Friends, this is really a good vacation. I cannot get over the weather and what a glorious respite it is from swampy DC. No mosquitos, no sweating, AND we are getting sleep. I can literally feel pounds of stress melting away from me.
We had a wonderful meal at The Joel Palmer House last night. Their fixation on mushrooms makes for a really delicious evening. Tom started with their mushroom soup, the recipe for which has come down through the generations in the chef's family (he is the 4th generation chef); it was just the essence of mushroom in liquid form and was really fantastic. The waitress drew a whimsical mushroom in truffle cream on top just before serving. Yum! Fun!
As an aside, friends, the love and rampant use of truffles and things truffled out here is the bomb. I am a devotee.
I had a lovely salad and then moved on to another family recipe, Heidi's Three Mushroom Tart. Y'all, think pounds of mushrooms, butter and cream cooked up into a dense tart reminiscent of a cheesecake. Heavy? Mais oui! But so good.
Observe below.
With these courses, T and I shared two glasses of local white wine: the Domaine Drouhin Chard and the Elemental Auxerrois. Have y'all ever enjoyed a Joseph Drouhin Chablis or Chard (his French and domestic chards, respectively)? I find him to be a wizard with Chardonnay and was not disappointed last night. Great balance, great with food. Tom loved it. And, have you ever come across the Auxerrois varietal? I just love it. There isn't much of it planted in the States, but Oregon grows it well, and the ones I've had never disappoint. So, that glass was a treat too.
We then moved on to Filet with mushroom sauce for me, and the last family recipe, Beef Stroganoff, for T. We were very pleased with both, and with them enjoyed two local Pinots: the Whistling Dog and Trisaetum. Then we were stuffed and had to quit but brought home the leftovers in case snack time later calls for something terribly high end. :)
I'm getting a warm stone pedicure later this morning -bliss- and this afternoon (probably after a return to the ridiculously good food truck) we're off for more tasting and maybe a drive to the coast. Aaaaah.
