The rest of the soup

Eastside Road, November 30, 2012—

YES, THE REST of the soup, nothing more but a few sticks of celery, nothing less. We're still a bit off our feed. But we don't complain.

Red table wine, "Guadagni," Preston of Dry Creek, 2011

Chicken sandwich; boeuf daube

Eastside Road, November 29, 2012—

LUNCH TODAY: cold chicken sliced off the Thanksgiving carcass (the rest of which went into a soup pot), on toasted Como bread from the bakery. Nothing else: no butter; no watercress; no parsley. Just toasted white bread and cold chicken, a marriage made in heaven.

Then dinner at a Breton-oriented bistro in town, where the prix fixe menu was a bargain: a "shot" of good hot hearty mushroom soup; a green salad whose beets weren't all that bad; a piece of beef brisket stewed en daube accompanied by decent mashed potatoes; a small chocolate profiterole. The beef was Spartan, I thought, innocent of carrot and turnip — I'll have to make a real Provençal version one of these nights soon.

Picpoul De Pinet, 2011 (soft and engaging); Bordeaux, Alexandre Sirech, 2008 (a little austere and wooden)

• Bistro 29, 620 Fifth Street, Santa Rosa, California; (707) 546-2929

Meal from a box

Eastside Road, November 28, 2012—

WE DO THIS SO RARELY that I don't really feel much reason to apologize: eat a factory-made meal of some kind. There's this line of organic soups and stocks you can get here and there, packaged under more than one label. I'm not sold on the stocks, though I admit we keep a box or two of chicken stock on hand for emergency purposes — I'll try to do better about that now the weather's colder and roast chicken is a more logical choice for dinner every ten days or so.

Among the soups, though, we do rather like the tomato-red pepper. I heated up a box tonight, adding a box of water to the thick concentrate, and the penne in tomato sauce left over from Saturday, which I notice I forgot to blog. Well, we're still in a bit of a fog here from the last month of travel, and the flight back, and the wretched colds we've come down with.

Tomorrow that chicken carcass, from Thanksgiving Day, goes on the stove for chicken soup. That should do it!

Mourvèdre, Preston of Dry Creek, 2009: tangy, rich, very dark, fine.

Refeast

Eastside Road, November 26, 2012—

I WON'T PRETEND we didn't lunch well: the garden salad you see here, and then a particularly nice pizzetta involving artichokes, nettles, onions, fried rosemary, and cheese. Oh: and date caramel ice cream, deep and mysterious.


• Café Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley 510.548.5525

But then tonight's dinner! Sure, it was simply the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, but every aspect of the dinner had gained in depth in the four days between. Stuffing; mashed potatoes and gravy; Brussels sprouts and chestnuts — all seemed deeper and richer. The roast chicken, eaten cold, had firmer, toothier texture; the cranberry sauce was bright and flavorful. And then another green salad…

Cheap Pinot grigio

Español, mas o menos

Eastside Road, November 25, 2012—

A LITTLE LUNCH today, since we found ourselves with an odd hour and an old friend (in fact a sister-in-law) on our hands, and there's this new place in town, and why not.

Tapas is the nature of this new place, and the first item on the menu is Fermin Jamon Ibérico: why go further? But fortunately the ladies did: Lindsey ordered Bacalao fitters, which came with orange-infused aïoli and a little parsley salad; and Susan went for chorizo braised in cider served with Padron peppers. We shared, and we enjoyed. We'll return.

Manzanilla, Osborne

• Bravas, , 420 Center Street, Healdsburg; 707.433.7700

Dinner remained somewhat in the Spanish mold at a meat-and-potatoes place an hour's drive south, where we met a couple of friends who'd made a similar drive from the east. I like the place, with reservations. It's comfortable, the ingredients are good, the technique solid, the service knowledgable and low-key; but the menu holds few surprises and the wine list, while fairly extensive and enterprising, seems to lack corners I'd expect. Still; and Oh well.

I had a nice though revisionist Caesar salad, with a hardboiled duck egg instead of the necessary raw egg dressing, and boquerones instead of proper anchovies, and lettuce instead of romaine. But still a nice salad.

Then John C. and I split a forty-ounce rib-eye steak, which came with roast potatoes and three sauces (horseradish cream, Bearnaise, "jus"), and was cooked exactly to specification, and had a fine dry-aged texture. First-rate, I thought. A little creamed spinach gratin on the side, with a hint of nutmeg.

Chablis Premier Cru, Vaillans, Domaine Barat, 2010 (tight and acid at first, but nice though light on opening later); Barbarescco, Cantina Sociale dei Produttori, 2007 (modest but nicely handled and a good fit with the steak)

• El Paseo, , 17 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, California; 415.388.0741

The comfort of the familiar

Eastside Road, November 23, 2012—

A FOUR-MILE WALK with a couple of friends, then an unexpected invitation to dinner in their house — a very pleasant way to wind down from yesterday's feast. Our hostess dredged some boneless pork chops in flour, then seared them in butter and olive oil, seasoning them with salt and pepper and offering some mustard sauce alongside. Delicious.

With them, as you see, Brussels sprouts and roast potatoes, and afterward a most interesting and delicious combination of flavors involving chocolate with chili pepper, licorice tea, and the last glass of Zinfandel. There's always something new, and it's nearly always a great pleasure.

Rosé, then Sangiovese, then Zinfandel, Hook and Ladder (Russian River), 2010 (very sound, well balanced, well made, with good finishes)

Thanksgiving

Eastside Road, November 22, 2012—

FAST YESTERDAY, FEAST TODAY. And why not: it's Thanksgiving Day, and Lindsey knocked herself out, partly for me I'm sure, partly for herself and for Us, partly for the tradition. It was just the two of us, for the first time in a number of years, I think. (I'm not sure. It should be easy to check, but the Internet is slow here at home.)

Here's what we had, after an exceptional Martini (what the hell, it's a holiday). We had celery, olives, and pickles; we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with chestnuts; we had roast chicken with gravy. I must say I prefer a good roast chicken to turkey, any day of the week, Thanksgiving included. I like goose, Guinea fowl, and chicken. I particularly like capon, but it's years since I've seen one. Tonight's chicken was local, organic, politically correct, and dead. We lost no time rinsing it, salting it, and roasting it according to Judy Rodgers's instructions in her fine book.

We had tasty butterflake dinner rolls from Gayle's Bakery in Capitola. They survived the trip perfectly well. We had cranberry sauce, molded in the nice heart-shaped mold Dominique gave us so many years ago.

Afterward, a particularly nice pumpkin pie. Lindsey did not buy the crust frozen at the Downtown Bakery, though that would have been perfectly fine; after all it's more or less her recipe. Instead she made it here, at home, out of ingredients.

We ate by candlelight, and we remembered to be thankful for our family near and far, for our friends living and dead, for the food we ate and the work and expertise that brought it to table. You can ask for no more. We are indeed blessed.

Chardonnay, Mazzocco "Stuhmuller" (Alexander Valley), 2007: well balanced, good varietal, more fruit than oak: almost enough to revise my opinion of California Chardonnays