Successful Diner and Other Weekend Events

...or non-events. The diner turned out great. Here are the high notes

Bean Dip - The immersion blender works like a charm and got the bean dip very smooth.

Lamb - I was especially proud of my efforts with the lamb. I started out by inserting garlic, rosemary, and thyme leaves into the meat. Next I rubbed the meat with salt and pepper. The meat went into a ziplock bag with carrots, onions, more garlic, rosemary, thyme, some bay leaves and 3/4 of a bottle of red wine. I marinated this overnight. The meat was cooked over charcoal, grilling both sides then roasting with the grill cover closed for about 25 minutes. The flavor balance was great with the lamb not the flavorings taking center stage and a great crust on the meat.

Wines - We had a dry rose from Provence and a pinot gris from Chehelam in Oregon for the first course and a petit syrah from MarylynRemark winery in Salinas for the main course.

Our guest were a banker and his wife whose son was once neighbors with us. They had a house guest who they brought along. She is a pilot for United Airlines and is in the Air Force reserve. She also was one of the first women to ever be allowed to fly a combat fighter (F-16), a very fascinating person. Her comments on fly the F-16 vs. the A-10. "I liked the F-16. It's fast. But the A-10, it's got a big gun and that's good too."

I also did a quick hike and on Sunday stopped in to seel Pulisha, Tim de Buffalo, grandchildren 1,3 & 4 along with Tim's two children from prior marriage. Grandchild #3, Jocelyn, has been having a tough time with the new additions but found Grandpa to be an easy mark for attention so I go lot's of cuddling from her.

Tim (fyi) has a hernia and is going to be operated on Monday so please send all you best thoughts out to them. Everyone is going a bit nuts in the Pulisha household at the moment.