Food, Wine & Friends Page 210
On a late Summer Sunday, we prepared for an annual event around these parts...a
birthday celebration meal marathon for Alanna FitzJensen and Clementeen (the
spelling of her name changed to reflect her new status as a teenager) Sicardskin.
Some nibbles to enjoy with a magnum of Delamotte Champagne...
Everyone checked their cell-phones...
Jesper, meanwhile, took a liking to the Champagne.
It was time to sit down at the table and we found a few little
souvenirs...
It was time to have some vittles and Vino...
We began with some Romaine Lettuce topped with fresh Dungeness
Crab...
A Bandol Rose from Domaine de L'Hermitage was very good...
Dane was enjoying the crab, especially.
The Rose, of course, was the color of Clementeen's hair...
Next we prepared Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Cream...
The Castello di Verduno makes a spectacular Barbaresco from the Rabaja cru...we
opened a bottle of the young 2006 vintage. It's already a grand wine and
will only improve with another decade of bottle aging.
Alanna knows a good mushroom when she tastes it...
Mmmmmmmmm, Mushrooms!
We then had a Beaujolais "ice."
Very refreshing...
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, we'd put the Yorkshire Pudding
in the oven...
These need about 20-25 minutes in the oven to finish...
Clementeen is an especially big fan of Yorkshire Pudding...
Alanna, however, is also a fan of these...
The main plate, then, featured Prime Rib, with Roasted
Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower, Sauteed Haricots Verts and Braised Okra with
Mushrooms.
We opened two bottles of 1996 vintage reds...
A BV Rutherford red made of Clone 6 Cabernet and a 1996 Chateau Pontet-Canet
from Pauillac.
The BV Cabernet was nicely oaked and just about at its peak. The
Pontet-Canet showed a more leathery, horsy sort of character, probably having
Brettanomyces.
Felix found the Yorkshire Pudding to be less dense than a hockey puck,
fortunately.
Meanwhile, Clementeen came poking around to see if there were
anymore Yorkshire Puddings....
GOAL!!!!
The Burlingame Farmer's Market features a couple of good bakers...so we were
able to have some Poilane-like bread to pair with the cheeses.
A Delice de Pommard, A Basque cheese, Morbier and St. Marcellin.
We opened a 1999 Burgundy from the Domaine Chandon de Brialles.
It's showing its age and probably is best consumed in the next couple of
years...
There was an herbal, weedy aspect to the fruit.
As soon as Jesper got up for a second, Alanna was right there
like a little mouse stealing a piece of fromage...
DOUBLE Aa:
Aviva and Alanna...
Then it was time to do some serious celebrating!
A Birthday Cake from Burlingame's great "The Cakery."
Someone did some serious Birthday Wishing...
And then the two Birthday Princesses collaborated in cutting
the cake...
...luckily they didn't collaborate on the previous course or they'd have been
cutting the cheese.
Aside from Yorkshire Pudding, the Birthday Princesses both had Nutella Gelato on
their list of birthday celebration foods...
So we made a big batch of ice cream...
Then it was time for some birthday presents...
Make your own Popsicles!
And then everyone packed up their stuff and we concluded another marathon of
vittles and vino!
Happy Birthday to the Princesses!
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