I adore spice cookies with cheese… cream cheese sandwiched between two wafers of thin gingerbread… blue cheese spread on gingersnaps… soft molasses cookies with melted taleggio (and beets!)… toasted lebkuchen and almond crumbs scattered over burrata…. these make me very happy.

And so,when this liquid-ripe banon crossed my path, it could not escape its destiny with the naked pepper cookies. Nor could the gamey venison tenderloin, a gift from a hunter who generously gave up what he considered the best part of the animal.  Add to that: bittersweet ginger shards, roasted persimmon caramel, and tiny green peppercress seeds, and I'm very happy indeed.