Sunday, April 18, 2010

Dinner with Al...Al Fresco, That Is

The verdant qualities of spring combined with the first opportunity to grill outdoors and eat on the patio combined for a high-spirited dining experience this evening!

In SoCal, the vegetable garden would have been planted by Easter. In Illinois Dan would still be waiting for the Farm Bureau's go-ahead to put the tomatoes in the ground. This weekend, here in NorCal, not only the tomatoes but the peppers went in! And, happily, we got to hang all the laundry outdoors instead of using the dryer. There is just something so perfect and real about hanging clothes on the clothesline, and about grilling the first meal outdoors and sitting outside to eat.

Dan made Julia's* dense and delicious French potato salad. I grilled Burgundy/garlic pork sausages and tossed together a fruit salad of local strawberries, kiwi fruit, and (not local) bananas drizzled with honey and lemon. Simple stuff, amazing meal, and such fun to eat outdoors with the cats running about and posing for the camera while the laundry floated with the breeze.

Wine for this evening was Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir. It's good to live in California!

Al should have been here.

1 comment:

Quicksilver Spirit said...

* Anytime I mention "Julia" in the blog, it means only one "Julia"-Julia Child, of course! Although there are many wonderful women in my life named Julia-like Julia (Julie)Welch, Julia Cameron, Jewells (Julie-Ann) Black, Julie Watson, the list goes on.