Sunday Dinner With Friends

Got the text message from Amy just as we finished up our Saturday Rhone tasting, Sunday you come me cook. Be here at 5ish we eat at 6ish. After wondering when she began sounding like Tarzan I tossed my phone in my purse and headed home. I was already a day late for the newsletter and my sister needed me to puppysit for an hour, (yeah, right…like I was gonna let go of those adorable beaties after an hour) so the plan was to bust out as much writing as I could, cuddle and take outside to potty the puppies, get back to writing, finish before bed and have the whole day Sunday to chill before heading over to Tarzan’s for dinner. It was lofty and I knew with every fiber of my being that I was full of crap…

So this is what happened, I got home just long enough to pour myself a glass of wine and turn on my computer before my sister came over. She barely even stopped the car, “Here” she said handing over her little bundles of joy, “Their food is in the bag, it’s all measured and ready to go. I should be back in an hour to an hour and a half” I had just enough time to toss her my remote to open the gate and she sped off. Now don’t know if you have ever tried to corral a couple of only-a-few-months-old puppies on leashes but it is no easy task I assure you. Finally got them inside, unclipped the leashes and they shot like bats outta hell all over my apartment! Gravy, the little French Bulldog was being particularly rambunctious, climbing on the tables, squeezing her chunky butt behind my couch…I was reminded instantly why I only have one child. I let them blow off some steam while I sipped away on my glass of (yes again) Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc. One of them looked longingly out the screen door and my “Oh no! You better not pee on my floor” kicked in, re-leashed them and was again being pulled in a seven directions. They zigged, they zagged and they wrapped me up in their leashes the whole time me yelling, “Biscuit go potty?! Gravy go potty?!” must have looked completely retarded.



Once the hubby was home I was sure I would get right to writing, yeah…didn’t, because you see…puppies are so cute…they romp, wrestle and run….then they poop out and want to….sighing…snuggle, could not resist them, (head hanging) “I’m so weak”. They woke from their nap, I discovered in my post 3 glasses of wine that Gravy, she likes her some Sauvignon Blanc…I only let her lick from my fingers, well, after I let her sip from my glass and she went all Crack Head on me, sheesh puppies man, no control I swear.



The puppies left and I tried to get as much writing as my now 4 glasses of wine fingers would allow, so not that much, went to bed and vowed to finish in the morning….I DID!!! Hooray, now I was free to go to dinner without feeling like a loser that couldn’t get her work done on time, or somewhere near close to on time, sucking less…this is very important to me.

Sunday afternoon I ran by The Wine Country and grabbed a couple bottles for dinner, got to Amy’s and popped bottle number one, a bottle of NV Agrapart 1er Cru Rose, ($49.99). We stood in the kitchen, the savory smells of boiling potatoes, warming bread and slowly braised lamb shanks swirling around our heads and toasted to Sunday Suppers With Friends. The Agrapart Rose was the perfect starter, deeply fruited but still very fine, dry, crisp and tangy I could not think of a better wine to get our palates fired up for the meal, I only wish we had two as the bottle was gone in a flash.



As Amy riced her potatoes, (and I just have to say, that woman makes the most decadent, luxurious “mashed” potatoes I have ever had….tons of butter and cream but she adds enough salt, something that I find lacking in most, simply delicious) I figured it couldn’t hurt to open bottle number two, 2007 Serge Dagueneau Pouilly-Fume, ($24.99). I knew Amy had not yet tasted this wine, part of the reason being that it seems to sell out the second I put it on the shelf. I poured Amy a glass and she said, “Shit, how have I never tasted this?”…she a delicate flower that one. The wine was loaded with citrus but of the milder variety, tons of serious flinty flavors with a deeply saturated limestone and lemon washed finish, not a wine to suck back…it is assertive and serious, don’t get me wrong…we took it down like a wounded animal but it took a little longer.



For dinner, Amy’s braised lamb shanks, (seriously rich, powerfully brown flavors that only come from long, slow cooked food) I picked a Rose, not traditional but I had a feeling it was going to work, especially for our white wine loving palates. 2007 Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet Bourgogne Rose, ($18.99) was full enough to pair with the dish and I loved the way the plump red cherry fruit lifted the falling off the bone, rich meat…it added the perfect little snap and even went with the lemony dressed salad that Amy had on the plate. We ate in relative silence, Amy and her hubby, Merritt and the hubs and I…we just kind of grunted, emoted and reached for our glasses…the true sign of a great meal and a wonderful pairing. Three bottles down, tummies full we all moved to the couch to chat and watch trash television.



See it would have been brilliant and responsible to stop there….but anyone that reads this blog must understand….that thing that happens, otherwise you would denounce me a lush and take me off your reading list, you’ve all been there, just doesn’t seem like quite enough, many of us do it, I just happen to be one of those that has no shame….you know, aside from the burger porn and weakness when it comes to puppies.



Amy had a bottle of 2007 Sylvain Bailly Sancerre Rose, ($21.99) tucked away in her fridge, tart, tangy and saliva inducing wine that we gulped glass after glass and moved on to the Cazadores Blanco Tequila, might I recommend staying away from that stuff, goes down wicked easy! Just trust me on that okay? We actually got home at a respectable hour, Amy got to school without any “ick” the morning after and it was just another great Sunder dinner with friends.