April 11, 2021 Lunch at Amy’s. Dinner - Gravad Lax on Toasted bagel with Cream cheese and sliced onion

 April 11, 2021 Lunch at Amy’s.   Dinner - Gravad Lax on Toasted bagel with Cream cheese and sliced onion

 One of the great traditions of our family is Easter luncheon.  As Amy says, “It is my favorite Food Holiday.”  That is because it is the one time in the year that She connects with her Southern roots. The menu is usually the same; Baked Ham, Garlic Grits, usually steamed asparagus, fruit salad, and biscuits.  This year Amy made a concession to Willy’s dislike for ham and added Southern fried chicken to the menu.  Actually the only thing Amy made this year was the fruit salad and Asparagus with a topping of sautéed minced shallot. The spiral cut ham and the biscuits came from Whole Food and the Chef at El Gancho Tennis Club prepared the fried chicken. 

That in no way diminished from the elegant effect and I was proud that Amy found a way to carry on the tradition of Easter Luncheon.  

                                         My plate with buttered biscuit and honey

                                                                 Chocolate torte with vanilla whipped cream 

There were eight of us, Amy, Suzette, Willy, Deane and Louie, and Dayla and Craig and me, plus Gracie and a noisy Curved Bill Thrasher that squawked from the top of a tree next to the patio where we ate our lunch al fresco.

Dayla and Craig are staying in a Santa Fe for the summer as they decide upon the next step in their career, so we hope to see more of them in the near future.  Vahl went to Denver to help his son on a fence project for the weekend.

In addition to Amy’s main spread, Craig made a chocolate flourless torte and I brought three bottles of wine, a Gruet Tamaya still Rose, an Emma Reichart Pinot noir Rose from Germany, and a bottle of Mohua New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The Tamaya is one of the last bottles of it.  Gruet no longer makes Tamaya and its current still Rose lacks the elegance of the Tamaya. The Tamaya reminds me of a very good Bandol Rose, light, dry, and very refined, perhaps even elegant.

I compare it to other roses like the heavy fruity Reichart Rose by saying that Tamaya is to those more pedestrian roses as Dom Perignon is to standard heavier champagnes.

The absence of flavor of Tamaya distinguishes it as does the absence of flavor distinguishes Dom Perignon from other champagnes.

Deanne brought a bottle of 2019 Elk Cove Pinot Gris.  Clever girl, she realized it was my favorite American Pinot Gris and a worthy candidate for best bottle.

We had light snacks before we left for Santa Fe at 10:15, so when we arrived we ate some of the Boursin and Jarlsberg cheese with raisin and fig crackers Amy had laid out for starters.

Soon Deanne and Louie arrived and we switched to Elk Cove. 

Then Dayla and Craig arrived with the impressive flourless torte. 

We talked on the upper patio while Amy laid the food on the table and soon we served ourselves and seated ourselves at the long table Any set at the lower level of the patio.

I drank Tamaya rose until it was gone and then Elk Cove Pinot Gris.  I tried to restrain my consumption to leave some room for the chocolate torte.

I talked mostly to Louie, who is an artist, but grew up in Virginia and seemed to be my age. Willy was engaged in a lively conversation with Dayla and Craig.

It was a very pleasant group and we all enjoyed finally getting together after a year of isolation.

At 3:30 everyone said goodbye and Willy drove us home with a bag of food that Amy packed for us.

We were tired when we arrived at 4:45 and so we napped.  I awakened at 5:45 and saw the Cooper’s hawk sitting on the birdbath.  After taking a picture I walked 2/3 mile at a good pace through the neighborhood but Suzette slept until 8:00.  We watched “Atlantic Crossing”, the new PBS Masterpiece series about how the Norwegian monarchy traveled to the U.S. to escape the Nazi invasion of Norway in WWII.

Then at 9:00 I cleaned the Gravad Lax after its 24 hour curing and packed it in Saran and put it in the fridge after slicing a few slices to cover two slices of toasted bagel that I ate for my dinner with cream cheese, onion, and Lax sauce.  Lax sauce is a special creamy sauce made for salmon that is mainly, Swedish mustard, olive oil, sugar, and dill. I buy it at IKEA for $2.99 for a small bottle.  

                                                  The marinade weighted with a brick

                                                         The brick and Saran removed

                                                 The final cured lax after it is washed and dried 

At 11:00  after two cups of chai I went to bed still burping onion.

Bon Appetit