Glad you could make it Michael.
I have tried to organize food in the past, but finally realized it just happens.
The fun part is everyone brings something they really like and serve it proudly.
Like the spoon bread pudding. Simple but delicious.
I have had two whoa meals in my life. My standards are pretty lofty.
The first was a restaurant refugee invite for Thanksgiving. This was mid eighties when everything was closed for the holiday. Remember those days? Doc and Ray invited all to Spooner`s as they had the facilities and seating capacity. There were many fine places in the upper valley of Vt and NH. Most everything served was wild caught or shot. Farm to table had yet to become fashionable. Foul was the focus. The stocks born of their roasted bones with love and patience. Back straps from the forest, trout from the Ottaqueechee,
partridge, pheasant, and turkey from the fields and morning pine boughs.
The intensity of the reductions is something I may never experience again.
It was a real challenge to get some cheap owners to break out the wine...
We brought our own mostly.
Then I got an invite to work a wedding at Versailles after graduation. Are you kidding me?
I was given two jackets and I wore the Egyptian cotton with pride. Funny thing my name was not on them. When a master gives you a jacket, you never forget.
The pairings started in the early afternoon and were still going strong well after midnight. We who had never met did our part along the line with great love and care. The plates were breathtaking in their presentation. We tasted everything from the pate a choux for the croque en bouche French wedding cake.
Some things failed, but the wine was a lifetime day.
I`ve played pick of the cellar with Doc. I miss incredible wine.
These gatherings remind me of those times. Things were swimming just a few hours ago.
We joked about the folks over on the Island paying Bens for old fish.
Thanks to Don n Deb for the great fishing. Thanks to all for our love of the ocean and all she brings.
Smoke em if you got em.
Cheers,
GFS
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