Duck Dinner- Part II

Here is my husband cooking up the last of the delicious duck dinner to accompany a lot of appetizers that accompany the wine-tasting! He put a LOT of planning, preparation, shopping, and then work ( of love ) into this dinner. The guests were two of my sisters and their husbands. We hope they went away happy , with full tummies, and good memories . The kind of memories that bond blood relationships with heart and soul. "Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk." Susan S. Merrill Here is a close-up of the menu my husband prepared for this evening. "If the divine Creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony." Fernand Point ( 1897-1955) One very popular appetizer with no left-overs was the Smoked Chicken Nibblies. My husband smoked the chicken needed for this recipe in the barbecue the night before. He really did do a lot of cooking and preparation days in advance of this dinner! "The best things in life are nearest; breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life." Robert Louis Stevenson Here is the main course.Seared Duck Breast with Apricot Reduction Sauce,Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Almond Haricots Vert ( fancy French way of saying GREEN BEANS with almonds). You must excuse the picture because I totally got distracted by the good food and good company and forgot to take pictures in time. Fortunately there was a tad bit of the main course left to put together a plate for pictures, but it does not do the first plating of this course justice!I have no words to fully express how very good this was. I am glad my husband prepared the duck, now I think I will raise a few ducks every year for the freezer, it is worth it! Because I cannot stomach potatoes I did not taste them but everyone else loved them. Of course we did get down to the wine tasting education which my husband presented. I discovered my brother-in-law Tom and I have very similar palates. Especially when it concerns wine. (We have very good taste even if he does like potatoes) "No one that has drunk old wine wants new; for he says, "The old is nice." Luke 5:39 My sister Karen and her husband Kaare, aren't they cute? "Men are like wine- some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age." Pope John XXIII I think all my sisters and I agree with this, and we agree our husbands are as fine wine! My next post will be the last post about our dinner and it involves dessert! If you are interested in the recipes I will be posting them in my Lefse Girls In The Kitchen* blog along with many other tried and true family recipes.