October Stuff

Fall is my favorite time of year. I swear this year the colors were more vibrant than ever. I suspect it had to do with several days of sunshine. It sure has been nice. We had a heck of a storm roll through last night and I'm glad I got my fall photos earlier because many of the trees are naked.

Last night the "dinner club" met at a fantastic restaurant tucked away in an office park of all things. Russell's. Its an old white barn that's been converted into this magnificent restaurant. A bit pricey, but OMG the food was so good.

I started the night with a glass of wine from Avennia winery. Their GSM blend, "Justine" is so amazing. I couldn't put my finger on why it was so good so I searched this morning on it.

2013 Avennia 'Justine' GSM Blend- Grenache dominant wine with 47% Grenache, 38% Mouvedre and 15% Syrah. Lovely aromatics of rose petals, provencale herbs, raspberry and smoked meats. Lovely mouthfeel with flavors of black cherry, tar, raspberry and raspberry ganache flavors. A feminine Rhone blend that finishes long with vanilla cherry.  Nice viscosity, and ripeness reminiscent of a hot vintage.

None of that is what I would have said. It certainly did have "tar" flavor. Wine writers remind me of the same people who create "colors" for clothing. It's not "gray" it's "Oatmeal".

At any rate, it was good. It went well with the NY Strip steak I had. This steak is the reason I wanted the group to go here. About a month ago we had a leadership dinner here for work. We had to "pre order" our meal so they could prepare and plan. I ordered the NY steak. I figured if you're cooking for 35 people the steak wasn't going to be great. I figured it'd be overdone.

It was completely the opposite. It was about 2 inches thick and cooked perfectly. The peppercorn gravy on it wasn't too peppery which made it perfect.

I started my meal last night with their spinach salad. Being on blood thinners, if I drink I should eat my dark greens...at least that what I'm told. What makes this spinach salad so darn delicious is their vinaigrette. The spinach salad has its normal suspects: spinach, almonds, dried cranberries, Parmesan cheese. But their vinaigrette is a house made Pancetta Vinaigrette. Y'all I cannot tell you how good this dressing was. I wanted to lick the plate. Naturally, I'm not on the looking for a recipe for it. They wouldn't share.

I did the NY steak again with the house-made peppercorn demi glace...mmmm... Blueberry did their pork chop and said it was delicious. Mr. Landlord did their scallops, Mrs. Landlord did their salmon and Blueberry's sister who crashed our party did their fettuccine with shrimp. Not a bad one of the bunch.

We finished our meal with dessert...of course. I was so stuffed when we were done I swore I wouldn't eat again. Which is a lie of course.

Last weekend was the annual pumpkin carving Sunday dinner. We had a large group again...we always do. I made Mom's cabbage rolls. It was nice to have some comfort food for dinner around so many comfortable people. They turned out good and I felt like she was with us all night.

I totally cheated in my carving this year. I wanted to get this gray/blue pumpkin and knew it couldn't be carved...been down that road before. Super tough and thick, so instead I bought these little pegs to be used. I couldn't cut the darn thing straight to save my soul...which made it more interesting. Yah, that's it.

Since my friend who appreciates good beer joined us I decided to pull out the Dark Island Reserve from our Scotland trip. I purchased this on the Orkney Islands at the Orkney Brewery. This beer was so good. Super dark, super chocolatey, super delicious. I must go back and get some.

And the traditional goofy shot from Sunday dinner. I didn't get photos of the actual pumpkins this year...oh well. Thank god I made all of them pick up their own pumpkins. I have a cat instead of a pumpkin.

Fall...fall...fall

Happy Fall everyone! I love this time of year. I especially love this time of year when it's sunny here in the Pacific NW.  And we've had a nice run of sunshine. The top has down several times in the last several days. I love it. The crisp air, the fall sunshine...all of it. The neighborhood trees are looking beautiful.

I've been having a bit of a walk down memory lane of late. Sunday dinner is tomorrow night and I wanted to make Mom's Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. In looking through her little gray box of recipes I found a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies. Had to make them. Go check out the recipe on my cooking blog.

But as I was looking through all these old recipes, I started thinking I should cook my way through them. Some of them are absolutely gross (Cottage Cheese Cake - which is basically a jello mold. Blech) while others are recipes Mom or Grandma made growing up. None of them are healthy, but what's the fun in making them healthy.

Food and cooking was so much part of my relationship with mom, and dad to some degree.  I have so many fond memories of she and I cooking together or talking about a recipe we both tried. Some of her most favorite foods, I couldn't stand ( pineapple upside down cake? Blech!) While others we both loved (Tater Tot Casserole). I miss her. And as the holidays creep up on is, I'm full of thoughts of she and I cooking Thanksgiving day food.

Work is still crazy busy. My boss got let go and now I work for the boss that originally hired me. I'm happy with this (sad to see the old boss go though). I'm excited to see what comes of the team now. The amount of work hasn't slowed down. I lost my headcount when my other PM left and now we're right back where we were being super busy. I think my family and friends have given up on me being available for anything. Mom would tell me I'm working too hard and burning the candle at both ends. She'd be right. I still love my job though. I have thought about moving on, but truthfully, I still love the job.

Hawaii is just a two short months away. I cannot believe in 2 months I'll be 50. How on EARTH did that happen? We're having a planning meeting in a couple of weeks so I gotta get my research going.