Our Thanksgiving Meal Nov. 2010 Chez Nous Avec Ma Famille Et NEMESIO, Argentina Wine Of Patagonia : Comme C'Etait Bien Et Tres Relaxe Nous Cinq ...

It was a lovely time and we all chipped in with house-cleaning, yard-work, the wine selections and the excellent pecan pie and apple strudel .

However, my wife did most of the work and her cooking was an art all in itself. So here's to my wife and to the mother of my two children. I take the liberty here in speaking for them and saying that we all thought that what she did for us here on Thanksgiving Day and for the long weekend was wonderful and so welcome and satisfying : so much comfort for us all.

It did not go unnoticed and unappreciated, from flower cuttings and arrangements to an incredible table-setting, and of course the food itself from the home-made fresh cranberry sauce, turkey, home-made stuffing, gravy that she tweaked and added to, fresh green beans and a spinach casserole that she tried to great fanfare for the very first time this Thanksgiving..




In these pictures that follow you can see some of the dishes and the table setting, the wines from CHALONE CA. Pinot Blanc 2007 ( oaky and smooth and forward ), the CHALONE CA. 2006 Pinot Noir ( elegant and silky and warm with a touch of warmth from the alcohol ), the PIO CESARE dry white Piemontese Gavi Di Gavi ( complex and mineral-laden and creamy-soft Italian white ) : and the first white we started with : the Argentinan NEMESIO 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ( from Patagonia, Argentina and not Mendosa, Dan also dropped off a bottle of the 2010 Chardonnay from NEMESIO that we enjoyed later in the weekend, unoaked and bright and cheerful and a delight, too ) ; ... the Sauvignon Blanc 2010 that was bright, crisp and very smooth without any real bite - medium-to-light-bodied that went very well with my wife's platter of veggies , olives, spreads, etcetera before the meal.




I love the golden light reflecting up from the silver wine coaster here through the PIO CESARE dry white 2007 Gavi Di Gavi. What a great lot of sunshine here - liquid wine sunshine ...




What a magnificent turkey this one was and still is : leftovers, too that we are still enjoying.




I love the wings " so crunchy and chewy et bien bronze aussi ...




My glass of 1994 Late-Bottled Vintage CROFT port pictured above that kept me a bit warmer as I grilled the fresh, tender, succulent morsels of asparagus outside before our meal on a bright and yet chilly mid afternoon.






All the possible wine lined up in the picture above that I might serve depending on whatever happened announced or unexpectedly as is often the case ...




I love to grill outside : grilling these asparagus was my wife's idea and a great one it was ...




I still love my FIOR DI MAGGIO ( means Mayflower ) blue pitcher that I bought years ago back around the mid eighties. We would sell them each year at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits. Owners Sidney Moore and her parents Helen and Aaron Millman that lived in Florence, Italy would a new one each year so that they were never the same. I have two.




These pewter plates above my mother found in Paris, France when we lived there as my father was a career officer with the Sate Department and he served as both the Chief Consul for Visas and also for Passports while stationed there. My mother gave these lovely plates to both my wife and me and we enjoy using them when we have the opportunity.




Wow, the magnificent stuffing above about to come out of our oven!




It was a beautiful day on Thanksgiving Day here in northern Virginia and I love the picture above with the rim of the red CROFT Late-Bottled-Vintage 1994 port above against the backdrop of our back yard with the beautiful trees and all the green.





Here's the " new " spinach casserole above that my wife introduced for the very first time. I also love the lit candles : adds a nice touch, really : takes me back to the time of the pilgrims when all this tradition started after all ... cheers, TONY

More Of My Portrait Sketches Of My Two Hairstylist/Tattoo Artist Friends ( Reana ) on Saturday, Nov. 20th, 2010 @ Cleveland Park

I know fairly well Reana on the left in the picture above. We have been friends foe awhile now since I learned that she was a student at the Corcoran School of Art. That got my attention immediately as did her many spectacular tattoos and metal nose, earrings, and other body piercings. They fascinate and repulse me at the same time! I like that : it makes me inspect my reactions and get to be more comfortable with them and to adjust them accordingly : almost each and every time. Oh well, I'm trying and I enjoy Reana's company so much anyway that it's really just my silly little hang-up.






Hope you like my quick portrait sketches that I did of these two lovely young ladies. Enjoy these pictures and it's Thanksgiving Day today now at 11:49 AM on Thursday morning here in northern Virginia on a cooler, gray day. I've already walked our dog, raked many leaves and bagged them, too and swept and tidied-up for our dinner later this afternoon. Now it's time to go vacuum.




Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to one and to all. TONY





Good luck Rana with your last 100 hours of work before you graduate and get your diploma and become a full-fledged fabulous and credentialed hair-stylist! It's not very far off, the worst is way, way, way behind you ...

Tatiana Maria & Nicolas Visit Cleveland Park Wines Wash. D.C./ Monday, November 22nd, 2010: Lunch @ Siam Restaurant / Catching Up After 16 Months!

Boy what a grand surprise this was to have my name called out and to walk up to the front counter and to focus-in as I saw Tatiana Maria my old friend and wine-colleague there standing in front of me! I gave here a big hug and did not want to let go I was so happy to see here after sixteen or more months. I have missed you Tatiana. I am happy for you and your recent developments. You look so happy and healthy and even younger than before : you radiate and that smile and those eyes of your never cease to dazzle and burn themselves deeply into every fiber of my being, so much so that I am floored and rendered almost speechless! Not quite, but close ...




It was great that you could stop by. Thanks for inviting me to lunch and for introducing me to Nicolas your fiancee and a very lucky man indeed. I told him myself!




It was a beautiful day and we had so much to try in squeeze into a small period of time but I thoroughly enjoyed our reunion visit together and meeting Nicolas and speaking French with him, too.





Pictured here in the Siam restaurant across and down the street from Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com, www.clevelandparkwine.com also on Facebook at : clevelandparkwines&spirits ) are some of the quick portrait sketches that I did of you both and then gave to you as souvenirs and my thanks for such a wonderful, serendipitous SURPRISE meeting again! I LOVED IT, really I did and hope to see you both again really soon.




Say : hello " to Stanna, Jewel, Jasmine , your brother Adam (? ) and the rest of the gang and Happy Thanksgiving to you all as well. Let's get together and drink some great wine before you leave? Call me before you do leave.




Talk to you and hope to see you again really soon, cheers, your friend always, TONY




We'll talk about our old days of wine business again soon- about Billington Imports and Arturo Cousino of COUSINO-MACUL that you brought to the store and so much more like the MAULER Swiss bubbly ( from Gemmex Imports / Selections you were the Vice President weren't you?!? ) that you sold me boat-loads of ... what wonderful times, what wonderful memories : so much there to still grow on and continue into the future ...

My New Portrait Sketches Of Both Friends & Customers Alike ( I Like! ) On Friday Night 11/19/2010 @ Sorriso Restaurant / Harry Potter Movie

This was a big evening ' day for many with the " new " and second-to-last installment of the Harry Potter movie ( from the last book in the series, Part One ) at the Uptown movie theatre on Friday at 7:30PM, November 19th, 2010 as well as my fabulous dinner at the same time the movie was showing over a block away at the Sorriso Italian Ristorante/ restaurant ( Friuli and Veneto influence ) when I sat at the bar and drew pictures of the owners and many of my customers that I know well from Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits.




Oops! Bill, you are upside down here and you will have to rotate it yourself to see it better : or rotate your head instead to see it more clearly - whichever works best for you.




Hello Pietro above ! Thanks for the marvelous salad and pork chop that you made for me and which you got upset at me that I did not eat quickly enough as I was drawing so many portrait sketches of you and everyone else including your son and wife and old neighbor, too - John ( as well as Karen my excellent bartender ). I took pictures of you and your son holding the portraits, numbered them 1-11 I believe and gave them to him for you all as a " wee little thanks " from me to you all and your fine Italian restaurant. I felt like family with you all as I waited for my son and his friend to watch the Harry Potter movie. I wanted to drive them home as we live in northern Virginia and he is not used to driving in the district even though he does now have his license and is able to drive himself. Wow, what a big step.




Here is one of the four Morning Poems that I wrote the next morning ( Saturday, November 20th, 2010 ) thinking of this wonderful experience.




Oh, when I met my son and his friend after the movie we returned to Sorriso Ristorante for home-made gelato made by Pietro's son as well as some cake. I drew some more while they ate these fine desserts! Cheers, TONY




Draw To Atten To Dra
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Ing Bing Boing Bang Dra
Rawing Peops To Stud Tud





Tudy Them Eyes Meet
Flesh Meat Feat Featu
Eat Eatures Raw Atten
Yes Ten Twen Six Eighty




Yeah Go On Draw
Look Not Pape At
Just
Eyes Eatures Look
Study






Close Closer Must
Trak
Be On Eyes Roam
Details




Big Mid Small The
Over
Ahh Ahhh All Look
At




As Draw You Draw
Them
Close Close Rest Out
To




Concen Yeah Traits Theirs
Center Stage Trate Or Orc
Orchestra Tra Chest Best
Features





Teatured Fete Feting Working
Sweating Da Whole

#1 Le 19 Novembre, 2010 Samedi matin en Virginie en voiture a 10:35 AM on a clear baby blue brr brisk sunny light cheery, some trains of white clouds break up blue nice autumn's morn...

I still have the three other poems I wrote and I will include all four on my chatpoetry.blogspot.com as soon as I am able. Cheers and thanks for the memories guys and gals alike on this most wonderful moment spent at Sorisso Ristorante/ restaurant a couple of evenings ago. TONY

P.S. Happy Holidays and Thanksgiving to one and to all 2010 ... I heard that the " new " and latest Harry Potter movie was great as well, that's great and I look forward to seeing it sometime soon as well.