AJRB
Apricot Jam and Raspberry Bliss
So - what does AJRB mean? Well… in short, Apricot Jam and Raspberry Bliss - Nicknames that John and Ri made for one another that have long since been retired. Apricot Jam for John, because on a business trip he had a lot of well… Apricot Jam. And Raspberry Bliss for Ri as John dedicated a raspberry sauce he made to her. Essentially sillyness in our initial naming, but the AJRB dinner name continues and is one we hold dear to our hearts.
How It Got Started
On Ri and John’s fourth date John went all out, making a five course dinner for Ri. The showstopper? “Uovo Raviolo” or Egg Yolk Ravioli. Hearing of this ridiculous dinner one of Ri’s friends asked if John could make it for her. Given it is just as complicated to make the dish for 3 people as it is for 10, John suggested they do a full dinner party with family and friends to showcase the dish as well as a few others. The dinner ran very long, but was a success. After such a fun evening Ri and John decided to keep cooking for friends and family - doing a dinner event roughly four times per year.
Menus
Inspired by a dinner event menu Ri and John attended at the Temecula Olive Oil Company in mid-2016 (where they would get engaged two years later!), Ri and John make custom menus for every dinner. Leveraging John’s graphic design skills and Ri’s artistic eye the menus outline the dinner’s appetizers, five courses, and beverage options for the evening.
John and Ri then save these menus - having at least one from every event they’ve hosted, now making for an incredible record of dinners and recipes from the events.
Traditions
The most important AJRB tradition is that every menu item for every dinner is unique to that dinner, having never appeared on a previous menu. This has resulted in over 65 unique dinner courses being prepared across all of the dinners so far (Uovo Raviolo for instance has only been made at that first dinner). This restriction has led to creativity and seasonality to permeate the menu with unique offerings ranging from the soup Ajo Blanco to the infamous Croquembouche dessert.
Another tradition is that everything must be hand made. If a recipe calls for puff pastry, we’re rolling and folding butter in dough all day - if it calls for bread we’re baking it - if it calls for cheese, yeah okay we’ll buy cheese, but I think you get the idea.
In terms of AJRB events another esteemed favorite is the New Year’s AJRB tea, where on the afternoon of January first John and Ri invite friends and family to join them to bring in the new year with baked treats and finger sandwiches.
