October 28th

   This past weekend was the 9 year anniversary of my mother's death.  For the past nine years, save for one, my sister and I have gotten together to commemorate her memory by drinking a glass of wine and enjoying a meal together.  It's something that we agreed would make her happy, and had we been older and more sophisticated, we would've loved to have done that with her while she was alive and healthy.
   It started, really, the day after she died when my brother, sister and I drove around Santa Monica and looked for the place to begin this tradition, not knowing that it would be the beginning of one anyway.  We drove to Gladstones, as I recall, and then realized that it was too chilly, too happy or just too something, so we left and ended up on Ocean Blvd at a tony restaurant that was kind enough to let us just sit and drink a toast to our mother.  And so it began...
   As I was saying, this weekend was year nine.  My sister and I agreed that we would make a French meal, and we did what we always do.  We had a telepathic moment and came to the same conclusion in different towns, close to the same time;  we needed to make Coquille St. Jacques.  Our mother had made it when we were in High School and though we didn't have her recipe, we were determined to find it.  True to our natures, we thought about it (telepathically) and then she did the actual hunting of it.
   On Saturday morning we left my house at 10am and drove downtown to Specs.  This particular Specs is a warehouse that sells wine to restaurants, and so the selection is wonderful.  But what made it even more exciting this time is a treasure of a find that was discovered a few hours before.  While looking for the Coquille recipe, I found a single piece of paper with her handwriting on it.  It read,
                      Very good wines
                      Chateau de La Chaize
                      (Beaujolais)
What was amazing about this find was a conversation I had with my sister the night before.  She said we needed to have a Beaujolais for the French Onion soup.  When I showed her the piece of paper she quietly said, "She is with us" which of course made me tear up.
   So in Specs I found the wine guys and asked about the Chateau de La Chaize which they had, and then we bought a wine for the Coquille St Jacques, a Chablis that would not be too buttery for the scallops.  This sounds so impressive, doesn't it?  Here's the deal:  My sister knew that we needed a Chablis that was not too buttery.  I didn't have a clue but so wished I did. And, to top off the trip, I happened upon a Brazilian cheese spread for hot bread in the morning.  We hit the mother lode!
  After a few more stops we drove home and began cooking.  My husband got home and smiled at the rich aroma of onions, garlic, wine and broth and patiently waited for the chefs to emerge from their stations.  I set the table and then we served the soup, the main course and then topped it off with caramelized pears and creme fraiche over crepes.  It was a hit. Even my 16 year old daughter was appropriately reverent.  With my husband at a football game, my youngest daughter out with friends, my sister and I ended the evening with a movie;  No Reservations.  It seemed the perfect weekend.
   Before she left, we agreed that next year she and her family, my brother and his family and I with my family, would all go to Ohio and commemorate her 10th year by spreading her ashes in the place she blossomed the most.  It would be fitting.  It would make her smile that we remembered how much she loved that town, and it would make her giddy to think about how much we all love family, a great glass of wine and a good meal.  In that order.