Final Celebration

The final birthday celebration of the year was last night. It has been the most amazing birthday.

After picking up the house, doing the laundry and taking it easy, Michael arrived home around noon for a lunch of fresh crab before we left to Jim's house. We had to watch the 49ers' game with him. Always hilarious. We left before we lost...because we had to get ready to meet Jill and Wayne for dinner.

After changing into nice clothing, we met them at their house then drove a couple of miles up the coast to an amazing Mediterranean restaurant near the harbor. Without our prior knowledge, Jill had pre-purchased a special. I had planned to just have an appetizer for dinner, but no. Three courses. Oh my!

We shared our appetizers which included Wagyu Beef shank ravioli, Monterey sauteed calamari, caramelized onion and eggplant topped with nut-crusted goat cheese and finished with local honey and finally, a Mezza Platter which featured tyrosalata, hummus, tzatziky, savory tomato jam, nazuktan, ensaladilla de piquillo, roasted garlic and olives.

The winner was definitely the onion and eggplant goat cheese.

Now for dinner. We all tasted each other's, I had the last one listed below and brought more than half of it home: New York steak in a bordelaise sauce, amazing pork tenderloin served atop heirloom black risonero rice with a mustard and green peppercorn glaze, wild shrimp in a white wine sauce with a touch of chile and crab, scallops, white fish, calamari and prawns in a fresh tomato and vegetable broth in a wine sauce with a Sardinian bread crouton and garlic aioli. Oh. My. Goodness.

Oh, but wait, dessert. I left some and shared some with Jill. Mine is listed last: Maple pecan tart, spiced pumpkin and mascarpone cheesecake, bread pudding and churros stuffed with caramel dusted in cinnamon-sugar and served with spiced Moroccan hot chocolate.

I do not want to see food for a few days. I am heading to the other rehab to put in extra time on the treadmill before spending the day with mom.