Tuesday, August 19
I woke up to a rainy morning. The rain was good and definitely needed out here in the northern Willamette. I stretched and went downstairs to get in ten solid sun salutation yoga poses and 100 crunches. I ate a half cup of cantaloupe for breakfast nd felt refreshed.
On my way to work, I headed over to Target to get materials to create place cards for our wine dinner on Saturday. I was going with a green leaf theme. When I got to the office, I had a meeting regarding our wine dinner over lunch. I brought Amy’s Kitchen green tamale with cheese, which is obviously gluten-free.
In the afternoon, I met a former colleague, a wine broker from mid-Atlantic, at winery. We tasted through our line up and then I gave him a quick tour of the cellar. After, we drove the back roads to Dundee and had dinner at Red Hills Provincial Dining. It has such a beautiful dining room, much like a California bungalow, with old dark wood siding and built in cabinets, etc.
I ordered the Montrachet small plate to start, a single roll of warm goat cheese and herbs wrapped in grape leaves, and replaced the crostini with sliced apple and celery, for a gluten-free option, which also came with whole roasted garlic and marinated olives. It was delicious. We selected a bottle of Scott Paul Pinot noir. And then I ordered the duck confit for dinner with chicken sausage and mixed vegetables. The food was truly delightful. And because it was cold and rainy, it was comfort cuisine. They had an amazing ice cream and sorbet selection – I had to have four tiny scoups because I wanted to try them all! It was hard enough to narrow it down to four flabors. I was able to decide on the fig sorbet, cherry chocolate praline, lavender ice cream and pomegranate coconut. I finished with a cup of decaf cappuccino.
When I got home, I watched Jaws on television – the only horror movie that really ever scared the crap out of me because, well, shark attacks can actually happen. I remember swimming on the swim team as a kid and I was six years old and I stood stoic on the block ready for my race when my mother, who was timing in the next lane, called over, “think of Jaws.” Child abuse! By the time the started shot the cap gun, I was shaking the whole 25 meter length of the pool. The pool was shaped like a “Z”. I was swimming free style. As I approached the end where the deep top of the “Z” was, to my left, I peered over and could have sworn Jaws was in there coming for me! I never paddled and kicked so hard in my life. Needless to say, I won the race. Got a blue ribbon.
