It's been one heckuva week. I'd use the other word but I don't want to get blocked. We got back from New York late on Friday. Went to the office all day Saturday. Then, what a wonderful break, we went to an early show of Kitchen Witches at Theatre on the Square followed by dinner at Agio. Thank goodness for really adventurous friends.
I asked them what they thought of having Joseph fix us a tasting menu. They were all thrilled. And, they were even more thrilled when the plates arrived. Lamb chops, scallops, salmon, empanada, and several other goodies.
Joseph outdid himself. He's an absolute genius when it comes to food. No wonder we love eating there. So, tell me one chain restaurant where you can walk in and ask the chef/owner to create a tasting menu for you? Yeah, that's what I thought. Nada. We try our hardest to eat at the locally owned places. Agio, Aesops, Some Guys, Mama Carollas, Sangiovese, Capri, Marco's, St. Elmo's (special occasion only there!) So if you're not from Indy and you're going to be visiting, please drop me a line and I'll send you some awesome restaurant suggestions.
Sunday, we both started getting the sniffles. By Monday it was a full-blown cold. I was spending evenings getting the four casseroles and three salads ready for Marsha's Life Master (bridge) party. My car still isn't ready. They said it was then called back and said the impact had pushed the exhaust system up under the car so I should get it in a couple of days. But, no car for me means we're juggling like crazy. Then, Tuesday morning, I rebooted my computer and was greeted by the blue screen of death. Thank goodness for back ups. I lost a day's worth of email. That's it. Our wonderful computer guy had internet access and Microsoft Office up and working by Wednesday. He came back on Friday and got almost everything else up and running. Saturday morning, Connie got the final pieces in place and I once again had a real computer :-) Saturday afternoon we made the shopping run: Penzey's, Trader Joe's, Sam's and Marsh. What's the rule called that says that the worse you look the more people you see while you're shopping? I could've used a paper bag - over my head :-) As usual, I treated myself to a cookbook at Sam's. Ina Garten's newbie: "How Easy is That?" was my pick this time. By the time we got our hoarse, sniffly, tired selves home we just wanted to collapse. But, we had to defrost the freezer in the garage first. I'm making cat food today and it's a LOT easier to defrost without three months of cat food in there. Finally, the freezer was defrosting, the groceries were mostly put away and it was time for a drink. A soothing, cooling, icy margarita sounded perfect. It was.
I have a feeling this drink will be on our regular rotation. We've got a few that we tend to repeat: Washington Apple Martini, Lemon Drop, Boss Tweed, Vanilla Black Russian, Clegg's Margaritas. The recipe calls for ruby red grapefruit juice. We used a ruby red grapefruit so it was a bit more tart than intended. Next time if we use a fresh grapefruit, we'll add a bit of simple syrup. I did have "fun" taking photos. You see, I'm also cleaning out the pantry so the bar where we usually photograph is a mell of a hess.
Ina's Pink Grapefruit Margaritas
6 drinks
Ingredients:
1 lime, cut in wedges
1 c ruby red grapefruit juice
1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
1 c triple sec liqueur
3 c ice
1 c white tequila
Directions:
Puree the grapefruit juice, lime juice and triple sec with the ice. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the tequila. Serve in a glass rimmed with salt. Add a lime wedge to the rim of each glass.
adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy is That?
