21 September - Saint Matthew

Weather: "Matthew's Day bright and clear, brings good wine in the next year."

C'mon, sunshine!  [and it did!  Abundance of it!  Good wine coming next year!]

Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, writer of the first gospel, and patron of those who deal with money: accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, customs officers, stock brokers, and, of course, Tax Collectors, of which he was one.  His neighbors considered him much as we think of our own IRS agents - horns and a pitchfork - with the added bonus that he Collaborated With The Enemy (that is, Rome).

And this is one of the guys Our Lord chose as a disciple?  Yep.  Comforting thought.  There's hope for us, yet.

Dinner tonight will honor Saint Matthew with root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, fingerling potatoes) cut into - wait for it! - Coins, tossed with olive oil and seasonings and roasted.  There are several good recipes online; I found one here at Epicurious.

Were there children in this house, dessert would somehow incorporate chocolate coins, maybe positioning one on top of a frosted cupcake.  As it is, dessert will be a glass of the good wine promised us from last year's bright, clear Saint Matthew's Day, a Riesling from Newport Vineyards.