Rachel's Bakery and Schaeffer's cheese

I woke up with a toothache this morning. After stumbled around the bathroom, I crawled shivering back into bed and curled myself around an industrial-sized bottle of advil. As I lay there hurting, I reminded myself that I would rather have a baby or do my taxes then have a toothache. At least you have something to show for it afterward.

I called in to work in pain and went to see my dentist that afternoon. Even though the pain was half-way managable with advil, I was still feeling pretty sorry for myself and down in the dumps as I schlumped out of the dentist's office and over to the pharmacy for some antibiotics. My dentist had told me the tooth had to come out and the only thing I hate worse then dental work is...well, I guess I can't think of anything worse. As I pulled into the pharmacy in Nisswa, I noticed a new, little bakery called Rachel's Bakery. That perked me up. I had read a newspaper article in the Brainerd Dispatch about how good their breads were and since I am not in Nisswa every day since Miss Chocoholic isn't going to school there anymore, I don't always see the new stores.

After throwing the prescription in the jeep and with my mood considerably lightened, I made my way into the bakery. The shop was quaint and cozy and the owner was extremely personable. He was full of suggestions and conversation and seemed like he was high on life. I told him I had seen the article in the paper and he suggested a few breads that I would like. I walked out with an onion dill loaf, a caraway rye loaf, a date-filled cookie and a pear-ginger tea bread that looked like a tiny, cute loaf of banana bread. I devoured the cookie and the tea bread on my way home and couldn't wait to dig into the actual bread. Here is their website: http://rachelsbakerymn.com/ Super nice, friendly people who seem passionate about what they do and very flavorful bread!

I figured what the heck, I have to have a tooth extracted, I should treat myself. So I stopped at Schaefer's Grocery store on the way home and got some honey ham, horseradish-chive havarti, bleu cheese, bleu cheese-stuffed green olives, a chunk of scallion-rosemary cheese and a chunk of garlic, chive and dill cheese. Unlike most of the grocery stores around here, Schaefer's has a good selection of gourmet cheeses. Here is their website: http://schaefersfoods.com/ The checkout boy laughed at me for spending six dollars for a chunk of cheese. "Six dollars for cheese?" he said to the checkout girl, She said to him, "It's probably better than the Kraft stuff you eat!" I just stood there and let them have their laughs and I pitied them. They will never understand the ecstasy of smooth, creamy, salty, quality cheese sliding down your throat. What would they say if they knew I spend twenty dollars a pound for sottocenre cheese when we go to Ely? Some things are just worth it.

I grabbed a bottle of moscato and brought it all home. The afternoon was beautiful so I sliced up the cheese and the bread, poured myself a glass of moscato and took it all out on the deck.
Each thing separately was extraordinary, but putting it together was a symphony in the mouth. Whoever thought of stuffing green olives with bleu cheese? They should be given a genius award. The salty acidity of the olives offset the pungency of the bleu cheese perfectly. Then you wash it all down with a gulp of sweet moscato and the sweetness of the wine enhances the saltiness of the cheese and the olives. The onion dill bread was the best bread I have had in a long time. It was the perfect consistency and the subtle onion flavors went well with the earthiness of the rosemary cheese. I put a hunk of the havarti on the bread and topped it off with the honey ham. You don't even need any kind of mayo or dressing when your lunch ingredients are this high quality. The moscato went well with everything. It is a great cheese wine. I'd take a bite of cheese, then a drink of wine, then a bite of cheese, and so on until the plate was empty.As I sat watching the squirrels in the backyard in a sleepy, dairy-induced stupor, I thought how bad can a tooth extraction be? It's so easy to forget about pain after a cheese picnic fit for a godess. Cheese, bread and wine will cheer this godess up anyday!