It's Super Bowl week here in Indianapolis. Early Sunday morning, Connie and I took a drive downtown to see what's going on. It's impressive. When I was growing up this city was India-no-place to a lot of folks. Now, there's a LOT to do. There have already been articles in major magazines saying that all of the naysayers will be very pleasantly surprised. I do believe that's true. Our downtown is very compact so folks will be able to get around easily. There are several districts with special cachet. We live close to one by the name of Broad Ripple. Way back in the 1890's when my father's mother was born there it was a small village on a bend in White River. Now, it's an entertainment destination stuffed with restaurants, bars and shopping. I hope all of our visitors have a fantastic time!
Now, that being said, since we're going to have a few extra folks in town, it's going to be a good week to STAY HOME. LOL. A few extra folks. Try 150,000. Yes, indeed, it's going to be a good time to stay home and not try to battle the crowds for dinner. I've got my menus ready to go. And, this morning we picked up the last necessary ingredient: pancetta for pancetta wrapped meatloaf with a red currant jelly glaze. We're also going to have shrimp and crab etouffee, mojito lamb chops and five spice and clementine chicken. Before I get to today's recipe, I've got a couple of other things to tell you.
This past week, we traveled north to see some friend's new house. It's gorgeous. Perfect for them. And, Nancy fixed a killer meal. Olives baked in a cheddar cheese crust. Like the gruyere olive poppers but with cheddar. Those were off the charts good. Then, a beef stew. She put in waterchestnuts which gave it a wonderful crunch every once in a while. I loved it. Salad with kiwi, mandarin oranges, red onion, pecans and a lovely vinaigrette. Some yummy pita breads. And, killer brownies. YUM! Best of all was the opportunity to relax and catch up. We're very lucky to have some wonderful friends!!Thank you, Nancy :-)
Ok, listen up you Indy residents. I'm going to tell you a secret. There's a destination restaurant that's every bit as good as Bonge's. It's called 18 on the Square and is on the square in Shelbyville. Forty-five minutes for us door-to-door. Fantastic food. We met our friends Molly and Don there on Thursday evening. That's when they have a special. You get half the protein and full sides plus a house salad for pretty much the cost of one dinner. We split the pork chop, collard greens and sweet potatoes. Those sweet potatoes were a bit of heaven on our plates. Chef Joseph said they were his grandmother's recipe. I'd have loved to have eaten at her house! Whipped to perfection. Ethereal. The collards, well, they were cooked with the ribs left in so they didn't wind up stringy and slimy like so often happens. These tasted like they had some balsamic vinegar and onion and who knows what else. I'd drive down there just to have the sweet potatoes and the collards!
Now, on to our feature presentation. You probably thought I'd never quit gabbing so we could get there, now did you? One of the recipes I pulled out for a side is from Tampa Treasures by the Junior League of Tampa. As you probably know, I typically buy a cookbook whenever we travel to a new destination. This was from our trip to Orlando and Tampa. I dithered and dithered. The gift shop in Ybor City had several really wonderful cookbooks. Finally, the fact it was a Junior League cookbook won out. Not that I've ever been in the Junior League or even wanted to be. Nope,it's because some of my favorite cookbooks are Junior League. Back Home Again is the Indy chapter's most recent cookbook. I'd highly recommend it.
I've marked a bunch of recipes to try. But, this one kept kind of knocking on my mind. You see, Connie loves Rice-a-Roni. HIs mom wasn't a great cook. They ate good meals but she loved cans and boxes and jars. So, he ate a lot of Rice-a-Roni as a kid. We didn't. It wasn't until I was in my thirties that I even tried it. And, then it was just because of the ads. I figured I'd try it once and never have it again. Then, I met Connie and he asked for it on occasion. So, I've now had it probably a half a dozen times in my life. What if I could cook my own version and make my hubby a happy camper? Perfect.
What did we think? Connie loved this. We both added salt and pepper. I made it with homemade chicken broth so there was no salt there. My guess is someone using canned broth wouldn't need any additional salt. We cut the recipe by about 2/3 and still had half left. The original recipe says it makes six servings. My guess would be that eight is closer.
Pine Nut Rice and Vermicelli
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c long-grain rice
1/2 c butter
1/2 lb vermicelli or spaghetti
1/2 c pine nuts
2 c chicken stock
salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Cook rice according to package directions.
While the rice is cooking, brown the pasta and the pine nuts in melted butter.
Once the pasta and pine nuts have browned, pour in the chicken stock.
Boil it for five mintues and remove it from the heat. Add it to the rice and stir to combine. Cover and set it aside for 30 minutes. Serve with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Do you believe it! We're still on the Entertaining with Booze book! Percentage-wise I've made more recipes from this cookbook than I've ever made from another cookbook. I turned the preparation of this recipe over to my inestimable sous-chef, Connie, to prepare.
We thought that this sounded good so, one day, we stopped by Kahn's, our local liquor super store. This is the weirdest liquor store that you ever want to see. It is a wanna-be "big box" in that it is a warehouse type building. On the other hand, it is mostly full of wine, has a amazing selection of beer and has all sorts of liquor. We drive by and it's closed at nine o'clock! Never heard of such a thing, but I guess they know their clientele and the folks they sell to are not running out for a six-pack, pack of cigarettes and a lottery ticket at 10:45. Whatever, it's still the place to find whatever weird liqueur you want.
They also offer tastes. Look at a bottle of liquor. It sounds interesting, but do I want to spend $X on something that I'll never touch again? At Kahn's, they have most of their liquors open to taste. It's not a sampling menu, mind you, but on the other hand (back to the subject) when you find a recipe and it sounds interesting, you can ask for a taste. The other thing is that most of these guys have tasted or at least have recommendations on the direction. So we picked out some pear flavored vodka called Hanger 1 "Spiced Pear". They didn't have a pear brandy that was called for, but since we sampled it, we said, "I can deal with that!" Now, the recipe in the cookbook makes about a pint. Unless we wanted to be snoring on the family room floor, that wasn't happening. So, we practiced our math skills and cut the recipe down to two servings.
Rosemary and Pear Martini
serves two
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tbs simple syrup (we use 2:1)
1 sprig rosemary
2 tsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
4 oz vodka (we use Smirnoff)
2 tbs pear liqueur (Hanger 1 as noted)
Directions:
We muddled the first three ingredients and pulled out the rosemary sprig. We then added the rest of the ingredients and ice. Shake, shake, shake! Strain and stir. Holy moly! This was tasty. Next time we'll start a little earlier and ummm,,,
Well, here is the secret. The original recipe was triple of what I said above and a lot more complicated.
Make a simple syrup from 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, (1:1 simple syrup) and 3 sprigs rosemary. Simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the rosemary, then cool. Combine the cooled syrup, 1 1/2 cups! of vodka, 1/2 cup of the pear liqueur and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Place in the freezer until well cooled. FINALLY (as if Connie and I are going to wait this long for a drink!), Stir with a handful of ice, strain into martini glasses. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and serve.
As it turns out, our drink improved as we slowly savored it. Therefore we resolved that as good as the drink was, the cooling and removal of any extraneous muddled rosemary and ice shards from the shaking would improve the drink.
So there you have it. Lovely drink
Option 1: - Follow the recipe, you have enough to intoxicate the cul-de-sac.
Option 2: - Have patience and consume it over it a couple of days.
Option 3: - Do it our way and deal with a little detritus.
Have fun either way. And, remember to kiss the one you love!
Tonight I thought I'd have a fantastic new fish recipe for you. It didn't happen. We didn't like the dish. You know, that happens. It's tough though when you're blogging and busier than a one-armed paper hanger in a windstorm. We made it through the party the 6th of January. Then, we were off to client meetings and a board meeting in Orlando. We finally got back and it was time to prep for a state securities audit. Now, audits are a fact of life in my business. Sometimes they're announced and sometimes they're surprise. But, they happen with regularity. Which is fine with me. But, it is a bit disruptive. Especially when we've had staff turnover and we're deep into the busiest season of the year. It means I'm really happy to have a deep freezer since there's not a lot of time to cook.
Tonight we had a winter weather advisory. Freezing rain and sleet. It meant we came home early. Straight to the basement and the Kinect to work out a bit. I beat Connie at tennis and he beat me at football. Together we did really well at blocking leaks and popping bubbles. Ah, yes, working out in virtual reality is certainly different from dancing to the oldies with Richard Simmons or Jazzercise.
Well, well, well. Sometimes those days just happen. Fine, so our dinner wasn't great. I'd chat about duck confit. Not happening. I've done that. So, how about an apple martini we've made twice now? Nope. I've done that. Fine. About that time, Connie started changing the cat litter and found out there was no more litter in the house. Freezing rain and the pet store closes in 20 minutes. Oh, and he's a hot-blooded guy so he has on shorts and a t-shirt. Out he goes. LOL. I know. These things happen to all of us, don't they?
So, on a totally different subject... How many of you have heard the Progresso commercial where the gal whose jeans fit again finally asks if there's a woman she can talk to? I laugh every time I hear it!!! But, the best part? Connie's the one who heard it first. He says, "You'll love this commercial!" I do.
Back to food. I finally started through my directory of food photos - hoping to find something fun I've never blogged about. It's in alphabetical order. Alton's ribs. I'd be here til midnight typing. They were beyond incredible. Just like his turkey. But, I'd like to relax for a bit tonight. Anniversary dinner. That was last July. Fresh raspberries from my back yard in a champagne glass started the meal. Don't remind me that it's January and the only hope I have for anything in the least bit fresh from my yard is kale. I love kale but I really don't want to blog about it. Ah, baba ghanouj and cumin flat bread. Something that you'd probably like to hear about and I'd like to blog about. Whew.
What did we think? The baba ghanouj was good. Not fabulous. I'd make the regular recipe next time. The hard pear cider? OMG. That stuff is incredible. I'd love to be sitting around a lovely fire in the fire pit in the back yard with a couple of those babies. Darn. Freezing rain. Not a chance. Now, the cumin flatbread. That stuff was amazing. A couple of days later I used the leftover dough for pizza. Equally amazing. I'll make the flatbread any time! This was another recipe from Entertaining with Booze - one of my all-time favorite cookbooks.
Hard Cider Baba Ghanouj
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
1/4 c hard pear cider
1/4 c tahini
1/4 c EVOO
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 t cumin
1/3 c cilantro
1/4 t salt
freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450F. Prick the eggplant with a fork. Roast it for 25-35 minutes until it's almost charred. It'll be soft and wrinkly by the time it's done.
Cool the eggplant by immersing it in a bowl of icewater. Remove it from the water and pat it dry. Cut it into quarters and remove the skin.
Put the pear cider, tahini, EVOO, garlic and cumin in the bowl of a food processor. Puree. Add the eggplant, cilantro, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cumin Flatbread
Ingredients:
2 c flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1/2 t ground cumin
2 egg whites, in 2 separate bowls, lightly whisked
3 T EVOO
2 T sesame seeds, toasted
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400F. Take two baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.
Now, it's time to sift together the dry ingredients. That would be the flours, sugar, salt and cumin. Once they're sifted together in a large bowl, stir in 2/3 c of water, one of the egg whites and the EVOO. You want to mix it together until it forms a stiff dough. Next, it's time to knead the dough. Knead for about 5 minutes
Time to roll out the dough. Divide it into eight equal balls. To roll it out, put a ball on a floured surface.
Roll it out until it's paper thin. Slice it lengthwise - about two inches wide.
Move to the baking sheets and brush with the 2nd egg white then sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake on the parchment lined sheets. Serve with the baba ghanouj.
One of my favorite tv chefs premiered his new cooking show last night - Michael Symon's Symon's Suppers. We've loved watching him on Iron Chef and pretty much anything else he's on. Not only does he cook like we do - lots of flavor - but he's got such a fantastic personality. Connie and I were both exhausted and staying up until 10:00 was a major effort. I know, what babies! Let me tell you, the show was well worth it! He made an incredible roasted chicken with salsa verde. Along side he did fried smashed potatoes. Oh, and a chocolate pudding cup. Dessert is not our bag. Roasted chicken is. And, smashed potatoes. Since we'd not been to the grocery in more than two weeks, it was time. We bought a chicken and some parsley and tarragon. Everything else we had.
Now, Friday night is date night for us. Connie used to play bridge on Fridays but has switched to Mondays. It means we actually get to either spend a lovely evening at home or go someplace fun like First Friday - a wander around some art galleries. Since we were supposed to have freezing rain staying home sounded like a MUCH better idea. And, since I didn't have to be at the office at the crack of dawn it didn't matter when we ate. Time to roast a chicken.
What did we think? This went together really easily. I actually made some gravy from the pan juices. We didn't need it. Let me tell you about the salsa verde. Connie loves mustard. I love gravy. No, in both cases the word is LOVE. Connie says, "This is almost as good as mustard." I'm pretty much doing a Meg Ryan on my side of the table. The salsa verde is seriously good. It could be used for many dishes. Connie was worried that it'd be too spicy with the jalapeno and crushed red pepper. Nope. It was perfect. The only problem was the recipe called for the chicken to be pulled from the oven to rest when the thigh reached 160F. That meant the legs and breast were undercooked. I wound up putting the roughly chopped chicken back in the oven for 12 minutes to cook it through. My advice would be to aim for 170F. When we finally had fully cooked chicken, we loved this dish. Another note - the recipe called for salting the chicken then refrigerating it overnight. I didn't have that luxury. I don't think it suffered a bit for the lack of the overnight salting.
Along with the chicken, Michael deep fried smashed potatoes in bacon fat. He said that was his favorite fat. I declared mine to be duck fat so mine were drizzled with duck fat and roasted. They wound up brown and crispy and fantastic. They're very easy to make. Just boil potatoes until they're smashable, smash them, drizzle them with duck fat. Then, top with some salt and freshly ground pepper and roast them for about 20 minutes.
Connie would like for me to try them deep fried in duck fat. I don't think that's on the menu. But, drizzled and roasted. Absolutely!
Roasted Chicken with Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
4-5 pound chicken
1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeded
2 fresh bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small onion, quartered
1 small bunch fresh thyme
2 T olive oil
for the salsa verde:
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 T capers, chopped
2 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 anchovies, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 shallot, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425. Rinse and dry the chicken. Gently lift the skin from the breast. Tuck in lemon slices and the bay leaves.
Into the cavity put the rest of the lemon slices, the onion quarters, the garlic cloves and the thyme. (I left the thyme out and didn't miss it in the least.)
LIberally salt the chicken. Slather the chicken with the olive oil. Bake it at 425F until the temperature in the thigh measures 170F.
While the chicken is roasting make the salsa verde. Combine all of the ingredients and set aside to allow the flavors to marry.
Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to sit for 10 minutes so the juices can redistribute. Serve with the salsa verde.
A few minutes ago I saved a document I'd gotten attached to an email. Typically by this time of year I've learned it's a NEW year and I'm pretty good at typing in the correct info. Unfortunately, it's the 15th of January and I've actually been in the office for about a day and a half this year so it really hasn't sunk in that it's 2012. Not that I was goofing off, mind you. The first week was preparing for the annual shindig. Then, this past week we were off to Orlando for a meeting. Since I was going to be in the area, I decided it was a good thing to see some clients. It was not a good thing to be out of the office but, sometimes that's the way these things work.
Jeff lives in Tampa so he's about an hour and a half away from Orlando. Not a bad drive at all. Even to see a Purdue fan. LOL. That's our running verbal sparring. I went to IU, he went to Purdue. Big-time rivals. We got in really late on Tuesday so by the time we woke up on Wednesday it was time to drive to Tampa. Connie'd done the research and found a couple of Triple D places. We've never been anyplace Guy Fieri's loved that we haven't just raved over. Well, except for the Triple X in Lafayette. But, Connie wasn't with me when I ate there so that doesn't count. Do you like the logic there??? Jeff had been to the Taco Bus so he loved the idea of meeting there. Well, let me tell you, that was some fantastic food. We all got the lunch special. Two tacos, rice and beans for $7.99. Best refried beans I've ever had. EVER. And the tacos? Amazing. We liked them in this order: pulled pork (hint of orange from a 5000 year old Mayan recipe according to the menu,) fish, beef, vegetarian with peppers and corn. Here are a few photos of our visit there:
My buddies from Girls Night Out. We've been together for somewhere around 20-25 years!
Last year we had miserable weather. Cold, icy, slip and fall and break your tookus weather. Somewhere between 125 and 150 people attended our annual open house. It started years ago when Connie said, "Let's have a party." I said, "Sure." Did you expect anything different? We had the party in Connie's old house. That entailed dragging coolers back and forth as I really needed to do the cooking in my kitchen. Finally, we bought OUR house and the party moved here. It grew over time. This year the weather was perfect. We had 180 attend. Going into the party we had 188 yes rsvp's. (Editorial comment: RSVP means respondez sil vous plait - please respond whether or not you're going to attend. Many folks don't understand this, much to our chagrin.) Thirty plus didn't show and twenty plus didn't rsvp and tell us they'd be here but showed up anyway. A total of 180 showed up. Now, we don't have a big house so we use our garage as the bar. Last year we opened the door from the family room first thing Friday morning. We ran heaters all day and finally got the temp up to 62 degrees. This year, the heater was turned on as the party started and turned off shortly thereafter. The garage temp? 62 degrees.
Here's my working menu:
Bill of Fare
Meats, Fish and Seafood
Turkey breast with Grand Marnier Cranberry Compote
Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Zinfandel
Pork Tenderloins with Scallion Mustard Mayonnaise
Beef Tenderloins with Red Wine Mustard Sauce
Honey Glazed Ham with Spiced Citrus Mustard Glaze
Gingery Chicken Satay
Smokey Chicken Barbecue Skewers with White Barbecue Sauce
Teriyaki Flank Steak Skewers
Cameroon Suya (Flank Steak dusted with Peanut Spice)
Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers
Shrimp with Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce
Bourbon Brined Salmon
Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce
Sandwiches
Muffuletta
Cuban
Ham and Cheese
Meatanarian
Crudités
Fresh Herb and Caper Tapenade
Creamy Basil Pesto Dip
Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip
Crackers
Baked Potato Dip
Barbecued Chicken Dip
Blue Moon Cheese Spread
Bourbon Bacon Marmalade
Brie with Cranberry Chutney
Deviled Cheese Ball
Goat Cheese with Rosemary Cream
Gorgonzola Cranberry Cheeseball
Greek Layered Dip
Hot Chipped Beef Dip
Pulled Pork KC Style Dip
Hot Bites
Bacon Crescents
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts in Chili Sauce
BBQ Bacon and Cheese Mini-Meatloaves
Green Olive Poppers
La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings
Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce
Pesto Crescents
Rumaki
Slices of Happiness
Wing Eggrolls with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
Chips
Chicken Chili Cheese Dip
Mexicali Salsa
Rum Soaked Black Bean Salsa
Smoked Salmon Tartare
Antipasto and Cold Bites
Antipasto Platter
Deviled Eggs
Cheddar Cheese Wafers
Chesapeake Snack Mix
Cream Cheese Olive Pecan Bites
Crispy Salami Rolls
Peppadew Hot Shots
Desserts
Apricots Dipped in Chocolate with Almonds
Butterscotch Brownies and Chocolate Brownies
Caramel Dream Bars
Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars
Pirouettes with Cheesecake Sauce
Pumpkin Walnut Bars
Salted Peanut Bars
Tequila Lime Bars
What was most popular? These items: crab cakes, pulled pork dip, teriyaki flank steak skewers, Mom's cheese wafers, gorgonzola cranberry cheese ball, gruyere olive poppers, butterscotch brownies and tequila lime bars. A couple of dishes never made it to the table. This year it was the jellied cranberry sauce with zinfandel. It was taken to my brother's in-laws Sunday evening for dinner. It's now been requested for holiday dinners. So, one of those side notes pops into my mind. When my niece Samantha was a little shaver she didn't like any fruits or vegetables. So, at ever meal red jello was served. Red jello that was really canned jellied cranberry sauce! This was a couple of steps up from the canned version.
Did I take photos? Nope. I spent solid days cooking and cleaning and didn't take more than a couple of photos along the way. Knowing that the weather was going to be wonderful and that we had more yes responses than ever I knew I had to keep my eye on the ball - and not the camera! One evening though, Connie whispered that I really had to take a look in the family room - camera in hand. Seems that Gracie Ann thought it was really cool that Connie'd left his water glass on the coffee table:
So, I'd be remiss if I didn't show you a couple of photos from the party:
Mom talking to my colleague Chuck and his wife Karen. Mark, the guru of all things computer, is behind Mom. He's one of the funniest guys I know - and he keeps our computers in great shape!
My wonderful friend Lauren talking to Chef Joseph. She talks like I do - with her hands. Connie jokes that I'd never be able to talk if I had to sit on my hands... He's right! Her hubby, Bob and Joseph's partner, Juan are watching.
See the gorgeous gal waving back there? That's LizzyDo from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Last, but not least, some of us got to relax and enjoy the sunshine during the clean up phase...
For recipes go to Kate’s Kitchen blog: Kateiscooking.blogspot.com
New Year's Eve. Seafood and seduction. Connie's a New England boy. He grew up downtown Boston. As in right downtown. By the Bunker Hill Monument. He went to Boston Latin School. Worked for the Bank of New England while he worked on his college degree. Grew up on fresh seafood. Needless to say, he doesn't find the same in Indianapolis.
We met in 2004 and pretty quickly we knew we were meant to be. Pretty much love at first sight. And, that's coming from a gal who'd been divorced for 26 years, had a successful business and really had no intention of ever getting married again. He certainly changed my mind and I'm ever so glad he did!!
Over the years, we've created some wonderful traditons. Our New Year's Eve seafood fest is one of them. That first year, we went to the now-defunct seafood shop across the street from my office. What they had created the basis for our meal. Escargot, bacon wrapped scallops, lobster tail, crab soup, crab cakes, shrimp. We both got dressed up and I decorated the table. It was incredibly romantic. Each year we've done the same. We've changed up the menu a bit each year.
Now, we start planning the menu about a month or two before New Year's Eve. This year most of the inspiration came from Entertaining with Booze. I know, we've talked before about the title. Not terribly appetizing. But the recipes? Oh, la, la. We've loved so many of the ones we've tried.
There was a bit of excitement as we started our dinner prep this year. My beloved Indiana Hoosiers were playing Ohio State. My stepson David's alma mater. Here are my favorite screen shots:
You can probably read the second one with a magnifying glass... It says the Hoosiers beat the number one and number two ranked teams in the same season for the first time ever. All cooking stopped and breathless watching ensued. The game wasn't decided until the last seconds. Wow. It feels like the old days.
This year we had a bit of a twist to our meal. Leftover escargot. Turns out the soup I fixed for New Years Eve Eve dinner with Mom needed a dozen escargot. The can holds two dozen. No way was I going to waste those! I didn't tell Connie what I was doing and he didn't discover my plan until I was ready to put the escargot dishes in the oven. The look on his face was fantastic. Huge grin. He practically did a happy dance. Thanks to Jaden at Steamy Kitchen for the oven temp and the amount of butter to use.
Escargot
Ingredients:
12 escargot
4 T butter at room temp
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T fresh flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Directions:
Mash the butter with the garlic and the parsley. Divide it into 12 balls.
Place your escargot either into the shells or escargot dishes (or both if you desire.)
Put the butter on top of each. Bake at 450 for five minutes. Serve with sliced baguette.
As we cooked, we drank a bottle of Domaine ste Michelle Blanc de Noirs. That was absolutely lovely bubbly. We used the flutes my sister-in-law Pam gave me many years ago. I love them not only because they're beautiful but because every time we use them I'm reminded of my wonderful sister-in-law. I love you Pam! Here's a photo of Connie in the mirror while we're toasting with our bubbly:
