Friends and firemen, a night to remember

Yesterday afternoon I was invited over to friend’s house here in Gresham Oregon for some wine, cheese, fruit, and dinner.  It was a nice sunny Saturday afternoon so driving over with the top down, sun on my face it was a beautiful day.

I arrived around 4:30 pm and we opened a bottle of wine from our recent wine tasting at Dobbes Family Estate several weeks ago in Dundee. 

We started with a nice Chardonnay and then opened a vibrant 2014 Patricia’s Cuvee Pinot Noir named after the wine makers wife.  It was nice at the tasting and even better in a home setting with friends.

The cheese tray and fruit tray were out and everyone started to dig in and enjoy the fellowship spending time together.  Colin and Donna-Lee invited me over along with Donna’s half-sister Cheryl for an evening of games, food, and starting the holiday weekend off nicely.  We were going to cook but decided to wait awhile while we worked on the snack trays enjoying the conversations.  Colin and I retreated outside to the grill while the girls spent time catching on their lives since they do not spend as much time together as they would like.

Colin and I were discussing ideas for an outdoor kitchen and grillin’ different things.  I found out he had taken a BBQ class and had the apron which was quite funny.  He also had one from our resorts in Mexico where he had done the kitchen tour and food show.  Everyone has having a good time so we decided it was time to prep the food and get things started so Colin had pork on the smoker outside and I started to prep my asparagus and potatoes inside while the sisters talked and had little to do with making the meal.

I prepared my dishes and turned on the oven to start the potatoes.  They had a nice double oven but I noticed there was not exhaust fan built into the oven and the island stove had no range hood but did have Jenn-Air type downdraft ventilation that rose up from the countertop.  I turned on the top oven so it could preheat as I finished my prep work.  The potatoes were place inside as I went outside to chat with Colin so we could coordinate when our dishes were ready.  Returning inside it was time to turn on the broiler for the asparagus so I turned it on and went about finishing things and talking with Donna-Lee and Cheryl.  The oven had an obnoxious beeping sound so I went over several time to make it stop and also figure out why it was beeping.  I could only figure out that I was not correctly turning it on and getting the settings right to make the broil function to turn on as inside there was no heat when opening the door.  The girls allowed me to struggle with it before Cheryl came over to assist me in getting the lower oven to operate.

Things started heating up so in goes the asparagus, the potatoes are coming along nicely and Colin is preparing his pulled pork getting it ready for our dinner.  He wanders back outside for his potato dish on the skillet while I am waiting for my items to finish cooking.  I turn on the oven light and see that things are progressing nicely and open the stove, remove the asparagus to put balsamic vinegar on them and return to the oven.  We all notice that opening the oven door that there is a little smoke coming out which is normal for cooking the asparagus this way.  Again I look for a switch to turn a fan on but not finding one. Oh well, things are coming together nicely.  Another seven minutes and I remove the asparagus from the lower oven and some smoke comes out as I open the door.  Cheryl, Donna-Lee and I are laughing that the kitchen is a little smoky and they usually cook most of their meals outside.  I told them that one of my daughters cooking as she learned to cook was always having the smoke alarm go off and we kidded her that she must use it as a timer to let her know when things were ready.  Colin pops his head into the dining room patio door and states, “It is a little smoky in here” and returns outside.  About twenty seconds later the fire alarm starts blaring over the panel and on other detectors around the house.  At this time I realize that the house is set up with a security system as Donna is inputting the code to shut off the alarm.  Colin comes back in on the phone now and we find out he is talking with the alarm company and goes back outside.  I make the comment at least we shut it off and the emergency response from the fire department is averted just as I see flashing red lights pull up in front of the house.

We all bust out laughing as Donna-Lee heads out to the street to let them know everything is alright and they are not needed.  She tells them there is a southerner in the house cooking so the smoke was no big deal.  Donna-Lee spent several minutes inspecting and admiring the first responders as well as wave off any nosy neighbors who came out to view what the excitement was on this fine evening.  One of the firemen asked if she wanted him to check the alarm to make sure it was reset correctly so he followed her back inside the house.  Colin stayed outside the whole time and we laughed that since he works for the city he may know these firemen and did not want the local paper headlines to read, “Firemen respond to City of Gresham engineer’s home to investigate “a hot mess!”  Shortly the firemen departed and it was time to gather food, head out onto the patio and enjoy our meal.

The conversation was lively, a great meal had by all and the discussion revolved around crazy meals that everyone had.  Did I mention there was wine involved?  No one was harmed in the making of the meal or during the arm movements with the wine glass during the emptying of those bottles.

After dinner we sat down and played cards for the rest of the evening, hearts I think but cribbage was discussed several times during the evening.  I left after midnight and driving home with the top still down was a little chilly as the night air was cooling things off as I made my way home.  It was a funny and wonderful evening with friends which is always the best.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday tomorrow, remember our fallen, those who serve past and present and those civil servants working responding to all kinds of crazy calls, true emergencies or assisting those who need it.

Thanks again ya’ll for a fun time last night!

Have a nIce day!