The Morning After

We went to a Napa wine dinner last night, and I am still on cloud 9 this morning. Unlike a hangover, I'm enjoying the long and lingering finish, and I remember and savor every detail of the evening. Our signifigant others were able to accompany us this time, made possible by Courtney and Tim, who were able to keep up with Pippin on Halo ODST ( which I can't help but think of  'odius STD' when I say). The kids had a great time and we had a fabulous time and came home with some new wines to try. It is so much fun to talk with someone who is so passionate about food and wine, and it was really nice Shane was there because I would not have spent that much. But I will enjoy drinking them.

Apparently, we didn't get enough because when we got home we both wanted to try one right away. We picked the Owen Roe 'Rosa Mystica' ($46.99) , a 2007 cabernet franc.  It was very nice, like liquid cocoa powder. We had it with pita chips, but I'm looking forward to trying it with food tonigth. I was going to do some halibut, but now I might do salmon instead. Or maybe the spicy shrimp we had last night.

We also had hanger steak with watercress sauce and onion jam. We'll be making that for Shane's birthday dinner, along with the apple pie with white cheddar crust. And the fennel spiced prawns with citrus salad. And one of the new wines.

I realized I didn't get all the courses, or any pictures of our group. But the wonderful food, wine, and company were a little distracting. And since we usually end up re-creating the meals at home, there are more opportuniteis for pictures.

Since its lent, and Friday, I'll just put the recipe for the prawns up. And because the kids are waiting to go ride bikes so I need to hurry.

Fennel spiced Prawns with Citrus Salad                                                                                                       

12 jumbo prawn- 1/4 lb-  raw, de-veined
1T Fennel spice
1 blood orange
1/2 grapefruit
1 navel orange
salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large bunch watercress - we actually used spinach last night and that was good too

Fennel Spice

1 c fennel seeds
3T coriander seeds
2 T white peppercorns
3 T kosher salt


Toast the seeds and peppercorns over med heat until lightly brown and fragrant. Let cool completely. Then blend in blender with salt until you get a fine powder.

Sprinkle 1 T over shrimp and refrigerate, covered, up to six hours.

Cut the skin and pith off all the fruits. With a kinfe, segment the fruit, leaving out the membranes. Slice them over a bowl to catch any juices. Add 1/4 cup oilve oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to mix.

Preheat oven to 400. Heat 2 T oil in skillet and cook prawns about 2 min until they begin to turn  pink around the edges. Place pan in oven and cook 2 min longer.

To serve, place 1/4 watercress on each plate. Toss the citrus mixture and  spoon over watercress, making sure to sprinkle the juices. Arrange prawns around each salad.

Update: We made this for Shane's birthday. I just sauteed the shrimp on the stove for 4-5 min and skipped the oven part. Also, we thougth we'd improve it by cutting the citrus in smaller pieces- they had serve them in segments- but the grapefruit really fell apart and it was better to leave them bigger.

Pippin Turns 4- and some catch up photos

Cyprian's birthday is not until tomorrow, but due to schedules, we had the party yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Of course we had the usual neighborhood gang pop over to help celebrate, eat cake, and add to the festiveness.

He was so excited to get GG's card. He was very generous and gave everyone a balloon and piece of gum. He spend his dollar on a bottle of juice this morning, and played stickers with Kateri while we waited for the big kids to finish art class.

He enjoyed his new Webkin and garbage truck. And has been playing with the little army men all day. It was great party and we enjoyed the leftover cake this afternoon after lunch. ( I am glad he asked for chocolate.)

This was not part of the birthday party. This was a girl trip my sister, a friend, and I took a couple weeks ago. Tirzah and Anna had found a cute little cooking shop in Cannon Beach which offered classes. So we picked one out, got a room, and headed down for the week end. The girls picked up some yarn at the yarn shop and started making hats. I have not gotten the itch to knit this year, yet. So I brought some books. We drank copius amounts of tea ( Mostly my new favorite Ruby Chai) and stayed up talking until 2am. Then got up for breakfast and coffee, shopping, beach walking, and whatever else tickled our fancy.

The little coffee shop across from our hotel was very cozy and had very tasty scones. I brought one back for Shane. Along with a couple bottles of wine.

The last morning we checked out and then rented bikes for a beach ride. Recumbent bikes are harder than they look. At least on the sand and pedaling up wind. The only thing that kept me moving was knowing it would be really easy on the way back and the fact that it is really hard to start once you stop. I was inspired to be resolute about doing more cardio wokours, But we made it back just as the rain started and had coffee at the Sleepy Monk before heading to do some shopping for the kids and heading home. We felt very re-freshed and ready for the new school year. Which started at 9:00 the next morning.

Cyril is the proud owner of a fancy new pocket knife. At least he was. Until I discovered he tried out the little scissors on his brother's hair. We'll give it back in another week or so. After I get him so balsa wood. So as to distract him from the nice wooden posts on the stair case.

Here is how we spend our Thursday evenings. Luckily it is one door down from the ballet studio
so the kids can take turns dancing and eating.

Pippin's version of a peace sign.

Here is my re-creation of the halibut from the EVOO cooking class. The fish and salsa came out very well but my lentils were not quite as flavorful. I even used the Umbrian lentil we had at the restaurant. Unfortunately, I made a lot of lentils so we had them a few nights running until Shane said , "Enough. No more lentils."



So then we moved on to the summer ratatouille with grilled bread and multi grain pasta. That came out pretty yummy too. I can put the recipes up later, but now my back is tired from my work out this afternoon. And I think I need some tea.

Tirzah just called today and said the hotel is having a fall special. And the cooking school has a new menu. I think bacon wrapped scallops were on it. I think Shane was impressed with the recipes and wine I brought back and would support a second trip. And the kids loved having Papa all to themselves. One aspect I loved about the menu was it was mostly vegetarian- only one beef dish-and very healthy. The kids love fish and some of them liked the ratatouille. Lots of good Lenten meals. Oh. And the wines were good too.

Mutton and a life altering experience

Shane has been after me to make lamb. Unfortunately, I had a few things to get over before I could undertake such a dish. No, it was nothing to with Mary Had Little Lamb or even the fact that Cyril's best friend was a lamb. When we were growing up we had a lovely British neighbor, Helen, who liked to cook lamb stew. And she liked to share entire pots of it with her neighbors. I actually don't remember how it tasted but I definitly remember the smell. Very pungent. And when you opened the refrigerator, no matter how it was contained, you got big wafts of it coming at you. Cold, congealed, lamb stew.


But anyway I tried to get over it and finally dug up a recipe for lamb chops with a rosemary-red wine sauce. ( After Shane gently hinted he'd like some by bringing some home from the store .)And I have to admit it was not that bad. Not a s good as Girardi's, but still tasty. I think my thermometer is broken though and it was a slightly over done. But I it made me brave enough to consider trying it again. maybe rack of lamb this time.
So the mutton was not the life altering experience. Tuesday was.

My fairy god-mother (aka my mother- in -law) called up and suggested we bring the kids over for an overnight. That day. The kids were as ecstatic as I was and quickly packed their suitcases while I made a list of all the possible things we might do. After talking it over with Shane we finally decided to go to Girardi's. We also considered seeing a movie but there was nothing good out. WE already saw Kung Fu Panda- which was really good and funny- and Indiana Jones was just not tempting. How could they let slip the inconsistency that the title mentions a crystal-skull ( i'd half expect to see He-Man in the credits) and then the trailers say a skull made entirely of gold. I guess there must be two skulls? Too much for me. Anyway, I am so glad we just stayed at the restaurant and enjoyed our fabulous dinner.

We brought a bottle of Chateneuf-du-Pape, which for the price was not that great. But it was priceless in that it acted as an intro to get Patrick- the owner- over to our table to at try it. He graciously said it was nice and then he pulled up a chair andd proceeded to open two bottles for us to try, which were tastier than ours. We really enjoyed the wines , maybe just because of the occasion and the company and the free feeling of being able to do whatever we wanted. But I think in a large part those things really can make a wine better. I was surpried because one was a Malbec from Argentina and in the past I have not liked them a whole lot. Its extremely mild and I'd like to try some lighter dishes to go with it. My pistachio chicken was a little strong.

We stayed for coffee and up too late, as Shane had an early meeting he had to be in for the mext morning. But when you have free time its hard to waste it on sleep.



Only $9 and $10 ate QFC
The next morning had time to do whatever so I went down and got a bottle of wines we'd tried and a bottle of Root:1 for Patirck, as he said he hadn't tried it. And then being free to do so I stopped by the restaurant to drop it off, where I found Peter, the best waiter in the world, working on a wine list for a tasting, which they have not done in a long time. He had me try some whites he was deciding between but I am not really a white fan so not much help. But I am very excited about the up-coming event and hopefully we can get a good group to all attend together. And i can't wait to see what the chef come up with as they are going to try a more informal setting with things to nibble on as opposed to a course dinner.
As for the life-altering part I guess it was more of an out of body experience. In the sense that I was me doing what I wanted for 24 hrs and feeling like an adult having adult conversations and a little like Cinderella at the ball. Except the Prince and I were already married and I could stay out past midnight.
However, things are back to real and I've slipped easily back into the cook, clean, wash, change, peace brokering role. But it was definitely dreamy while it lasted and came at a very "need recharging" time. I think its time to make lunch now.

Morning

This was from a couple week-ends ago. It was memorable because at 6:30 in the morning, Pippin woke up and said,

"Mommy, I'm hungry".

"Come snuggle mommy and we'll get up in a minute"I said, trying to buy a few more minutes.

"But Mommy, I'm STAHVEEN" hr insisted. So we got up and made him three pieces of toast and warm milk. Kateri came down soon after and ate two cartons of vanilla yogurt. I guess they were both growing. On a normal day they get up between 7:30 and 8:00. But I was able to manage because I had 1/2 and 1/2 for a latte and the Wall Street Journal has a Saturday edition.
This morning Kateri came into the library at 7:30 carrying her new notebook.

"Mom, can we do letters now?"

"Why don't we get some breakfast first and then we can do some letters" I suggested.

"How bout we do letters first and then breakfast" she answered.

I guess I can't complain when they want to work. I helped her with one page and then I got up to make breakfast. She came in a little later and had gone through all the letters from E-Y. We didn't get to go over the sounds as she wrote them but I was impressed with her work. I might have to get a few more of these as they only have one page per letter.



This is last night's dinner. You can't see the broiled chicken breast underneath but its there, topped with mango, bleu cheese, bacon and a basil vinagrette. Very tasty. And of course our old standby Root:1 Cabernet.
Speaking of wine, we are going to be staying at the Salish again and I'm looking forward to the Snoqualmie Reserve we had last time. We can only find the 2004 in the stores now- after Shane bought all the 2003s he could find- but I am hoping the Lodge will still have some. We decided to use our free night- and of course we booked massages and dinner so it was well worth their while to offer it-and have some time before Shane leaves for Tahiti. It worked with Grandma's schedule so when she offered we grabbed it. It helps get through some rough spots to remember it some days.
Some funny kid conversations
Kateri -Cyril, can you pass me the bottle?
Cyril slides it across the table.
Kateri- NO, not like that, like this.
Cyril- You can't tell me how to do it. You're not my mother.
Kateri- No, a mother means a sweet bird.
Cyril- NO it doesn't. It means your mother. Like you're my mother.
Kateri- I mam?
I was explaining to Kateri how nice it will be for her when she learns all her letters. She got all animated and had an amazed look on her face and said,
"Then I can write? and I will be big like you and I can have e-mail? and I can drive, and do the dishes, and drink why-un?"
Because I know my letters.