October 2, 2016 Breakfast – Salmon sandwiches, Lunch – BLT Sandwiches. End of Summer Dinner Party – Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Malaysian Rice, Stir Fried Vegetables, and New Mexico Green Chile Apple Pie

October 2, 2016 Breakfast – Salmon sandwiches,  Lunch – BLT Sandwiches. End of Summer Dinner Party – Grilled Teriyaki Salmon, Malaysian Rice, Stir Fried Vegetables, and New Mexico Green Chile Apple Pie

This morning I awakened around 7:45.  I went to the kitchen and toasted three slices of Fano bread and smeared them with California goat cheese from Costco, lay slices of my gravad lax on them with capers and slices of red onion and made chai and watched GPS and Totenham Hotspurs beat Man City 2 to nil.  

I then watched Meet the Press and Reliable Sources and found out that someone had sent Donald Trump’s tax returns to the NY Times and the Times had verified that they were in fact those of Donald Trump and it showed that he did not pay any federal income taxes for 18 years.

After the news shows I went to help Suzette and Mario with the pond liner until Mario left to get the correct sized screws.

I then pruned all the rose bushes.  At noon Suzette stopped to eat and we made BLT sandwiches with the lovely yellow tomato she bought at the Farmers’Market yesterday. I drank a glass of Clamato with the juice of ½ lime.

Suzette went to Home Depot for stuff for a project and so at around 1:45 I rode to Rio Bravo and back and then took a short nap and showered.

At 4:00 I put two rose’s and a Famille Perrin Côte du Rhone white in the fridge to chill for the dinner party and watched the SNL opening skit, which was a reinterpretation of the Presidential debate between Hillary and Donald last Monday night.p while I cubed prosciutto slices and cubed a canary melon.

At shortly after 5:00 as the Cowboys were beating SF 49ers with 1 minute to go, Clayton arrived with an green chile Apple pie.  Soon Cynthia and Ricardo arrived with Barbelle and a bottle of Italian Rosato Prosecco, appetizers of chips and guacamole and an artichoke dip and stir fried bok choy and snow peas and a bottle of Dao red wine.

Suzette made gin and tonics for all with the Ironworks Gin she bought recently in Nova Scotia when she and Melissa were visiting Clayton and Fever Tree Tonic Water.

As I was showing the house to Clayton and Barbelle, Diane and Jim arrived with a six pack of Marble Brewery IPA and a lovely Malaysian rice dish with ginger, raisins, carrots, green onions, and roasted peanuts and their set of bocce balls.  

Soon Mike arrived with three bottles he bought at Total wine;  a Roadview Riesling, a dry Riesling from Chateau St? Michelle, and a very interesting bottle of Chenin Blanc. Willy arrived a bit later.

We took the appetizers to the table beside the bocce and played bocce for about an hour.  When the grilled teriyaki salmon was ready, Cynthia brought her stir fried vegetables to the table and Jim and Diane brought their Malaysian rice dish.  Suzette took the two planks on which the salmon lay from the grill and put them on a roasting tray and put them on the table.  While I fetched an Albero Rose’, the bottle of chilled White Famille Perrin Côte du Rhone and a bottle of Cherry Blossom Pinot Noir and poured glasses for each person, everyone served themselves.  Soon lively conversation and good cheer engulfed the table as the late afternoon turned to night.  

Suzette and Mario had set up two six foot folding tables beside the raised bed wall and placed four chairs on the lawn side of the tables and a chair at each end.  Suzette sat at one end and I sat at the other end.  At around 7:30 just after Mike lit the votive candles Suzette had set on the table I took these pictures.  

Everyone commented on how perfectly the dishes complemented each other.  Each of the dishes had been flavored with soy and ginger and was of Far Eastern origin, Cynthia’s was Chinese, Jim and Diane’s was Malaysian, and Suzette and mine was Japanese.

As we all get older I think we enjoy simple menus of well prepared dishes.  Everyone seemed to think the grilled fish, stir fried vegetables, and elaborate rice dish were a well balanced meal.  I particularly liked Cynthia’s stir Fried snow peas and bok choy.  I love snow peas and it is really fun to taste someone else’s style of stir frying.

After we finished dinner Ricardo poured glasses of the Italian Belle Conchi Pink Prosecco and Suzette heated the apple pie and served it with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Willy sat beside me and told me that tonight was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  He suggested that even though I was not a practicing Jew that somehow an internal clock in my DNA led me to celebrate the event.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the cool evening in the garden, so Later I brought out a chilled bottle of La Granja Grenache Rose’ and a bottle of Roadview Monterrey County Pinot Noir from the basement.  The Roadview Pinot noir was a much bigger Pinot and had a bit of tannin and complexity that everyone except me liked.  I drank a glass of the Roadview Riesling that had a nice balance between fruit and tannins.

Everyone except Mike left at 9:30.  Mike stayed for a cup of chai as we cleaned up and Suzette filled the dishwasher with plates and glasses.

Finally around 10:30 we said goodnight to Mike and went to bed.

Bon Appetit