Monday Surprise!

After a rather weird night of sleep and a lot of no sleep, I finally got going and finished the rooming list for the upcoming Grand Canyon trip.  Enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and a egg scramble that left me quite satisfied.  All too soon, I was out the door and stopping at the post office to drop off a package and get my ballot for the August primary in the post plus a note to Mom and Janet.  The office was humming when I arrived.  Got what needed to be done and home in time to welcome Curtis and Markie for cocktails.  Watched some news and shared stories and soon bid Curtis a good night.  Markie was over for dinner and let me know he had a surprise in store.  I provided the appetizer which was a shrimp cocktail and the dinner salad.

 Markie provided the main course.  To say it was stunning would not do it justice.  He totally surprised me with lamb shanks.  Here they are on the stove simmering to enhance the flavor with fire-roasted tomatoes.

 Yes, thanks to Janet, my sister, and Markie, I have quite the collection of Schilling spice tins from yesteryear.  Also, the lovely plate is one I got in Istanbul back in 2004.  I love it and it is often my butter plate.

 Above is the amazing result of over three hours of cooking and let me tell you it was fall off the bone fork tender.  The dishes come from a great restaurant I first fell in love with in New York City, but now have an outlet in Las Vegas where I got two of these.  Serendipity 3, known for their frozen hot chocolate.

 Above is the before we begin dinner and below is the after we finish dinner.  As you can see, not much was left of the lamb.  The salad will be polished off tomorrow at lunch.  So, it seems I may be on an adventure soon, stay tuned and I will let you know what is going on.  It is still up in the air.

Remember, only 4 more days until the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.  Don't know about you, but I will be watching them and gearing up for the next two weeks to be a sports nut.  Heck, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today had special sections.  Don't tell me that people are not interested.