We had daffodils at New Year, grass growing, birds sounding spring-like.  The winter has still got some bite, but every succeeding day has the sun higher, the day longer, driving winter down to the bottom of the year as we slowly and surely climb out.  Tiny signs of growth peep out - snowdrops, so modest and quiet, little red female hazel flowers, and the lambs’ tails like male flowers that have been slowly developing and lengthening, suddenly bursting out.  Oak flowers give a purple look to the woodland on the other side of the valley, darker and richer on the ends of the twigs.  I saw a buzzard sit quietly on a post on a tree guard for some apple trees we planted.  Suddenly he dropped heavily on a clump of grass only four feet below, then laboured away in his heavy flight with a little speck in his talons.  One bird’s feast is one vole’s spring gone.
 

Hello fellow cheese-lovers! It's been a while but I hope that you haven't forgotten about me, because I haven't forgotten about you.

I am in the chilly north of England studying hard during my final year of university. One of my friends recently told me about a cheese-only restaurant in London called L'Art Du Fromage. All of the items on the menu are cheese-based including raclette, fondues and cheese ice cream. Please try it out if you are ever in this part of the world! - Hazel

Reposting a video that came my way via Carlos Yescas: a rather pointed reminder of who's cooking in the kitchen.

Not only are Mexican immigrants supplying raw labor in restaurants in California—and around the country—but they're applying their skills to the dishes as master craftsmen. I'm reminded of Anthony Bourdain's typically unvarnished praise from Kitchen Confidential:

So I was scrolling through the Culture blog roll and came across a post by Eilis that I must have 'hopped' over: http://www.culturecheesemag.com/blog/eilis_restaurant_week

'Welsh Rarebit' or 'Welsh Rabbit' happens to be scrumptious, if done right. A beer, cheese, mustard and spice 'mess' melted on top of bread and broiled to impart a crispy caramelized crust. We came up with an idea for a panini at rubi's cafe (where I am the manager/monger/chef) and it was an instant hit and is currently a standing menu item. It took a little bit of tweaking to get the flavor down. A British gentleman protested, "It has to have more mustard! It has to burn your nostrils when you eat it! And you must only use Coleman's!" I didn't get that carried away with the mustard but I dusted some more Coleman's in.