Remembering Ted 2012

Well, the years pass by and it is now 4 years since our dear friend Ted was murdered.

But, Ted lives on in the memories of many, including our little group. Once again, we got together for dinner at my house to celebrate our friendship and to remember Ted.

Our little group of Mary Ann, Liz, Ray, Jim, and me always enjoy these get togethers.





We eat, we drink, we catch up on our lives, and we simply relax. Four of us were close longtime friends of Ted and one, Liz, never met him, but was a neighbor. Liz is the one who rescued the one of his two cats who survived the fire that destroyed Ted's house.  We are a special group.

This year, we all shared in making the meal.

Liz brought some hors d'oeuvres (cranberry goat cheese log with baguette slices), Mary Ann made a salad (arugula, dried cherries, pecans, sherry vinaigrette), and Ray brought wines (very tasty Red and White).

I'm still reliving my cooking tour in Provence, so my hors d'oeuvres offering was the black olive tapenade and cheese sablés from my classes. And my soup and dessert were also from cooking class recipes.

Our main course was Mary Ann's salad, which I named "Salade Marianne," and Soupe au Pistou, a hearty vegetable soup with Pistou, a French version of pesto.





With much trepidation, I attempted the Red Wine Tart that I so enjoyed in Provence.




Amazingly, it came out perfectly. Before my cooking tour, I'd never even heard of a tart with a filling made with red wine.  It looks like some kind of chocolate tart, until you take your first bite!! Truly amazing! And, I served it with Lavender Ice Cream. We did make lavender ice cream in Provence, but, since I don't have an ice cream maker, I have not considered trying to make it from scratch.  As luck would have it, I've found Lavender Ice Cream at Whole Foods and it is outstanding and a perfect complement to the Red Wine Tart.

We laughed a lot and lingered at the table until close to midnight, enjoying the company and thanking Ted for bringing us together again and again.

Ted, we do miss you, but will never forget you.

And, for all the wonderful meals that you've prepared for us, we know, our gatherings at the table are a true tribute to you.

Celebrating Ted's 70th

Our good friend Ted would have turned 70 this month. Last night, with Ray and Liz, we celebrated this landmark with Pizza at Skipolini's in Clayton, just as Jim and I had done with him for many birthdays.

 Unfortunately, the fifth member in our "Always Remembering Ted" group, Mary Ann, had other obligations and could not join us this year.

 It was a balmy northern California night so we could comfortably dine on their outdoor patio.

 The menu was the usual: Salad, a few Pizzas, wine, beer, lemonade

and, for a birthday cake, some mini cupcakes that we brought along.

A relaxing evening with good friends and good memories.

Ted, we will always miss you.

Happy New Year: Remembering December 2011

My December was a busy one, filled mostly with meals and celebrations with friends and the added time-consumer of completing my final project for my Landscape Architecture Class.

As we start a new year, I share the highlights of December 2011.

We started the month off with what has become our annual "Remembering Ted" dinner.





It is now three years since our special longtime friend Ted was senselessly murdered. The evening of our dinner, we learned that his murderer's appeal was denied and that the man will remain in jail...thankfully.

Ray and Liz came to our house for dinner. What's most amazing about our little group of friends is that, while Liz was Ted's neighbor, she never met him. What brought her to us was that she found and rescued the one of Ted's two cats that survived the fire in Ted's house. Now the cat lives with Ray. Several times of year we get together to celebrate and remember Ted's vibrant life.

Then Jim and I celebrated his birthday for two days. On the day of his birthday, we had lunch at Sasa in Walnut Creek...a terrific Japanese California fusion Isakaya restaurant.



The next day we headed into San Francisco to look at Christmas decorations and to walk around Union Square. We first stopped at the Sheraton Palace where there was a display of Gingerbread Houses designed by local celebrities and charitable organizations. We got to vote on our favorite.



At Neiman Marcus their huge tree just about hit the historic domed ceiling by the main entrance.



The pastry chef at the St. Francis Hotel had created an enormous multistory Gingerbread Castle that was on display in the lobby.



The tree in Union Square was brightly illuminated and Macy's shone in the background.



We then had dinner at Le Central, a classic French bistro which has remained one of our favorites since in opened in 1974.

It's been a few years since our last visit. The food is as good as ever and the menu remains much the same.

Jim started with the Onion Soup Gratinée and followed with one of the day's specials, a stuffed Filet of Sole.




I ordered my favorites: the Celery Root Remoulade to start and the Cassoulet for my main course. Le Central keeps count of the number of days that the Cassoulet has been cooking. Right now it is more than 13,000 days!



Very few restaurants serve Buche de Noel despite it being a traditional French Christmas dessert. Discovering it on Le Central's menu, we could not resist sharing a slice. It was pure heaven!



My next home entertaining was my annual Ladies' Crab Dinner.







This party dates back to the early '80s when I left my San Francisco corporate job to start the Where-To-Guide. I missed regularly seeing some of my San Francisco friends and colleagues and came up with the idea of having a dinner for these friends. Because December is a busy month for me, I chose an "easy" menu: Cracked Crab, Salad, and Sourdough bread. The party continues on each year...some of the original guests still come and many new friends have been added. It's a lively evening and, for many who attend, a chance to connect and reconnect with women whom they've met at this dinner. And, in all these years, there has only been one year when crab was not available and I resorted to making lasagne, much to the dismay for all those who attended...it was good but they wanted their crab!!!

Christmas Day brought another dinner at home, this year with Barbara, Sue, and Starr as our guests.




Our main course was a Flank Steak & Swiss Chard Roulade on a bed of mixed grains.



To start, we had a Cauliflower Soup.



And for dessert, Buche de Noel.



This was one of my favorite Christmas meals and I've provided links to the Roulade and Soup recipes, should you wish to try them yourselves. The Buche came from Whole Foods who make a delicious version.

Of course we enjoyed an abundance of wonderful gifts as well.

Jim's gift from Barbara was a wine aerator which allows you to open a bottle of wine without needing to let the wine breathe. It aerates a glass at a time!



Louie received many fine toys.



One of his favorites was an entire stuffed toy lobster dinner. One it's serving plate is the lobster, an ear of corn, lemon and a baked potato. As you can see, the potato was his favorite, or, at least, what he grabbed first.




Eventually, he got around to literally trying to eat the lobster!



As so ends 2011!

Wishing you all good health and happiness in 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friends remember Ted

Yesterday, December 3, was the two-year anniversary of Ted's murder. Finally, this fall, the murderer was sentenced to spending pretty much the rest of his life in jail. We, his friends, are relieved that this man will never be walking the streets for over 30 years.

All very tragic, but, Ted's death has nurtured the friendship between Ray, Mary Ann, Liz, Jim, and me. We all have connections to Ted and we celebrate this.

Last night, we had our second remembrance dinner together at our house.

Since it was the third night of Chanukah, we recruited Jim to light the candles and tell the story of Chanukah.



Ray and Mary Ann recorded Jim's presentation on their iPhones!!!



While I did serve an entire meal...starting with Sushi and Duck Mousse, going on to Zinfandel Spaghetti with Broccolini and a seasonal salad, I neglected to take pictures until dessert. So here is a picture of one of our desserts: A super-large Chocolate Cupcake with Peppermint Bark on the frosting...it came from Trader Joe's and can serve 12...very decadent and very very delicious. We also enjoyed Raspberry Herbal Tea with a special cheese, made with the same Raspberry tea, from a dairy farm in New York State.



And, despite eating and drinking quite a bit, Liz and Ray could not resist doing a cookie sampling of Louie's vegetarian dog cookies!!



We will never forget you Ted and how you enriched our lives. And, you would have enjoyed this evening.