December 9, 2009
Dear Everyone:
Last week I didn’t have time, or the energy, to
write about the magnificent lunch that “Marshall” treated us to at the
Bistro Jeanty in
Yountville the day after
Thanksgiving.
In fact, “Marshall” started treating us when he showed up on
Thanksgiving with custom-ordered candies from
See's Chocolates.
And when “Jeannie” discovered that her favorite
take out pizza parlor had gone under, it was “Marshall” who suggested
that we get our Thanksgiving pizzas from Zachary’s, a high-end chain
with a franchise here in
San Ramon.
So on Wednesday, I found Zachary’s behind a bank and ordered a
small vegetarian pizza, for our niece, “Liza”, and two medium pizzas for
the rest of us. When the
pizzas were “half-baked” I drove up to “Jeannie’s” place and put them in
the refrigerator. This was
easier than taking them to my place and making multiple trips to the car
on Thursday.
Our niece, “Liza”, the
vegetarian, is getting her
Master’s degree at
UC Berkeley and came out to
Concord Thanksgiving
morning. “Jeannie” and she
made a trip to a high-end grocery for salad, and other stuff.
“Liza” baked a cake for dessert.
“Jeannie” made a special trip for ice cream to go with the cake.
“Marshall” showed up, with the aforementioned See's
candies, in the afternoon.
He had to wait for the infamous valley fog to lift before driving from
When I got home Thanksgiving night, I made a point
of taking my handicap
parking placard out of its normal place in my car
and put it in my purse, just in case we needed it.
I also discovered that you can actually see the holiday lights on
top of my patio fence from the entrance to
As I was leaving my place Friday morning, I
realized that it might rain, so I brought along my umbrella.
We all hung out at “Jeannie’s” place until it was time to leave
for Yountville. We piled
into “Marshall’s” new Acura and “Jeannie” found a radio station that was
playing holiday music.
Once in Yountville, we saw a lot of signs for
“Event Parking”. Yountville
was having its holiday parade and we would be in the perfect spot to
watch it after lunch. We
didn’t even need the parking placard.
As we left “Marshall’s” car, I looked at the sky.
A few puffy clouds were all that showed, so I left the umbrella
in the car.
We were a little early for our reservation, so we
wandered through an antique store for a while.
When we did get seated at a table in Bistro Jeanty, “Jeannie” was
most impressed with a group of Asians who, according to “Jeannie”, had
$10,000 worth of designer handbags with them.
We started with a “pitcher of Bistro Red” wine.
For an appetizer, most of us chose the world-famous
Tomato Soup with Puff Pastry, but “Jeannie” was feeling a little
more adventurous and selected
frog legs from the daily specials.
For the main course, I had the grilled steak
(medium-rare) with fries.
Not just “fries”, but potatoes cut super fine, deep-fried and served in
a paper cone. “Jeannie” had
another beef dish.
“Marshall” had the Coq au Vin, which he called “chicken pot pie”, and
“Liza”, naturally, had a salad.
For dessert, we shared a chocolate mousse topped with crème
brulee and a huge wedge of lemon meringue tart.
While we were eating, the skies opened up and
rained. Not just a little
rain; big, fat, heavy drops of rain that bounced when they hit the
pavement. We could actually
hear it from inside the restaurant.
By the time we finished our lunch, it seemed that the rain had
moved on, but its brother was right behind it.
More big heavy drops.
We waited under an awning while “Marshall” got his
car. There were a lot of
people under the awning. It
didn’t look like Yountville was going to have its parade after all.
“Marshall”, of course, had a Plan B and took us to a nearby
winery.
It used to be that wineries offered wine tasting
for free, in hopes that you would buy a few bottles, or cases, based on
how well you liked the wine.
Then they got cagey and started requiring you to buy a glass, usually
for a few dollars, from which to taste the wines.
Now it’s $10.00 to taste whites and $15.00 to taste reds.
“Marshall”, naturally, had downloaded a
“two-for-the-price-of-one” coupon, so “Jeannie” purchased two “tastings”
and we all had a chance to try four white varieties.
And “Jeannie” bought a magnet.
She never puts magnets on her refrigerator because it has a
stainless steel finish which, apparently, can develop marks if you put
magnets on it. So she keeps
all the magnets on the inside of her phone booth.
On Saturday, I stopped at the store for pastries,
eggs and tomatoes. “Liza”
made breakfast for all of us.
Then it was time for her to return to her home in
When I got home, I called “Jeannie” to let her know
I’d arrived safely. She told
me that I had forgotten to take my leftovers from Bistro Jeanty and, not
to worry, she would have them for dinner.
And that was our Thanksgiving.
In spite of the recent weather, including a remarkable cold snap
here, we’re still hoping for rain and lots of snow in the mountains.
Love, as always,
Pete
PS.
“Jeannie” just called to say that, even though her BART train to
PPS.
She’s feeling much better now.
P.
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