St. Helena was Magnificent Today
Today we went on a drive up to St. Helena, one of our favorite little towns in wine country. Our target restaurant was the Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch. We visited Farmstead a couple of times last year, and both times were great.
We made reservations for Monday at noon. When we got there, it looked pretty empty, so I think we would have been OK without reservations. We requested a table along their "grapevine rows" on the side of the restaurant. Because restaurants are still dealing with coronavirus restrictions from the government, all dining is outdoors. That was fine with us today, because the weather was unusually warm - around 70F (22 degrees centigrade) when we arrived - magnificent! That is about 10 degrees warmer than the average temperature in February.
So what did we order? The wife ordered two starters. The SMOKED CHICKEN WINGS is something we always order. The flavorful wings and drumsticks are a combination of smoked chicken and spices, smothered in what they call "Alabama white sauce". Always delicious. The other starter was the SALAD OF GARDEN GREENS AND CHICORIES, which includes a variety of greens, apples, feta cheese, almonds, pomegranate seeds, and citrus dressing. A very tasty salad, but I was wondering, do people eat the whole pomegranate seed when they are served like this? Puzzling.
On the way home, we decided to drive on the backroads towards the northwest hillside of Napa Valley. There, we could see many vineyards, with beautiful yellow flowers growing amidst the rows of vines. On the hillside, we could see where trees had burned last year in the big fire that ravaged the area. It was sad to see that. I hope we can avoid a repeat of that this year.
Flash Card Drill
- The government has published official restrictions related to the coronavirus epidemic. 政府は、コロナウイルスの流行に関連する公式の制限を公表しました。
- For turkey, kids always want the drumsticks, while the adults mainly prefer the breast meat. 七面鳥の場合、子供は常にドラムスティックを欲しがりますが、大人は主に胸肉を好みます。
- He really did not like the taste of raw fish. Nonetheless, he ate it anyway to be polite. 彼は生の魚の味が本当に好きではありませんでした。それにもかかわらず、彼はとにかく礼儀正しくあるためにそれを食べました。
- The whole mountain side was ravaged by the fire. 山側全体を火事によって破壊されました。
- This region of the country is famous for its pomegranates and mangoes. この国のこの地域は、ザクロとマンゴーで有名です。
- The turkey was smothered in cranberry and white glaze, which gave it a unique taste. 七面鳥にはクランベリーと白い照りをつけるソースがたっぷりかけられており、独特の味を与えました。
- We took backroads on the way home because the freeway was really crowded. 高速道路がとても混んでいたので、帰りは裏道を取りました。
- Amidst all the fighting was a young boy just trying to get away. その格闘の中で、ただ逃げようとしている少年がいました。
- The steak was overcooked, so it was not very tender. ステーキは焼き過ぎたので、あまり柔らかくありませんでした。
- She ordered the pear salad, but it came with feta cheese sprinkled on top, which she did not like. 彼女は洋ナシのサラダを注文しましたが、フェタチーズが上にかけられていて、彼女は気にいりませんでした。
- The salad had various greens and chicories topped with French dressing. サラダにはさまざまなサラダ用グリーンとチコリが入っており、フレンチドレッシングがかかっていました。
- We ordered onion soup and salad as starters, which were very large and delicious. 前菜としてオニオンスープとサラダを注文しましたが、とても量が多く美味しかったです。
- The palace was a beautiful example of Gothic architecture - truly magnificent. 宮殿はゴシック建築の美しい例でした-本当に壮大です。