I took a break from gardening to go play with Roscoe and Ally, Howard and Lisa’s new maltipoos.
Aren’t they scrumptious? Roscoe is the sweet one and Ally is the devil. Here she has Roscoe in a headlock. Can’t you see the resigned look in his eyes? I think he actually has his arms up in surrender.
So, last night was the end of my birthday week. We had yummy Indian food al fresco, because it was such a beautiful and cool Spring night. You can see it was a lovely setting above, plus we made a fire in our fire pit for the first time. Martha and Les out-did themselves in the culinary department. I’m such a lucky gal. All the pics are on flickr… but here’s a little preview:
It was a gorgeous day and all the flowers were blooming and trees budding:
Martha and Les made miles of lamb burgers, plus tandoori chicken, home-made naan and saag paneer.
I was in charge of presentation:
All the activity made Angus a little anxious. That’s why we call him Anguish, sometimes.
Eventually, David and Janet, Howard and Lisa, and Martha’s husband Bryan came over, and we put everyone to work:
Eating outside in front of the fire was wonderful.
We had birthday cake and ice cream in the living room. In the end, it was a fabulous evening!
What a nice start to a hopefully fabulous 4-day weekend. After sleeping in and having a nice walk on the treadmill, Regina and I met at Central 214, the restaurant at the Hotel Palomar, for my birthday. I had yummy tomato basil soup and a field greens salad. Then we went over to exhale spa, where we both enjoyed deep-tissue massages. It was seriously the best massage that I ever had. Pam… you must go see Pam. It was the best birthday present ever.
Tomorrow I go to see the pain management doctor who will give me a nice giant steroid shot. Then we’ll have dinner at Martha and Bryan’s Friday night. Saturday night is my birthday party. I think we’re going to have it outside, since it’s so cool and sunny right now. The food is Indian. Hey Pursuit… I know that wine isn’t usually served with Indian food, but if you were going to, what wine would you serve? A gewurztraminer maybe?
And… last but not least, we get to have my favorite birthday cake… Red Velvet!!! Mmmmm……
Howard and Lisa gave me this stunning orchid last night. It will make a super centerpiece for the party next weekend. Then my sweet husband gave me presents tonight. Some lovely Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrian perfume and soap, a gorgeous leather case for my Moleskine notebooks, and a beautiful painting of sweet Nick.
Hooray for me!!!
We went to Rise tonight for a bit of birthday dinner with Howard and Lisa. Rise has an outstanding menu of savory and sweet souffles, as well as some other French foods. It also has a really fun and innovative wine list. I had Artichoke Andre, the blue cheese souffle, and the Grand Marnier souffle for dessert, pictured above. Everything was excellent, including the Louis Latour pinot noir. Tomorrow I get my presents from my sweet husband, and my birthday party is next Saturday. Yippee, birthdays should always be celebrated for at least a week!
We have a little field of them by our driveway.
Added: Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Thanks to Pursuit and Mrs. Pursuit, I’m now the proud owner of a field of grape hyacinth!
We went over to Bryan and Martha’s last night and had the best meal evah! You can see the salad below. Bryan took entire heads of romaine lettuce and grilled them. Then they were topped with blue cheese dressing, bacon, and a tomato and red onion mixture. Yum. There was grilled chicken breast with lemon butter sauce and mashed red potatoes with truffle oil. We also indulged in another bottle of wine from my boss: Faiveley Rully Les Villeranges, a white burgundy that everyone deemed superb.
Then we sat outside until the bugs bit us too much. It was 87 degrees yesterday! I guess summer is here. Les also pre-shopped Martha and Bryan’s yard sale and bought a surf board and a fur hat. Don’t ask me!
Tonight we’re going back to Rise with Howard and Lisa for an early birthday celebration. You know I’m going to take pictures of the food, right?
Having fun playing with Twitter… because you know, every moment of my time is so fascinating…..
Chateau Joanin Becot 2003…. one of several bottles of wine that I received from my boss for Christmas. Finally busting it open after a hell of a day…. an unexpected real estate tax bill, a screw up on my checking account, a jury summons and waiting to hear the accountant say what the income tax bill will be this year…. Make that a double!
This 25-acre vineyard, planted on clay and limestone soils, consists of 25% Cabernet Franc and 75% Merlot. Michel Rolland’s top assistant, Jean-Philippe Fort, consults for the Becot family who owns this up-and-coming Cotes de Castillon superstar. The dense ruby/purple-hued, rich, full-bodied, powerful (14.8% alcohol) 2003 is both a hedonistic and intellectual turn-on. It will not have the longevity of the 2004, but it provides a big, substantial, corpulent mouthful of Merlot and Cabernet Franc that coats the palate, and finishes with silky tannin. It is a sleeper of the vintage. Drink it over the next 7-8 years.” – Rated 90, Robert Parker
Plus the label and wrapper on the cork are pink, which is my favorite color. Now if my dogs would just stop barking….
Spring is already here at Chez Hall. Some showers…. even though it’s not April yet. And lots of blossoms. The pear trees in front of the house are loaded with white frilly flowers (pictured above), and the Carolina Jessamine on the back fence is cascading with yellow blooms. The Crossvine around the sides of the house has formed lots of little pods. The herb pots are starting to grow little green leaves among the dead twigs. And I found one tiny little purple flower by the garage. In just a few months it will be steaming hot, and it will be hard to believe that we ever sat by the fire in our slippers sipping hot tea.
