Welcome 2010

Can you believe it - 2010?? Where did 2009 go? I know where a lot of it went for my family and me - food adventures! So I guess I'll admit it (maybe that's part of my New Year's resolution) and let everyone know how much we LOVE food. And I mean love it! Not just, hmm that was a great dinner, but WOW, the silkiness of the black cod, the perfume of the roasted golden beets, the chocolate essence of the tiramisu. The lingering taste of sea salt on a fleur de sel caramel that fills your mouth with that luscious combination of sweet and salty...okay - you get the picture.

I could go on with some of the great adventures of 2009 (like the juicy pork dumplings in Pasadena or the baguettes in Metz, France), but instead, how about just the fabulous meal our dear friends created last night for the last of 2009, to greet 2010 - to share and welcome a new year. It began with buttery smooth Robiola cheese, sweet fig jam and crispy black pepper crackers and that fun, Evil wine, fruity and full, hints of berries. Then we moved on to the light salad, my friend Carolyn did magic with some olive oil and honey, green onion and white vinegar to dress it, but the star of the show was the Filet, perfectly cooked by Tony and wearing a dab of goat cheese with a chipotle sauce for swiping it through. As if that wasn't enough, crispy on the outside, sweet and warm on the inside crab cakes, flecked with colorful peppers and just darn good. I've determined not much beats surf and turf, and next time, I promise pictures! Darn, I can't remember the name of the wine picked up in Napa Valley by Carolyn and Tony, just that it was a pinot noir, with an earthy dusky flavor, full and ripe, and we had no trouble emptying the bottle.

This great meal ended with nothing better than a chocolate cake. The kids all ate it up, too (not just the cake, but the whole meal), and more on that as you read this blog - kids do not need to exist on chicken nuggets and french fries!

So welcome! Welcome to 2010 may it be a great year for all - and welcome to Our Fantastic Food Friendship! One of our goals is to share our favorite meals - the simple and delightful, the complex and warming. It's not so hard - to eat well and healthy and to have your kids enjoy the good food, too. To exist without high fructose corn syrup and limit your processed foods. To find delight in a fresh mandarin orange or a glass of Pelligrino water. Though we're not experts by any means, we do try pretty hard and we know what we like. Join us on our food adventures, as our youngest daughter takes you through a sushi bar and our older one swims through her love of seafood. Wayne and I - it's a whole gamut and mmmm, I'm getting a little hungry. More later!