Friday Means Dinner Out

Things are still not back to normal here due to my toe. That meant that I am not as productive as usual. I am looking forward to being able to wear shoes soon without pain. It looks like I am stuck at home for a while (except for the occasional dinner out) for at least a few more days and maybe longer. I hope I don’t get stir crazy before this darn toe heals. Okay enough whining back to the food. ;-)

Breakfast for Dan was his usual oatmeal with wild blueberries and walnuts and all the other healthy stuff I always add (wheat germ, freshly ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, and powdered ginger).

I started my morning with a huge glass of cold brewed green tea and nothing else because I wasn’t particularly hungry.

Since it was Friday I should have run errands but my foot wasn’t particularly up to it. I checked on my folks and that was it. Once I got home I still wasn’t hungry but knew I needed to eat something so I had an orange and Brazil nuts plus a few unpictured prunes.

We met our friend Louis Friday for dinner. All our favorite servers were working last night which meant that I didn’t want to pick one. Michael (aka 6’7” Shorty) was hosting and I had him pick a table for us. I am bad I know. Then I went immediately into the kitchen to give Ian a hug and talk about dinner since I didn’t make reservations until after lunch. As luck would have it Will was working and had already come up with a menu for us. When he asked if I wanted to know what was for dinner I said “no, surprise me”. Of course I wouldn’t do that everywhere but since I knew it would be vegan and something that I wouldn’t think of which means everything would be great…and it was.

We started dinner with an appetizer of watermelon and tomato gelée (which my hubby affectionately refers to as tomato guts) skews with a cilantro and lime sauce. I loved this presentation and the flavor combination was quite nice. Once I thought about it I remembered that I used to make a watermelon salad with cilantro, red onion and olives so I realized that I knew watermelon and cilantro worked together, though I had forgotten. Sometimes we all need to be reminded of flavor combinations.

The next course was a deconstructed grilled onion and Romesco salad. The dish included roasted peppers, grilled onions, grilled and steamed green onions, sliced almonds and a touch of balsamic glaze.

The final course was a small whole wheat pizza topped with roasted broccoli, mushrooms and green onions. It also included a ginger sauce and was finished with sriracha and was quite delicious. Who needs cheese on pizza? Not us! ;-)

Since Louis had to hit the road early in the morning he left earlier than we did. You know we had to stay and chat and sip our tea…that sort of thing. We wanted to hang around to talk to Will after things slowed down a bit since we haven’t seen him in weeks. The restaurant is going to be packed for Easter brunch given the reservations in the system I think they are going to be turning away walk-ins. However being full is a good thing for all concerned.

Happy thoughts:

• Friday was a great day, other than needing to wear shoes to dinner. We always enjoy spending time with Louis and everyone at the restaurant. It was also nice to see Will since he had been off for about three weeks working on his thesis. Not only did we have great food but the company wasn’t too shabby either. ;-)

• Saturday was a good day. I made two test runs of homemade whole wheat malloreddus (this is the pasta recipe I started with) to see which one would work best for Easter supper at our house. That was a fun project to work on today though it did impact my appetite for dinner which was a little sad. Poor Dan had to eat more of our dinner than usual. He was so sweet to sacrifice like that for me wasn't he?  LOL

• Dan and I had a nice dinner out again Saturday evening. I think it was Dan’s way of saying sorry that he had to work this weekend. Will made us four very nice dishes that I will tell you all about in my next post. The aroma on the fruit dessert was unbelievable (in a good way). I think a lot of you will love that dish I know we did. We had a nice dinner on the patio chatting to each other, playing with technology, and talking to almost everyone that works at the restaurant. Both Dan and I really like everyone there in case you hadn’t noticed by now. LOL

• The rainy weather skirted north of us so we were able to open up the house mid-day on Saturday which I loved. One of my favorite things about spring is getting fresh air into the house after being closed up all winter. It is also great that we will be in the 80’s the next few days. *happy dance* Since walking it out do to my toe I will need to spend time barefoot in the garden instead. Doesn’t that just sound awful? (kidding)

• The herbs in my garden are growing like weeds so far. I love that I will be able to use fresh herbs from my garden for the meal I am making tomorrow. *woo hoo* I know I am a goofball. LOL

• As much as it surprises me I am enjoying the book “The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse” enough that I ordered it from Amazon. Who knew it would feel good to write down everything that I regretted doing in my life but it was very freeing in a strange way. Not to mention it was a longer list that I realized but I suppose that is to be expected since I am almost 50 (well in a little over a year I will be 50).  ;-)

Signing out:

Like always we got home from the restaurant later than we planned. You would think we would know better by now. ;-) We were having too much fun chatting to everyone to leave. However once the other tables left and the guys could start setting up for brunch we took off so we weren't in the way.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day. I am not going to overcook for Easter. Okay… I should probably say that I am going to try not to overcook tomorrow. I will let you know if I succeed or not. Either way I have decided it is going to be a good day and that I am not going to let my mother’s comments about prime rib, turkey, ham, cream or cheese get to me. We are going to have a nice holiday. *fingers crossed* LOL

Dan and I have errands after the mid-afternoon meal with my folks. He has to do something for work and since it involves photographs, and a long drive, I am going to go with him (shoeless of course). We will make it a fun time like we always do. However it will probably mean that my post will be late on Sunday or possibly even Monday depending on traffic.

Happy Easter! I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I will talk to you again as soon as I can.