We went to my parents house this evening and took them out to dinner. We got there a bit early so my oldest could go rollerblading and ride his bike and our youngest could take a nap before heading to dinner.
We went to a nice Italian restaurant where the food was moderately priced but well worth it. I orders a Penne pasta with red grapes, walnuts and a creamy gorgonzola sauce that was fabulous. With the grapes and walnuts I was thinking more along the lines of maybe a Waldorf salad but this was 10 times better. Making it even more interesting was that all the plates were heaping with food, I mean more the we could eat so I know have lunch for tomorrow.
My wife and my mother both ordered a flight of wine to match their meals which was a nice touch from the restaurant. It took some of the guess work out of what wine would go with what and while it was a tad expensive for the serving size it was cheaper then just 2 or 3 glasses of a premium wine they would have ordered anyway.
Before the meal was served they brought out a very nice baguette and a herbed oil for dipping. I am used to bread and olive oil in an Italian restaurant but this mix of oil and herbs was much better as well they brought out stuffed olives which also were wonderful. They were each stuffed with either almonds, garlic or pimento and again were a very nice touch. Of course with all the "freebies" I was expecting to be served a small saucer of pasta but as I said above, I still have half my dinner left.
It was a nice day out of the house but was a bit more then I could handle with all the walking and sitting down. Between the drive to and from my folks as well as the restaurant it was about 2 hours in the car and then another hour or so in the restaurant. The chairs in the restaurant were not very comfortable for me. They had a very wide seat but a super low back so when I did try to sit back there was nothing for me to really rest my body on so I was on my own. I did not want to spoil the good time we were all having so I just sucked it up and drove on.
While we see my parents quite often it is rare when we go out to dinner without my brother & sister and their families. We all enjoy each others company and my brother, sister and I (as well as the spouses & kids) all get along great. Dinner with the whole family is usually a rip roaring riot but there are 12 of us and 3 of them are under 2 so dinner can turn in to quite a chore.
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