Celebrating Our Way

Because life is short, we tend to do a lot of celebrating, and the entire month of October was devoted to commemorate our second wedding anniversary. Pulling out the precious bottle of Goldwater Sauvignon Blanc from our dwindling New Zealand stash demanded the just right food pairing. It didn't take too much imagination to refer back to our first Goldwater tasting adventure for ideas.

It was a great experience several years ago at a Turkish restaurant, Troya, on Clement Street in San Francisco, that determined the destination of our honeymoon trip. Actually, it was the aromatic, spicy, honeysuckle-nosed Goldwater Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough that stopped us in our tracks that night and caused us to head off to New Zealand in search of more. More we had, and this beautiful bottle made the trip home with us.

With dolmas in mind, I'd brine-preserved leaves from our own Pinot Noir and Riesling vines this summer. We always have our favorite local Anderson Ranch lamb in the freezer, and adding fresh mint from the garden, pine nuts, rice and spices, it all came together into these beautiful little packets of goodness.

Taking another hint from the Troya menu, muhamara, a spicy red pepper and walnut dip, and smoky baba ghanouj because it's a favorite of my Sweetheart, rounded out our meze platter.

We sat in the glow of the fireplace and candlelight, eating with our hands, pulling apart pieces of chewy pita. Warm little bundles of lamb and rice, all wrapped up in the leaves of the vines we planted from clippings we were given from vineyard visits on some of our earliest dates made the celebration all the more special.

While I was cooking, my sweetheart and husband pulled together a playlist for the evening of music that we'd fallen in love to, including the first dance song from our wedding. And we danced.