January 14, 2017 Breakfast - Tamales and Fried Eggs, Lunch - Posole and Tamales, Dinner – Bratwursts with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed String Beans

January 14, 2017 Breakfast - Tamales and Fried Eggs,  Lunch -  Posole and Tamales,  Dinner – Bratwursts with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed String Beans

Yesterday was the Neighborhood Cocktail Party. This month it was hosted by Wendy York, who was a judge and now mediates and moved to our neighborhood in May.  She did a lovely food tray filled with lots of wonderful offerings, mostly from Costco, such as the three meat pack of prosciutto, salami and pepperoni guacamole, and Spanish Marconi almonds, corn chips, and currant nut crackers.

Suzette and I filled one side of the Portuguese appetizer plate with slices of Cabot Double Cheddar and the other side with slices of  Wengers Lebanon Bologna we bought in Elizabethtown when we visited her family in October and placed a ramekin of honey mustard mayonnaise in the center of the plate.

The best dish of the night was brought by Peggy Cronin, sautéed scallops wrapped with bacon and sautéed (scallop rumaki).  Wikipedia says that Rumaki was a faux Polynesian dish made with bacon wrapped chicken livers created by Trader Vic’s.

Several folks brought deviled eggs and several brought guacamole, which seem to be popular dishes.

Wendy’s dining room is dominated by a large Warhol print of Elizabeth Taylor that is super impressive.

On Saturday we sautéed a tamale and fried eggs for breakfast.  For lunch we heated the last two remaining tamales and posole from Christmas and ate that at around 1:30.

At 10:30 we drove to Trader Joe’s.  Suzette bought candles for the Bistro for its Valentine’s Day special meal.  I bought seven bottles;  an Armagnac, an Aquino reserve chianti, a Craydon French rose, a Famille Perrin Reserve White Cotes du Rhine, a Chateau Haut Sorillon St. Emillion, a new bottle of Torrontes from Argentina, a La Granja white blend of Viura and Verdejo grapes for $4.99 and a 14 oz. can of medium roast Colombian supreme for the coffee machine for $5.99, a bouquet of lillys and asters for $2.99, and a four pack of medium artichokes for $2.49.

Then we drove to Total Wine where Suzette replenished her scotch and I bought 10 bottles of wine, including three Famille Perrin Reserve Red Cotes du Rhone, a $20.00 Le Pont Bandol rose’, an Italian White, a $20.00 bottle of Monte Clavijo Gran Reserva, and the best bottle we bought was a Haut Cotes de Nuit from Nuit St. George in the Cote d’ Or. There were 12 packs with four beers each of Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, and Leffes for $7.99. We bought the last three 12 packs to replenish our beer.

I took a nap in the afternoon and at 4:30 rode north to Campbell Rd. and back against an increasingly strong head wind.

At 6:30 Suzette suggested that we cook the three bratwursts I bought at Sprouts Farmers Market on Thursday for $2.99/lb.  I suggested we steam the green beans I also bought on Thursday for $.88/lb. and make mashed potatoes.  

 I peeled and chopped five small potatoes and put them into the boiling pot of water in which I was boiling the four artichokes.  I then snapped the ends off the green beans and put them into a Pyrex loaf pan with a bit of water and covered the pan with Saran.  

Suzette boiled the three brats in ½ bottle of Hoegaarden beer and when the potatoes were boiled whipped them with milk and butter into mashed potatoes in the Kitchen Aid mixer.

I fetched bottles of Stella Artois and the mustard, and horseradish and a Suzette fetched the mayonnaise and plated the dishes and we had a merry time dipping our forks filled with mashed potato and slices of brats into a sauce we each made with spoonfuls of mustard, horseradish and mayonnaise while sipping Stella Artois beer.

Bon Appetit