Liver in the East Bay, or Picnic at the Marina!

So Katherine and I had a bottle of Reisling and a can of foie gras we've been meaning to devour so we finally came around to doing so this weekend. I'm not completely certain of how Katherine prepared the liver since I was busy foraging Emeryville for toothpicks (see below) but I think she just pan fried it with a little salt and pepper and a few knobs of butter. Spread on crunchy Acme bread that was molested with garlic (couldn't help it, I think it's funny how foodies frequently relate food and eating to something sexual), it tasted buttery and creamy and... livery. It was good! We also took fresh figs and stuffed them with Castello blue cheese, wrapped them in prosciutto di Parma, stabbed them with a toothpick and pan fried them in olive oil. They were tasty, had the whole sweet and savory thing that I like... I don't think you can really offend any sane person by handing them something that's wrapped in bacon. I think Katherine liked them a little more than me... there's something about the simplicity and beauty of just good bread and fatty meat that made me prefer the first course... or maybe I'm just a caveman.

The company was nice, the food was good, and the sun was out. What more could you want?

*** Edit by Kathy: The foie was canned, which I bought in France about a year ago (it's supposed to last for 4 years). Mike is right - I just browned it in lots of butter (not that there isn't already enough fat... just for the flavor), and mashed it up with some salt and pepper. This picture isn't the best (Mike's camera phone because his normal camera was acting funny), but the foie is pictured spread on the bread since it looks kind of gross by itself (didn't have anything to garnish it). Yay for picnics on nice days! How cliche.