August 11, 2023 Lunch - Sloane’s Corner  Snack - Leiden and Manchego cheese and crackers at Billy and Elaine’s  Dinner - Iberia flight to Madrid

We awakened at 3:30 a.m. and got ready leisurely.  We ate the pastries Elaine had brought us from Durango.

The cab came at 6:25 and took us to the airport for our 8:00 flight to Dallas. Elaine picked us up at Love Field in Dallas and we drove to the z Nasher sculpture Garden in the Dallas Art District downtown.

There were two exhibits Nasher sculpture gallery. The big one was Mark Di Suvero who does monumental works of painted iron girders and smaller welded pieces, many of which were created in the 60’s when he lived in New York with salvaged wooden beams from destroyed piers and warehouses and others made by welding hooks and chains.

The Forest exhibit of carved wooden pieces made us want to strip the bark from the large cottonwood limb that fell from our large cottonwood in the front yard to expose the raw wood.

 After visiting the Nasher we walked a block to Sloane’s Corner, which is a restaurant we discovered last time we visited the Arts District.  It serves creative dishes and sauces and on Fridays it serves its happy hour menu all day which means that every drink and menu item is half price.

So we went wild.  Suzette and I ordered a really good house rose’ for $8.00 per carafe and we each ordered one entree.  Elaine ordered a raw tuna tostada with a spicy Chipotle aioli, Suzette ordered Spanish Octopus, boiled and grilled octopus laid on a bed of eggplant in Romesco sauce. My dish was even more interesting lamb Marquez meatballs with a Guajillo, Yuzu, and yogurt sauce garnished with mint leaves and grapefruit sections. Yuzu is a Japanese fruit with a bitter taste akin to grapefruit crossed with mandarin orange, according to the websites that offer it in juice and ponzu with soy formats.  I am repeatedly amazed by the brilliantly creative formulations of sauces at Sloane’s Corner and I will continue to go there to enjoy it joyous creations.

We then drove to Billy and Elaine’s house in 106 degree heat with a strong breeze that felt like a blast furnace.

Billy had a total hip replacement operation a couple of days ago and was convalescing.  We talked for a few minutes and then when he got tired I lay down for a 1 1/2 hour nap.  Suzette took a 1/2 nap and then around 6:00 she made a cheese plate with slices of Manchego and Leiden cheese and a box with an assortment of crackers from Central Market. We selected a bottle of Italian Chianti Classico red to go with the cheese.

After our snack. Elaine drove us to DFW Airport for our flight to Madrid.

While we waited the 2 1/2 hours for our flight we walked to the Flying Saucer Restaurant.  Suzette ordered a Pilsner made in Blanco, Texas, that had a really clean taste and I ordered a watermelon apple cider tha had a processed after taste until I added ice to it.

We snacked on the trail mix Suzette made for the trip consisting of chopped apple slices and cherries we dehydrated, chocolate chips, chopped fried banana chips, and small roasted Valencia peanuts.

Then at 9:15 we boarded the Iberia flight.  We had premium economy that got us two larger seats that reclined a bit more and a little more leg room, which made it easier to sleep.

Almost as soon as we lifted off at 10:00 dinner was served.  I chose beef and was served beef tips in a mushroom sauce on rice with a grilled slice of zucchini and a grilled slice of eggplant.  Suzette ordered pasta and received a plate of delicious cheese filled ravioli covered with tomato cream sauce garnished with black olives and slices of tomato. We each took a small bottle of red wine that was not very good. It was pretty good food for airplane food coming out of the US.  I can hardly wait to see what is served on the return flight from Madrid.

After dinner went to bed.

The good news is neither of our flights were delayed, so we made our connection to Madrid without incident.

Bon Appetit