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Jan. 10th, 2005 12:17 amIt would appear that I am beginning to develop rather expensive tastes.
A couple of weeks ago, my father let me try a glass of champagne from a bottle he had sitting around from last New Year's Eve (2003). Pierre Jouet. Real champagne, not that California "sparkling wine" bullshit. And it comes in these fabulous bottles with hand painted white flowers on. He has a tradition, handed down to him from his mother, of buying a bottle of this wonderful and glorious stuff (which runs about $65 or so for just the bottle, but he and his mother always bought the gift set, which comes with a set of hand painted champagne flutes, and that will run you around $100-120) for New Year's Eve.
Last NYE, he barely touched it. My father is more of a Budweiser and Black Bush whiskey man and not so much for the drinking of fancy-schmancy champagne. He had a glass of it, then re-corked it, and stored it away. We got to talking about it the last time I drove down to his house and he wondered if the bottle was still any good, because if not, then he'd have to go out and get another.
I, in all of my self-centered nefariousness, came up with the brilliant idea of busting out the bottle and letting me try a glass. Just to see if it was still good, you see. All in the name of paternal love, I was going to drink a glass of something that could potentially be really nasty. And flat, on top of that.
He got out the bottle, which had been kept cold this entire year, and poured me a glass in one of the fancy hand-painted flutes.
And. It. Was. Heaven.
I haven't had anything that beautiful in my mouth in a very long time (I know I left that one wide open, but don't even think about going there). It was like...words can't even describe, but I can truthfully say that I could drink it for the rest of my life and touch nothing else. Immediately, I held out the flute and asked for more. My father, being the charitable soul that he is, refused my request and put the bottle away. hrmph.
Real champagne had been something that I never really had before. I think I might have had it at my wedding, for the traditional bridal toast, but I don't really recall drinking anything quite that nice. And if it was actual champagne, then it didn't hold a candle to the Pierre Jouet.
Now I want more, despite the state of my empty pockets and bank account. I was going to buy my own bottle for NYE of this year, to hoarde all to myself and let no one else near it, but I just couldn't swing the price.
Last night, I had the opportunity to try a couple other brands of champagne at Rowan and Ellis's house, during our celebration of Ellis's birthday. Some of them were very, very lovely, but none of them quite held up to my memory of the Jouet. It didn't stop me from drinking a massive amount of it and a champagne drunk is like no other drunk in the world. Some things came out of my mouth that don't normally come out of my mouth in polite conversation or mixed company, much to the Engineer's chagrin.
We did have a good time, however. Rowan had bought a cake from Sweet Eats bakery (who I would recommend to everyone on the planet, if they had one near them, which they probably do not), which almost was the size of a child's paddling pool. Huge chunks of it were given to the Engineer, the Amazing Larry, and I to bring home. I had vowed to have some for breakfast, because chocolate cake for breakfast is one of my favourite things in the world, but I didn't get up until about noon and had no time for breakfast as I needed to drive to Delaware for a cigarette run. I did have a large piece of it after dinner and was unable to finish it because it was just too much for me.
Despite what the size of my ass tells you, I am not one for a lot of sweets. Salty, spicy, bitter or sour tastes are the ones I prefer, though I wouldn't ever turn my nose up at some good dark chocolate. Sweet tasting things are ok, but after a while, it begins to get a bit cloying and I can't handle that.
Another new taste I seem to have developed is Thai food. I had tried it a couple of times, usually on my birthday when everyone would take me to Thai Orchid (again, another place I would recommend to everyone on the planet) and had always liked it, but never knew of any place closer or less expensive. However, there are not one, but TWO Thai places close to my office and we frequently order it for our lunch. I've gotten the Engineer addicted to this as well, which eventually led to me making my own Tom Kha (coconut ginger soup) this evening, after we came home from the MWC meeting.
It was made from a packaged Tom Kha soup base, because I'm not about to start getting all complicated just yet, but I added a few things to it that I remembered seeing in the bowl when we ate it before. It's currently sitting in an enormous pot on the back burner of my stove, cooling off so that I may ladle it into a container for storage.
So much goodness.
A couple of weeks ago, my father let me try a glass of champagne from a bottle he had sitting around from last New Year's Eve (2003). Pierre Jouet. Real champagne, not that California "sparkling wine" bullshit. And it comes in these fabulous bottles with hand painted white flowers on. He has a tradition, handed down to him from his mother, of buying a bottle of this wonderful and glorious stuff (which runs about $65 or so for just the bottle, but he and his mother always bought the gift set, which comes with a set of hand painted champagne flutes, and that will run you around $100-120) for New Year's Eve.
Last NYE, he barely touched it. My father is more of a Budweiser and Black Bush whiskey man and not so much for the drinking of fancy-schmancy champagne. He had a glass of it, then re-corked it, and stored it away. We got to talking about it the last time I drove down to his house and he wondered if the bottle was still any good, because if not, then he'd have to go out and get another.
I, in all of my self-centered nefariousness, came up with the brilliant idea of busting out the bottle and letting me try a glass. Just to see if it was still good, you see. All in the name of paternal love, I was going to drink a glass of something that could potentially be really nasty. And flat, on top of that.
He got out the bottle, which had been kept cold this entire year, and poured me a glass in one of the fancy hand-painted flutes.
And. It. Was. Heaven.
I haven't had anything that beautiful in my mouth in a very long time (I know I left that one wide open, but don't even think about going there). It was like...words can't even describe, but I can truthfully say that I could drink it for the rest of my life and touch nothing else. Immediately, I held out the flute and asked for more. My father, being the charitable soul that he is, refused my request and put the bottle away. hrmph.
Real champagne had been something that I never really had before. I think I might have had it at my wedding, for the traditional bridal toast, but I don't really recall drinking anything quite that nice. And if it was actual champagne, then it didn't hold a candle to the Pierre Jouet.
Now I want more, despite the state of my empty pockets and bank account. I was going to buy my own bottle for NYE of this year, to hoarde all to myself and let no one else near it, but I just couldn't swing the price.
Last night, I had the opportunity to try a couple other brands of champagne at Rowan and Ellis's house, during our celebration of Ellis's birthday. Some of them were very, very lovely, but none of them quite held up to my memory of the Jouet. It didn't stop me from drinking a massive amount of it and a champagne drunk is like no other drunk in the world. Some things came out of my mouth that don't normally come out of my mouth in polite conversation or mixed company, much to the Engineer's chagrin.
We did have a good time, however. Rowan had bought a cake from Sweet Eats bakery (who I would recommend to everyone on the planet, if they had one near them, which they probably do not), which almost was the size of a child's paddling pool. Huge chunks of it were given to the Engineer, the Amazing Larry, and I to bring home. I had vowed to have some for breakfast, because chocolate cake for breakfast is one of my favourite things in the world, but I didn't get up until about noon and had no time for breakfast as I needed to drive to Delaware for a cigarette run. I did have a large piece of it after dinner and was unable to finish it because it was just too much for me.
Despite what the size of my ass tells you, I am not one for a lot of sweets. Salty, spicy, bitter or sour tastes are the ones I prefer, though I wouldn't ever turn my nose up at some good dark chocolate. Sweet tasting things are ok, but after a while, it begins to get a bit cloying and I can't handle that.
Another new taste I seem to have developed is Thai food. I had tried it a couple of times, usually on my birthday when everyone would take me to Thai Orchid (again, another place I would recommend to everyone on the planet) and had always liked it, but never knew of any place closer or less expensive. However, there are not one, but TWO Thai places close to my office and we frequently order it for our lunch. I've gotten the Engineer addicted to this as well, which eventually led to me making my own Tom Kha (coconut ginger soup) this evening, after we came home from the MWC meeting.
It was made from a packaged Tom Kha soup base, because I'm not about to start getting all complicated just yet, but I added a few things to it that I remembered seeing in the bowl when we ate it before. It's currently sitting in an enormous pot on the back burner of my stove, cooling off so that I may ladle it into a container for storage.
So much goodness.
