First Class Lounge (Pre Challenge Chat)

[Melindam]

Keely wrote: "Just dropping in with the bombshell that is I don't like cheese... or wine. I've tried a few gins but I'm not much of a drinker unless it's a special occasion."

Not even Wensleydale? 🤭

https://youtu.be/uWIkD2s-gN8?feature=...

[MN Lisa]

Cheese is the best.

[MN Lisa]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I love sweet white wines"
Moscato is my favorite

[Janeylou]

MN Lisa wrote: "Saar The Book owl wrote: "I love sweet white wines"
Moscato is my favorite"

..and mine lisa...😋😋

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I eat a lot of cheese, too much really. Love it

[Richard]

I love cheese, & muscat is the only wine I like. Camembert & muscat is such a taste explosion.

I only saw this challenge now. I'm a sad panda that I missed the cutoff. It'd be my first Tower Team game.

[Sophie, The other one]

It's worth signing up for the reserve list - we can often shuffle people into teams.

[Richard]

Oh I've signed up

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I actually just had some softenered herb goat cheese spread on crackers. Also have some Port wine cheese ball with almonds that was on sale at Aldi's, and some sharp New York cheddar in the fridge.

No wine, though! I went through my bottle of cheap sangria and now on break from that. Did do cheese with tea, which goes well together

[Preeti]

Sophie wrote: "I'm gin girl. Have a few different in the cupboard.

What I have noticed is that the tonic water makes an enormous difference to how it tastes too."

I agree absolutely... I shifted from Schweppes to these lovely new brands that make tonic waters where you can taste more than just sugar, and it has totally changed my G&T experience. In the process, I discovered just how much sugar Schweppes contains and was horrified! The two brands I buy have half the sugar so I don't feel bad when indulging.

Of course, now I have to stock two kinds of tonic waters - plain for the gins with botanicals and flavoured for the regular gins.

[Preeti]

Melindam wrote: "Keely wrote: "Just dropping in with the bombshell that is I don't like cheese... or wine. I've tried a few gins but I'm not much of a drinker unless it's a special occasion."

Not even Wensleydale?..."

😂

[Preeti]

[Keely]

Melindam wrote: "Keely wrote: "Just dropping in with the bombshell that is I don't like cheese... or wine. I've tried a few gins but I'm not much of a drinker unless it's a special occasion."

Not even Wensleydale?..."

I'll be honest, I don't think I've tried Wensleydale. I am a lot better with cheese than I used to be. I can eat mild melted cheese on some dishes now. Just don't try and give me a cheese sandwich :P

[Melindam]

You are like my son, then. 😁 He eats melted cheese on pasta or on baked goods, but nothing else.

[Jenny]

Seriously. You all need to find an artisanal cheese shop near you. There are soooooo many lovely cheeses out there that do not make their way to the grocery store.

And then there are cheese curds. Oh, wonderful cheese curds. Squeaky, flavorful, delicious gifts of the dairy farm.

I am totally having a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today. Sadly, I cannot just munch on a handful of cheese curds, as they are best fresh, and I live in a bloody desert, without a good dairy nearby. Whine.

[Shelby]

Janeylou wrote: "MN Lisa wrote: "Saar The Book owl wrote: "I love sweet white wines"
Moscato is my favorite"

..and mine lisa...😋😋"

I'll be joining you ladies on the Moscato and sweet whites are my favorite.

[Audrey Jane]

Richard wrote: "Camembert & muscat is such a taste explosion.

Agree. Ate some baked camembert, a piece of baguette with jam on it and cider yesterday 😋

[Audrey Jane]

Will join you ladies with the sweet white wines, the darker the better. My favourite is Monbazillac.

[Jhmingos]

I'm not a cheese and wine fan either, but I still love wine and cheese tasting. I love visiting the vineyards, eating the crackers, and swirling the wine in the glass. And I'm such a foodie, I want to keep finding a "fancy" cheese I like. So far, I like Manchego and Saint Andres. But I hate all goat cheeses and parmesan.

[Denise]

Shelby wrote: "Janeylou wrote: "MN Lisa wrote: "Saar The Book owl wrote: "I love sweet white wines"
Moscato is my favorite"

..and mine lisa...😋😋"

I'll be joining you ladies on the Moscato and sweet whites are m..."

Mmmm. Our nearest grocery store started stocking refrigerated moscato splits by the checkout. It's dangerous. 😂

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

I love cheese especially the expensive ones. :) But they don't like me and I need to have a bottle of Imodium handy if I have any. These days I only eat it on pizza because pizza without cheese or with fake cheese just doesn't taste right.

Sorry if that was TMI.

[Melissa]

I love cheese too. I was lucky to go to France, and I stood longer in the cheese aisle (a whole AISLE) than I did looking at the Eiffel Tower!

(I kept proclaiming - but there's a WHOLE AISLE)

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

OMG, my dream come true!

[Lauri]

Jenny wrote: "Keely wrote: "Just dropping in with the bombshell that is I don't like cheese... or wine. I've tried a few gins but I'm not much of a drinker unless it's a special occasion."

I have a bumper stick..."

Hmmmm….. My Mom was from Wisconsin. Maybe that’s where I get my love for cheesy goodness? For all things dairy, really. Maybe someone will invent cheesy ice cream?

[Lauri]

Preeti wrote: "

"
So cute! And that’s pretty much me, if I were little & furry!

[Lauri]

Artisanal cheese shop??! Are you kidding me? I’m from Hawaii. The closest we come is Safeway or Whole Foods! I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like. If I have to, I will drink Moscato or Prosecco. A Mimosa can be nice, too. Since I’m a Philistine, I ask for a splash of grenadine in it….

On a more bookish note, I’m trying to clear what I’m currently reading out & get ready for Towers but making - well - towers of books in the order I plan to read them. OCD poster girl!

[Jenny]

Yeah. I did that today too. Shorter ones on top to be read before TT. and longer ones underneath.

No. We do not have a problem.

[Richard]

I live in an area (in Australia) where there are about 10 wineries all less than 30-minute bus-rides between them. So 1 weekend a year, there's a 'Winery Walkabout'...where hundreds of people can buy a season ticket. This pays for a bus seat (so there's no drunk driving), a lift to each winery, free tastings of every wine, & also free bands that play. Plenty of food stalls, of course. It's a big event & such a fun time.

[Kaley]

Cheeeeese. I live in Indiana (US) but my husband used to work for a company headquartered in Wisconsin, so he’d occasionally have to make a trip up there and one weekend I went with him and we went to the Mars Cheese Castle . . . I loved it. I’m glad my husband doesn’t have that job anymore because his boss was horrific, but I do miss the required travel for him being a cheese castle opportunity for me…

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Richard wrote: "I live in an area where there are about 10 wineries all less than 30-minute bus-rides between them. So 1 weekend a year, there's a 'Winery Walkabout'...where hundreds of people can buy season ticke..."

Wow, that sounds awesome. We had some wine and craft things around here (sort of) but I haven't gone yet.

[Denise]

I'm cracking up at how long we've kept this gin/wine/cheese topic going. 😂

[Tammie]

I recommend the cheese section at Trader Joe’s if you have that store…quite a diverse selection and affordable.

My husband eats a lot of cheese…fav is cotswold cheese…UK I think…very yummy…pairs well with any wine

[Melindam]

Dunno how arbitrary this list is, but according to it Hungary has a proud place among producers of the smelliest cheeses of the world. 😅

https://www.finedininglovers.com/expl...

Love how the smells are described. 😁

My husband loves that cheese, I prefer Limburger. 😉

[Elisabeth]

Richard wrote: "I live in an area (in Australia) where there are about 10 wineries all less than 30-minute bus-rides between them. So 1 weekend a year, there's a 'Winery Walkabout'...where hundreds of people can b..."

Hi Richard, we were on a great team together late last year. Wheels, I think. Hope you get onto a team this time.

What's the date of the winery weekend? It sounds fun. There are lots of top wineries around Canberra too.

[Richard]

Elisabeth wrote: "What's the date of the winery weekend?"

June 7th & 8th for 2025. In Rutherglen, Victoria

[Melindam]

Denise wrote: "I'm cracking up at how long we've kept this gin/wine/cheese topic going. 😂"

While our Ingenious Mods are listening with innocent smiles on their faces and taking inconspicuous notes. 🫣

I suspect the Challenge Chipmunks are getting fat on cheese and drunk as skunks on alcohol. 🤣

[Eldarwen]

Why ever would you think that?!

:-))

[Melindam]

Eldarwen wrote: "Why ever would you think that?!

:-))"

It's unreasonable, I know, but I can't help it. 😅

[Yasmine]

Kelly (Maybedog) wrote: "I love cheese especially the expensive ones. :) But they don't like me and I need to have a bottle of Imodium handy if I have any. These days I only eat it on pizza because pizza without cheese or ..."

Could it be that maybe some lactase-tablets would help a bit better than the imodium? :P (talking from experience)

I'm Swiss and my lactose-intolerance is the most annoying thing with all our amazing cheese and milk products -.-

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

Mine is really bad. I've tried lactase and it doesn't do much. I need Gas-X, too, and Tylenol and ... :) I actually haven't tried lactase with cheese. I should. Cheese isn't as bad as milk or ice cream probably because of the aging. I miss ice cream.

I got to see an Edam shop in Amsterdam once. It was mostly underground!

[Christina]

There is really good vegan ice cream actually, so no need to miss out on it Kelly :)

[Yasmine]

I'm really glad that we have a very bright selection of sorbets here as well, as I couldn't survive summer without ice cream :)) (my favourite discovery being the chocolate sorbet, if you're ever in Switzerland you have to check out Gelateria di Berna!)

[Denise]

There are two reasons I could never become vegan:

Cheese and ice cream. Cannot live without those.

[JL]

I was late signing up I hope I can still get on a team.

[Judith]

Melindam wrote: "Denise wrote: "I'm cracking up at how long we've kept this gin/wine/cheese topic going. 😂"

While our Ingenious Mods are listening with innocent smiles on their faces and taking inconspicuous notes..."

I beg your finest pardon?



hehe!

[Melindam]

😅 🐿 🧀 🍷 🍨

[Jenny]

OH MY GOD!!!! LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!!!
HE ALREADY ATE THE CHEESE!!!

WE'RE DOOMED!!!

[Judith]

*starts developing an extra mini challenge for funs-ies*

[Melissa]

Denise wrote: "There are two reasons I could never become vegan:

Cheese and ice cream. Cannot live without those."

I agree 100%

[Tricia]

Did we get teams assigned? I feel like I've missed something. :(