Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve 2015

A rare photo of all eleven Compound inhabitants. Too bad it was a stand-in dog and not Sandy. There were a couple photo booths set up at the Grace5Cities Christmas Eve service. That was a good idea!


Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Cookies and Carols

Tracy and Lynn decided it was time for a Christmas Party. This one would be simple, invite everyone, have holiday cookies and libations, and encourage folks to sing and play Christmas Carols at their heart's content. So we did, and it was the best time. The sounds of the singing and accompaniment was the best! Thanks to Lacey, her Dad, Danielle, Jackie, Natalia, John, and those I've forgotten who tickled the ivories, brass, or strings as the case may be, and thanks to everyone for pitching in their voices and sense of fun. We're thinking again next year...






Saturday, December 19, 2015

Cinderella at PCPA

One of Lynn's favorite Christmas gifts is to take the whole fam damily to the theater. We managed to do that three times this season: The Holiday Extravaganza at the Melodrama (actually, this was Jamie's birthday), A Christmas Story at SLO Little Theatre, and Cinderella at PCPA. Pictured are all the adults trying to get a picture of the kids at PCPA. All great shows, by the way. Just go.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Lynn's Birthday at Foremost Wine Co

We lucked into it again! Lynn and I celebrated her birthday this evening with an evening out just the two of us. On the rainy drive into San Luis Obispo, we were still totally undecided about where to go for dinner. There's like 2 million places we love in SLO, and on our list tonight were two new ones. At least I thought both were new. Turns out upon drive-by that one we had been to before and wasn't even open tonight. Granada Bistro was full (most of their seating is outdoors which was rained out). We decided that ambiance was the most important thing tonight. That's not entirely like us normally; we're usually more about the flavors.

I had just heard about Foremost Wine Company. Follow that link, but understand that the website was not nearly as intriguing as the place itself. I guess looking back all the pieces were there (on the website), but I still didn't get it. While I idled on the curb, Lynn dashed in to check it out - remember, ambiance was big tonight. She came back and said, "park the car, this is it."

I could go on and on describing the ambiance inside this old Creamery building. I could also go on and on trying to describe how unique and wonderful the food was. Truth is, you just have to go and check it out for yourself. As much as we liked the look and feel of the place, and the service, and all the other pluses, we were blown away by the flavors. OMG. You should read all about the French chef. No wonder, it was all about the sauces. And, we love the way all the food is designed and served to be shared.

We figure it'll take us six visits to sample all the food offerings and sit in the unique niches around the place. And then they'll change the menu on us, which they say is done with some frequency. And there's no way you'll ever try all the wines. We didn't recognize too many of the wines; a new world begging to be explored.

They offer a wine club membership, which may well be great. But I KNOW I'd have died and gone to heaven with a food club membership!

Give us a shout if you wanna go - we'll go with you! If you hate it, we'll buy. If it's the best ever, you buy. Anything in between is dutch treat.

Since the website doesn't fully tell the tale, here are a couple links to help us describe this place to you:

SLO's Foremost Wine Co. embraces farm-to-table philosophy
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/entertainment/restaurants/article39538005.html

Foremost Wine Co. a Great New Eatery
http://www.centralcoastcritic.com/destination-restaurant-2/foremost-wine-co-exciting/

On our table this evening (except we missed a photo of the truffle risotto with poached egg), along with a very nice brut French champagne:

Romanesco Cauliflower


















Butternut Squash in Mole

Seared Diver Scallops, creme fraiche, Opal basil, etc.

Passion Fruit Tart with a fabulous dark chocolate layer you can't see

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Matteo's Birthday Party: Rocks and Minerals

It was a "Rocks and Minerals" kinda party. We hunted geodes in the yard and cracked them open (as best we could). Then a bingo-like game called Rock On. Some hardness testing. Of course, there was rock candy in each person's mine bucket to which they added specimens as we went. Lava Keep Away was a balloon game. The soil stratification snack was well received! We had lots of rock and mineral specimens out and about for decoration.

All the pics are here.


Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween

We covered much ground this Halloween Day. First stop, the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum. Anyone in costume gets in free! Then it was on to Trick or Treating in the Village of Arroyo Grande, a very popular tradition. We did our best to keep the Fosters, Reguscis, and Gibsons together. The Village was jam packed today, and hot! And last but not least, Lynn and Jamie went to Trevor's and Jen's for bedtime with their kids, dinner, and some Halloween candy wine pairing.

All the pics: http://JF2.com/151031/