A Weekend with J&B

(no tiny frogs were harmed in the making of these French melamine plates!)

Above 3 photos: setting the table is an important ritual at Cafe Drake HRV the evening before weekend guests arrive.

Jen R and Ben T sit down Friday evening for an amuse bouche of house-made lentil sprouts in a sesame dressing.

A starter course of chilled potatoes with apple raita, tamarind chutney and chat masala spices.

Above 2 photos: Relaxing between dinner courses is encouraged - and often a necessity - at Cafe Drake HRV. By request we celebrated two birthdays belatedly with a meal that included pork korma, kachumber salad, chana dhal, basmati rice, string beans with coconut, pickled quail eggs, bamboo shoot curry and plenty of Manhattans and bubbly.

Summer Dessert = Root Beer Floats

Ruske seems happy with her final lunch course at Rhinebeck's Arielle restaurant.

Strawberries from the Cafe Drake HRV patch.

Our first harvest of the season of side yard-grown mizuna made for a spicy, uber-fresh salad.

We Can Pickle That! From top: quail eggs, spicy okra and carrots and garlic scapes.

Kinawa, the newest grain on the block at Cafe Drake HRV. Tastes like a nuttier, crunchier version of quinoa. Recipes to follow. Wait . . . I bet . . . We Can Sprout That!

Baking Gods Jen and Ben performed another miracle in the Cafe Drake HRV kitchen with the buttermilk strawberry shortcake pictured above (served with toasted hazelnut ice cream).

Lloyd loves the new sofa and visits from his Auntie Jen and Unkie Ben!