That’s MY table, and the photographer is none other than the great James C., who is staying with us this weekend. See the wine? He brought it. It’s a 20-year-old Barolo, and it was marvelous. We ate pork tenderloin stuffed with prosciutto and rosemary; gratin dauphinois (sliced potatoes boiled in milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then baked in butter and heavy cream, in a dish scented with a garlic clove; green salad; and a late-season tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad with real balsamic vinegar from Modena. It was given to me by a lovely Italian couple, the Ferraresis, who came to hear me speak in Bologna.

We finished with an orange olive oil pound cake made by my daughter Nora. She also made the whipped cream, though it’s not in the photo:

It was a great night. Life is so rich. I don’t deserve any of this. But thank you, God, for it all.