Mustard Flowers

Meredith has now gone home. We took her to Napa Valley on Saturday to celebrate her completion of the bar. You’d think we’d get a life and go tour something other than Napa. This is our fourth time to go there since we moved to the area, seven months ago. But it’s just such a magnetic sort of place - it keeps pulling us back. And every time we go, we do something different. So, that’s the redeeming factor. (Don’t worry, mom, we did NOT do a three-person mud bath with Meredith.) ;)

This time around, we went to several wineries we hadn’t seen before. Every one of them has its own distinct flavor and ambiance. At the first winery, Merf and I watched Kevin feed some aggressive swans (very aggressive, it's mating season). At the second winery, we decided to actually do a wine tasting. At the wine tasting, the gentleman behind the counter asked me for my ID. Being the spacey ditz that I am, I forgot to bring my ID. Not that I like wine anyway (I actually prefer Pepsi or Sprite), I decided to fight it and insisted that I was "far" above the age mandated by law to consume alcoholic beverages. When I was still refused, I became mildly indignant. "Why can’t they just believe me?!" But I soon overcame my anger and, in fact, became very blithe and conceited when I realized that someone actually thought I was under 21. I’ve never been carded before. But, then again, I’ve never ordered alcohol before, either. Meredith and Kevin let me smell their wine, and that was probably just as good (or better than) tasting it, anyway!

We also went to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA - heh!) in St. Helena. On our way to the CIA, for a cooking demonstration, we spotted a large field full of bright yellow mustard flowers. I begged Kevin to stop the car so we could get a picture. (I do this frequently - he’s used to it.) He pulled over to the side of the road. As soon as we got out of the car, it became obvious that the best picture had to be taken right in the middle of all the flowers. In order to travel to the middle of the field, we had to cross a little flowing river, about three feet wide. Kevin jumped over first. Then, somehow, I made it across. And then Meredith. We tromped through the flowers, our feet sinking deep in mud with every step. But it was worth it. On the way back, I had a bit of trouble with the river and ended up with mud in my socks and all over my shoes.

Although I didn’t exactly arrive in style, we still had fun at the CIA. The cooking demo was incredible. (The chef was a student at CIA and had created the recipe himself.) We also splurged and went to the CIA restaurant. The food was amazing - so many different unique flavors. In spite of some time constraints, we decided to order the chocolate lava cake for dessert - it took a while because they make it from scratch when you order it. Basically, you stab your fork into the cake and a lake of hot chocolate sauce comes pouring out onto your plate. Mmmm. There I go again . . . lusting after food. But I promise you . . . you would lust too if you had this experience.

We ended the evening by watching Dumb and Dumber. Neither Kevin nor I had ever seen it. So, Merf indoctrinated us. ;) I thought it was great!