productionMaven part deux

G and I are making a point to go out on dates more often just the two of us... it's a habit that we want to have established by the time the Lad makes his appearance, so that we remember, while we're in the throes of midnight feedings, business peaks & valleys, diaper blow-outs, three-year-old temper tantrums, whining dogs, insistant cats, and a house that needs vacuuming, just why we thought all of this was such a great idea. I knew immediately the moment I clapped eyes on him over ten years ago that G was my future, and we both have to make each other remember just what we saw in each other and not get lost in our present, because it's slightly chaotic.

That said, we won tickets back in December to a wine tasting dinner whose menu would be based on the Best Film nominees for the Academy Awards, so we set a date with my parents to come and babysit, and last Saturday we were off. It goes without saying, of course, that we haven't actually seen any of the movies, but we like food and we like wine, so away we went. We looked highly glamourous in the car, especially:


The dinner was held at The Waybury Inn, a lovely little inn nestled - literally - at the foot of the Green Mountains, in East Middlebury. You might remember a shot of this inn as the opener to The Bob Newhart Show ("I'm Larry, this is my brother Darrel and my other brother Darrel" - maybe if you're not a woodchuck you won't get this reference) from the 80s. G and I were also honored at the Inn at a brunch the morning after our wedding, thrown by my parents. And if you click that link, you'll see some of G's logo and design work - he did the logo for the new owners and the website is based on a design for a booklet that he did for them a few years ago. We attend chamber mixers and meetings here frequently, as well. We have a history with this place. The owners are delightful, their staff is attentive and quick, and their chef is amazing. It's a nice place to go.

The evening kicked off with hors d'oevures inspired by Atonement - a duck and phesant meat pie, assorted english sausages with mustard, grilled pheasant on a homemade sweet potato chip, bite-sized fish nuggets, and a salmon mousse sandwich. This course was served with a choice of either Cabernet Sauvignon or Sauvignon Blanc. I opted for the Blanc - I had to limit what I was drinking and didn't want to kick off with a heavy-ish red.

When we were invited to sit for dinner, the first course was based - very, very loosely - on Juno, only because the movie was shot in Vancouver, and we were served a chestnut-crusted loin of venison serves on seared greens with a pinot noir/balsamic vinegar reduction. The accompanying wine was a cleverly-named Clos LaChance "Buff-Bellied" Zinfandel. Both the meat and the sauce were delicious, and the wine was fruity, jammy, and not too heavy. It plated nicely, too:


The intermezzo and the entrée were both based on Daniel Day-Lewis's award-winning performance in There Will Be Blood: the intermezzo was a delicious, refreshing (although it could have been perhaps a little softer) duo of Pomegranate and blood-orange sorbet. I love sorbet as a palate-cleanser. not so much as a dessert, per se. But it's refreshing and delicious. This was one of the courses that I forgot to photograph before I started eating it... so I had to kind of hide what had already been enjoyed:


G and I both opted for the center-cut beef tenderloin medallion with wild mushroom dumpling and port wine sauce, served with Hope Estate "The Ripper" Shiraz (rather than getting the halibut - fish doesn't thrill me so much). Holy crap, this was a delicious piece of beef, with some tender steamed vegetables, some tender roasted potatoes, and a wine that really packed a punch. It was really a treat:


This was another plate that I ate all of mine then needed to photograph someone else's half-eaten serving. G artfully arranged his uneaten portion and we got the shot. What you can't see here is that he turned his un-cut-into part of beef toward me for the photo. See the little asparagus stubs sticking out behind the beef? That's about all that was left of those spears... but we made it look like they were hiding. We're so willey!

I completely spaced photographing the salad, a mixture of bitter greens and beets dressed with a sweet champagne vinaigrette, accompanied by a Cinnabar Mercury Rising Blanc in a nod toward Michael Clayton. The greens were very bitter and included radicchio, but the beets balanced the bitterness nicely and made for a refreshing light salad course.

To finish, dessert was in tribute to the Award-Winning No Country for Old Men... a giant chocolate star:


This was a chocolate star layered with a chocolate-hazelnut cream and garnished with a gold hazelnut praline and some caramelized sugar that looked like gold dust. The amazing wine served with this course was a dessert wine, Fetish "Field of Dreams" Moscato that was like drinking a carbonated pear. It was scrumptious. Absolutely sublime. The meal might not have been prepared by Wolfgang Puck, but it was made with care, the menu and wines planned deliberately and executed flawlessly. Who needs Hollywood with starving actresses, when you can enjoy good company and a special dinner like this?

Here are two very happy people:


We plan on going again next year - it was only $140 for the two of us, not including gratuity, so it was a lovely evening out that was not too spendy, and a special way for me to remember why I love the man that I'm married to.

Eight years ago today, I was a bride. I had the requisite white dress, the attendants in matching dresses, tasteful music, and 113 people wishing us well. I had a new family that I was marrying into, and piles of boxes wrapped in foil paper for our new life. I had a job in Boston that I wasn't crazy about, but I was marrying a man that I was crazy about, amazed that he loved me, too. I had 4 cats, no dogs. Obviously, no kids. I had dreams and ambitions, I had the fairy tale and the reality.






It's 8 years later. We've been together for 10 years. We've lived in Vermont for the last 7 years and had a least one dog. We've had our own business for 6 years. We've had a child for almost 3 years. There have been fights and forgiveness, new cars and car accidents. There have been births of new babies and deaths of family members, friends and cats. There have been weddings and divorces (of friends). There have been many dinners togther, friends made and lost, and crying through the night (that last one is mostly P). There have been illnesses and health, richer times and certainly plenty of poorness. There have been trials (literally - from the County Superior Court to the State Supreme Court for our road issue which is still not resolved legally) and tribulations. There has been much laugher, somtimes to tears, as well as the regular tears of sadness, depression, disappointment. There has been loving and hating. But, through it all, we have had each other. G is my best friend, the person who knows the most about me. He is the biggest hottie that I know, and I knew that the moment I set eyes on him in Cambridge, MA on July 1, 1997 at about 5:30 in the evening. He is moody and funny, he is sensitive and careful, he is loving and respectful. He is ambitious and smart, he is supportive and hilarious. He takes his work and his art seriously. He is a wonderful father. He is all I could have ever asked for in a husband and a partner.

G - I gave myself to you on September 5, 1999 at 4:33 in the afternoon. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you for being a wonderful partner, friend, and husband. I love you. I look forward to many more years together, with all the ups and downs. Without the valleys, we can't have the peaks.