Dinner At Jodie & Rob's

After a day of the weekly chores and getting the apartment cleaned up a bit, it was time for a nap.  A true luxury of the weekend in my humble opinion.  It was not a real restful nap as there was a lot of excess noise coming from down below on the street as dozens of people continued prepping for the Pioneer Days parades and such.  That is when I am glad to have an AC to blur out a lot of that noise. 

Around 2pm, I headed over to their place and it was good to see them.  I had done my duty and mailed my ballot so it should be there in time for Tuesday's election.  I also had to mail my utility bill.  It is the only bill I write a check for any more.  The only reason for that is that if try and pay online they charge a $7.50 "courtesy" fee.  That is just crazy.  Well, it was done and done and off to their apartment.

We christened their new margarita glasses.  Jodie was the Margarita Queen for the afternoon.  Each one custom made to the person's desire.  Mine was salted with a unique lime salt and then there was orange liquor plus the tequila and fresh fruit.  Mighty tasty to be sure and we had water on the side as it was a tad warmer than it had been the last few days.  It also kept the alcohol level in check as we did enjoy them throughout the afternoon.  Sometimes with strawberries tossed in for fun.  They provided a  selection of salted and unsalted nuts to nibble on.  Later on we feasted on pickled asparagus and Beecher's Flagship cheese which I had brought and some garlic stuffed olives.  No worries about vampires tonight! 

A word or more on the cheese...The first wheel of Flagship, Beecher’s signature cheese, was handcrafted just as Beecher’s Handmade Cheese opened its doors in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market in November of 2003.

Flagship is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese with a uniquely robust, nutty flavor. It is carefully aged for 15 months under the watchful eye of the cheese maker to fully develop its complex flavor and ever-so-slight crumble.

Now mind you all this was a preamble to the main event.  Rob put a pork loin on the rotisserie and let it slow roast as we played The Train Game - American version.  It had been spice rubbed and wrapped and left overnight before being skewed and put on the grill. 

Now mind you this is a beautiful picture and one Rob took as I left my camera at home but I told him I so needed a picture for the blog today as it was Foodie Sunday.  While this is a lovely picture and shows it on the skewer and all, nothing quite says food porn like the following picture - same roast, different angle:

The maple syrup glaze just made the skin crackle and shine in the sun.  It was truly a thing of beauty and in many ways just declared "Momma take me home and spank me now!"  Yes, we heard it say those very words!  Grilled baby bok choy was a nice added side dish and Jodie made an apple jelly with Dijon mustard glaze that really made the pork pop.  Catan was played after as the food settled and then came dessert of a mango cream cake and I took a bottle of the Nebbiolo dessert wine Michael had turned me onto earlier this year.  It was a very enjoyable evening.