Now and then new holidays and special days are created by one just using their imagination.  Birthday Eve has a nice ring to it, but it is not listed as a holiday.  Our son took my Bride out the night before her birthday for dinner and drinks, along with his fiancé.  We went to one of my Bride’s favorite restaurants Pizzeria Biga, which I have discussed a couple of times before.  While he enjoyed some craft beers, the rest of us enjoyed some wine with our meal.

We shared a couple of appetizer plates of Charcuterie, made in house, of Capicolla and a Duck Breast Prosciutto.  My Bride and I were both sad to discover that our favorite dish; the Roasted Garlic soup was no longer being offered and she tried the Carrot and Ginger Puree, but it did not satisfy her as well as the  soup she was looking forward to.  There is always a potential danger of being disappointed when the menu changes at a restaurant.  Then there were three orders of the individual pizzas that Biga is known for, while I opted to just have some Spaghetti with Meat Balls and mushrooms.   After dinner we enjoyed some coffee and shared two orders of Salted Caramel Parfait, which to me, was the high point of the dinner, it was that wonderful.

Our future daughter-in-law is not a big wine drinker and prefers a sweeter wine so she had a glass of Borgo Maraglianu La Caliera Moscato D’Asti which is a semi-sweet frizzante (Italian for sparkling) wine made from the Moscato Bianco grape varietal.  She enjoyed it, but one glass of wine is enough for her.  My Bride and I enjoyed Aia Vecchia Lagone Toscana 2010, which is one of the newer type wines that are referred to as “Super Tuscany wines.”  Some of the great varietals from France are being harvested in the Tuscan area, and this particular wine is a blend of both French and Italian varietals, namely Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese.  For a popular priced wine, it was a chewy red that delivered a lot of taste and bang for the buck.  This made for a fine meal, along with some great conversations.