Aaron’s here for a week, and last night we celebrated with some of his very good friends.  Having established a tradition of sharing good food and wine with this group, it was a perfect time to do it again.

Barbara prepared early that day with a “light meal” — a vegan artichoke dip, deviled eggs, and a big bowl of quinoa and orzo salad.  I put together two small bowls of nibbles — a mixture of olives, and one featuring Basque pickled peppers, organic cherry tomatoes, and Tuscan artichoke hearts.  The younger folks arrived in the afternoon, and they brought more good things to eat — salamis, cheeses, a baguette, greens for salad — so we could nosh and talk before, during and after dinner.  To complete the gig, Barbara decided at 5:15 PM that we should make a cake, so using her sterling Executive Chef skills, she put the whole crew to work, making a Sweet Potato Spice Cake (from a recipe in the Thanksgiving issue of Vegetarian Times).

The wine cellar provided an array of new and old wines to enjoy throughout the evening.  I’ll simply let you browse through the pictures below.