Still life at Don Giovanne's
Canon 1D mk III, 24-70 F2.8 L, f2.8, 1/50, iso 100
California's Napa Valley is a world famous destination, and for most of my life I have lived within an hour of it. In fact, the wife and I were married there, 20 years ago this year.
Speaking of which, the wife and I have a goal of getting together with friends and family a little more often, hopefully to share a meal together. We have been trying to put lunch together with her brother and wife for about 6 weeks, luckily we pulled it off.
Click on the link below to find out where we went, and savor some incredible food.
This is the best time for driving around our state, everything is so green.
Our destination was Bistro Don Giovanni, right on Highway 29, the main road going through the valley. They have a beautiful outdoor area, where we, ah heck let's see the food!
[Note to any pro food stylists, these shots were just with available light, at the table as served, before we all dug in! No time for fussing or moving around!]
We began with an incredible beet salad. the yellow and red chunks that look like tomato are actually roasted beets. This is just a great salad, and since I owe you a favor, here is the recipe.
I owe you a favor because inexplicably I didn't take a picture of the main course - which was a wonderful halibut. So let's get to the dessert.
The wife and I shared this lovely "bostini" trifle. To die for.
While the inlaws shared the "fruit rustico." Just a tiny bit good. We all shared. And shared a good time, a glass of wine, it was marvelous. One of the reasons I have set a goal of getting together more often with friends and family is this:
Slow meals = life. From Daniel Gilbert of Harvard to Martin Seligman of Princeton, the “happiness” (self-reported well-being) researchers seem to agree on one thing: meal time with friends and loved ones is a direct predictor of happiness. Have at least one 2-3-hour dinner and/or drinks per week — yes, 2-3 hours — with those who make you smile and feel good. I find the afterglow effect to be greatest and longest with groups of 5 or more. Two times that are conducive to this: Thursday dinners or after-dinner drinks and Sunday brunches.
Which is excerpted from this article on Timothy Ferris' blog. Makes sense to me!
Mustard Interpretation
Canon 1D Mk III, 400mm f5.6, f6.3, 1/250, iso 100
And I'll close with this shot. The valley was filled with people heading to the Napa Valley Mustard Festival which was having it's big celebration last night. This is a shot from the side of the road, with a Lightroom filter applied for creative affect.
Happy wheels and meals - bon appetit!
