Lunch in the sun

When Louise and her husband were here for lunch on Tuesday, she mentioned something to me that she had said before in a blog comment. My story about leaving California in April 2003, as posted in topics on this blog, suddenly ends as Walt, the dog Collette, and I were driving across New Mexico.

I think I'll spend a few posts picking up that thread and writing about the rest of that big trip across North America and the Atlantic Ocean. Be warned...

Lunch on Tuesday was very nice. It was warm enough, for a change, that we could sit outside in the sun for two or three hours. We opened one of my crocks of rillons and had those as an appetizer, along with corn chips and an onion-garlic-herb dip I made using fromage frais (a little like a smooth cottage cheese). My posts about making rillons, a Touraine specialty, are here and here.

Then we had some of the zucchini quiche that Walt made over the weekend and posted about here. To go with it, I made a green bean salad with the nice haricots verts we have been getting from the garden for weeks now. The beans were seasoned with thinly sliced shallots, fresh chopped parsley, and a home-made vinaigrette (Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a blend of olive and canola oils).

We then had a cheese course with two goat cheeses from Selles-sur-Cher, one very fresh and soft, the other more aged and a little drier and harder. We also had a Neufchâtel cow's milk cheese, which is from Normandy and is something like a camembert but made in a heart shape. I can't really describe it but it's salty and a little crumbly inside, and it's one of my favorite cheeses.

For dessert, Walt made the little apple tarts that he posted about here.

We opened a bottle of 2007 Touraine Sauvignon white wine from the Domaine de la Renaudie and a bottle of 2006 Côt red wine from Jean-Noël Guerrier. Both winemakers are neighbors of ours, and both grow grapes out in the Renaudière vineyard where we walk the dog every day.

Part of my motivation in writing this topic is to help Louise and her husband remember the lunch we had together. Walt and I both greatly enjoyed meeting them and spending some time.