5th Anniversary Weekend

To celebrate 5 years of being a "Country of Three", we had a fun weekend at home for our anniversary. Here are a few highlights:

Sat: Wine bottling party at Chateau d'Hitz. Always a fun event, and I was amused that people kept coming up to me saying "I saw you in the paper." Apparently, a picture of me from the grape picking and stomping party made it into the Los Altos paper; you can find all the pictures from the events that the photographer took here. (Yes, it is me in the orange shirt right up at the top.)

We went home to a delicious beef stew that had been maturing in the crock pot all day. Who knew acorns braised in beef broth could be so good?

Sun: Family cooking day. On the menu were

Crudites with Nimue's special SuperYummy dip

Roasted tomato and leek ricotta tart

Roast duck with cracklings a la Julia Child

Sweet dumpling squash stuffed with cranberry bean rice pilaf

Zucchini boats stuffed with parsnip puree

Mmmmm. Yummy stinky cheeses

Chocolate almond tart with creme fraiche and pomegranate seeds

Post dinner we played an entertaining board game while the cat sat in the box.

Mon: Fine hike at Joe Grant County Park. Chad took a gazillion photos, I enjoyed the oak-studded grassy hillsides, and Nimue sang songs, made faces, and generally tried to keep up.