Tony made dinner, with my assistance, for us and his longtime friend Rich, aka So-Called Rich. We had a turkey breast; stuffing made of rice, wild rice, and sausage; roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash; and cranberry chutney. Afterward, we had a delicious dessert that Tony makes regularly: apples, cinnamon, sugar, and raisins cooked in his crock pot and served with store-bought vanilla coconut-milk ice cream. For drinks, we had prosecco supplied by Rich that we spiked with Creme de Violet and an Oregon pinot noir that I brought over. The pinot was pretty good. I said it smelled of butterscotch, but it didn't taste like it.
On Friday, Tony and I took the train to visit the Gerbers and my Dad and Granny, who had come up to Bergen County on Wednesday. Tony brought leftover turkey and stuffing, and I enjoyed my sister's butter-laced mashed potatoes and stuffing. I took another Oregon pinot noir that I didn't like as much as the other one and the most recent vintage (2009) of the riesling Tony and I drank when he took me to dinner at Union Square Cafe for my birthday. The latter wine was outstanding, and I would buy a bunch of bottles to keep for the years ahead if I had a cool place to store them.
Tony met Granny and Molly for the first time, and both of my girls liked my guy and vice versa. We all helped decorate the Gerbers' Christmas tree, and Mike pretended to be a Christmas tree. I played some more Kirby's Epic Yarn with Matt and Mike while Tony watched. And I got a kick out of a battery-powered basset hound given to the Gerbers by Tracey's friend Tracie. It danced and clapped its ears over its head to the song "I Feel Good." If I had had my camera on me instead of only my iPhone, I would have recorded a video of it and posted it on here.
Great bonding time with Tony and the family!
Posted by: Mark Heskin | November 28, 2010 at 11:19 AM