The last day of March

We awoke to snow on the ground this morning which discouraged me from riding my bike to work. The day was cool with snow flurries all day. Mark, Dwight and John celebrated my birthday today since this was the first night we could all be together since my actual birthday on the 26th. Mark prepared pork tenderloins that he grilled after marinating them in garlic, hot pepper flakes and balsamic vinegar overnight. He created another scafata with asparagus, fava beans and snow peas paired with a Merlot. Dwight and John provided the chocolate pots for dessert. What a great meal with my Denver family. Dwight found out today that Jean-Claude Dreyfus the famous french character actor in Delicatessen is showing his pig collection in Paris along with several of Dwight's sculptures. http://www.davidsonsculpture.com/ Dwight's website is definately worth viewing. My sister-in-law Julie and my brother Mark buried her mother today she died after suffering many strokes. My heart goes out to them.

A cool Spring day

Our house-Romanesque Revival by William Lang and Marshall Pugh-1891

Mark and I took a long walk this afternoon in our Montclair neighborhood. Montclair was the first suburban neighborhood in Denver that is a whole 3 miles east of Downtown Denver. It was its own town when it was created by the Baron Von Richtoffen who was the uncle of the Red Barron. He subdivided his land and many famous architechs designed the houses. Our house was built by Baums who were jewlers at the time and it was design by William Lang. Our stairs case was ordered from the Sears and Roebuck catalog as that was considered to be a very upscale thing to do. Thomas Noel and William Hansen wrote "The Montclair Neighborhood" Denver Historic Guide which contains a walking tour of the historic houses in our neighborhood. Mark and I walked by about half of the 55 historic houses today. The air was cool and the sun was warm during our walk. The crocus, hyacynths, and tulips are just starting to bloom. Our little bonus was walking by a stack of toys and children's books that someone had set out for the garbage. There were twelve colored interlocking mats that we use in the ballroom on our third floor that we converted into a gym. Just what we needed to expand our cushioned gym floor. We had leftovers from last night and they were still quite spectacular.

Memories of our dinner party

Our dining table for the evening. Each candle holder was a different frog from my collection many of which were given to me by my best friend Larry Prater who now lives in Tepoztlan Mexico.

Tim, Doug and Rich arrive with wine in hand for the evening.

As Earth Hour approached we lit the candles for the meal.

Mark and I hosted our friends for a candelight dinner last night. We turned out all of our lights for Earth hour. Rich, Tim, Rick, Robert, Doug, and John joined us for a six course dinner. We started with tuna sashimi-tini. Tuna on a bed of cucumber with a grapefruit, serrano pepper, mint and onion sauce served in a martini glass. This is garnished with a dried grapefruit chip. We pair this with champagne. Tim brought a lovely Champagne Chartogne-Taillet Brut. The guy at the liquor store asked him how much he wanted to spend on the Champagne and when he said "I do not know, $20?" the guy burst our laughing. He said it had been a while since he bought a bottle. Ah, such is the way when the value of the dollar has plummeted compared to the Euro. The amuse-bouche that followed was a warm foie gras served on a bed of mache with a honey, cognac reduction sauce. Scafata di Primavera with fava beans, escarole, baby artichokes, onion, sugar snap peas and pancetta we served with Lugana San Benedetto 2006 that Ric and Robert brought. They surprised me with a birthday gift of six candles with beautiful square glass holders. Our main course was Stinco di Agnello con Aranci e Olive (Lamb shanks with Oranges and Olives) served with grilled potatoes and paired with a beautiful Brunello Di Montalcino Il paradiso di Frassina which I am certain John mortgaged his house to buy. It was complex, smooth and spectacular. That wine went faster than the lamb so we opened a bottle of Agilianico Terredora Dipaolo to finish with the main course. Dessert was mixed berries with creme fraiche and orange zest paired with Clairette de Die Tradition style. We ended the meal with a pecorino romano cheese with a caramel wine sauce served with Vin Santo del Chianti, Villa da Filicaja. The company and conversation was as spectacular as the food and dare I say that we all looked so much younger by candlelight and with each new beverage. Mark and I are so lucky to have such great friends.