Date Night

"Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." `Gilbert K. Chesterton

Sunday dawned clear and crisp. By the time I arose, the Lone Ranger had swept away the previous night's detritus and there was very little for me to do except drink my coffee and listen to the birds call. We did have this one meaningful exchange, however:

Lone Ranger: What do you want for breakfast? Tonto: Scrambled eggs on toast. Lone Ranger: Okay.

Breakfast made to order.

The guy is a treasure, I'm tellin' ya.

It was a day for doing very little and doing it expertly. The garden plants did managed to get watered and the beer & wine bottles cleared to the recycling bin. The silver was safely locked away and the china dutifully stacked in the beautiful inherited hutch. There was even a Home Depot run for paint samples and a DVD from the Incredible Shrinking Blockbuster.

Late in day, with growling tummies and leftovers aplenty, we gorged a second time on pot roast and vegetables sopped in rich thick gravy. But we weren't done there. With some serious down time, we spoiled ourselves with the alchemy of cheese and the genius that is Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Cheese Fondue - updated from Peyton's Godmother Joan Brown

½ lb Swiss cheese, grated ½ lb Gruyère cheese, grate 3 tsp flour 2 cloves garlic 1 cup dry white wine ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper pinch nutmeg

Toss grated cheese with flour. Rub chafing dish and mixing spoon with garlic. Add wine to dish and heat up. Add cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in seasonings. Serve with cubed Italian bread.

Here's the thing about rubbing garlic on stuff: it's bunk. Caesar salad dressing recipes call for the same technique. Unless it's toasty French baguettes however, don't bother. The Lone Ranger (a trained professional, mind you) scoffs at the practice. Subtlety is not a forte he cultivates; nor do I. Instead, finely chop the garlic and add it to the other ingredients, it'll bring out a nice garlicky flavor, and nobody who matters will ever notice the switch you pulled.

© 20th Century Fox

For our own Date Night, we dispensed with all the customary dining protocols and sat in the living room hunched over the coffee table, dipping day-old Italian bread into our bubbling cauldron of cheesy goodness. The Lone Ranger even managed to snooze through part of the movie. I put him to bed as the credits rolled. He's coming to NYC this weekend for a change. What in the world am I gonna serve him?

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food