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!