Hanging out with a knotty boy makes for a great weekend

At long last, we finally got to meet knottyboy this Friday! He's every bit as charming and hysterical in person as in his blog. We had a great trip out to the east end of the Island, stopping at one of our favorite restaurants, Modern Snack Bar, followed by a wine-tasting stop at one of our best LI vineyards, Pindar on the Island’s north fork, where we spent the better part of an hour in the tasting room. Then, we headed back home, crossing Shelter Island, driving down through Sag Harbor and the Hamptons, and back along Sunrise Highway and the Ocean Parkway.

On our way home, we picked up Byrne at the train and made the quick ride to the house, where we enjoyed some bloody marys followed by panini sandwiches made with grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, muenster, and basil pesto mayo. The panini sandwiches were very good; crispy, crunchy, and flavorful, but I felt they were missing something. I wasn’t alone. Knotty made the very sage observation that I could have also included dried cranberries and, coincidentally, I was thinking the same thing – so I made a second sandwich for Byrne and Jess to share that included the cranberries that I just so happened to have on hand – and they agreed, the addition was the right touch.

Following the sandwiches, we enjoyed some baked chocolate custard with freshly whipped cream, something Knotty described, tongue in cheek, as “sex in a ramekin." I think he liked the cooking. I hope so.

After dessert we had a glass of Pindar’s Johannisberg Reisling Ice Wine and retired to the living room for conversation by the fire. It was a fantastic evening.

So this morning, I got up, made the coffee and chatted with Knotty as I made a batch of my soon-to-be-famous pumpkin pancakes. He had to leave at about 10:30, and we were sad to see him go. It was as if we had known him for years, and we only got to enjoy his company for a few short hours. Hopefully, he will grace us with a return visit!