Post 538: The Bums Go Out To Dinner

Planning for a vanishing point

We've been shingling the great wall. It's our longest stretch at 37 feet. The real challenge is keeping those lines straight. That falls to Roger, and he is unbelievably diligent at making sure the lines match up around the house. He does all the prep, and I do all the low shingling until we reach the design course of round shingles, and then he takes over. We bought a second pneumatic stapler. So, we've really streamlined the process. When I'm doing the low rows on a new wall that Roger has prepped, he's doing the uppers on the walls I've just completed.

We've been working so hard that we actually went out to dinner Wednesday night. If any of our friends or family members are reading this, they will be utterly shocked. Since we've retired, we hardly ever go to out to eat. People come to visit and offer to take us to dinner, and we always say, "No, let us cook for you." Tonight we yielded to exhaustion and let someone else cook for us. Literally, it has been seven months since we were in a restaurant for dinner.

We went to the Ajax Cafe (A little out of the way... Way out of the ordinary). These people can really cook. It cost what a week's worth of groceries would, but it was so worth it. We had a bottle of Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfindel. It was delicious. Roger had an appetizer of a half dozen oysters from Marrowstone Island (a local place we have explored). We split a salad, and one of their dinner specials of pan-roasted halibut with orange beurre sauce that was so perfectly cooked we were utterly inspired. The vegetables were excellent, fresh and real tasting (ever go to a restaurant and taste the veggies and wonder where such weird things grow?). After dinner, Roger had a glass of port. We made the requisite joke about a port in any storm, then we split a piece of Key Lime Pie. It was tangy and tart served with fresh whipped cream and a lovely yellow and purple viola flower garnish. Dining as art.

What a rare pleasure it was, one we probably won't do again until next February. But it was so good, we'll probably remember it until then. Do you have a favorite restaurant? A favorite dish? Do you order something when you go out to eat that you simply can't cook for yourself? I came away thinking I want to remember to put flower garnishes on our dinners.