Happy Fathers' Day!

Our Fathers' Day weekend started rather poorly, with Melanie getting a pretty serious case of food poisoning from a restaurant that we really like. By figuring who ate what and who tasted what, my best guess is that some bad cheese was the culprit. Since this is a restaurant that we go to regularly, and that tainted cheese is a rare risk, but one that could happen anywhere, I will not divulge the name of the restaurant.

She seems to be over it (without need for a hospital visit, thank God), but I doubt that she will be in much shape to eat what I planned for us tomorrow. Who knows, though, as her constitution is almost as strong as mine (although we both remember getting food poisoning from an In and Out Burger (if you poison me with a fast food burger, you are going to get named repeatedly, especially given the name of the place and the nature of the illness) on our way to our honeymoon in Yosemite and how I managed to prolong my case by foolishly indulging in prime rib with horseradish and a Kenwood Jack London Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon - chalk that one to Teutonic stubborness; I was not going to miss a great dinner at the Ahwanee just because I had been unable to keep anything more substantial than Saltines and 7-Up in my system for the 24 hours prior. I ate the whole thing and drank most of the wine, as Melanie had more sense. It was marvelous, but caused another 18 hours of misery, although since it was a briefer bout, I felt triumphant).

So, I will be looking at serving something mild and easy on the digestion for her. I will probably have to do two dinners, because the rest of us will not be up for that sort of thing (I can just see the look on my father's face if I propose that we all eat rice mush or some sort of pap).

So, here is the menu:

Cocktails and antipasti
1. Fetuccine al pesto
2. Ensalata caprese
3. Bistecca fiorentina
4. Panna cotta with berry sauce
5. Vin santo e cantucci

In other food related notes, Amalia has taken an interest in snails. I told her that one can eat snails, and immediately realized that I had to add the strong addendum that one must cook them first. Now, whenever I go into the yard to kill the little basil-devouring beasts, she reminds me that I can eat them, but I have to cook them first.

So, this summer I will probably build a small escargot farm (Melanie's objections have been softening) so that I can raise clean, culinary snails. I think that I was about five when I first had escargot, but Amalia is adventuresome when it comes to meat (vegetables are another matter - she will try anything, but rarely wants more than a bite or two of most vegetables).

Anyway, Happy Fathers' Day to fellow St. Blog's fathers!