Tuesday was a lazy morning in Sacramento. Our only mission was to cook dinner for Jacob, Amy, and Amy's parents who were also visiting the newlyweds. As we walked Jane around Jacob's neighborhood, we finalized our menu: spinach and arugula salad, bruschetta with herbs from the backyard, and creamy wild rice tomato soup.
We explored Sacramento. We tried on shoes at Nordstrom Rack, gave therapy to a crazy barking dog at the park, hiked along the Sacramento River, looked unsuccessfully for a butcher that had raw dog bones, ate pizza and burritos at a local coffee shop, and went grocery shopping at the local food cooperative. California’s heirloom tomatoes were still in season and the co-op sold wild rice from Minnesota.
By the time we got back to Jacob and Amy's home, Amy's parents (Lynn and Barry) had arrived. I took Jane for a run / rollerblade and Caylan started prep work in the kitchen. Lynn removed stems from herbs, Jacob fried sage in butter, Amy set the table, and Barry who is quite the sommelier went shopping. Dinner is best when it’s a team effort.
Barry and Lynn chose two red wines. With each course we voted to see which wine tasted best. One of the funnier moments was when Barry insisted that we one glass for each wine so that we can taste them side by side. Since Jacob and Amy had just moved, they couldn’t find a few of the “correct” glasses, so a few of us had to taste a cabernet in a pinot noir glass. Tragic! I wish I could remember the name of the wines… borolo something.
Near the end of the night, when the laughs settled down, we decided to go eat breakfast together. We ate at “Orphan,” a breakfast house the next morning.
During breakfast, Barry and Lynn announced that they were going to visit vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley, a 45 minute drive from Sacramento. Caylan, Jacob, and Amy had to work, but guess who didn’t? Hehe. At first we thought the trip was a bust, because the first two vineyards only open on weekends, but we finally lucked out. Our first visit was Young’s Vineyard. Unlike the big Napa vineyards, they let us try more wines and we didn’t have to pay to taste. I liked Young’s Zinfandel and Sangiovese.
Our second stop was Brey’s Vineyard. We had an inkling that the wines there would be different since their logo is a drunken farmer on a tractor, throwing back a bottle of wine. The wines were not fabulous, but I did get to see the workers crushing the grapes with a rake-like tool. They invited us to take our shoes off and start stomping. Not wanting purple feet for a month, we declined.
I learned of the keywords/topics to broach to get special treatment from sommeliers. I’m not sure I learned enough to be dangerous, but I had fun. As we described what food would taste best with each wine we made ourselves hungry.
We went to Villa Toscana Winery for lunch and shared a pizza and tri-tip sandwich. It must be owned by an attorney, because these signs were all over. After lunch it was time for a siesta, so we headed back to Sacremento.
As we drove up to the house, Amy, Jacob and Caylan were walking to happy-hour since they had all worked so hard. I jumped out of the car and went with them. Caylan was in heaven. The pub had a handful of Belgian-style beers (these beers often taste spicy bubblegum).
Dinner was at Grange in downtown Sacramento. Grange boasts that its food comes from local farmers and artisans. We shared a la family style. We ordered wine and house-made alcoholic sodas. Caylan has brewed many kinds of soda and the menu at Grange gave him more ideas. I fully support all soda-making.
We started dinner with five cheeses, mussels, and smoked salmon. For dinner folks had butternut squash, Amish chicken, vegan chickpea croquettes, and pork chops. The climax of the meal came at dessert. Not only did we share butterscotch pudding, a milk chocolate peanut butter bar and persimmon pudding, but we tasted “one hundred years” of port. In other words, we shared a glasses of 10, 20, 30, and 40 year old port. I love port! Barry stated the rules of the game: we had to try them in order and then go around and share our thoughts and vote for our favorite. The 30 was my least favorite, and I narrowed it down to two: 20 and the 40. The 40 won. When would I ever have another one? Lynn liked the 10; Jacob agreed with me; Amy went with the 20; and because no one had chosen it, Caylan chose the 30 (he’s good at being the odd one). Come to think of it, Barry never voted! It was an evening to remember. The Fletchers love good food and are very generous. They made Caylan and I feel welcome and part of their family.
During the night, I took advantage of (wait for it…) my last hours of having easy access to a washing machine.
Amy’s parents departed on Thursday morning, along with us, so Amy got up early and cooked eggs and hash browns. After our breakfast, Jane went on a big run and Jacob went on a sales call. Caylan and I left for Reno around 9 am.
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