Stuffed

Well, the new beginning has been put on momentary pause as a cold front has moved in and I had 3 courses to cook for a dinner party tonight. First course was a buttnernut squash soup topped with a honeycrisp apple, pancetta, and pecan salad. It was very good and paired well with the Pinot Gris. Second course however, a disaster. The gnocchi was left out at room temperature (my fault) and managed to congeal into one giant gnocchi. Nothing like 5 hours worth of work right down the drain. Oh well, I still had the third course which was beef spiedini and giant Black Chicken Zinfandel that would not disappoint, I know because I didn't make this. The grill wasn't working right as it was a little cold outside (16 degrees) , so the spiedini were baked in the oven. They came out a bit overcooked, which will happen when you concentrate on drinking wine and not watching your food. Good part was I was able to salvage the vodka creme sauce by spooning it over the spiedini and spinkled some finely microplaned parmesean over the top. The dinner was great, I learned a few things, and drank some really great wine. As I was outside freezing tonight walking the dog I saw a jogger run past, it was after 10pm, I realized I should be out there doing the same. So, I will order the necessary equipment this week and try and get out there no matter what and get some miles in.