An Asado para John

On Sunday, Sonia and Quique organized an Asado dinner in honor of John's arrival, and we invited them to join us in the meal, since we usually eat separately. I think Sonia liked this idea, because the dinner was one of the most beautifully set and presented meals we've had. They moved one of the outdoor tables near the asado grill, brought lamps and cut flowers from the yard to decorate the table, and set it formally with nice linens.



We haven't had fresh flowers on the tables before, so that was a fun surprise. Sonia has some hydrangea bushes along their house, which are really beautiful right now.


Quique did an awesome job with the asado. All the meat was on the grill, and he seasoned it with a squirt bottle (fashioned out of a coca-cola plastic bottle) filled with herb infused olive oil and sprinkled everything with salt. Our appetizers were pork chorizo and the infamous beef gland (I forget the Spanish name). It turns out that with enough charring and salt, glands are actually quite tasty. Still not my favorite thing in the world, but tasty nonetheless.

Apparently we are loved, because even the salads were presented well. Sonia made garnishes out of tomato and basil for the hearts of palm and tomato platter, and she also made a flower out of a carrot slice and some chive to top the shredded carrot salad.

We had a great time with all of them. Andres, who also lives at La Corona, joined us as well for dinner. We haven't spent much time with him, but he's very nice, and took a group picture of all of us with Sonia's camera. In return, I ended up spilling my red wine across the table and gave him a wine dressing on his salad plate. After he mopped himself and the tablecloth up, he didn't seem to mind.

He did, however, eat his dessert by holding his plate up off the table in defense.

We ended the meal with not one, but two desserts. Sonia made a peach flan-like dessert, complete with peach syrup to drizzle on top. She also made a dulce de leche mousse. I was in heaven...