Text 9288, 134 rader
Skriven 2006-12-26 12:48:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: how I spent xmas 746
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It was a nice lazy morning, and we actually didn't
want to get out of bed as it was 40 and raining,
but we did have social calls to make. We left around
2:30 in a pretty unremitting cold drizzle; first
stop was Arlington to see my x-b-i-l and his wife.
We managed to get around going to Bethesda to see
my father by wangling an invitation for him and
Jonathan to dinner; but it turned out that my
father was feeling under the weather and had to
stay home.

Arlington: it's this impeccable, rather sterile
house leavened only by the fragrance of wet dog.
One of those nouveau palaces that you see, wondering
how anyone could put that much house on that little
yard. Actually the yards are not that small, and
they'd look normal if you put a normal-size house
on them, but these places have thousands of square
feet of space. Relatively speaking, this is not in
bad taste, as it still looks mostly like a house
and not like a mini-Versailles as so many of them
do. Despite our all going out to dinner at 5, when
we arrived shortly after 3 there was lunch laid
out - finger sandwiches of turkey, ham, and roast
beef; a big wedge of pecorino with crackers; pate
on French bread; devilled eggs made by some local
deli; and cookies likewise made by some local bakery.
Everything was perfectly plated and tasted like
commercial deli food. The devilled eggs were most
uninteresting, the filling being merely the yolks
mixed with hot dog relish. I wondered and shuddered
to think about how much they had cost. Carol and I
looked at each other. If they had wanted devilled
eggs, why didn't they asked us, and we could have
made much better ones for a buck or two total.

We left some soaps of Carol's manufacture and some
chocolate and came away with a couple bottles of
old wine that we will probably enjoy - the 1988
Talbott Chardonnay and the 1993 Les Cazetiers
Burgundy.

Out to the Fishers' at Great Falls for dinner. Started
with almonds and premade frozen hors d'oeuvres from
Wegmans (decent mushroom turnovers, shrimp brie
pastries, spinach feta triangles, and something that
tasted like tuna casserole in phyllo (apparently
supposed to be crabmeat).

Fisherette had outdone herself as usual: I think all
the recipes were from Gourmet magazine or something -

arugula salad with pears and roasted red grapes

crown roast of pork
bread stuffing

filet with balsamic reduction

roast green beans

sweet potatoes with sugar and butter

Parker House rolls

Everything was fine, the pork a little overcooked
(she said she'd cut the cooking time by half an hour),
and the filet undercooked (perfect for me). Interestingly,
I had a tiny slice of beef and mostly pork, but I
scavenged the trimmings from the roasting pan, which are
nicer tasting when a little overdone and caramelized
(cf: debris).

The wines: Paul Goerg Tradition was clean and neutral,
very pleasant and satisfied Carol's bubbly urge; my
main tipple was the Courtney Benham Pinot Noir, nice
low concentration cherry-red tasting wine, perfect for
pork but a bit underflavored for even filet.

We had a game of charades for afters, as requested by
Vicki's son Jack - managed to do 10 per team, before we
all got bored (everyone but Jack, who wanted to keep
playing).

Teams:

Jack (captain), John, moi, Philly, Colin

Vicki, Fisher, Carol B., Gavin, Jonathan
(no discernible captain)

Carol F., Judy Braus (roving mavericks who
shouted random things at random intervals)

Dessert: Braus made cookies. Fisherette made cookies.
Someone sent a Junior's cheesecake from Brooklyn. We
all ate too much. Fisherette's chocolate crinkles
were not quite so good as my sister's had been, but
they brought back memories, so I had 5 of them.

--mm
Chocolate crinkles
cat: TNT, cookies
yield: 1 recipe

1/2 c oil
5 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 ts vanilla
2 c flour
1/2 ts salt
2 ts baking powder
confectioners' sugar

Mix oil, sugar, chocolate. Beat in eggs singly, then
vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and stir in. Chill at
least several hr.

Oven at 350F.

Drop 1" balls of dough into confectioners' sugar and
roll to coat. Place 2" apart on greased baking sheet.
Bake 10-12 min; cookies will still be soft in center.

Source: unknown, possibly Betty Crocker; original
recipe has 4 oz chocolate but my sister puts in 5.

Posted 10/17/01 by moi

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