We recently met at Frank and Damian's beautiful new digs for an afternoon of wine and springtime fare. Inspired by Bittman's "9 ways" NYT series, our plan would be to use springtime workhorses asparagus and rhubarb as bases for a delicious meal. Frank and Damian had done some homework and selected several recipes to serve as our inspiration:
- Rhubarb Chutney and Other Non-Dessert Rhubarb Recipes
- Couscous With Rhubarb, Asparagus and Toasted Walnuts
- Pork Tenderloin With Rhubarb, Pear, Rosemary and Honey
- Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb-Currant Chutney
- Galette Of Strawberries and Rhubarb
- Poached Rhubarb and Asparagus Salad
- Lentil and Rhubarb Stew With Indian Spices
Sebastian's plan was to be on his best behavior, and he was sporting a fancy shirt and shoes for the occasion.
He had a great time playing with Anne before we headed into the kitchen to get started.
What a face!
We moved into the kitchen, into which we discovered fit even more butts than Damian and Frank's last kitchen.
They have a great picture window in there...
We assembled our ingredients...
And then we got to work!
We chopped and sliced and minced and diced...
Then we fooled around and relaxed a while. Damian Rhubarb-Hands paid a visit...
Sebastian observed the cats...
William observed Sebastian...
And of course, the cats observed us all...
It was a gorgeous spring day, and the boys' backyard was a perfect place to sit a spell and visit. Isn't it lovely?
Meg decided to show Sebastian around...
Then, things turned violent when Jessica came out to snip a some herbs - stay out of her way, folks!
Frank stepped out to enjoy the sun as he grated some butter for is pastry...Time to get back to work. Inside the house, work continued. We regrouped...
And began putting things together. Our poached rhubarb couscous-turned-quinoa salad was gorgeous!
Who's hungry? "I am, I am!"
"Told you I was hungry..."
Good friends.
Pretty soon, there wasn't much else to do except make dessert and organize the table. Frank effortlessly created a rhubarb-strawberry galette that looked like it should have been in a magazine.
Ta-da!
All the excitement wore Sebastian out, and he had a snooze (with a little help from Dad).
Table's set and ready for dinner!
Rick looks like he's saying grace here, but he's really calculating how many portions of soup he'll be able to consume.
There's our salad again...We realized later that our poached rhubarb and asparagus salad actually contained no asparagus. We forgot it!
The pork was exactly perfect - Way to go, Jessica!
Never-you-mind the "Bah, humbug!" on his soup mug, William is pleased!
The bear is also pleased.
See how he smiles?
Our dinner was delightful. More than one Kisser referred to it as one of their favorites. The food was super tasty and still light, and we combined some new and unusual flavors we didn't typically cook with. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening!
Imagine our delight when that enjoyable evening got even more enjoyable. William had brought some leftover cheesecake to share, complete with port-injected, chocolate-dipped strawberries and smooth, creamy, deliciousness throughout. Yum!
Frank's galette emerged from the oven also, and was served up with some ice cream. Oh. Em. Gee. Also super delicious! Between William's decadent dessert and Frank's fruity scrumptiousness, I found myself wondering yet again if man could live on sugary treats alone. Any takers to try it with me?
By the end of the meal, we all sort of felt like the cat looked...
OK so in a few hours we meet at Anne and Rick's place - lots of folks are traveling this weekend, so we'll be a small group today, but hopefully we'll be able to start talking about Walla Walla later this year...We want WW Wines!!
See you soon, Kissers!