I went to an all day seminar on water law today.
It had a one hour break for lunch, so I drove to Costco for a Polish Dog and glass of lemonade.
Tonight was the December Neighborhood Cocktail Party. This month it was held at the rambling ranch style home of Steve and Debbie Cito at 300 Laguna. We unfolded and plated the remains shrimp mold on the new hand painted Portuguese appetizer charger and surrounded it with Carr’s water biscuits.
There were lots of neighbors. It seems like almost everyone decided to bring either shrimp or desserts this month. There must have been six or seven platters or bowls of boiled shrimp, two or three of which were those self contained round plastic trays with a circle of small shrimp with a small ramekin of cocktail sauce in the middle. I was a little upset that so few people chose to cook this month, but enjoyed gorging on shrimp and drinking white wines. We took a bottle of the newly arrived 2015 Benton Lane Rose, which seemed to be less fruity and more Pinot Noirish on first impression or perhaps it was not a perfect complement for shrimp.
The winning dish this month was Debbie Cito’s Mezze board with its dozen or so small bowls of appetizers including soft fresh ricotta cheese, sliced cheddar and sliced Pecorino Romano cheeses, chopped dates, homemade fig jam, home made tomato chutney, salami, prosciutto wrapped around a bit of cheese, cornichon,smoked salmon slices, and a few other appetizing selections, accompanied by a tray with two kinds of cracker and a pile of toasted French bread. I loved Debbie’s assortment of appetizing nibbles and ate quite a few raisin and almond crackers spread with fresh ricotta garnished with a smear of fresh fig jam. Steve was the bar tender at the extensive bar beside the front door. I tried a wine he recommended by Peju Winery in Napa that was a blend of white and red grapes, but mostly drank Sauvignon Blanc because I like it better with shrimp.
Willy met us at the party and talked to lots of folks about his plan to make Park Ave. a walking street on Christmas Eve.
We arrived a bit after 7:00 and stayed until after 9:30.
Bon Appetit
No comments:
Post a Comment