Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cousins weekend in Virginia, part II.

Funny aside: I have a good friend in Dallas who attended W&L for two years and then transferred back to finish at the University of Texas. I texted him that I was so taken with the beauty of Lexington and of the Washington and Lee campus that I didn't think I ever could have left if I'd gone there. He wrote back: "You would have left if W&L had been all male and you were craving Texas girls and Mexican food!"

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Cathy made reservations for us at this charming restaurant in downtown Lexington called the Red Hen

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We elected to order the five-course chef's tasting menu

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Before our first course our server brought us this
Amuse Bouche which was a tiny little white radish

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I wish I had taken notes on our courses! First up was this Asparagus Salad - it was shaved asparagus with (I think) quinoa

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Next was local trout in some sort of broth

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Then chopped pork with spinach and another sort of grain

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Beef with cheese grits, asparagus and caramelized shallots atop cocoa powder - I remember this one because it was my favorite!

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Dessert number one: flan custard

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Second dessert: strawberries and chocolate with a tarragon sauce

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Oh, no, we're not done yet! Chocolate truffles with our check

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I'm laughing at my cousin Cathy who has just spilled wine all over Nancy Baby while trying to have her do a closed-eye wine tasting!

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Nancy Baby was a good sport and let Cathy try again, but I couldn't watch this time!

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My sister, who is a Food Network junkie, asked if we could meet the chef

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He graciously agreed to have his picture taken with us

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We passed this beautiful vista of the James River on our way back to the Lynchburg airport Sunday

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Marian took this picture of my cousins and me. What a great time we had!


For an earlier post on my wonderful cousins, click here

13 comments:

Jo said...

What an amazing tasting ~ I'm drooling :) How lucky to have such fun loving women in your life.

Jo

Ruby's Fairy Godmother said...

Eloise,
What a wonderful meal! Nothing better than spending time with cousin/friends! Happy Belated Mother's Day.
Norah

Ruby's Fairy Godmother said...

Eloise,
What a wonderful meal! Nothing better than spending time with cousin/friends! Happy Belated Mother's Day.
Norah

Ruby's Fairy Godmother said...

Eloise,
What a wonderful meal! Nothing better than spending time with cousin/friends! Happy Belated Mother's Day.
Norah

The 5 Bickies said...

You all look like you are having such a great time. You are very lucky to have women like that in your life!

I went to a girl's school near W&L for my first 2 years of college. Driving an hour for boys (at W & L and VMI) and a social life got really old no matter how beautiful!

Tami said...

It looks like you had a great trip. Love the sisters cousins trips. My sister is putting together a cousins trip to NYC for next year. Can't wait.

I try to meet the chef too. And I have been know to talk them out of their recipes. The chef looks pretty happy to meet all of you, beautiful women.

Jan M said...

Nothing better than friends, good food and lots of laughter! The beef and cheese grits would have been my favorite, too!

Scarlett said...

You look beautiful in that turquoise top!
Your son will love TCU. I grew up in Dallas, and after graduating from TCU I never left Ft. Worth. It's a wonderful town, and everyone loves TCU!

Nishant said...

What an amazing tasting
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bevy said...

What fun! I am actually on a girls weekend right now with my mother and sister... Wonderful meal last night for us too. Those lightweights are still asleep... LOL

Sherrie said...

What a wonderful getaway weekend. The food looks amazing! Glad you were able to have some fun with your sister and cousins.

julie said...

That's such a beautiful area of Virginia. It looks like you had a really delicious meal as well. Those truffles are making my mouth water just looking at them!

We're just a couple hours away from that area. I may have explore it one of these weekends!

Anonymous said...

that restaurant is owned by friends of my brother from UVA. I don't know them and haven't made the trek there, but it looks amazing! I'll put it on my list of restaurants to visit the next time we are driving down 81.