Shout out to Sarah, and brandied plums

I never do this (just link to someone else s recipe when I have never made it) but I promised Sarah that I would.  She really wanted to be acknowledged on this blog.  I guess I should be flattered. In ways that I mystify people in my generation, who want very much to control their presentation in the public, the Web 2.0 generation want it all to hang out in public.  My kids, niece, younger cousins and many of their friends all seem to want to be called out (is that the right expression?) in this space.  I like to be the center of attention as much as any pre-Copernican, but I think that us 50-somethings (and 40-somethings) like a bit more control over how we appear on the web. 

Anyway, last night on our way to Purple Yam one of our favorite restaurants, we stopped at Sarah's house before dinner. She and her friends (both of whom I had independent connections to:  one knows someone I know from shul, the other works for one of my best friends!) were eating ice cream with boozy plums.   We didn't want to eat ice cream before dinner (not on principle but because we wanted to save room)  so she just gave us each a glass of the brandy from the plums,  sweetened and with plenty of vanilla and cinnamon, and it was great.  Just click on the link above for the recipe.  It is very simple -- 10 minutes to prepare, 6 weeks to sit.

Our meal at Purple Yam was not to shabby either.  There were many highlights, but I would single out the carp head soup with guava and lemon grass, delicate and almost creamy, with the heads and necks served on a separate platter with chilies and cilantro, the grilled dourade, the mung bean pancakes (with lots of bean texture, better than I have had in any Korean restaurant recently) and the bread pudding with apple and persimmon.  Great wines too.  I only regret not having taken a picture of the carp heads to post.