Cool dinner on a hot night

After a very cool summer, fall officially arrived last Wednesday riding on a heat wave.  Our high temperatures have been over 90 degrees each day of fall with the last two days reaching 104.  And while many of us are enjoying this last hoorah of warmth before the rains come, it also has us looking for alternatives to dinner that do not require cooking.

The first solution for Sherry and I on Monday was dinner from Riviera Ristorante.  This is one of our favorite places to eat and we dine there frequently.  However, since it is less then 1/2 a mile from our house, we also pick up food to go on a regular basis.  So, with Monday’s temperature over 100 it was 2 plates of pasta and a Caesar salad to the rescue.

As Tuesday was forecast to be even warmer, we once again decided against cooking.  This time we went in a totally different direction.  I noticed that we had beautiful Tuscan melon in the fridge and we built our non-cooked meal around it. 

After stopping at Traverso’s on the way home, we built a simple and refreshing dinner.  Here’s what was on the platter.

• Prosciutto di Parma and Gentile Salame from Italy
• Brie cheese from France
• Shaved parmesan cheese with age balsamic vinegar from Italy
• Mancheco cheese and Marcona almonds from Spain
• Tuscan melon and grapes from California
• Fresh baguette from Village Bakery in Santa Rosa

Originally, I was going to pour a nice Sauvignon Blanc.  However, Traverso’s has one of the best Italian wine selections in Sonoma County so Michael Traverso helped me pick out a very unique white wine that was the perfect pairing.  It might be loosely described as an Italian Riesling from the Dolomite Mountains just south of Austria.

In the end, Sherry and I turned a very warm evening into a nice romantic dinner which we enjoyed al fresco under the stars and candlelight.  And, with last night’s wonderful meal still fresh in my mind, I hope it’s hot again today.

Au revoir!

The lazy Sunday

Is there anything better then a lazy Sunday?  You know, the kind of morning when you wake up at your leisure and then sit around the house drinking coffee, reading the paper, and basically just doing nothing.  The addition of a little early season rain to the mix just makes it all the better.

Normally, I spend Sunday mornings cycling.  This means up early and back home after 2 –3 hours of riding with friends.  It’s a great way to spend a Sunday but it’s not what most people would consider relaxing.  However, the weather forecast for this Sunday called for our first rain of Fall and that provided the perfect opportunity for a more relaxed Sunday routine.

After sleeping in for a change, it was time to get our easy morning started.  Since we have a very nice espresso machine, a couple of breve cappuccinos ere in order.  I also popped down to local bakery and picked up a chocolate croissant and apricot-pecan scone.  All of this was casually eaten with the cappuccino as we watched the rain continued to fall. 

After breakfast, we headed out to the living room for a strenuous morning of reading the paper and playing around on Facebook.  Based on the number of comments posted by my cycling friends, I think many of us had the same idea.  Why ride in the rain when you can relax at home?

As we continued to relax it was time for a little more coffee.  This time we put the french press into service.  We are big fans for french press coffee and make it most mornings.  However, it does seem to taste much better when you are relaxing on a Sunday morning versus slamming it down as you are getting ready for work on a Monday.

That’s how the rest of the morning went.  Sherry and I just hanging around the house in full relaxation mode.  It was perfect!  Now, it’s time to be a little more adventurous so we are heading back to the TV room to watch football.  But first, I think I’ll pour another cup of coffee.

Au revoir!

One sign of a long marriage

There are many, many signs of a long marriage.  One sign that gets a lot of attention is the old favorite of finishing each other’s sentences.  Of course, this is pretty basic stuff and can happen relatively quickly in a relationship.  No, for a really long marriage you need to step it up like Sherry and I did this weekend.

Sunday night Sherry and I were watching the movie Amélie.  In one scene, Amélie goes to the St. Martin Canal to skip stones.  As she is skipping stones, Sherry reminds of the time we ate lunch at a bistro on the canal where she got stuck in the bathroom because the door wouldn’t unlock.  I smiled and listened as a good husband should until she finished her story.  Then I reminded her that was me and not her locked in bathroom. So we laughed about it and continued watching the movie.

The very next night we get an invite to the neighbors for a light  dinner with good wine.  As we are all sitting around chatting Bob mentions he has to go in for jury duty.  Now, we all start telling our jury duty stories.  My first story was about a criminal trial where a guy robbed a pizzeria and was caught on the way out by police going in for lunch.  I went on about how I really wanted to be on the jury of such an open-and-shut case.  Meanwhile, Sherry is smiling away because that was her trial and not mine.  Are you kidding me?

As you can see, in our 24 years of marriage we have gone way beyond finishing each other’s sentences.  We are now completely interchangeable characters in the stories of our life.  I’m sure as we continue to grow older together this will be a new trend.  But you know, I’m okay with that.  As long as most stories are about us having fun as a couple, then who cares who played each part.

Au revoir!

Relaxing, Sierra Mountain style

Sherry and I really do enjoy heading into the Sierra Mountains.  There is just something about them that makes us appreciate life.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a romantic get-away for two or trip with friends, we always return from the mountains relaxed and ready to face whatever challenges come our way.

Last weekend we were lucky enough to spend some time with friends at a cabin near Pinecrest Lake.  This is a small resort area on Highway 108 about 30 miles west of Sonora in the Stanislaus National Forest.  It is a trip that a group of us try to make every year and it never ceases to be a good time.  The main objective of these trips is quite simple – to relax and spend time with friends.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t active.  I always take this opportunity to do some serious riding in the mountains.  However, this year was a little different and while I still took the road bike, Sherry’s bike and the kayaks stayed home.

Our daily pattern is fairly routine.  We awake around the same time and have a little coffee and breakfast.  Then I hit the road for a 3-4 hour ride while the ladies tend to go shopping in the quaint mountain towns in the surrounding area.  Then it’s a relaxing lunch to prepare us for the rest of the day.

After lunch, we all sit on the deck, or as was the case last Saturday, around the fire inside (it was very cold this trip).  We pass the time reading, chatting, collectively trying to finish the NY Time crossword puzzle, and occasionally napping.

After that exhausting ordeal we always make sure to break out beer, wine, or cocktails at 5:00 pm on the dot.  There’s more chatting and laughing as we prepare, and then enjoy, dinner.  After dinner is always dedicated to game night with more wine and laughter.  Finally, we all drift off to our rooms to sleep off the “stress” of the day and get ready to repeat the whole process the next day.

Let’s see.  Relaxing, drinking, laughing, and hanging out with friends all day.  Now that is a daily routine we could get used to.

Au revoir!