The Best Birthday Present
Friday was my birthday and I am one of those people for whom it is difficult to buy a gift. If I want something I usually buy it, and being an Amazon Prime member, shipping costs are no problem. The CheeseWife™ often asks me what I want for Christmas or my birthday and I have no idea because I already have two of everything, except for the cats. We have four of those.
Truthfully, I am more than happy if someone bakes me a cookie. A friend at work just gave me a little box of tea from Korea and a little decoration shaped like a little Korean drum. I found that delightful! The tea is really good too. Nevertheless, the CheeseWife™ was challenged to put on her thinking cap and came through with the most startling present I have ever heard of.
A little preparatory information: I am a big fan of Stone Brewing Co after stumbling upon some Arrogant Bastard Ale several years ago. Since then I have had many of Stone’s fine ales and am crazy about them all. I have introduced many of my friends to Stone’s ales and converted my boss completely into a Stone-head. He won’t drink anything else now. Something else I have noticed about Stone is that they are supportive of other fine craft brewers and of home brewers. That sort of openness is particularly endearing to me. I have been mulling over producing a cheese with a Stone ale-washed-rind, though my normal mode is to find local Texas products to work with. Stone is just so good that I may have to bend on this idea. Last Halloween I even carved a Stone Gargoyle for a Jack o’Lantern (action shot here). It took me about three hours to complete, but I was refreshed by the contents of the Arrogant Bastard bottle I was using for reference.
Friday (my birthday) while I was at work I saw an email from the CheeseWife™ pointing me to a beer and cheese pairing at Stone Brewing so I tweeted about it and posted something on Facebook for anyone near the San Diego area. I headed home, thinking that it would be a good night to have some of my Gruyere cheese with a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. My iPhone ringer was set to vibrate-only as it usually is for a day of work. When I got home the CheeseWife™ made a point of asking about my phone ringer and had me set it to ring. She also called it to test the ringer. She then suggested that I have a beer because she needed to work on my present in the bedroom and don’t come in until she could complete the work.
I settled in with a Self-Righteous Ale and sat down to pet little Libby who had jumped into my lap. After a while the CheeseWife™ came in and asked if I had heard what she was doing, to which I told her no. She seemed relieved and started chatting about her book that she is working on. She also presented me with a bag containing four big bottles of Stone ale. Presently my iPhone rang and I saw an unfamiliar number with a California area code.
I answered the call and Greg Koch from Stone Brewing introduced himself and wished me a happy birthday. Greg is co-founder and CEO of Stone Brewing. This event was really pleasantly weird! Greg was charming and down-to-earth. He asked if I was drinking one of his beers and said that he had heard that I was one of their biggest fans. As he was talking I had a brief mental flash about the tweet and the Facebook posting but didn’t think he could get my cell number from those, then it hit me about some of the CheeseWife’s™ slightly odd behavior. She had called Stone and, over the phone, talked her way to the head of marketing and told them about me and asked if someone well-placed in Stone would call to wish me a Happy Birthday. I told Greg that someday I would send him one of my homemade cheeses and he seemed really interested. He made me promise to follow through on that as he is a big fan of cheese. All in all it was a very nice call and something that will stick with me for a long time. I have a rather nice looking cheese aging now that should be ready in a couple of weeks. I will probably send a chunk to Greg along with a nice thank you card.
Seriously, I do not intend to make her jump through hoops to come up with really creative ideas. However, the CheeseWife™ does not cook, so baking me a cookie is not in the cards. She is remarkably creative and will talk to anyone about just about anything. She says that next year she will try to get Max McCalman, of Artisanal Cheese to call me. I believe that she will!
Update: In the interest of full disclosure I will note that while I am an enthusiastic adopted Texan, I was born at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, graduated high school in Fallbrook and went for one year to Palomar College; all of these a short drive from Escondido where Stone brews their various ales. My father was a Marine and I only lived in California for about two years and four months total. I have not been to Stone’s brewery nor am I connected to their fine establishment in any way other than as an extremely happy customer.
Update to the update: Oops, big miss! The CheeseWife™ and I married on the beach in Del Mar about 11 years ago. Also a short drive from Escondido.
Way to go Aunt CheeseWife!! 🙂