at last, a minute to blog!

Saturday night was fabulous. All the men were wearing tuxes. Men look so NICE in tuxes. I dressed to the nines. because how often do you get a chance to do so? The hosts were urbane, highly educated, convivial folks. He was an architect and the dinner was served in their fascinating 6 storey house in the upper-class West Hills of Portland. This is such a high-tone address that it's ABOVE the right side of the tracks! The house is six stories, staggered back and forth along a steep hillside, with a firepole from the kids' sleeping loft to the livingroom, kitchen, dining area. The bathroom has the bathtub on a platform over the door, so you need a ladder to get to it. And it's a glorious clawfoot painted red on the outside. When I saw it, I turned to DH and said, "WANT!" He laughed at me as well he might, but the lust for a red clawfoot bathtub has been planted in my heart.

Dinner was an epicurean delight! We started with local chantarelles, porccinni and cremini mushrooms sauteed in butter and wine, and served on a garlic souffle for everyone else, and on toast for lactose-intolerant me. It was yummy! And then duck breast with a caper sauce, with potatoes augratin on the side and asparagus spears. Then a salad with fresh ripe figs, pomegranet seeds, butter lettuce, and a superb dressing made with balsamic vinegar, concentrated orange juice, and rice wine vinegar. Then a cheese plate. Then creme brulee with raspberries (just raspberries for me. Poor baby! I lurves fresh raspberries!) Then coffee. We went through several many bottles of wine and laughed moderately and got to know one another. I played party pooper at 11:00, remarking that we had to get up in the AM to cook a turducken. It was after midnight before I got to bed. That's more than four hours past my bedtime. I was a sleepy baby!!



Up at 7 to start the 17 pounds of cajun bird. Then back to bed for a few hours. I have pictures of kitties helping me set the table. Up again at 11:00 and steady work until the first guests started arriving at 1:00. Oh, what a feast! TW brought black-eyed peas and dirty rice. MJ brought collard greens. People brought presents. PW agreed to carve.The beautiful, golden,fragrant bird was boned except for legs and wings, so carving was simplicity itself. But - I think they sent us just a turkey. If there had been turkey AND duck AND chicken, I would have expected a LOT more meat. Hard as we tried, we could not find the duck meat. It was yummy. The rice and cornbread stuffing was good. Everyone ate ourselves into a stupor, but the intrigue of turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken did not materialize. I think we'll order locally fo rht next bird. Sheridan Market, if any of you local folks are interested, offers turducken.

Then we tried to play Botticelli, but the L-tryptophan induced post-turkey sommnelence overwhelmed us, and the party broke up about 6:00 PM. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. These are party vikings who, in their youth, in a fit of drunken eccstasy, created chocolate mousse at three AM and ate it with the sunrise. (I was not at that party, but I hear that it was epic!)

I fell into bed at 7:30 and slept like the dead till 5 the next morning. Off to the jail at 6. I composed thank-you notes and managed to keep myself awake, but just barely. Home by 3. I sat down to write out the notes, and fell asleep in my chair. DH woke me for dinner. It was left-over turkey. Quite tasty!! Another 7:30 bedtime for me! Tuesday, up at 5, and from 8 -5 I was in training to take over for one of our happy coterie of proctors who will be retirining in Dec. She is soo efficient, competant and knowledgable tht I know she will be sorely missed! I can't take her place, but I could use a few more hours, so in January, I will be working all day on Tuesdays. Time to knit, but not to blog.

When I got home, my new laptop had arrived! Happy dances! cries of glee! All I need to do now, is figure how to get the internet connection to work, and I'm good to go. Blogger, meanwhile, is being a real pisser about posting photos, no matter how hard I try, but with a shiney new Dell, I might stand more of a chance!