It’s a beautiful day today – sunny and cool. I just might do a bit of raking.
Don had a good day at the Farmer’s Market yesterday and then we met up with Rick and Doug for dinner. Our neighborhood restaurant, which is a favorite, was extremely busy yesterday – I guess because the fall colors are bringing people up to our area and it’s a three day weekend – so we put our names in and went back to Rick and Doug’s to wait an hour or so. That meant we got to spend some time with Sam, so…bonus.
We finally got our meal, which was delicious. This is a German restaurant and there’s a lot of meat on the menu, but they always have at least three vegan/vegetarian options and I’ve never had better vegetarian food. This was a big birthday for Rick, so I think our time spent laughing and having great discussions, as we always do, helped him to weather the tiny ‘storm’ that big birthdays can sometimes bring.
I finished A Bitter Feast. Reading one of Deborah Crombie’s books is like getting to spend time with old friends. The same feeling you have with a new Louise Penny. It was simply splendid and I recommend it highly. I just finished it this morning, so I haven’t decided what I’m going to start in on next. We’ll see.
Today is grocery shopping day – I know, too exciting for words! But we’re out of almost everything so it’s the first thing we’re going to do after I finish this post.
Thought you might like to see the photo of us that Rick took yesterday:
Happy Monday.
You two take such a nice photo. As for your ‘what are you reading’ question the other day, I just finished The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet. It’s a sweet novella that I think any book lover would enjoy. Maybe I heard about it through your blog? Now I can’t remember:) Have a good day, Claudia!
Yes, I wrote about it here. Isn’t it lovely?
Yes…we have a cool, but sunny day here, too. Probably going to clean up the gardens a bit, since we had our first frost last night.
That’s a great picture of you two….glad to hear you all had a great time.
I’ve read Deborah Crombie before, and really liked her writing, so now I’m committed to reading her entire series. Now, to find them all.
Enjoy your day! ;)
Do read them all, Donnamae. In order, if you can, because there’s a definite progression.
Fabulous photo of you, two! Happy Anniversary (a wee bit late). Happy Birthday to Rick!
Thank you, Jenny!
Two very happy faces. Love the picture!
Thank you Cathy!
That is a really nice picture of you both! Sleet and flurries today, but that’s okay as it’s the Thanksgiving weekend here and we have the day off. Some reading and then leftovers from yesterday might be in the cards. Isn’t it funny how guests sometimes over-compensate when you don’t eat meat? We suddenly have a vast array of vegetarian “side dishes” that will easily see us through the week.
Isn’t that great? Thanksgiving is all about the side dishes for me, anyway! Thanks, Barbara.
A delightful photo of you both! And it does sound like the perfect Sunday!
Thank you, Jeanie!
Quelle belle photo de vous deux, Claudia ! Très naturelle.
Merci, Helene!
Really nice, ditto what everyone else says.
In lovely SD for an overnight (why do I feel like I’m bragging ?) for the unhappy but needing to be there event – a memorial.
So glad you both had a wonderful convivial Sunday evening together.
Our friend’s memorial was yesterday – in San Diego. But we couldn’t be there. Thanks, Martha.
Ah, such a nice photo of you two.
How enjoyable to eat at a German restaurant in the U.S., autumn of the year; makes me think of harvest apples, I’m not sure why. Probably apple strudel. (I’ve heard that the very best place for good German food is in Wisconsin! Or maybe Frankenmuth, Michigan [‘Little Bavaria’, from like mid-1800s].)
We had a German restaurant in our area for many years (I don’t imagine they’re all that common in SoCalif [I never see any; oops, just looked it up, we have ONE in our county and it looks like they have a good lentil soup; glad you posted about this today!]; my cousin told me there were some good German restaurants/clubs in San Francisco when she lived there; there’d of course be a few in L.A. I’m sure, Oktoberfest being so popular [it seems anytime from September thru October now]). I can’t recall that this long-ago local restaurant ever had a vegetarian option for me (I would have been very interested in this, in my teens, when I was trying to switch over to being a vegetarian) unless I’m just forgetting. (Surely there were sides of carrots and cucumbers; potatoes. Cabbage/sauerkraut.)
Easy to forget; was a long time ago. The place was decorated so quaintly inside and outside; Old World. Sweet little multi-pane/’X’-patterned windows; the half-timbering and stone-look of the building. I always noticed it and liked going there, from childhood through my 20s. I’m reaching deep into my memory, but I’m pretty sure the owners were, in fact, German. Makes sense, of course. Everything seemed quite authentic. Does your neighborhood restaurant have a similar flair? Any of them probably try to replicate to achieve that vintage tavern feel.
(I don’t know much about Germany in general; but, as a young adult, I’d briefly visited the country [oh, that Middle Rhine River Valley is so scenic with its steepled churches and vineyards perched on the hillsides!], so I could make a few minor comparisons later on when I’d eat ‘back home’ in my Cali-German restaurant [they featured more veal in Germany than in this small U.S. restaurant we liked]. I have German ancestry, like 8 or 9 generations back [they came to the U.S. from Bavaria in the 1700s] so I’m always intrigued with the German culture in terms of traditional foods and architecture; the Bavarian folk music which isn’t actually all about brass and yodeling [and ‘polka’]; I’ve learned they used an early zither and guitar [sometimes an accordion].)
The lady at this small German restaurant on our home turf was my mom’s age and her hostess ‘uniform’ was the dirndl dress, not campy like a barmaid Halloween costume but, instead, the real deal, and I remember it being so nice in how it was sewn, especially the white blouse. As a kid, I thought she looked very pretty! And, now, I feel like I can even recall her charmingly-accented English; yep, just haven’t thought about this in ages. I don’t think they had a lot of additional restaurant staff. She hosted and waited tables; he cooked. I do think that’s how it was! They featured a lot of pork in this restaurant. It’s nothing I’d order today but, at the time, I would order schnitzel, which was the pounded and breaded chop.
I’m always interested in meatless entrees; global makes it even more fascinating! Curious: What was your vegetarian food at the restaurant? Maybe noodles?
Yes Vicki…Wisconsin has excellent German food!! ;)
Oh, I would SO love to go to Wisconsin, and for so many things, not just the food! Always wanted to do the mail boat tour on Lake Geneva; and see Door County! If you live in or know of this neck ‘o the woods called Wisconsin, Donnamae, you’re lucky!
I can’t remember the name of the dish, Vicki. Sorry!
I know all about Frankenmuth, I’m a Michigan-born-and-bred girl. xoxo
I momentarily forgot about your Michigan roots, Claudia! Of course you’d know of places like Holland and Frankenmuth who celebrate their Old Country/immigrant traditions and heritage, keeping so much of that wonderful culture alive. Wisconsin and Michigan and Minnesota; just a dream if I could go there ’cause I know I’d love it all! Something to wish for…
My dad’s mom was German and we used to dine at an old German restaurant in Detroit called The Little Cafe. I have great memories of that place.
Such a lovely photo. Glad you had a good time with Rick and Doug.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn!
You guys are so adorable! The love just shines through.
Thank you, Melissa!
oh what a beautiful photo! FRAME worthy!
I love that a restaurant so popular would also bother to have delicious vegetarian/vegan choices.
even if it’s just two or three!
where I live is such BEEF/COWBOY country it’s often an oversight that’s not even considered.
I know you always have a fun time with Rick and Doug. so glad you shared with us! xo
Thank you, Tammy!
Just finished A Bitter Feast and it was great and fun to get all the players out of London. Had the feel of a whodunnit rather than a police procedural. I always try to read a book by a favorite author slowly, but never succeed. Now we wait for the next.
Yes. I hate having to wait, and it seems to take Crombie at a least 2 or 3 years between books! Sigh.
Thanks, Vicki!
What a lovely picture of you two. I can see the Love. And speaking of Frankenmuth (in comments above) my Hubs and I are heading there this weekend to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary! Yay!
xo
Happy Anniversary, Maureen! Have fun!