Earthly Delights

Pre-Spring Libations (from a meal in early March)

To mark being married for one whole week (March 10), we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Edendale Grill. I'd been here once before, when a wonderful friend treated me for my birthday, and now it was time for my husband to be introduced.

We started with two appetizers: the moule frite and crab cakes, along with a shared goat cheese and arugula salad. The moule frite came with the mussels in a circle on a shallow plate, and a cup of french fries, perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. We discovered that the french fries, which were perfect, tasted even more astronomically amazing when dipped in the ketchup relish concoction that seemed to have a strong spicy note. The Carlsbad mussels were tender and delicious, dipped as they were in their tarragon white wine broth. As for the crab cakes: I've had them before and knew what I was getting into it. My husband enjoyed them as much as I did. The goat cheese and arugula salad also more than satisfied.

When our dinners came, we were well into the bottle of Aries pinot noir (organic!) and ready for the main course. While I had my eye on the meatloaf, I decided to go with the brick roasted half-chicken, that was served over Tuscan kale alongside roasted garlic twice baked potatoes. The olive jus lent a rich taste to the chicken and to the kale, and I hardly had room for any bites of my husband's chipotle orange pork tenderloin, which he raved about. I finally had a bite and then understood the high enchantment he professed for the roasted pumpkin seed sauce. I could see it was inspiring to him, a cook himself.

Once the bottle of wine was finished, the creme brulee arrived, decked out in strawberries, and our coffees came in their own little carafes with perfect little white cups. It was finally time to truly toast our wedding--that big shindig we threw in the desert with a bunch of our favorite folks--and it felt like a blessing to be alone now, too, spooning our way through a deliciously custardy creme brulee. Warm night in March, soon-to-be-spring: perfection. Next time: the Mixville Bar.

The cake's been cut...

and frozen.

The wedding was a week from today, and I do believe we successfully wowed our guests--well, the caterer (Pipes Canyon Productions) and Corn Maiden did. Around 3:30 everyone was treated to prickly pear cocktails--pink, champagney, or of sparkling cider. The staff whetted our appetites with caramelized onion tartlets, bacon-wrapped dates (the hit among meat-eaters!), chips and homemade salsa. Then it was on to dinner, a buffet of six different types of gourmet tamales, black beans and Spanish rice. A tremendous grilled vegetable salad with pomegranate seeds peeking out accompanied the main meal. We were treated to carrot cake cupcakes as a finale, though la bride and el groom got to stick their hands in a piece of the heart-shaped cake. Dreamy.