April 7, 2024 Trip to Dallas Breakfast - Gravad Alan on toasted bagels. Snack on plane - Foie Gras and Jarlsberg cheese sandwiches. Dinner at Billy and Elaine’s house.

April 7, 2024 Trip to Dallas Breakfast - Gravad Alan on toasted bagels. Snack on plane - Foie Gras and Jarlsberg cheese sandwiches. Dinner at Billy and Elaine’s house.

I woke up at 7:00. At 8:00 Suzette woke up and made me a latte machiatta coffee before she exercised in the hot tub.

At 10:00 I toasted three slices of a Zabar everything bagel, spread them with cream cheese and garnished them with onion slices, Gravad Lax, and capers. Suzette ate one and I ate two.  Suzette drank her weekly Bloody Mary and I drank chai.

I read until 8:00 when; I watched Fareed Zacharia and then at 8:45 I started watching Man Union play Liverpool. Man Union stands No. 8 and Liverpool was No. 1 in the PL standings. Man Union took an early lead of 2 to 0 but by in the 83rd minute Liverpool tied on a penalty kick 2 to 2 resulting in Liverpool being tied for first with 71 points.  After breakfast we packed and I made two foie gras and Jarlsberg cheese sandwiches.  The sandwiches were as close to those we ate at the wine festival in Vouvray, toasted baguette, smeared with butter and foie gras and then garnished with slices of Jarlsberg cheese and onion.

When Willy came at 12:15 we drove to the airport to take a 2:39 flight to Dallas.  We waited in the Schlotzkey’s restaurant in the airport and watched the NCAA women’s championship between Iowa and South Carolina.  We watched the first half and then boarded the plane  and when we arrived in Dallas at Billy and Elaine’s house they told us South Carolina won, which meant South Carolina ended with a perfect season of 38 wins and no losses, an incredible record.

When we got to Billy’s, Rita, Rachel, James and their two children, Mariam and Sam, were there.

Billy had baked a peach cobbler and baked beans.  Elaine made a lovely thinly shredded cabbage cole slaw dressed with a sweet vinegar dressing. Soon Jerry arrived with a salmon filet that he had cured with salt and brown sugar for eight hours and then smoked in a smoker he made. The salmon was tender and delicious. I have not had as good a cured and smoked salmon since we bought some at a take out store in Northern California fifteen years ago.

Billy and Elaine also had ordered two racks of pork ribs that they served with all the other items.

Jerry also subscribes to a bean club and brought a bean, corn, and tomato salad that featured snow top beans, a new bean to me.

Billy served the Vara Silver Head Brut, we brought   It was good but not very elegant because served in plastic cups.

After dinner Billy served the peach cobbler made with Parker County peaches.  It was so good I ate three helpings, far exceeding my normal limit.

After dinner Rachel and James took the kids back to the Air BNB and Jerry drove Rita back to her assisted living facility and I settled in the chair in front of the TV and watched the last ten minutes of Mr. Bates v. The Post Office and then an episode of Alice and Jack, which I like very much.

We then went to bed and I finished this blog.

Bon Appetit