Lilli took me to her friend Carolyn's for dinner, and as we
had to come in from the airport, there was no opportunity to
cook, so we offered alcohol instead.

Everyone welcomed Lilli with great warmth and me with
surprising grace. We ended up about 20 or 25, a little
smaller than some of the gatherings have been.

The wine table had, in addition to the usual Trader Joe and
Albertson's products, some standouts. I tried only reds.

Robert Hall Syrah 15 (Paso Robles) was gutsy but with round
black fruit flavors, full-bodied but easy to drink. An
excellent choice and very popular with the ones who weren't
drinking Woodbridge Chardonnay and the like.

There were bottles of Acacia Pinot Noir 16 and Chardonnay 17
I think in the ice bucket. I rescued the former, bur it
failed to reach drinking temperature in two hours, so even
if I'd wanted it I wouldn't have taken it. I've had both
these wines in other years; they are worthy but not special.

Lilli had put a bottle of Pence Gamay Nouveau 18 (Santa
Barbara) in the trunk of the car before our trip, knowing
it was going to be coolish all week. When we recovered it it
was still in good shape. It's not really my kind of thing,
a facsimile of Beaujolais Nouveau and by definition light
and easy drinking. It was pineapply and cherryish - sort
of like fruit cocktail in a glass, so I put it on ice in
the place vacated by the Acacia. It would have gone well
with the main meats, and so it went well.

Minhas Rhinelander Boatswain chocolate stout - a perfectly
reasonable facsimile of Young's Double Chocolate, a little
hoppier perhaps, but good cacao and coffee flavors with a
bit of a vanilla back. I brought this as an experiment to
see if anyone would partake. A bunch of people asked to taste
the one I had in front of me, but nobody went to get any. I'd
have stuck with this, but someone had brought the below.

I was surprised to see Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa)
2010 on the table. I inquired whether someone had brought
their anniversary wine by mistake, but nobody admitted to that
so I opened it. It was very suave, a good Bordeaux style wine
with abundant cassis and black raspberry, not much of the
cough-syrupiness that this winery is known for, softening
rapidly and quite nice to drink. I had some but poured Lilli
much of the bottle over the course of the afternoon. Every
time I revisited it, the level was the same, so we were the
only ones drinking it. We stuck with it until dessert time,
when I switched to the stout and Lilli to water.

Appetizers were guacamole and cocktail shrimp. The guac was
excellent, and I asked the maker where she'd got the recipe.
Someplace off the Internet, she said vaguely. The shrimp
were undersalted (good for me) and bland and mushy (bad).

About five we were called to the groaning board, which Lilli
warned me was going to be uninspiring; she was pretty right.

There was turkey breast from I believe TJ's or possibly Costco
(I didn't try it) and a decent not-too-salty ham from Costco
that sadly had had all the fat trimmed off it.

A rather mushy rice casserole was the best-tasting thing at
table. It was homey and midwestern, and see the recipe below.

There was a corn casserole that Lilli warned me against. I had
to have a taste, and it was indeed peculiar, very starchy, a
little sweet, with lots of margarined crumbs.

Baked beans were I think Bush's from a can but augmented with
some irregularly-sliced bacon (there must have been a special on
offcuts someplace, because I found some more later at Lilli's).
This was paired with a quite spicy and tasty linguica that was
too finely ground but otherwise the second best tasting thing,

Baby spinach salad with raspberry mustard vinaigrette from Trader
Joe's (we found an open one at Liberty Station not far from the
airport, despite it being Easter Sunday) was what you'd expect.
The mustard was dissonant in the flavor scheme, but there being
so much of it the dressing was thick and emulsified and with a
luxurious texture, which no doubt is what they were going for.

The girl who was known for making the best cakes and pies in town
was feeling low because her dog had just died, so it was catch as
catch can for dessert. So there were Jelly Bellys, See's soft
centers, caramel corn from a bag (best thing), and a kind of mixed
berry shortcake/trifle, which, aside from tasting like all the
ingredients had come from a TJ's frozen bag or six, was fine.

Sausage and Rice Casserole
categories: semi-homemade, main, side
yield: 8 to 16 as a side, 4 to 6 as a main

1 lb bulk pork sausage
1 sm onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cn chicken broth
1 cn cream of celery soup
1 c uncooked rice
1/4 c slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium skillet over medium-high
heat half cook the sausage. Add the onion, celery, and
garlic and continue to cook until the vegetables are
tender and the sausage is no longer pink. Put this mixture
in a 2-qt casserole dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and
cream of celery. Add to the casserole with the rice. Mix
until incorporated. Top with slivered almonds. Cover
tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hr. Let rest
for 10 min before serving.

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