I made another Julia's "Genoise Jelly Roll" for our friends Kay and Steve. We were gathering for date night to tweak and finalize our plans for our trip to Southern France, and I just thought it would be fun to take them a "French" dessert.
Last night we met Steve and Kay in Mt. Adams for a pub/bistro crawl. Mt. Adams is this quaint and very old tiny town at the edge of the KY/OH state line border. The town has very narrow and hilly streets, old shotgun style buildings with 'old style architecture' that hold an array of the cutest and coolest boutiques as well as the yummiest and coolest restaurants, bistros, and pubs. We started out in a beer pub, "Monks Cave", had a libation or two, Kay immediately tore into the Genoise Jelly Roll cake, so we had dessert first! And then we crossed the street to the "Wine Cellar", where we enjoyed a sampler of fine cheeses, sausages, and grapes with wine. It felt like we were really in a wine cellar and it was just delightful. After sitting, chatting and nibbling (and lots of people watching) there for an hour or so, we meandered up the street to "Teak" (a Thai and Sushi restaurant). We sat outside on the wood deck patio that had a creek rock wall behind it with all sorts of plant life growing on it. Twinkle lights were strung romantically through the trees and the decking. And the weather last night was 'summer perfect'.... nice breeze, warm air, not muggy, and the perfumes of the late summer flowers that were in pots everywhere mingled with the interesting smells of the delish foods being served. We had edame (one of my favorite snacks), spring rolls, sushi and sake. After another lingering hour or so over those nibbles, we hit the now 'young people' crammed streets and found our way to the "Blind Melon", which is yet another pub/bistro that had live music playing. All the tables outside on the brick patio were full, so we were ushered inside to a table just behind the guitarist where the doors were flung wide open, and we actually had the best seat in the house! The guitarist would turn around after each song and ask us our request and chat with us for a moment. We sat there another couple of hours, enjoying more libations and conversation before heading home. It was midnight when we started making our way home, and Mt. Adams was just starting to really get cranked up!!! All the 20-30 year olds were just getting out and about, having a great time!
It was one of those nights of long conversations, ranging over several topics, reliving many memories from our abroad trips we have taken together... the pace of the whole evening was slow and easy, both of us couples strolling arm in arm from place to place. It almost felt like we were actually in Europe and strolling along the streets and stopping in the cafes and coffee shops after a day of site seeing.
We didn't really eat 'dinner' at any place we stopped at along our pub/bistro crawl, instead we nibbled and appetized our way through the evening, and while our bellies were bulging full after the evening, we sampled so many culturally different foods, out tummies and palates were completely satisfied. It was all 'just enough' food, but never 'too much' food. And at the end of the evening.... we still had Julia's Genoise Jelly Roll to enjoy.... which is absolutely scrumptious!!!
Bon Appetit!
No comments:
Post a Comment