Saturday, January 10, 2004
Breakfast: cinnamon raisin bagel and cream cheese for me, Life cereal for Patrick. Grocery shopping at Tower Market. Cleaned and organized the whole apartment, did home improvement, laundry. Dinner at home with Patrick, Travis, and Erick: a 3-course meal. Erick and Travis brought us a bottle of Francis Coppola Claret, a black-label cabernet sauvignon. Course 1: spring salad mix with French balsamic vinaigrette (olive oil, sherry wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, sea salt), chopped Niman Ranch cured ham steak, sea salt, pepper, torn basil, tarragon, walnuts, cubes of aged cheddar. Course 2: farfalle with lemon-and-thyme lima beans and shrimp in lemon butter white wine sauce. Course 3: liquid center warm Valrhona chocolate cake garnished with a blackberry and a Jules Destrooper butter crisp wafer cookie, side of Straus Family Creamery organic vanilla bean ice cream. Travis told about bomb shelters in Ohio and ruining 2 rice cookers while trying to make coconut rice. I told stories about my mom. We all talked about Erick's novel. Patrick talked about his forthcoming trip to China. After dinner we chatted in the living room before going to the Castro to drink and dance—first the new Detour (music is more vocal housey than in the old Detour) and then The Cafe. It was a very pleasant evening; Patrick and I enjoyed their company very much.