The weather this 4th of July weekend was spectacular. Not too humid but sunny and only little fluffy clouds in the sky. Cindy Gallop and Frances Allen came to stay for the weekend and we decided to spend the whole weekend at DeJoux House.
The days were spent lying by the 'lake', reading, drinking and regularly throwing ourselves into the water. Cindy, as always, went for the "European style" sunbathing.
In preparation for dinner on Sunday night I set up a grilling station, using the grill I got 'won' at the Hetrick-Martin auction, on top of two saw horses left by the contractors...It was the best kitchen I've ever worked in. Gentle breeze, quick easy dips in the 'lake' and all the time I could be part of the action while chopping, slicing, marinading and the like.
Spencer Osborn, Justin White and Jurene Fremstad all popped in during the afternoon as we worked our way through several bottles of "Kungfu Girl" dry Riesling and "Femme Fatal" rosé.
At Cindy's insistence we all put on some "propper" clothes for dinner and set up a big round table on the Peninsula. The afternoon sun was glorious. The gentle breeze kept us cool and the Bull Frogs kept us amused....(they are noisy buggers).
The menu was as follows:
Butterflied leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary.
Grilled eggplant, courgette, red peppers and fresh tomato "ratatouille style"
Grilled Asparagus
French beans in butter and Garlic
Watercress, Endive and Orange salad
Arugula with grilled fennel and grilled orange slices
Grilled peach and blackberry crumble with Vanilla ice-cream
As the sun went down and the fireflies came out, we lit a huge bonfire in the field...Fourth of
July needed no fireworks...The fireflies and the flames were magical enough.
The days were spent lying by the 'lake', reading, drinking and regularly throwing ourselves into the water. Cindy, as always, went for the "European style" sunbathing.
In preparation for dinner on Sunday night I set up a grilling station, using the grill I got 'won' at the Hetrick-Martin auction, on top of two saw horses left by the contractors...It was the best kitchen I've ever worked in. Gentle breeze, quick easy dips in the 'lake' and all the time I could be part of the action while chopping, slicing, marinading and the like.
Spencer Osborn, Justin White and Jurene Fremstad all popped in during the afternoon as we worked our way through several bottles of "Kungfu Girl" dry Riesling and "Femme Fatal" rosé.
At Cindy's insistence we all put on some "propper" clothes for dinner and set up a big round table on the Peninsula. The afternoon sun was glorious. The gentle breeze kept us cool and the Bull Frogs kept us amused....(they are noisy buggers).
The menu was as follows:
Butterflied leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary.
Grilled eggplant, courgette, red peppers and fresh tomato "ratatouille style"
Grilled Asparagus
French beans in butter and Garlic
Watercress, Endive and Orange salad
Arugula with grilled fennel and grilled orange slices
Grilled peach and blackberry crumble with Vanilla ice-cream
As the sun went down and the fireflies came out, we lit a huge bonfire in the field...Fourth of
July needed no fireworks...The fireflies and the flames were magical enough.
The day couldn't have been more perfect. It was positively idyllic. Thank you William and Daniel for being such wonderful hosts - and not minding that I only donned my bikini top when people had to face me over food :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Wills. Absolutely idyllic. Next year I will gatecrash.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting links from Stephen F Baginski
ReplyDelete"a story of helen and scott neary and lou french-a stone mason from the east coast--probably one of the most gifted and meticulous artists i have ever seen...."
http://www.goodlife.org/
http://www.lewfrenchstone.com/