Halibut and the Henty

Friday afternoon we headed into St Louis for dinner with Walt and Marcia. Walt and Mark met over the internet, on a wine forum, nearly 15 years ago. We have had some great meals with them, including a memorable joint birthday dinner for Marcia and I involving foie gras, scallops and duck, cooked in their home by a local chef. They recently returned from a trip to Alaska, and we were to be served some halibut which Walt had caught.

First up, chilled rose in the garden with 2 dips - sate and eggplant, with fresh crudites and Walt's grain bread . The halibut was baked with julienned vegetables and topped with a sauce they discovered in Alaska- and was delicious - juicy and sweet. This was followed by bbq ribs in home grown blueberry sauce, with a corn and tomato salad. We managed to slip in a "blind" wine - an Aussie Shiraz. Walt is not a great fan of these, to say the least- but he did enjoy the Henty 06 from Victoria. We had found it in Sydney and knew we could get him on that one. Yahoo! A dessert cake, with fresh berries and we were off to bed. Another great meal, with great friends.

A Missouri Weekend

Friday afternoon we drove over to Defiance, Missouri to visit Al and Diane Handler and Chris and Donna Kampmeier. Sisters Diane and Donna are Mark's cousins several times removed. Al and Diane visited Sydney early this year and Chris and Donna met there some years ago - we were witness to that. That's another story. Defiance (love that name) is about an hour west of St Louis. It was named Defiance in the late 1800's when the Katy Railroad arrived because of the town's success in defying another nearby town to secure railway services. It is located in the Missouri Wine region and also has several good Antiques stores close by. Perfect for both of us. Mark gets to see vines and I can browse and shop. We had a great dinner -bbq ribs, 2 versions of baked beans, a jicama coleslaw and potato salad. Diane's blackberry pie and maple sugar icecream was fantastic.