Yesterday we went up to some friends' farm. Leslie and I had a great time with their alpacas, donkeys, great pyrenees and horses. Along with a whole bunch of nice humans. Mashed potato martinis with chili, cranberries, sour cream, every imaginable fixing. Sliders. Really nice wine. Beautiful spread and gracious hosts.
We then went to Gilbert and Tony's party where we munched on homemade tamales, made fresh that day, with the olive. Lovingly custom tied. Delicious. Could only stay for a minute.
We then popped over to Bill and Jean's for our customary Christmas dinner of her delicious lasagna. Bill made four pies, his first. Fabulous. Gorge.
Today we were driven to Dim Sum by Morgan and Bri. We got there and the place was literally teeming with people. I walked up and said shalom and everybody laughed. It was like temple. Dim Sum was insane! I would say 70/30 chinese to yids, with an occasional ethnic albanian in the mix.
We started off by ordering a whole fish steamed with ginger. A rock cod, we ate it down to the bones and eyeball. Barbecued duck. Crab rolls. Fresh wonton soup. Shu Mai. Beef. Many permutations of shrimp. Lotus wrapped rice. Scallops. Dumplings of every shape and persuasion. Chili sauce. We were like termites eating in waves. Did serious damage. Our companions were right there with us, for every bite. The food was hot and rolling past the table at light speed today. Maybe our best meal at Jasmine. We had just finished our sesame balls when the salted shrimp rolled by. We sadly looked at each other, with the realization that we couldn't eat another bite, or go salty after the sweet dessert again. We were toast. So we will have to go another time. Soon.
Afterwards we went to Ranch 99 market and checked out the unusual fare. Today I saw lamb testicles and beef pizzle (exactly what you think it is.) Snails. Deer Flank. Quail. So many mollusks. Live seafood. Darien. Dragon fruit. We bought imbuche, the salted plum delicacy and a bunch of other stuff that you would never see at Vons.
Came back and crashed. The diet awaits.
