Easter has come and gone, but we will always remember the last one as the time we had Easter dinner at 12:30 AM.  Why so early?  We have friends and a nephew that work until around midnight Saturday evenings.  So, we decided to have the meal and fun after they left work. 

Saturday started with a trip to the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market.  The brewery is no longer active, but is getting a facelift with a Culinary Academy, restaurants, shops, and the Saturday morning market.  At 9:00 AM, a young lady walked through the crowd, ringing a bell.  It was "Shoppers start your engines!" 

Ang and I purchased fennel, beets, carrots, artisan bread, goat cheese, and a strawberry plant.  Everything was fresh and folks selling it were Texas friendly.  We also got to sit in on a cooking demonstration.  Tom Stevens and Paul Thompson from The Cypress Grill in Boerne (one of our favorites) showed us how to make the tastiest sandwiches consisting of lamb, beets, strawberries, arugula, there own special Champagne dressing on fresh made rolls.  Whoa..... 

After the market we hit the HEB Central Market for more ingredients for the feast.  It was here that I decided on the wine theme for the evening, Pinot Nior.  Like a kid in the candy store, I like to wander up and down the wine aisles.  I look for wines I've read about or in this case, I check out those that the store's wine folks like.  You know the little signs that say something like, "Bobs, Pick." 

This day I wanted to try different styles of Pinot.  The first choice was  Machard de Gramont Domaine de la Vierge Romaine 2006, a French Burgundy with a price I could justify.  Next, I wanted an Oregon wine.  The Bethel Heights Vineyards Estate Grown 2007 Pinot Noir was my number two.  Finally, I skipped to California's Central Coast and Lucas & Lewellen 2006 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir.  The French wine was the driest; the California least dry, and the Oregon somewhere in the middle. All were good and helped make the feast.

Ang slow cooked a ham most of the afternoon that had our dogs drooling.  She added a frittata with fresh vegetables and a delicious beet salad.  Michele created a midnight table setting on our deck and prepared the Easter egg hunt;  I was in charge of schlepping, dish washing and keeping the critters out the ladies' way.  I also decanted the wines so they were ready by the time company arrived.

It was a gorgeous day and everything ran like a Swiss watch all day; we even got a nap.  If I was going to stay awake past midnight, a nap was a must.  At around 12:25 AM, we were ready.  I took  the dogs outside for a potty break right before the guests arrived. While standing out in the still warm night, I felt a light misting rain starting up.  <Expletive deleted here> 

As a group, we decided that we had invested too much work into the meal and setup not to eat outside, so there we sat, and ate and drank and had a great, if not slightly wet time in the light Easter rain. It was a memorable early morning spent with good friends .  We may have started a tradition here, but next year we may pay a little more attention to the weather forecast....or not...