On mange bien ici

This evening a call came in at work just one minute before the call queue closed. I got it. The call lasted just over one hour. Sure, I billed the overtime, but ugh!

On my way to the parking lot I flipped open my cell phone and called Bill to see how many nibbles he got on the idea of seeing Oedipus next month as a group. It seems we now have a party of six for some Greek tragedy.

Then he asked if I would like to join him and his dad for supper. I accepted. Only fools turn down Bill's cooking.

Lovely to see them both.

We started by enjoying a Snow's Lake Vineyard 2007 Syrah from Rosenblum. Just lovely. Thank you, Steve!

First Course: a tomato and rice soup from the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Homegrown tomatoes. Lovely.

Second Course: Shrimp in Julia Child's Nantua sauce served over gemelli with broccoli florets. Bill described all the steps in making this sauce. OMG - in a commercial restaurant this should have cost an arm and a leg. And the portions were generous. The sauce was a form of liquid velvet. You knew it was rich and you didn't care; it was heaven.

Third Course: Salad of green leaf lettuce with scallions and small wedges of homegrown tomato with oil and vinegar.

Fourth Course: Apple slices flamed in bourbon and ladled over vanilla ice cream.

I had planned to come home and cook tonight. So glad my plans changed. Thank you, Bill!


I got my camera out of the car just for this rose in Bill's front garden.


It will be a long time before I know how to do night photography of the moon, but here is the moon and that little white speck below the cottonwood branch on the right is Jupiter, I believe.

That's my night. That's my story. And I'm sticking to it.

--the BB