CIA and visiting Ron

Ron recently entertained the Japanese delegation at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). He invited us to join him for lunch and WHAT a treat it was. Not only was it nice being able to spend some time with him, but the food was fabulous. The building has a quite a history and is the former site of Christian Brothers winery. When the 89 earthquake destroyed it, they donated the building to the Culinary Academy. Since, the academy has been looking for sponsors to assist in rebuilding. The Raisin Growers Association has been big supporters of the Academy. There is a beautiful stone walkway dedicated to the Raisin Association as well as a mini vineyard. The girls had a lot of fun with Grandpa Ron. Ron even made it known that the girls were coming and someone would need to fix them pasta. One of the chefs made Ainsley and Kaley a couple of different "kid friendly" pasta dishes. Kaley could not get enough of the meat sauce! After, the chef had Michael take his photo with the girls. Not too common to see a blondie w/blue eyes and a blondie w/brown eyes in Japan! As usual, the girls made themselves at home, but were on good behavior (thank goodness). They really enjoyed trapsing through the grape vines sampling grandpas grapes. I am sure this is exactly what the CIA had in mind when dedicating the grape vines to the raisin growers. We had a really great time!