Bryan had driven thousands of miles around the country since leaving San Diego about three weeks prior. He had spent time with the rest of the family in Michigan, and then he spent some days in Washington, D.C. doing a museum tour de force. He rolled into Raleigh Friday afternoon, and we soon found ourselves sitting on my deck, listening to Django Reinhardt and drinking tasty beers. We had seen each other in August in San Diego, but I was particularly excited to have him in my home (he hadn't yet seen our house). During the weekend, we enjoyed quite a bit of good beer (most of which was sent with Bryan by our excellent, beer-wise and beer-benevolent brother-in-law Tim). We also ate quite a bit; I had a fine time cooking.
In honor of his birthday, I prepared Salmon Bryan. Here's the hollandaise:
And here's the finished product, with risotto and a glass of Rutz Cellars Pinot Noir. It turned out a bit more lemony and a bit less basily than I had hoped, but it wasn't bad:
Bryan came up with the idea for dessert. It was elegant and tasty. He had me grill some peaches (purchased at the Raleigh Farmers' Market), and we put them in a zip-lock bag with an entire bottle (minus a wee bit for us to sip) of Hogue Riesling and a bit of sugar. Hours later, I reduced the liquid in a saucepan, and he sweetened some ricotta cheese with sugar. At the time, we didn't name it, but here it is, Peaches Rock-out-with-your-Cock-out:
We did do a bit of sightseeing around Raleigh with Lindz, and we also left Lindz alone at times, so she could regain her wits (we are two fairly strange men, and our nonsense increases exponentially when we're together). On Sunday, Bryan and I drove to Wilmington. We toured the U.S.S. North Carolina:
And we fulfilled Bryan's wish to reach the other edge of the continent (note the fact that the ocean is on the right, as opposed to the left, where the Pacific is):
Yes, it was a fine weekend that was all too fleeting. I found myself more than a little envious of my brother; I want to be driving around the country. When roaming at will, the heart is not heavy. Monday morning, he backed out of my driveway, and I went to work.
