“The Best Laid Plans – Flexibility is Key”
We were out for a walk down Magazine on Tuesday and I decided to try the coffee roasting shop that it is now selling individual espresso drinks – Diana had alerted me that they finally decided to do this a couple of weeks ago. Up until then it was just a custom roasting and home roasting training place. Probably the best macchiato that I’ve had in town and pleasant to enjoy it with the paper on their front porch.
Tuesday was the last day in business for Avo restaurant. Will gave us a gift certificate there a year or two ago and we had a little bit left and decided to get the last bit of value out of that. The drinks and meatballs were delicious and got us in the perfect frame of mind for trivia.
Trivia was a whole different experience. With so many family members home for the holidays, we split into three teams – Dads, Moms, and Kids. The Moms (or more specifically Anne) held their ground impressively. The kids have some work to do. Here was the final question:
The Dads and Moms both got the answer within the allowable tolerance – it’s unusual that we do that. We had calculated how many points (18) to bet in order to win by one point – we were successful, with the Moms coming in third place. The kids need to stick with their studies.
Julia and Anne took Diana to Dickie Brennan’s Audubon Clubhouse in the park for a belated birthday lunch on Wednesday. Doesn’t this crab cheesecake look yummy? Hope so as we’re having some of that at our New Year’s Eve party.
We agreed not to exchange any big gifts this year and opened our stockings before heading out for a fancy Christmas lunch. One stuffer that I’ve been particularly enjoying is the “Whomp Whomp trombone”:
It’s the little things that entertain me.
I thought Diana really outdid herself with my card – wooden penguins:
Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Hall clan were all clad in their matching pajamas – even the four dogs – can you find them all?
Hamish enjoyed his new transportation:
We had planned a very fancy lunch at Chemin a la Mer in the Four Seasons hotel as we were staying home for the first time in forever, starting with an oyster and wine pairing with the chef.
This restaurant has a great view out over the Mississippi and should have been well organized and humming with activity. We quickly realized nothing was going to work – there was no oyster tasting with the chef even set up and folks were waiting in line at the check in station like they were waiting for a bus, and being treated slightly worse than they would when boarding a streetcar. We talked to a manager who agreed to do an oyster and wine pairing on him in the near future. Diana will take a friend as I will not be visiting this spot again in this lifetime.
We regrouped and tried the lobby bar. Beautiful setting, good drinks, and a delicious meat and cheese platter with interesting cheeses and an excellent duck liver mousse.
The couple next to us at the bar were quite entertaining and provided some interesting restaurant and bookstore recommendations. We were rebounding nicely from the upstairs fiasco.
Then Denny call to say that he and the boys were at the Ben Temps (Magazine Street dive bar) playing pool with Thom (his family left town on Christmas afternoon.) We’ll be right there. The typical scenario developed – Diana asking the very accommodating bar tender what kind of white wine she had – the New Zealand stuff that she doesn’t like anymore. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a bottle of Veuve Clicquot yellow label (fancy champagne) in one of the wine fridges. “How much for the Veuve?” “Let me look it up, I don’t sell much of that.” She came back with a very reasonable price and we were back in business.
Denny very kindly invited us over for Christmas dinner. Scattegories with the boys and Thom was good fun.
The guys headed to the horse racing track for their traditional Boxing Day activity. Diana and I tried a new Peruvian restaurant, Social, and were very pleased. Good champagne at a good price, the best octopus ceviche and octopus by itself that we have tasted.
Our waiter explained that the pulpo comes from Spain and goes into the fridge and then straight to the pan with no thaw time – apparently that’s what makes it so tender. A great new restaurant for us to enjoy.
The weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying football. Another great Saints win and ANOTHER Cowboys weak loss.
I finished “Holy City” by Henry Wise. This won the Edgar award for best debut novel. What’s wrong with the Edgar panel? This dragged slowly after the initial chapters, with confusing and underdeveloped characters (and way too many of them to keep track of) and a completely unbelievable plot line. Not recommended!
I read of the passing of Chris Rea and was reminded of all those great albums from years ago. Andy Bull was a huge fan and we listened to a lot of his music in our college flats. A review of my records shows that I have four albums waiting to be revisited.