Food For Thought

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time,

F. Scott Fitzgerald

I went out to dinner with a friend the other day. A very dear friend of long standing who was about to enter the hospital for some quite extensive surgery.

So I wanted our veritable "last hoorah" dining experience to be as perfect and enjoyable for her as possible. While she works in the legal world by profession, my friend is a fantastic cook who caters weddings and events and has for years out of her sheer love for the process of creating memorable food.

Just last week she catered an event I attended that included delicate puffed pastries stuffed with savory crab. Tiny tortes some filled with berries others with lemon or chocolate cream. All made completely from scratch of course. She is the only woman I know who could open her own branch of the library filled with just her cook books alone,

(she reads cookbooks like most people read novels)

.So imagine my suprise,

Wait!

I am getting ahead of myself here.

I let her pick the restaurant which is smart of me because she always knows the chefs and quality of menu etc..

We began with a wine.

A merlot.

with hints of summer cherry and chocolate the wine list read.

After a careful perusal of the menu choices, my friend ordered.......

a hotdog.

Yes.

She laughed at my shocked face and enjoyed it with relish (yes, I couldnt resist using that word)

"Its what I wanted" she said laughing.

A fine pairing it was, the wine and the hotdog.

And two friends laughing and quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald