December 4, 2021 Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs and bacon. Lunch - salami Salad. Dinner at Wayne and Elaine’s house
I awakened at 5:15 this morning just in time to watch a watch a breathtakingly exciting match of PL soccer between No.1 Chelsea and No. 4 Westhampton. Westhampton won, which opened the path to Liverpool and Man City to ascend to the top spot in the PL with wins later in the day. I made a mug of hot sweet lime water with honey with 1/2 of a sweet lime I bought at El Super on Thursday. I love the delicate lime flavor of sweet limes and anticipate their arrival in the Fall. I squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime into a mug of hot water and add a tsp. of honey for a pleasant morning tonic, especially in the chair next to the fireplace with a fire warming me.
Breakfast
Suzette had an appointment with James to work on the financials this morning at 9:00 and she wanted to eat a light breakfast before she left, so we fried two slabs of the lovely bacon I bought on Wednesday and Suzette scrambled three eggs and toasted two slices of French baguette for me.
I made another mug of sweet lime water and fetched the butter and French orange marmalade.
After we ate Suzette left for her appointment and I resumed my seat in the easy chair in front of the fireplace to watch the Liverpool v. Wolves match but soon fell asleep. I was awakened by the loud noise in the 94th minute when Liverpool scored a goal to win by a score of 1 to 0. It was as if I was transported on a cloud of sleep for over an hour to the most momentous moment of the match. It was rather magical.
It was noon and I switched the channel to the Big 12 Championship game between Baylor and OSU. Since TCU beat Baylor, I was rooting for Baylor because of the TCU win and the fact that it was a Texas team against an Oklahoma team.
It was a good game with Baylor winning 21 to 16 when its linebacker pushed an end around sweep out of bounds two inches from the pylon on the next to last play of the game to deny OSU a winning score. In a day of College championship football games it was the best game.
Lunch
I made a big salad with the fresh lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, and green onions and some old cucumber and salami. I also toasted a slice of whole wheat bread and lay slices of Jarlsberg cheese and two slices of red onion and melted the cheese in the microwave to make an open faced melted cheese sandwich.
Suzette arrived as I finished making my salad and made a similar salad except instead of salami she garnished her salad with the sautéed trout meat we had made Wednesday evening.
Suzette also fetched 2 bottles of apple cider from the new fridge in the garage and we enjoyed a lovely meal.
Dinner Prep
After lunch at around 3:00 we turned our attention to finishing the Boeuf Bourguignon and potato and Celeriac prep for dinner. Suzette brought the casserole in and started heating it.
I diced about a lb. of mushrooms and Suzette thawed a lb. of Birdseye frozen pearl onions. Then Suzette peeled about 1 1/2 lb. of russet potatoes while I peeled and cubed a 1 1/2 lb. celery root. I then cubed the potatoes and Suzette took them to the stove and boiled them until tender and then whipped them in the Kitchen Aid with butter and cream.
I minced a medium shallot and sautéed the shallot and mushrooms with 1/4 tsp. of thyme in a large skillet with 3 T. of melted butter and 1 T. of olive oil until the ingredients became tender and added them to the Boeuf Bourguignon casserole.
After I finished Suzette browned the thawed and dried onions in the same skillet in the remaining butter and olive oil and added them to the casserole.
We added about two cups more of beef stock to loosen the sauce that had thickened and tasted the stew. Even though we had used a good bottle of 2013 Murphy Goode Pinot Noir, the added beef broth hid a bit of the wine flavor so we decided to add some cognac to give the dish the proper alcoholic expression.
I showered and lay down and took a 1/2 hour nap, then got dressed and at 5:30 we grabbed a bottle of De Ponte 2015 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and the casserole of Boeuf Bourguignon and a covered dish into which Suzette had spooned the mashed potatoes and celery root and drove to Wayne and Elaine’s house.
Soon after we arrived Nancy and Cliff arrived with dessert of pecan meringues and fresh fruit.
We all sat in the living room where Wayne and Elaine had arranged a table full of appetizers including sautéed pieces of Summer sausage made at Katz’ Deli in NYC and a lovely farmhouse cheddar bought from a famous Seattle cheese shop. Wayne poured a glass of the De Ponte Pinot and I was in heaven. We talked for a good while to catch up on Nancy and Cliff’s trip back East and our trip to Dallas.
Wayne and Elaine are the perfect host and hostess. Their attention to the details of the food and drinks and the needs of their guests is impeccable. No glass is ever allowed to go empty.
After we had talked and noshed for a while and Wayne had gone to the kitchen several times to stir and check the casserole that was simmering on the stove, we moved to the dining table and Elaine served her salad. I think she said she used a recipe but Elaine needs no added inspiration to create an exquisite seasonal salad and this one was no exception. A plate of lightly dressed baby arugula, dried currants, walnuts, and toasted cubes of sautéed butternut squash. It was a lovely and tasty and seasonal salad.
After the salad course Wayne put the casserole and ceramic dish filled with the potato and celery root mash that had been kept warm in the oven on the kitchen island and filled our glasses with more De Ponte Pinot while we filled lovely soup bowls with mash and Boeuf.
We ate and talked and several folks actually served themselves seconds, which was a sign of success. The dish that received the most comments was the Swedish style potato/celery root mash.
Wayne then opened a bottle of 2018 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and filled empty glasses with that famous wine. The cab was heavy and moderately fruity and not unpleasant but I got the last of the pinot so I nursed my glass of pinot until I was served coffee and passed my cab to Suzette.
A few minutes after we finished the entree and were involved in a conversation about the horrors of adult conservatorship, Cliff said, “What about dessert?”
That sent Nancy and Wayne and Elaine into motion looking for ice cream to garnish Nancy’s meringues, sliced fruit, and whipped cream. Wayne made decaf coffee and Elaine fetched me sugar and milk as the desserts were served.
The dessert was not only lovely, but also delicious. Meringues are among my favorite desserts. I had never eaten a pecan meringue and absolutely loved this meringue, especially with the sliced strawberries and berries, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. A symphony of textures: hard meringue, crunchy strawberries and berries, swimming in a cloud of ice cream and whipped cream. Pretty decadent.
At 9:30 we said goodnight and loaded the casseroles into the car and drove home.
We were in bed by 10:15 and tried to watch SNL but they did not have a very funny opening skit, so we turned off the TV and went to bed.
I read a few pages of Comanche Empire about the relations between the Comanches and the Spanish living in New Mexico in the 1740s through the 1770’s when New Mexico was a vassal territory for Comanche trade and raids and then went to sleep.
Bon Appetit
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