August 18, 2015 Red Beans and Rice at the Palmers’

August 18, 2015 Red Beans and Rice at the Palmers’ 

We have developed a tradition of sorts.  On days that Suzette drives to Santa Rosa, we eat dinner at the Palmers. It seems to be a reciprocally beneficial arrangement. Our combined cooking efforts produce a bigger, better meal, especially since Susan is kind enough to host and clean up,  none of us are big eaters so there is little need to cook extra.  The only difference I have noted is the slight reduction of leftovers.  Tonight's meal was a good example.

We called Monday  to let the Palmers know that Suzette was going to go to Santa Rosa on Tuesday and see if they wanted to get together for dinner.  We told them we could bring fresh Moriarty corn and tiramisu.  Susan said, “That would be wonderful. I just made a pot of red beans and rice.”

Today when I called around 5:30 to make final arrangements, Susan said she had fresh corn, so they did not need our corn.  I said, “What if I bring some duck foie gras?”  Susan said, “I would love that.”  

Then I mentioned drinks and Susan referred me to Charlie.  When I asked if Charlie preferred wine or beer, he said to bring a bottle of red wine.

 At 6:30, which was the designated time to meet I called Suzette and told her that we were taking a bottle of red and asked her if she wanted me to tie a beer for her, she said, “Sure.”

I put bread, foie gras, a Negra Modelo, and a bottle of Santiago  Station’s Devil’s Backbone Cabernet Sauvignon (Total Wine $4.00) in a bag and grabbed the Whole Foods box with the last third of the tiramisu and walked the two doors down to the Palmers. 

When I arrived I was pleased to see that Susan had set up a little assemblage of appetizers; pistachios, a loaf of herbed Boursin, and crackers, to which I added our pate.  I then sliced Fano baguette and the last this of the Cloud Cliff whole wheat rye loaf we bought Sunday at the Railyard Farmers’ market into thin slices and Charlie toasted them in their wonderful Samsung toaster oven.

I opened our bottle of red and enjoyed a glass of the cab with the cheese and pate and pistachios.  Soon Suzette arrived and joined Charlie and me at the appetizer bar while Susan heated the red beans and rice and boiled a pot of corn on the cob.

When we set the table, we discovered that Susan had also made a sliced tomato salad with balsamic and olive oil and warmed a fresh loaf of sourdough bread from Smith’s. 

The red beans had lots of chunks of spicy sausage, which was delicious.  None of us are big eaters anymore.  We each took a bowl of rice, piled a goodly spoonful of red beans and sausage on it and some balsamic marinated tomatoes.  Susan then served us halved ears of corn and thick slices of warm sourdough bread.  We enjoyed our meal so much we could not eat dessert, but a did take a smidgen extra of red beans and rice.

We noticed a pile of photos on a table in the dining room.  Charlie said they were his photos and we asked if we could view them.  

So after dinner we cleaned the table and viewed some of Charlie’s favorite platinum photos he has made over the last 20 years.  Some were quite impressive.  Views of the mirror like surfaces of water in the ocean and lochs in Scotland, the Grand Canyon, and White Sands were the most beautiful, I thought.

At 9:00 I started yawning at it was time to go home to bed, so we thanked them for fixing dinner and the lovely photography show and took some of the uneaten tiramisu and bread and walked home and went to bed.  

I imagine this to be exactly the way things are in a high end retirement village. Perhaps that is where we are.  We have created our own retirement village; bocce court, gardens, workshops, except we have not down sized yet.  We still have all of our stuff around us.

Bon Appetit