Salmon

Eastside Road, December 9, 2012—

TO THE FARMERS market today for the first time in weeks, there to find Dave the Fish Guy, and his delicious King Salmon. Lindsey simply broiled it, with salt and pepper. The lemon is from our Meyer, loaded with fruit this time of the year; the lima beans are from Nancy Skall, bought the last time we visited the market, back in October, and frozen. They freeze well; the texture is hardly changed at all, and the flavor's terrific.

Rosé, Château de Guilhem, 2011

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BY THE WAY, I forgot to mention that a box arrived in the mail a couple of days ago, a gift from a distant relative — a co-grandfather, I suppose you would call this degree of relationship, who lives in New York. What should be in the box but another box, and what should that turn out to be but a Ginvent Calendar: a box with twentyfour little pull-the-flap-and-open-the-door surprises, each of them a dram — three centiliters — of a different gin.

What a marvelous idea! It came too late to function as planned, countdown to Christmas: but then I'm not Christian anyway; I can make this an advent to whatever I like. What I like is New Year's Eve, so I opened the first flap yesterday, the second today. I open them in the morning after breakfast, so I can put the curious little bottle in the freezer to share ice cold with my consort before dinner.

Last night it was Hendricks, 41.4%, floral, sweet but not sugary, tasting properly of juniper but with a hint, I thought, of lemon and maybe even marigold. Tonight it's Tanqueray Export Strength, 45.3%, also floral and a little sweet in the English tradition, juniper of course but also a hint of vanilla, seems to me. I'll let you know how this survey works out.