This was a great day. It started with a 2 ½ hour closing for the purchase of the hotel at 5050 Jefferson. We waited until 11:00 a.m. to await confirmation that the Alcohol and Gaming Division approved a liquor lease for the hotel before we knew the deal would close. Quite exciting.
I then drove to Trader Joe’s and bought a gallon of milk, two bottles of cognac, two bottles of Chateau Roudier, a new bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for $6.99, a bottle of Italian rose from Venezia, a bottle of a new White from Cote Du Rhone and one other bottle.
I called Aaron and met him at AmerAsia at 1:00 for Diem Sum. We devoured steamed buns, a rice and spicy pork bowl, deep fried tofu stuffed with poached wood ear and shirked mushrooms, and two plates of steamed dumplings, one was chicken and peanuts in a rice flour wrapper and the other was an elaborately folded wheat flour wrapper stuffed with beef and water chestnuts. It was great to catch up on Aaron’s business news while we gorged on Chinese Diem Sum.
After lunch I went home and was pleasantly surprised to see that the tech stocks went up. Unfortunately, the Dow went down due mainly because of the problems of Boeing, whose 737 Max 8 fleet is grounded in most of the world and whose stock has tumbled for the last two days enough to take the Dow negative.
I rested from 3:00 until 4:00.
At 4:45 Suzette called and I started preparing the appetizers. I filled a bowl with Moroccan dried black olives and peeled a cantaloupe and cut it into slices and sections and sliced fresh Gravad Lax slices and wrapped the cantaloupe with slices of Gravad Lax.
When Suzette came home she took over the entrée prep. She brought the vichyssoises in and fetched tea cups in which to serve it. She went to the garden and harvested a handful of fresh chives and finely minced it to garnish the soup.
Melissa arrived at about 5:50 with two bottles of Argentinian Malbec.
At 6:00 Cynthia and Ricardo arrived with a Greek salad and bowl of Tzatziki.
I opened a bottle of Gruet Sauvage Rose that we drank as we nibbled the appetizers as we sat in the living room and talked.
Suzette grilled the lamb chops and when they were cooked she set up a buffet and everyone served themselves. Melissa wanted to drink a white wine so I opened a chilled bottle of Gruet Brut. I also opened one of the bottles Melissa brought, a 2016 Altosur Malbec from Tupungato in the Mendoza Valley in Argentina that was rated 93 points that was delicious. I filled glasses with champagne and second glasses with the Malbec for those who wanted to drink both. I drank the Malbec with the lamb and champagne with the potato soup. Both were wonderful combinations.
We had a lively conversation as we ate and drank.
After we finished our entrees I asked if anyone wanted Clafoutis for dessert with ice cream and a slash of cognac and amazingly everyone accepted my offer. I got one of the new bottles of cognac and Suzette filled dishes with the blueberry Clafoutis and scoops of ice cream and. We pass Ed the bottle so everyone could moisten their cake with cognac. I made this Clafoutis with 7 T. of wheat flour and 3 T. of almond flour, so it was more cake like and drier so readily accepted a slash of cognac. Finally around 9:00 Melissa said goodnight and at 9:15 so did Cynthia and Ricardo.
I am continually amazed by Cynthia’s perfect ability to complement and complete our menu. Tonight she made a lovely light Tzatziki using only one cloves of garlic instead of the three the recipe calls for and squeezing most of the liquid out of the cucumber before she grated it.
Her Greek salad was divine also, a lovely blend of chopped lettuce, spinach leaves, diced tomatoes, kalamata olives, and crumbled feta cheese with an olive oil and vinegar dressing.
It was a lovely meal from start to finish.
Bon Appetit
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