Christmas is almost here! We're actually celebrating Christmas a little early this year in my family. I've had all my shopping done and tonight I finished wrapping. I made several gifts this year and I'm pretty proud of the way they came out! Yes, they had to do with food! My cards all went out what seems like forever ago, but they were a huge hit this year! I've gotten so many responses on them that I should start planning next year's now, just so I can be sure to top it!
Things haven't been as busy with work in the sense that I haven't been able to see too many chefs lately. They are all busy with parties and things so it's resulted in less time out and about this week...which is good with all this snow we have, and I probably would still be making Christmas presents right now if I didn't have some time during the day. I've been catching up on a lot of computer work and should be all set to go for the first few weeks of the year. I've actually decided to enjoy this next week without hitting the streets too much because I'm really excited to go into a bunch of places once the new year is here. My boss told me that I don't go out at night enough, so I have to start doing more of that as well. Apparently he doesn't know me too well, but if they're going to pay for it...then out I go!
Speaking of going out...my friend Amy from cheese class met me for another Epicurean Evening this past Tuesday. Both times we've gone has been great. We always seem to hit it off with the people we sit with. And of course, the food and wine are just superb! And I know that a lot of times I say I just like everything I eat....but if I'm going to be a critic someday I have to start really listening to my tastebuds. Well, that was kind of corny...but you know what I mean! I am getting better with things like, "that white bean dip needs more salt", or "this gnocchi just falls apart." Okay, honestly those are the only two things in what, the past 10 months??? Not bad!
Getting back to the Epicurean Evening...this week's region was Bordeaux, which I just love for wine so I was really looking forward to it. The first wine we had was a 2006 white. It was paired with the Olive Oil poached Chilean Sea Bass. Also on the plate was heirloom carrot, shrimp chorizo, and pommelo vinaigrette. The shrimp chorizo was really cool...and yes, tasty! The second wine was a 2001 red with bold flavor, but stil somewhat smooth. This was most people's favorite, but I think mine was the third. This course was a panko crusted veal top round. It came on top of a wild mushroom and coconut milk risotto. Brilliant! The flavors all went so well...and I must say, the portion was somewhat large! I always leave satisfied, but this dish was definitely plenty. The third wine was a 2004 red with a big, bold flavor. I'm really not good at describing wines, but I'll get there. I should probably start drinking more to learn! ;-) This was paired with a 24-hour cooked Niman Ranch Pork Belly that was on Semolina Pork Polenta and a cumin jus! The cumin jus was just awesome! This was where I could see how such a flavorful sauce needed a big wine to drink with it.
I think because this was the last Epicurean Evening of the year they wanted to make it special. We could also opt for dessert! There was a nice list of desserts to choose from and then there was one not listed which took about 20 minutes to make. So me and Amy split that and our new friends Andi and Lynn split one as well. We were all talking so much that we didn't mind waiting 20 minutes for dessert....especially when it's a chocolate souffle with a grand marnier glaze. Oh yeaaaaaahhhh! It was yet another great night...we'll all be in touch because we swapped info as well as gave some ideas for other regions we'd like to see next year. I highly recommend this event for everyone...let me know if you need details!
Yesterday I was back at volleyball for our new season. I really look forward to Wednesdays for the volleyball and for the fun we have afterwards! With today's snow and cancelled appointments I did a lot of computer work here and finished my Christmas presents. I roast these nuts when I get a chance to and I ended up on the phone for a little while keeping my mind off the nuts....well, they started smoking! I'm really not good at keeping things from burning. My roommate Greg called in sick today so he was around to witness it. Amusing. It was cool because we were busy until 8:00 tonight and we had wanted to go to the gym, but at that point we really didn't want to go. So we did a pretty decent workout in our apartment switching who picked the exercises. It was fun...and I haven't taught any group fitness in a while so it had been some time since I was able to say "squeeze your butt...because if you don't, no one else will." I always got a good reaction when I said that in those classes.
At this point, I must sign off. I hope everyone is keeping warm and enjoying the snow! Have a wonderful weekend!
Chow,
KK
No comments:
Post a Comment