Disaster averted!

It all seemed so promising. The table was set, it was a beautiful,, 70 degree shirtsleeve late autumn early evening outside. Our friend Denise just walked in with an incredible platter of appetizers. w's signature cocktails were going down deliciously easily.
Digging the deck and digging in @ w's!

The soup was made, the late season caprese was ready, then.....then.....the main course of eggplant lasagna made it's unfortunate appearance out of the oven. Now I'm not saying everything I make is great. But I have to admit this is the first time I have ever thrown the main into the trash before it even made it to table. I will accept some responsibility here. But when the girl at Pastaworks tells you that their fresh pasta doesn't need to be cooked in water before you use it, maybe take that with a grain of salt and use your best judgment. Had I done that, dinner would have been a little more complete. As it was, the soup course became the main, along with some pasture-raised lamb off the grill that I had marinated ahead of time that originally was going to accompany the...ugggh, lasagna.
But as always, that little disaster was overlooked in the course of other good food, great conversation, and a wee bit of delicious wine. My friend DOR brought an excellent 2001 Bierzo from Dominio de Tares. You heard it here that Bierzo, a tiny appellation in the northwest corner of Spain where the wines are made from the mencia (pronounced men-thia) grape is going to be the next star Euro appellation. We also popped a 2001 Vietti Barbera d'Asti "La Crena", which is simply a stunning, incredible barbera. One of those reds you want to check in on in about 8 years...wow!
The night, which was spiraling, ended up being fabulous. We even had an early season pumpkin pie courtesy of w's baking skill. More good food, good wine, good friends. It just keeps getting better!