A Playdate & Oysters

We aren't hosting any parties at home this season. Perhaps quiet drinks, one-pot meals with some friends here and there. But there's nothing much scheduled. We want to let that be spontaneous. The one date we fixed and looked forward to, was with Maya and her pawrents. We had them over for an easy home cooked dinner.

We repeated an easy menu of miso eggplant spaghetti, caramelized brussels sprouts with bacon bits, and seared flank steak to go along with the vegetables. I like to do this menu because the we can adapt the ingredients to make the meal vegetarian or gluten-free. Cleaning up after doing this menu is easy. Haha. Our guests brought home-made tiramisu. It was sooo good! M said he laced it with a ton of coffee (13 Nespresso capsules?!?) and alcohol. Mmmmm. We bought two slabs of flank steaks, marinated most of it, and set aside a portion for the girls meant as treats. Both aren't on a raw diet yet. So I seared those separately medium-rare. I didn't know how the girls knew that I had beef for them! They were eagerly waiting to be fed. Hahaha.

A dear friend of ours had organized a lovely gift for us from The Oyster Cart. Luckily she checked with us if we do take oysters. She had to meet the minimum order of a dozen oysters, but I'm not a fan, so she ordered the minimum. It was serendipitous that we had intended to stay in tonight, and had guests to share the tasty morsels. Oysters are always a refreshing appetizer. The oysters complemented the carbs and beef.

The Oyster Cart delivered the tray promptly. The convenient packaging came with tabasco sauce (which we don't have in the larder) and slices of lemons. Of course the best part was, nobody needed to shuck any oysters because it arrived nicely shucked. What a delicious extravagance. The guests appreciated oysters too, so nothing was wasted. A light Californian Russian River Valley 2016 pinot noir surprisingly complemented the odd flavors at dinner.

No oysters for the dogs! Wheeeeee. They came running all curious when the door opened to accept delivery. They sniffed at it. But they didn't push it when I said no and placed it in the chiller for a bit. There were three choices of oysters in the platter — Japanese Mie, Canadian Baynes Sound and French Marennes-Oléron. They were secured by different-colored bands. These looked like top class shellfish. I bravely slurpped one oyster. I rarely take oysters because it's so hard to get them at the freshness I desire. But when I do take them, I prefer it plain, without lemons or any sort of garnish. This one from Canadian Baynes Sound was definitely worth it. It was plump and creamy, quite delicious!

Of course the man and I were a little nervous. We didn't want to have to send any dog to the vet, and we didn't want either injured, not even the slightest bit. We were a little busy with the initial prep and clean-up, and couldn't fully keep an eye on the girls. Maya and Choya play well together, but you never know. Halfway through the night, I put Choya in the study for alone-time, but left the door open so that she could come out if she wanted. Maya understood and wouldn't attempt to poke her nose into the room. Choya opted to come out and continue pouncing on Maya. Duhhhh. Maya talks quite a bit and howls a little, but Choya is generally quiet. But we heard a few loud warning barks emanating from Choya when Maya got too close to the bits of a treat that Choya hadn't finished. Poor Maya was confused. They were playing all fine, and then Choya shouted at her. Hahahahaha. No, Maya, you can't quite share food like that. I called Maya over and gave her an extra piece.

It seemed that the girls had loads of fun in this indoor play date that involved lots of fangs, chewing of bones and fluffies, running and pouncing. It resulted in both being knocked out flat for the night, and not that active the next morning. Teehehehehe. GOOD! It left the humans free to eat, talk, laugh, and leisurely sipped wine and whisky. We had such a wonderful time.