Food, Wine & Friends Page 104
The young and studious Erin Rideout has been working on her
college degree since I first met her more than a decade ago! She was in
grade school and interested in becoming a veterinarian, possibly. This
notion made sense, since she had cats and dogs, an owl and possibly an elephant
at her Mom's place in Pittsburgh, PA.
I began calling her "Doctor Erin" and introducing her by saying
"This is Dr. Erin. She's going to be a vegetarian."
Time flies (unless you're in a classroom hearing a boring lecture) and here we
were, on a rainy spring evening in May of 2006.
ERIN RIDEOUT HAD GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO!!!
Now it was time to celebrate!
We motored to San Francisco's Spanish Cultural Center, as Erin recalled her
brief excursion to Spain last year.
We opened a bottle of a wonderful Spanish Cava which was most appropriate for
celebrating the college education of an intelligent young lady:
Bill, Tess, The Pup and her boss, Mary.
We began with some tapas...
Fried calamari.
Chivite Rosado with fried monkfish...very fine!
Grandma Koch.
Her lovely daughter, Anne.
And Anne's lovely daughter, Erin.
Erin's grandparents, Bill and Tess Rideout.
The Kochs.
Grandpa Ken is especially happy he's not having to do the dishes afterwards.
Though Paella is the specialty of the casa, some people ordered other
dishes.
A future college graduate was delighted to be invited.
Liz noticed her Grandma Tess had been served a whole "side of lamb."
The paella arrived for our end of the table...
Grandma Koch eats "like a bird," so she was
surprised by the Spanish version of a "doggy bag."
The Pup enjoyed the "Lizadi" wine.
Erin is known far and wide for her weakness when passing a
shoe emporium. She has a big league collection of shoes.
As a result, a special cake was prepared for this occasion.
CONGRATULATIONS ERIN!
Putting your best foot forward is now your sole job.
Sharon was curious about the cake and decided it was, after all, the right size.
Meanwhile Tess, having polished off part of a flock of sheep,
sent out for a burger.
Sharon told us of her exciting trips to Dinuba, Auburn and Sacramento.
Mary was taking notes.
Then Dr. Erin was given a little graduation present...
The kitchen was so impressed when they heard Erin graduated
(finally), they sent out a special plate...
Erin got a kick out of her little gift...a glass slipper filled with brandy!
Anne and Martha were amused...
...but wasted little time before tasting the flan.
It was getting late and a couple of people seemed to be dozing
off...
Mary and Brian.
The party adjourned shortly after Erin's speech and we made our way home after
congratulating the graduate.
Buena suerte!
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