Goodbye to a Good Pal

This week I said goodbye to an old friend. A friend whose stuck with me the last 13 years. A friend whose seen me get married, buy my first home, move to a second home, have two children. A friend whose traveled to multiple states with me, braced my singing and enjoyed more than 189,000 miles of adventure.

Sure, we had our ups and downs. A share of maintenance calls. One small hit-and-run accident. Many storms, but even more sunny days. Yes, on Thursday I said good-bye to my very first care. A pretty, little red 2000 Ford Focus SE.

D and I inherited his mothers car ... and both of our current cars have definitely put in their usage. But based on mileage, we knew the Ford was the car we should say farewell to. We decided to donate it ... sure there's a tax break ... but we didn't have to pay for the car replacing the Ford, so why not share our good fortune and display our gratitude by providing our car to an organization for a good cause.

It was weird not to see the car in the driveway Thursday afternoon. A bit of sadness ... since it was the first major purchase I made as an adult. Now as I walk to my car at the park and ride, I have to remember that it's not my little Ford waiting for me. She was a good friend, we have been through a lot together. May she continue to bring joy to someone else (even if it's just by parts.)

Viognier, If You Please

May brought our Wine Club adventure to the floral, fruity treat called Viognier. A typically crisp, refreshing treat that pairs lovely with spicy food.

My friend E was hosting May's adventure and she pulled together a lovely spread with treats of seafood and spicy goodness:

Pea and Pecorino salad, shrimp with both a sweet chili sauce and a mango sauce (yum!), scallops, smoked salmon with creme fraiche, and artisan rice crackers with a lemony goat cheese spread. A perfect summery little plate (if only the weather could reflect the summer!)

Now on to the wines ...

The first beverage of the evening was a sweet, effervescent treat. It's crisp flavors had just a hint of floral and it delivered on everything Vigonier should. It's always good when your night starts out with a good bottle, because it brings promise of what else you will get to experience. The 2011 Miner was definitely one to write down for a future bottle.

Our next bottle was another California Viogner. I think I've had a few Fess Parker wines before ... but I don't think I've had their Viognier. This was a 2009. It paled in comparison to the first one. It had a more bold flavor than what I'm used to and you could tell it was an oak-barreled wine.

 E made an excellent choice by having the ringer also be from Fess Parker. So it was kind of fun to try two different wines from the same year and winery. The Chardonnay was easy to identify as the ringer. It had a big buttery taste and was significantly thicker than the Viognier.

The fourth wine once again brought a brightness with a crisp pear and cinnamon finish. A treat from France, who supposedly do Viognier better than anyone else. While it was no Condrieu (which is perhaps my favorite white wine of all time) it was a good passable Viognier that I could easily sip on a warm sunny day.

We finished the evening with a sweet, California treat from the McManis Winery. This was another good example of what you want from a Viognier. It was crisp, with a bit of peach and a hint of floral to it (I think honeysuckle). A nice bright way to bring an end to good festivities.

The desserts were a lovely coconut macaroon, a chocolate coconut macaroon and a creme brulee in a chocolate shell. It's hard to pass on dessert when it looks like this:

Yes, Viognier always helps signal summer to me. Now I just  need the actual weather to catch up. That's probably why at home right now I am just sipping a good Rose this lovely Memorial weekend.

May your holiday weekend be full of happiness and honor for those who've served our country.

A Different Generation of Fathers

Fathers today are very different than fathers of yesterday. The days of Leave it to Beaver, where dad is a fairly absent presence with the exception of mini lectures when needed is a thing of the past.

Earlier this week, after dropping K off at school, I ended up driving by a different elementary school and saw a dad walking, holding hands with his son ... who I'm guessing was a second or third grader. Dad was covered in tattoos, but the care in helping his son cross the street safely softened the rough external image. It made me reflect on D and some of his friends. Most importantly, how very present they are in their children's lives. They rarely, if ever, miss events. Quality time is spent snuggling with their children and being fully engaged. It's admirable and I feel so very grateful that children today get parents who are both equally responsible for their upbringing. (Of course, this isn't a blanket statement, as I know there are families that don't have the luxury of having both parents equally involved.)

But I've noticed a proliferation of involved fathers, whether it be the ones closest to me in my life, co-workers, or just noticing the role of dads in the grocery stores. There's still the over-stressed looking moms with multiple kids in tow ... but now, there's a significant number of dad's becoming the primary grocery shopper with the kids keeping them busy. With the increase of stay-at-home-dads steadily increasing, it will be interesting to watch our society continue to evolve.

P.S. Super excited that Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize gay marriage this week! While it's taking the country a long time to come on board, it's good to know the state I live in is willing to accept that love is love and that is what makes families stronger.

An Evening with Ladies and Tony and Andrew

My dream job would be to travel the world, eat great cuisine and surround myself with good company (most definitely my three men!)  Basically, I want to know how to get Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern's jobs. While I don't think that is anywhere in my near future, I at least got to live vicariously through them this weekend:

But my evening did not start with bliss ... no, it started with the friendly police officer who pulled me over to inform me the brake light on the drivers' side of the car was out. I guess I got off lucky, because everyone I told asked me right away if I got a ticket. Nope, no ticket ... just a plea to make sure I drive carefully and to get it fixed right away. I am going to attribute this graciousness due to my very clean driving record. Regardless, getting pulled over did start my evening with my pulse racing!!

So, then I was of to The Union for dinner with my two companions for the evening. I didn't eat lunch, so I was ready to enjoy a course or three. Now, normally I am a wine girl, but get a pretty drink menu in front of me and I do have to explore. Their drink menu was quite intriguing with the spices of India a clear theme. I decided to treat myself to what they called The Devil and The Bottle:

It was a garam marsala infused rum blood orange old fashioned. Definitely not my normal beverage. The waiter warned me it was strong ... and he wasn't kidding. Hence, it was the only alcohol I consumed for the evening ... it was enough. 

My first course was a burrata salad that was dressed in a mint pesto dressing, garnished with peas, harts vericots and radishes. It was yummy, reminded me of the summer that hasn't quite arrived yet and was a great way to ensure I got some greens in my meal:

For my main course, I did not get duck! Sorry, I always get duck, and fortunately, I think due to some gluten-tainted accompaniments, I didn't even contemplate it. Viva la variety!

Instead I got what was pork two ways: a pork tenderloin and pulled pork under crispy pork skin (okay, so maybe that's pork three ways?) It was served with morel mushrooms, mashed potato, peas and baby artichokes. It was pretty tasty. Not the greatest meal I've ever had ... but good enough for me to savor every bite: 

After we finished our main courses, we realized we only had ten minutes before the show ... fortunately, we were just across the street from the theater. So, off we went, vowing to return for dessert.

Unfortunately, my pics of the gents on the stage didn't turn out well ... but here's one for you:

The moderator, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl was the only true disappointment of the evening. I'm sure she was selected because she's a well known food writer who's won a handful of  James Beard awards ... but I wish they would have picked someone like Stephanie Hansen or Stephanie March ... someone who had enough personality they could match the two men on stage. Instead, Dara came off as immature, over-her-head and infinitely unprepared. Tony and Andrew didn't need her ... and it was apparent she wasn't doing a good job. (You heard rumblings all evening.)

The men talked about their darker pasts, their epiphanies and their adventures. There were laughs, mini lectures and a clear display of their friendship. It was a pleasant evening that shed some light on two people who have helped elevate the food world into a community where people make dining out an event,  not just a means to sustenance. Two men who work to expose the rest of the world to other cultures -- through whatever storytelling they can use.

The crowd themselves were interesting ... clearly the alcohol that was served made people leave their manners at the door ... c'mon Minnesota, let's demonstrate some class and respect.

After the show we went back to Union to get our dessert:

It was a butterscotch pudding, with lemon gelee, lemon candied rind and parsnip ice cream. I think I would have been most content with a bowl of parsnip ice cream and the candied lemon rind. But it was a pleasant evening to a night that maybe started off with a some flashing lights!

Racing to the Finish Line

Today marked D and my fourth 5k of the year. One might think we are gluttons for punishment, because the weather has only been in our favor once. Since snow is still falling in Minnesota this May, the weather is a bit unpredictable.

We enjoyed a muddy, sloshy trail run today. Yes, muddy, sloshy and ... Cold!!!!

Two of my gal pals were also running this course. In fact, the reason we were all there was that an old pal of ours was the race director. It was a fitting race for Derby Day, as it benefits retired race horses. We even entered a bid in the silent auction!

I am really hoping our June run is perfect weather ... But with our luck, it will be 100 degrees.

Epic Parenting Fail

This morning as I was settling into my work routine, I received a text message from D. As I read it my heart sank, my throat got dry and my eyes began to burn. "nice job, tooth fairy, you forgot something."

I had forgotten to exchange K's tooth last night! I was truly, truly devastate on a number of counts.
K's losing his teethe left and right at the moment. The dentist warned us about this, she said a lot of his permanent teethe were ready to come through. He'd lost most of the teethe, but two were hanging on. A bottom tooth and one of his big top front teethe. (the top tooth is so loose it is now crooked)

So, I conspired with D to create a dinner full of food that may help encourage these last two hanger-ons to fall out. And low and behold, when K bit into the cob of corn, the bottom tooth fell out. The poor guy was eating so tentatively and once the bottom tooth came out, he immediately stopped in fear of the top tooth joining it's mate. In fact, my very sensitive little guy even shed a tear over the loss of the tooth.

Alas, when I saw D's message I felt like a true failure, because I could only imagine the devastation that he must have felt this morning when he went to find his treasure and it was lost. D said that K made up his own excuse that he moved around too much and she probably couldn't find it. I put out a call to the social masses for ideas on how to rectify this situation. My friends came to my rescue with many suggestions.

Therefore, tonight I crafted a careful message sprinkled with glitter to K from Toothiana. (He loves the Guardian books and so now all magical creatures in our family reflect the versions in William Joyce's books.)

The importance of keeping the magic and innocence of our children is so important, it's amazing how something as simple as a little tooth can cause such a personal crisis.