Eating a meal is much more enjoyable when you have someone else to share the time with you. I have asked a friend from work to go to dinner with me this evening. We will find a nice restaurant near work so that driving over there will be easy. There are many nice places near the office and we have a choice of every type of food, from steakhouse to seafood to Italian and pretty much anything else you would like.

My favorite restaurant in the area is Alexander’s. Hands down, the food is always superb and the wait staff is highly trained and efficient. I like that they have and enforce a no cell phones in the dining room policy, too. Very classy.

Today will be summer’s best holiday, with lots of families gathering for picnics or trips to the beach. We plan to hang out close to home and grill some steaks just before dark, then we’ll drive over to the lake and watch the free fireworks from the park. Too bad we can’t make this holiday a two day event - we should have the 4th and the 5th off. Lots of us need the 5th to get over the late night partying and hangovers from the night before!

But I do know what I like when I drink it.

We had dinner at the local Olive Garden the other night. Just wanted something different and we out that way, so we pulled in at a few minutes before 5:00. There was already a wait list, so we took a couple seats at the bar and on a lark I ordered a glass of red wine. The bartender brought me a glass and I had a quick look at the bottle. It was Fuedo Arancio, by Nero D’Avola, from Sicily.

It is considered “lively and fruity.” I consider it very good and it goes well with anything Italian with a red sauce. If you have the chance to try a glass, do so at my recommendation. I wrote down the name of the wine and took it to the wine shop the very next day so I  could buy a couple bottles to have on hand.

This is an early Easter but I’m ready for it.

Easter always means spring is here, there are baby ducks and baby chicks and Easter eggs and lots of candy.

All the fun of family and good food without the stress of having to buy everyone presents. What’s not to like?

My grandparents used to host an Easter egg hunt at their house for all the grandchildren and cousins. It was always a couple dozen kids running around the yard with baskets and a house full of grown ups eating ham and potato salad and singing rowdy English songs all afternoon. Great fun, great memories.

If you try to talk to me in the morning before I’ve had my cup of coffee I can not be held responsible for any thing that I might say or do. You’ve been warned. And don’t ever wash out my coffee pot. I can taste the soap residue no matter how well you think you’ve rinsed it, and I don’t like the taste of soap.

If you love coffee as much as I do, here’s a few sites that might perk you up.

Sweet Maria’s Home roasting and more info about coffee than you’ll ever find elsewhere

Sweet Maria’s Blog Fascinating tips and insights from the Pro’s

Peet’s The original Starbucks - the guys who created Starbucks got the idea from a visit to Peet’s and ran with it

Green Mountain If you like K-cups - this is the place to get them

Starbucks Get a free sample in the mail to try at home