July 30, 2022 Brunch - Blue Cheese, red onion, Avocado and Tomato Bruschetta, Wine release party at Vara, Dinner - Lamb filled pita pockets

July 30, 2022 Brunch - Blue Cheese, red onion, Avocado and Tomato Bruschetta, Wine release party at Vara,  Dinner - Lamb filled pita pockets.

This was a wonderful day in lots of ways. My hips are feeling better which means. Can walk faster with less pain.  Let’s hope that in not temporary.

Then at 9:00 the Comcast technician came to fix our system. He spent an hour moving the volume back not the Comcast remote, shortening the cable to the TV so it did no get caught in the swinging door, replacing the junction were. The cable splits with one cable running to the internet and the other running to the TV, checking the Internet and TV systems to make sure we do not lose video as we have lately, and even removed an old cable dangling from the roof at the back of the house from an ancient system.  We felt rejuvenated when he left.

Then Suzette came up with a great idea for brunch at 10:30.  She toasted a 5 inch slice of French baguette. I sliced 1/2 avocado into nine thin slices and sliced four of five thin slices of red onion.  Suzette fetched the new wedge of Point Reyes Blue cheese and I sliced a medium vine ripe tomato into six slices.

I then spread butter ob the slices of toast and then blue cheese after removing the rind.  Then garnished with slices of red onion, tomato and avocado. for a lovely and delicious bruschetta. We microwaved the bread when it was covered with cheese and red onion to soften them.

While I was making the sandwiches, Suzette made us iced Vietnamese iced coffees with coffee, condensed milk, and lots of ice.

I cut the sandwiches in half to make them easier to handle and Suzette removed the tarp covering the chairs under the gazebo and we ate our brunch in the garden that is looking really lush and verdant with lots of color.  After brunch I picked a red, a white, and a pink rose to put in my office and by my bed.

After brunch, Billy and Elaine called and invited us to Dallas for Thanksgiving and said a Willy had agreed to come.  We also discussed out plans to visit them during their vacation in La Veta, Colorado in September.

So we have several nice trips to add to the calendar.

At 1:00 we showered and dressed and drove to Vara Winery for its release f it’s first two wines made by Laurent Gruet, who attended the event. Laurent made a sparkling white and rose.  We liked the white Blanc de Blanc because it was 75% Chardonnay and a goodly portion of the rest of the dosage was Spanish Cava.  The rose, although nice, was a bit to earthy since it was 100% AmericanSyrah.  Another confirmation of what Greg said at the Bandol tasting two weeks ago, “You can make Rose out of anything.”

There was also a large offering of creative food for the event.  The two most interesting dishes were chicken beignets with syrup (fried clumps of chicken in pancake dough).  The other dish we really enjoyed was a vegetable tempura with onions, mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, and thin slices of lemon fried together in clumps. We had never eaten lemon tempura and loved discovering this new food experience.

The food offerings also included small carafes of ceviche and honeydew Mellon cubes marinated in rose’ and dusted with black sesame seeds on a skewer, and fried shrimp tempura. After three glasses of bubbly and a lot of food we proceeded to JoAnn’s fabric on Coors where I read Blessing Way while Suzette shopped for fabric.  We then filled up the car with gas at Costco and drove to El Super very slowly because Atrisco was filled with rain runoff.

At El Super we bought a case of Dos Equis, zucchini, lemons, limes, red onions, yogurt, beef short ribs, three cucumbers, two smoked pork chops, celery, garlic, green onions, parsley, and condensed milk.

Suzette wanted to stuff pita pockets with lamb, parsley, tzatziki, and chopped tomatoes for dinner, so after El Super we drove to Lowe’s.  While I waited in the Highlander and read, Suzette shopped for pita bread, cans of garbanzo beans, and tonic water.

We then drove home and had a cocktail and a handful of mixed unsalted nuts after we put up the groceries.

Then at 6:30 I made tzatziki with 1 pressed clove of fresh garlic from our garden, juice of 1/2 lemon, a cup of yogurt, 1 T. of the fancy olive oil we bought in California, and one cucumber peeled, seeded, diced finely, and sprinkled with salt.

The resulting Tzatziki had an explosive garlic flavor that permeated the ingredients with its flavor as the tzatziki rested on the table and later in the fridge.

Suzette wanted to make the canned garbanzo beans into hummus but our tahini had gone bad.

I sliced eight thin slices of the PPI Roasted lamb and Suzette chopped a pile of fresh parsley and I diced a tomato.  The Suzette cut a pita in half and heated it in the microwave to soften it.

 

We then stuffed each half with slices of lamb, plus tzatziki, tomatoes, and parsley.  

                      Looking into the stuffed pocket of the gyros

Surprisingly, the pita’s pocket held together through most of our eating it.

We opened a bottle of red Bordeaux rated 97 points but saved most of it for out next lamb meal.

After dinner we watched Father Brown and Death in Paradise and I watched some of the European Champion’s league match between Real Madrid and Juventus that Real Madrid won by a score of 2 to 0.

Suzette went to bed at 10:00:and I followed after the match at around 11:00.

Bon