Uncle Celebration!

We'll drink to that!!! Yep, Bryan blew into town for a quick weekend break from his work in a tent in the desert near Death Valley. He'd tell you more about it but he'd probably have to kill you...as you DON'T have appropriate security clearance!!!

It also happened to be his birthday weekend! And I LOVE a birthday! So, I went all old school and whipped up a Grasshopper Pie(and celebrated ALL weekend!!!!). This is the dessert I recall being my brother's favorite from our childhood...whether it is still actually is or whether it ever REALLY was, this is my recollection. My mom was kind enough to provide the recipe. Despite boast of there being actual grasshoppers in the pie - NO GRASSHOPPERS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PIE.

Nothing says starting a Saturday off like tasting some vodka, right?
Maybe we do need some emotional support... Well, by the time we got up early with Alston, made it through a round of naps and got out the door, it was probably at 12:15pm. Which was perfectly timed to hit the 1pm tour of St. George's Spirits and Distillery in Alameda. Drinking after noon is okay, right??? This is home to Hanger 1 vodka and one of my favorites Buddha's Hand Vodka (as seen below).
St. George's has some beautiful equipment. Almost looks like Willy Wonka might us this to create a whole meal packed into a single piece of gum.St. George's is a pretty casual place and seems to pride itself in not getting caught up in too many big box emporium ideals. They seem quite content to tinker away with interesting ingredients to create small batches of liqueurs. Recently they have had to amp up their production capabilities to meet the public interest in their absinthe, which is the first American made absinthe in a century. (Read more about the 2007 absinthe launch here)

Here's Bryan ready to down his first taste of absinthe...he looks very stoic.

We also treated Bryan to a special birthday dinner sans Alston (who stayed with our neighbors). Flora was our Oakland restaurant of choice. We've been curious about this place for quite some time and looking for a reason to go. Voila! Bryan and I both had the lamb chop with olive tapenade, purslane and fingerling potatoes. The tapenade had the addition of rosemary, which I thought added a subtly that complimented the lamb. Yum! Patrick opted for a halibut with bean ragout. Food was delicious, as were the fancy cocktails and dessert!

We rounded out Bryan's visit with a brief stroll around the lake and lunch. All in all it was too short of visit but we packed in quite a bit!