Bea Comes to Dinner

Date: Tuesday Night August 9, 2005
Dinners: Cliff / Cathy / Bea Landen

Wines: Provided by Bea.
2003 Santa Chiara Vino Blanco “Bea”
2000 Bianco Divino Cabernet Sauvignon / Sangiovese / Petite Sirah blend

We had grown Heirloom Tomatoes last year but they didn’t work out well, because of my irregular watering. This year, I put in an automatic drip system, and the Tomatoes thrived.

We had been waiting for additional Heirlooms to be ready at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on which we visit almost every Sunday. Bea had never been to the market so we offered to take her. They finally had a great selection.

We invited Bea to join us for dinner.

Before the dinner Cliff & Cathy discovered they didn’t have a needed ingredient: fresh ginger. They decided Cliff would run to market at the of the walk. After they started the walk, Cliff joked we would find someone we knew on the walk who had some extra ginger. When we got to Bill and Kevin’s house on Marino Bill was standing in front. Cliff asked him if he had any extra ginger and he sad “Yes”. He invited all of us (Cliff / Cathy / Bea / Tony) through his house to his great backyard / garden / outdoor patio.

Cathy and Cliff went for one of their end of day walks in Silverlake and ran into Bea walking with her friend, Tony. Bea was drinking her customary Tequila while walking, Tony had a Scotch. Exercising with style!

We finished our walk and Bea then joined us for dinner.

We had wine on the deck at Sunset with Fresh Current Grapes from the Farmers Market, Almonds from the Cheese Store of Silverlake and Sausage slices from the Cheese Store.

Cliff had become more proficient in the use of the Weber Grill and we had bought
3 racks of lamb from Whole Food in Glendale. We cooked them using according to a recipe from Wolfgang Puck’s Cookbook. Rack of Lamb Chinoise. The lamb marinated for 24 hours in a great sauce. There is a separate salad dressing in the recipe for the accompanying salad.

Well what about all of the Tomatoes? We made one of the best Tomato Soups ever: Papa al Pomodoro from a recipe in the Italian Country Cookbook by Rogers & Gray. We had bought La Brea Bread on Sunday which we de-crusted and cubed. The soup is extremely thick and wonderful.

For desert, Cliff went to Town and Country a new restaurant / takeout in Silverlake. He bought Banana Pudding and cream puffs. They were very tasty.