Third Annual Euchre Night

What to do with an uneven number of euchre players? This unfortunate situation came about when Mary became ill on the day of Euchre Night and we were left one player short. Jon was sick too. But he still came. I'm just saying. Cathy said he was afraid not to. I'm sure she didn't mean that. Jon couldn't eat anything all night and he did look a little grey. And he did have to rush home before the night was over. But he still came. This is the mark of a dedicated euchre enthusiast.

Susan, Steve, Sabina, Sarah

So instead of the planned 12 people we had 2 tables of 4 with 3 people left over. Saner people probably would have decided to have 3 people take turns sitting out. We did consider that, but only briefly. We tried to get a 12th person to come over at the last minute. Friends were called and pleaded with. But no one was available. We even considered calling the Adolescent to return home from his friend's house. That would have gone over well. I decided that we would not be able to scrape together enough money on such short notice to entice the Adolescent to return home and play euchre with a bunch of old people. So the next best thing was to have one person playing 2 tables at once. Only very special people can pull this off successfully. It's multitasking at its highest level. The Hubby, Steve, and Paul demonstrated that they have the superior abilities necessary for this.

Treasure, Sarah, Paul, the Hubby playing 2 tables at the same time, Sabina, Jon. The empty chair is mine.

For a second year in a row, Treasure won first place (see last year`s post). Congratulations Treasure!

The Hubby with Treasure and his first place prize

The tradition is that last year's winner supplies the prize for this year's winner. So because Treasure won first place last year he was now supplying his OWN prize this year. Although, as the Hubby frequently corrects me, THE HUBBY came first last year but was too much of a good host (translation: I made him do it) to accept the prize for himself. Treasure is a neophyte wine connaisseur so felt a lot of pressure to choose an appropriate prize wine. He settled on this one (review from the Globe and Mail):


Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2007 (Australia)
SCORE: 91
Full-bodied and concentrated, hinting at plum and chocolate, this is an excellent Bin 28 vintage that delivers a solid kick of peppery spice and – for a warm-climate Australian red – impressive mouthwatering acidity. Great for rare beef, venison or lamb.

Sounds like a great pick and Treasure likely would have been happy to have gone back home with it. However, it lacked a sense of occasion that he should go home with the same bottle that he came with so the Hubby happily exchanged it (translation: I made him do it) for one from his cellar. A 2003 E. Guigal Cote-Rotie. Hopefully an exchange that Treasure is happy with.

Paul, Sarah and Colin

Food-wise it is the easiest entertaining night of the year. Little bowls of munchies...

Cathy and Susan with bowls of munchies

...and desserts! For tonight I make a lemon cheesecake. This cake is smooth, rich, and tart and sweet at the same time with a sour cream topping and a lemon glaze. I also make a flour-less chocolate almond cake. Dense, not too sweet. A nice contrast to the lemon cheesecake.

Chocolate Almond Cake and Lemon Cheesecake