiBruno's!!!!

I decided that this year I am going to try to stay away from the beach. STAY AWAY FROM THE BEACH??? Yep. Stay away. I figure that with all of the sun that I am forced to get in Costa Rica by being in the water, that it would be so horrible for my health to just SIT on the beach in Jersey. Therefore, this summer I am trying to limit my sun intake and keep the beach bronzing to a minimum. With this said, Shawn and I decided to head to Philly for the day as opposed to a day plopped in a beach chair at the {not so sunny anyways} Sumner Ave. We obviously had Vietnamese for lunch. We skipped the Vietnam Restaurant, and the Vietnam Palace for the place on 11th street that I really love. Shawnie wasn't feeling the Green Papaya Salad yesterday, and I was torn between Vermecilli Bun {because I love the spring roll topping) and Pho - so our order was a bit of a deviation from the usual. I had a spring roll appetizer {so delicious} followed by Pho, which Shawn and I both had. We decided that the overcast day, and my vicious head cold, called for some spicy soup. For those of you that aren't familir with "PHO", it is Vietnam's national soup.

Phở is served in a bowl with white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with thin cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). The broth is generally made by simmering beef (and sometimes chicken) bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onion, and spices, taking several hours to prepare. Seasonings include Saigon cinnamon, star anise, charred ginger, and cloves. The dish is garnished with ingredients such as green onions, white onions, coriander leaves (cilantro), ngò gaiThai basil, fresh Thai chili peppers, lemon or lime wedges, and bean sprouts. Phở can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The noodles are usually picked up with chopsticks and placed onto a soup spoon. The spoon is then dunked into the broth and topped with meat/condiments and eaten. Vietnamese phở restaurants usually retain the cultural practice of not delivering the bill to a customer's table, since it is considered rude—in the Vietnamese culture, it is seen as a way of trying to rush the customer out the door.

When they place my bucket sized bowl of Pho in front of me, I begin doctoring it up to my taste. First I rip up some thai basil into it, throw in a few slices of jalapeno, squeeze two big chunks of lime juice into the bowl, and throw in some bean sprouts for crunch. Then I add in a big of Sriracha hot chili sauce and some {plum} Hoisin Sauce. NGON! {this means "delicious" in Vietnamese}. Being the beverage queen that I am, I surrounded myself with a glass of water, a never ending cup of hot tea, and an ICED VIETNAMESE COFFEE! MmMmMm sweetened condensed milk and strong, fresh espresso over ice :)

Our Vietnamese indulgence was followed by a trip to the famous {ahem, expensive} DIRBUNO's. If I was to die tomorrow, I hope that heaven is DiBruno's. It has all of my favorite things: cheese, bread, olives, salami's, spreads, dips, crostini's and MORE! UGHHHH..love it. Love it. LOVE IT. If you don't live in the Tri-State area, and haven't had the glorious opportunity to step foot into this small, delicacy filled heaven then you can check out their website,

www.dibruno.com

Shawn says that I get all "cracked out" the second I step food into the shop, and you know what - I'll agree. So many smells and delectable aromas, I don't know where to start. Did I mention that this place is always jam packed too -- which stresses me out a bit, gets me excited and confuses me all the same. One day I want to go during the afternoon, on a weekday, and just sit in there and try every cheese (they are very nice about letting you sample). I spent $70 in a matter of minutes....that was MORE than I had in my %10 Play Money Envelope, damnit. I walked with a Vermont Brie, my tried and true fabulous brand of Parm Reg, some spicy Sopressta, and a pepper encrusted goat cheese. I ran next door to Claudio's (a similar store...less pompous, less expensive, but less glamorous, and purchased a bag of my favorite Rosemary crostini's! They are $2.50 cheaper here than DiBrunos...).

The rest of my day was spent with a huge smile on my face, and an empty wallet.

"A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains, cheese, milk's leap toward immortality."
Clifton Fadiman