Taste With The Eyes: Wine Country Wedding

11.05.2008

Wine Country Wedding

Come join me for a glorious day in the California Wine Country where we celebrate Vicki and Jonah's Wedding.

Vicki is my cousin. My father, Leonard, and her paternal grandmother, Edythe, were brother and sister. You may recall me talking about my Nana, born in Kiev, Russia? Nana was Vicki's great-grandmother. Nana and my Aunt Edythe were excellent cooks, perhaps Vicki and I inherited some of our passion for cooking from them?

Vicki and Jonah live in Chicago where they met at a wine tasting a few years ago. Both wine aficionados, they decided to come out to Sonoma, California to be married in the magnificent vineyards of Cline Cellars.

The Kiddush Cup: The Rabbi recites blessings over the wine, a symbol of joy. The couple sip from the same cup of wine, representing the life they will share as one.

Married under the Chuppah: The traditional Jewish canopy representing the home the couple will build together. It is open on all sides to symbolize unconditional hospitality to family and friends.

The reception was held on the beautiful flagstone patio at Cline Cellars. Cline Cellars produces rich, distinctive Rhône-style wines and intense, flavorful Zinfandels, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

The weather could not have been more perfect for an outdoor wedding. And the bride and groom could not make a more perfect couple. And we couldn't be happier for them.

Hors d'oeuvres

Charred Sweet Corn Soup Shooters Garnished with Heirloom Tomato Concasse

Scaloppine of Eggplant with Sky High Goat Cheese, Kalamata Olive and Fresh Basil

Ahi Tuna Fire Spiced on Crispy Lotus Root Topped with Citrus Aioli

Salad

Tuscan Salad of Wine Country Organic Greens, Crisp Prosciutto, Sonoma Goat Cheese, and Figs served with a Balsamic Vinaigrette Infused with Opal Basil

Main Course

Pan Roasted Liberty Farms Duck Breast with Creme Fraiche Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Vegetables of the Season in a Zinfandel Pan Jus

Pacific Wild King Salmon with a Cedar Plank Essence served with a Chardonnay Tahitian Vanilla Bean Sauce, Citrus Whipped Potatoes, and Roasted Vegetables with Fennel, Red and Yellow Peppers and Zucchini

Dessert

Tahitian Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with a Wild Berry Compote and Florentine Cookie

Singing and Dancing

We dance the Horah, a Jewish circle dance to the song, Hava Negila, a celebratory song meaning "let us rejoice."

Wedding Cake

Bottom Tier: Flourless Chocolate Cake with Fresh Raspberries and Chocolate Fudge Layers. Top Tier: Almond Macaron Cake with Praline Buttercream and Chocolate Fudge Layers.

Dear Vicki and Jonah - Mazel Tov and may your life together be as beautiful as your wedding day.

Julia Child Quotes - TOUJOURS BON APPETIT!

“You should never apologize at the table. People will think, ‘Yes, it’s really not so good.'"

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

"It's easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don't bring you oysters." Paul Child on speaking French

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. "

"Life itself is the proper binge."

"It was a Morsel of Perfection."

"I was in pure, flavorful heaven at the Cordon Bleu."

Julia Child sees herself on TV, July 1962, she saw room for improvement, and still she can say it was fun : "There I was, in black and white, a large woman sloshing eggs too quickly here, too slowly there, gasping, looking at the wrong camera while talking too loudly and so on...But it had been fun."

She has her own opinions on kitchen equipment: "Clairborne sniffed at our use of a garlic press, 'a gadget considered in some circles to be only one cut above garlic salt or garlic powder.' I happened to like garlic presses..."

Understanding Julia's captivation by French food: "This is the kind of food that I have fallen in love with: not trendy souped-up fantasies, just something very good to eat. It was classic French cooking, where the ingredients have been carefully selected and beautifully and knowingly prepared. Or, in the words of the famous gastronome Curnonsky, 'Food that tastes of what it is.' "

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always." Julia's instructor, Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu

"Oh, 'crise de foie,' that French sole was so delicious!"

Julia's passion comes through loud and clear as she describes a fish dish: "La Truite's true glory was the Sole a la Normande, a poem of poached and flavored sole fillets surrounded by oysters, and mussels, and napped with a wonder-sauce of wine, cream, and butter, and topped with fluted mushrooms. 'Voluptuous' was the word. I had never imagined that fish could be taken so seriously, or taste so heavenly."

Julia's unique way with words, on Crepes Suzette: "The creature named Suzette may or may not have been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but whoever she was, she long ago inspired a magnificent dessert that is still one of our favorites."

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over."

"With a handsome package such as Jacques's, you can neatly cut the top open at the table with a pair of scissors..." Julia on Salmon en Papillote

"There's no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté. You can just think of it as meat loaf."

From Julia's dear friend Jacques Pepin, "You are what you cook."

"Understanding egg yolks will make you a master of hollandaise sauce."

Julia encouraging us not to be intimidated: "When you know how to saute your meat so it browns rather than steams, you're cooking. What's difficult about that? You heat the pan, you dry the meat, you don't crowd it into the pan, and you're browning it. Is that difficult?"

Food Quotes

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."

Orson Welles

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit."
Charlie Trotter

"Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. "
Thomas Keller

"I love to make people happy."
Wolfgang Puck

"Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking as olive oil is to Italian."

The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le

"I wish, I wish lunch could last forever...waiter, bring us one more bottle of wine..."

Jimmy Buffett

"My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis."
Emeril Lagasse

"Gordon Ramsay makes me laugh because he knows that I'm not a chef."
Nigella Lawson

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."
Mario Batali

"I always knew the importance of it, since I was three or four years old my mother used to feed me wine and water. I grew up with wine as liquid food."
Robert Mondavi

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at his/her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers."
Laurie Colwin

"Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth, and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul."
Ethan Becker