Mother’s Day Weekend had the families going in twenty different directions it seemed.  My Bride tried to make the most of the situations and celebrated Mother’s Day on the Saturday that was the day for the monthly cousins’ luncheon.  It is a celebration of all the women of the clan that get together; Mothers, Daughters, Granddaughters, Nieces, Great-nieces, and Goddaughters.  The numbers fluctuate throughout the year, but there is always a nice turnout and they are considered regulars at the restaurant, even by the new owners, though many of the staff stayed on, so the staff has known the group for as long as this has been going on.  I would ask, but it is a tradition and that suffices.  You may have noticed that it is only the distaff side of the clan and that is by design, because if you added all the males and children, there might not even be a catering hall that could handle the crowds.  There were three males in attendance, but we were seated in another booth, away from the maddening crowd; and I don’t think it will be a tradition.  It was a great way for the women to honor my Mother-in-Law, who is the Matriarch of the clan, and she has many other titles bestowed upon her by the women that attended. 

This luncheon was held at The Masters Restaurant that I have just recently wrote about, plus all the many other times from my dinner club and smaller family gatherings.  The restaurant is convenient for all of the clan, except for my Bride and I, because we live on the other side of town, but it works.  The Masters Restaurant when you see the structure evokes the clubhouse in Augusta and that is by design.  I was at the table with two other men and we were having lunch.  One ordered an Angus Burger, one had a Breaded Whitefish dinner and I thought I was going to go light and order a salad, because we were meeting others for dinner that evening.  I had a classic interpretation of a Spinach Salad with onions, hard boiled eggs, bacon and Warm-Bacon-Dressing topped off with a Sautéed Chicken Breast; I may as well have ordered a Porterhouse Steak, as I was stuffed. 

Since it was my Bride and I, it made more sense for us to have a bottle of wine, it is more economical, and since the politicians in Michigan actually made a sensible law that says that you can leave the premises with an resealed bottle of wine, if all the wine isn’t consumed.  I wasn’t too concerned, because lunch was going to be at least a couple of hours.  It was strongly suggested that we have a white wine, because my Bride prefers white at lunch, and the last time, I pulled a fast one and ordered a red.  While my Bride enjoys wine with a salad, I normally skip wine with a salad course, but this was the only course, so I had to find something that I thought would work.  I found a wine that worked and also was appropriate for the surroundings.  We had a bottle of Ernie Els Big Easy White 2013 and the winery is located in Stellenbosch, Republic of South Africa; and in case you weren’t aware Ernie Els is an international award-winning golfer from South Africa and he now has a winery.  There are three Big Easy wines to choose from and they are the entry level wines from the winery.  The wine is pure Chenin Blanc the grape that has done extremely well in South Africa, and the fruit for this wine is from vineyards in the Cape.  Chenin Blanc was once considered the white wine of the Loire in France, South Africa now produces more than France, and once it was a bulk white wine, it has now come into its own quite nicely by serious vintners.  The wine from South Africa has a distinctive style of its own when compared to the Loire and it worked well with the quirkiness of the Spinach Salad.  The wine has a soft floral nose and a spiciness that is totally different from the Chardonnay wines that my Bride was expecting, but it worked and I am not outside looking in.