Saturday night we all went to James and Greti's for our annual Christmas Carol Night. This however, was the very best so far. It was a splendid way to kick off the season. We had a wonderful dinner which consisted of Pasta Caprese and an AMAZING wine Danny brought, Angelica Zapata - a malbec from Argentina. Our pasta had multi-colored penne, fresh mozzerella, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh seeded tomatoes, black olives, balsamic vinager and olive oil. The contrast in colors and textures made for a most sofisticated dinner that heralded the commencement of the evenings activities with class, elegance and simplicity. The wine worked to accentuate all of the delicate flavors and together they were a match made in heaven.
James made some bbq chicken, meat and sausages on his grill and they were awesome. The bbq sauce he used was delicious and I daresay my fave meat of the evening had to be the chicken because it was tender, juicy and spicy. Wonderful combination.
We had an abundance of good wine and drinks in general ranging from a quaint cachaca bought by James on the side of the road in Minas Gerais from an ancient man who made it himself, to a highly prized wine, to Gold & Blue Label whisky, and Grey Goose vodka. What an alcholic bunch we made. The writer of this blog cannot forget to include the delicious egg nog our host made us that was frothy, creamy and delish.
We sang Christmas carols - for quite a while, actually - which was the reason we had gathered together in the first place. Fukui-san did the writers justice with his melodic plucking of the strings. I found a partner in crime that shares my passion for trying a hand at amatuer opera whenever the key was either too high or too low - Andre. Between Andre, Lua, Meury, Dan and myself we should've charged admission, it was just that good. The neighbors, I am quite certain, had never heard anything like that before, and I don't think quality singing like that can be easily found around the corner - if I may say so myself. Thing 1 and Thing 2 did extremely well and sang along the entire time. There were a few things we found out that night, however, and they are the following: our kids are tone deaf (how in frick did that happen?); if you drink a significant amount of alcohol en masse, no matter the quality of the drink, you will all sound like you're either singing at the bottom of a pirate ship amidst the barrells of rum and ale, or like you're in a tavern swinging your beer steins, and shouting rather than singing, in an effort to be heard above the noise of the patrons running wild about the place. And while your intentions may be good, you most probably do not sound as good as you think you do.
We gorged on cookies - orange raspberry thumbprint cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and mocha bites. They paired perfectly with the egg nog and I believe made the Christmas theme all the more real.
Because we were such a lively and - dare I say - silly bunch, I'm certain we could have dined all night on our wit, laughs, and jokes, but being the glutonous creatures we are - one and all - we had a feast of good eats and drinks as well making it a most memorable get together which I'm sure will be remembered fondly for holidays to come. Good times!
1 comment:
Sounds wonderful, Flor!
Post a Comment