Dinner Dancing At Old Ranch July 18th 2008
Located in Seal Beach adjacent to the 405 Freeway, Old Ranch Country Club and its fantastic staff aim to please and make dinner and dancing a very memorable evening.
Start You Engines... The Dance Floor Is Ready!
Go Vince go!
We didn't even get settled in until Paul & Sue and Vince & Nancy hit the floor to the toe tapping music of Simon and Simon
Brenda and Doug play all over the greater Los Angeles area and have an excellent smooth sound which we love to dance to. A little swing, foxtrot, cha cha, waltz and even some night club two step!
At Old Ranch they fill the dining room with sound that makes dining even more fun than normal.
A month ago they were doing line dances for the just-got-off-the-course crowd and it was a hit!
Let The Dancing Continue...
Moving fast... we are almost a blurrrrr ...
Thanks to Glenn Miller who died the day before Paul was born
Did You Know? - We are moving pretty fast here! String Of Pearls was playing. Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904–presumably December 15, 1944), was an American jazz musician and band leader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1942, leading one of the best known "Big Bands". Miller's signature recordings include, "In the Mood", "Tuxedo Junction", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Moonlight Serenade", "Little Brown Jug", and "Pennsylvania 6-5000".
The members in the lounge area by the fireplace were getting into
the music also! Nancy and Vince are demonstrating how to dance!
Juan and Gayle (at the front desk) are the Maitre-Des for the evening and they also enjoy dancing!
Now We Finally Know What "Kick Up Your Heels" Means
Nancy and Vince are really kicking up their heels. If you kick up
your heels, you go to parties or celebrate something. We are partying tonight!
The dance floor get's bigger all the time. Brenda and Doug like to watch the action!
The staff gets a kick out of seeing us dance or are
they just watching to see if we fall down???
Skirts are whirling with the fast turns.
Dave (Our Super Waiter) Is Going To Flame Something? Nancy Is Worried!
Paul got to participate in the flaming... Paul poured the booze into
the pan and they ran to sit down and watch! Nancy is enjoying the clowning around!
The garlic smell was fantastic, Steak Diane for two (and Paul ate them both!) Steak Diane is a culinary dish made with a cut of beef tenderloin, namely the filet mignon. This steak is often cooked at the table in a restaurant, combining a show and a meal for the patron. The steak is seasoned by rubbing garlic and ground black pepper into it and fried quickly in butter. Often a sauce is prepared from the pan juices left after the frying of the steak, using butter, shallots, beef stock and Worcestershire Sauce. The chief attraction of the "show" of preparing Steak Diane table side is flaming the dish with brandy. This sauce is poured over the steak prior to serving.
One Ice Tea, Two Ice Tea, Three Ice Tea... Floor
At Nancy's suggestion, we drank Long Island Iced Tea.
Did You Know? - A Long Island Iced Tea is a highball made with, among other ingredients, vodka, gin, tequila, and rum. A popular version mixes equal parts vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec with 1 1/2 parts sour mix and a splash of cola. Close variants often replace the sour mix with sweet and sour mix or with lemon juice, and the cola with actual iced tea. Some chain restaurants even take the liberty of substituting brandy for the tequila.
Fans and historians claimed that the drink, like most highballs, was invented during the Prohibition era, as a way of taking the appearance of a non-alcoholic drink (iced tea). A lemon slice is often added to enhance this resemblance.
The drink has a much higher alcohol concentration (~28%) than most highballs because of the proportionally small amount of mixer. The soda is just for color. Now they tell us!!
This highball is often altered in other countries, due to the unpopularity of sour mix. Long Island Iced Tea served outside the States is often made of liquors and cola alone (without sour mix), with lemon or lime juice, or with lime cordial.
The View From The Dining Room Is Fantastic
As the sun goes down the lakes surrounding the club house light up and the
city light can be seen in the distance... Makes for a relaxing evening!
Other Members Take To The Floor
And they said they don't dance much!
Next month they plan to return for an evening of dancing!
Dessert Is Served! Bananas Foster A La Dave!
Did You Know? - Bananas Foster is a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with the sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur. The butter, sugar and bananas are cooked, and then the alcohol is added and ignited. The bananas and sauce are then served over the ice cream. Preparation of the dish is often made into a table side performance as a flambe. The dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan 's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan's and New Orleans Crime Commission chairman. It is still served at a number of fine restaurants in New Orleans and other fine restaurants around the world. The dish was mastered by Dave at Old Ranch!
Something about shoes and no socks! The rest of the
evening was used to tease Nancy (would we do that???)
Sue takes it all in and still smiles!
The man is attempting to behave... Yeah! Right!
Notice the tie is gone and he is awaiting the next song!
Nancy is having a ball!
Tim and Luciana joined us for dinner and dancing!
Hey Vince, another iced tea for Nancy??
James, Linda and Del swap stories
Oh oh... He is up to something
Fun at the Ranch
Going for a ride