"Good Food, Good Wine, Good Friends, and a Deep Sense of Gratitude, Life is much too short for anything less.”
I am convinced that nothing brings people closer together than food. Cecile, Jason and I enjoyed an intimate low-key dinner with friends, Jan and Gary this weekend. With all the prep work done earlier in the day, we all had plenty of quality time to spend together. We began with an assorted cheese plate including a creamy Brie and crackers with a rich and decadent organic sour cherry spread we had acquired at the farmer’s market earlier in the day. There we sat sipping wine out on our newish Tuscan stone patio overlooking the Romanesque fountain adorned with the head of a lion, two cherubs and our newly replanted garden.
Jan and Gary share our love for travel. Like myself Gary is a bit of a raconteur (French: storytelling in an amusing way). I like to write stories and Gary loves to tell them.
He was born in the great state of Hawaii as evidenced by the Aloha shirt he was wearing. He loves local theater, art, golf, biking and socializing.
As he said: “Having an active network of good friends is a primary ingredient of a satisfying, healthy life.” Amen to that!
After the appetizers, I placed the fresh Salmon that Cecile had marinated and wrapped it in tin foil and placed it on the grill to steam while Gary and I walked around the lake of our gated community. This was his first time at our new downsized humble abode and the rustic walking trails Cecile and I have come to love.
Cecile had a fine meal waiting for us that included fresh heirloom tomatoes with Burrata Mozzarella cheese, fresh corn salad, sautéed green Padron peppers, rainbow potato roast, and teriyaki glazed Salmon.
In terms of libations, Jan and Gary made a generous contribution to the table: two bottles of wine, and a special belated birthday bottle of Sangiovese for me.
Jan was happily sporting a colorful scarf we gifted her for her really belated birthday. Time and circumstance had kept us apart for some time and we were savoring being together.
For dessert we enjoyed a blueberry loaf, Lemon sorbet and Babka cake, that are common in the Eastern European Jewish tradition. You may recall the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine miss out on the last chocolate babka while at the bakery and had to settle on the cinnamon babka which Elaine considers a “lesser babka,” but Jerry begs to differ. We had no such conflict as we offered both cinnamon and chocolate to our guests and they were both yummy.
