I Heart a Great Meal

Busy few days ahead.

Friday evening we are cooking for a table full of food and wine people (can you say one renowned local chef and his wife, one pair of seriously seasoned eaters and drinkers, a VP of one of the largest food service purveyors and her partner who just happens to be the owner of one of the biggest restaurant groups in the Twin Cities) and I am a little nervous about what I might have gotten us into. Mr. C loves a challenge like this, but in my book there is nothing worse then having a meal flop when you have a table full of professional eaters with big expectations. So I am sitting down for a little menu planning session and not feeling a ton of inspiration on this freezing morning.

Lamb, beef tenderloin, pork? No clue which direction to go with this group.

Mr. C wants to serve the magnum of Goldeneye Pinot Noir from the Anderson Valley that we have been waiting to try and back it up with our favorite Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage. Do we even need to serve food? Can't we just drink our dinner? Probably not. Stay tuned and see where this menu planning actually takes me as we slide into Friday evening....

Now looking ahead to Valentine's Day. I must admit this is a date the two of us don't celebrate to the fullest. It's kind of akin to New Year's Eve- a little amateurish in my book. The only Valentine tradition I wholeheartedly support is the inclusion of Bubbles. As in Billecart Salmon, Louis Roederer, Krug- but why not go a little nuts with something like Champagne Chartogne-Taillet? This is a tiny producer in the Merfy region of Champagne that is doing some delicately delicious stuff with bubbles. That to me is special. Why would I want to go to the local steakhouse with a room full of people about to get engaged and leave with a single stemmed red rose from the maitre'd?

Not my kinda night.

We are tossing around the idea of a cooking class at Cooks of Crocus Hill that comes with a pretty decent wine pairing, but who knows? I would be up for a night at Piccolo, Tosca, Vincent, but more then likely Mr. C will want to uncork something special at home and prepare a great meal. Once again, stay tuned.

Cheers to a great weekend!