A Birthday To Remember.

We have known our friends Aston and Eileen for more than 25 years. For almost all of those years, we have celebrated our birthdays together. That gives us at least four opportunities every year to eat and drink to excess and generally carry on. This past weekend it was my turn, and O and I turned it into a road trip to San Francisco. That's about a ten-and-a-half hour drive from Boise. We left at about 7:00 am and got to their house in Belmont, just south of S.F., about 6:30 pm.

The table was set with huge dahlias from their garden when we arrived. 

I knew that my sister, Catherine, and her husband were going to join us,

as well as our friends Steve and Michele. Had I thought to count the place settings,

I might have suspected a birthday surprise.

Aston had grown a huge crop of Austrian potatoes which he prepared with salt and oil.

The first of the weekends many pig-themed meals featured a pork shoulder 

slow-cooked in a spicy tamarind/fish sauce marinade. 

Falling-apart tender and utterly delicious.

There was also a fresh-caught trout baked in a delicious chile sauce.

The guest list included three surprises: our friends Howard and Beth, as well as our buddy Doug.

L to R: David, Howard, my sister. Doug, me, Michele, O, Aston, Steve, and Beth. 

Eileen, who took the picture, can be seen in the following shot.

 

The cake.

We ate, we drank, we laughed, we all talked at once, ever louder as the evening progressed. It was a real treat to be around such a group of dear friends and family. 

All in all, it was a most satisfying birthday.

P.