Bye, bye, 2009!
I’ve been a blogging slacker lately. I was holding out to share a few photos and stories from my recent trip to Portland, Ore., but it’s almost the end of the month and I still haven’t gone through them yet. I’ll get to that soon. Let’s just say it was fitting that the license plate of our rental car began with E-A-T.
My inbox is starting to fill up with e-mails from area restaurants and wineries that are planning special New Year’s Eve prix fixe menus. Mozelle’s is offering a four-course menu starting with ancho chile risotto and chicken stuffed with peach cornbread, and ending with poached pears, chocolate torte or bread pudding. In Boonville, Sander’s Ridge’s four-course menu is $65 and includes a tasty-sounding fried rabbit with lettuce and roasted fennel. There’s just one seating at 7:30 p.m. If you head there, you may get home before midnight. Meridian will be hosting a five-course dinner with five sparkling wines for $55. And Flint Hill Vineyards in East Bend will have a $60 menu, starting with sauteed jumbo shrimp with vanilla cream and fried sweet potatoes.
Very often restaurants with special New Year’s prix fixes won’t be serving their regular menu, so check ahead.
What I am doing for New Year’s? We’re combining the thrifty with the decadent. I’m hosting a party and asking everyone to bring a bottle of bubbly and a spiffy appetizer (think salmon, tiny cheese biscuits, and the like). And I’m making a galette de rois, a puff pastry cake traditionally eaten in January in France to celebrate Epiphany. I figure, what’s a few days early?
Happy Holidays! I hope yours is cozy and above all, delicious.
