Playing it by ears

Adrienne spent Tuesday morning in the operating room. We are grateful for the positive outcome and the outpouring of support.

Thankfully, we weren’t in the hospital room long enough to learn how to operate the buttons that raise and lower the bed or the buttons that operate the overhead TV. We were there long enough to appreciate the attentive and friendly hospital staff. It’s funny the things you remember. The anesthesiologist confessed that he fainted the first time he gave blood as a strapping young college student and had to go to medical school to redeem his reputation. The nurse, who knew her business very well but was still mastering English as a second language, told Adrienne we would have to “play it by ears” when it came to post surgery pain medication.

First Inning

We started the new year with a quick escape to Mendocino. The weather was crisp but clear, ranging from 37 to 47, so we were able to do some town and beach walking to work up an appetite for dinner.

The best known restaurant in Mendocino is Cafe Beaujolais, but our favorite is Moosse Café, specializing in “North Coast cuisine” (which must have something to do with locally grown/humanely raised and no microwave – more on that below). We had:

• Grilled, marinated tender shoulder Angus steak with peppered-blue cheese mash potatoes, caramelized shallots, mushroom and asparagus salad, and butter-enriched demi-glacea


• Crispy confit of duck with roasted garlic, leek and bean ragout, buttered turnips and a cranberry duck glace

Our favorite place to stay is The Blue Heron Inn – three rooms above Moose Café. Choosing a room is tricky because the only room with private bath has a town view instead of an ocean view. If you choose the ocean view and no one else is staying in the other room that shares the bath, you get the best of both worlds.

The first time we stayed at the inn, we were the only ones in the building when the restaurant closed down for the night. There is no innkeeper. It was a strange feeling to be able to prowl through the restaurant and peek into the kitchen after hours (which we did on our first visit in a futile search for a microwave to reheat coffee before the café opened for the day).