Leonard Cohen Discovers the Obvious

I just read a review of Leonard Cohen’s recently published volume of poetry, his first book in almost twenty years. Leonard apparently spent much of the 90s in a Zen monastery, after which he discovered the virtues of women and whisky. The review describes him as a “resolute spiritual traveler who has come to embrace worldly pleasures as objects of devotion.” Well, OK Leonard, I can agree with you on that one, but why did it take a decade in some Buddhist monastery to figure out what you could have learned in a couple nights at Kitty Hoyne’s? Or in the alternative, Leonard, you could have spent your time reading this informative blog, where you would have been schooled in the transcendent power of good malt whisky.

Last weekend, Susan made a Kahlua and chocolate pecan pie, the perfect ending to an eclectic menu of grilled calamari and tuna. We grilled the tuna steaks two different ways, a bit of Bobby Flay tasting menu, trying out a couple new recipes. Four stars to a spicy, sweet and sour mango glaze, but a full five stars for a sherry vinaigrette with grilled shitake mushrooms. Anyway, when it came time for dessert, what better beverage to compliment the pie than Lagavulin? One wouldn’t think that the smoky taste of Lagavulin would go well with the sweet mocha pecan flavor of the pie. But Lagavulin and chocolate make a perfect match. Perfect. Not far behind was Talisker double matured, which we had the next night with leftovers. The sherry maturing gives the Talisker a bit of sweetness along with the peat, making it perhaps more accessible to the novice drinker.

And this wonderful meal was made more enjoyable by Sunday’s victory in the Bronx, giving the Sox two out of three in New York, five out of six for the season. Especially nice was the fact that we won with Julian Tavarez on the mound, filling in as our fifth starter while Jon Lester continues his rehab. The Yankees went with Wang, last year’s ace, and perhaps he isn’t quite healthy yet either. Still, it was sweet to come from behind once again – to know that we could get to the Yankees bullpen. It used to be that we had to get runs early against the Yankees, because the late innings, especially the ninth, were rarely productive. Not so this year. In fact, in most (if not all) of the five victories, the Sox trailed at one point, and came from behind. It was sweeter still to see Manny go deep for a couple late insurance runs. We’ve been playing well without much in the way of hitting. Manny especially had a quiet April, but if he comes to life, it can only help.

So here’s the complete menu: grilled calamari, tuna and asparagus, a nice Carneros pinot noir, chocolate Kahlua pecan pie, Lagavulin, and late inning RBIs from Manny. How could you possibly improve on that?