Welcome to the last week of February! I don’t know how that happened- Christmas was two months ago- but I’m really looking forward to March! And speaking of time flying, my oldest friend, Jenny, is getting married in Indianapolis in April, and I just booked my tickets for a “girls weekend” with the rest of her bridal party for the end of March. I’m so excited! But still I can’t believe we’re all grown up… are we really allowed to live on our own and get married? Sigh.
Charley, my family dog, was staying with us this past week, and he made every day brighter. Isn’t he sweet in his little coat?
He especially loved going to the community garden to pick up our CSA… so many exciting smells! My parents picked him up last night, and I was sad to miss our morning walk and the sound of his collar jingling through the house.
We had a pretty fabulous weekend. It was fun and romantic and social and indulgent, and I even managed to get a little schoolwork done! We slept in a ton, and even did one of my very favorite things- we took a nap after breakfast! On Friday, I had an idea for an out-of-the-box date: dinner-and-a-movie at Nitehawk Cinema! Nitehawk is one of the coolest places, and I’ve been meaning to go there for awhile. On the outside, it looks like a regular movie theater, but when you get to your seats, you can order from a complete cocktail and food menu! I didn’t get any photos of the food- I didn’t think my Inside Llewyn Davis audience members would appreciate me snapping photos during the movie- but we split two glasses of really good wine, a salad, and fish tacos. We also loved the movie, but it was very different from a “typical Coen brothers” film.
The only unfortunate part of the night was that even though we’d planned to arrive the suggested 30-45 minutes early, we experienced quite a bit of subway delays and had to sit in the very first row. It was fine, but next time we’ll need to remember what it’s like to take public transportation on the weekend, and give ourselves extra time.
After the movie, we weren’t quite ready for the night to end, so we wandered around the neighborhood until we found Custom American Wine Bar which served- you guessed it!- only American wines. They also have a great bourbon list (at various price points) and I tried a local variety distilled in Red Hook, called Widow Jane. (How good is that name?) In addition to the good libations, we loved this bar for two more reasons 1) they play good movies (LA Confidential was on), and 2) they dish up complimentary -and unlimited!- bowls of fresh popcorn, which they season with Old Bay. (We may or may not have gone through three bowls.)
On Saturday, our friends Rebecca and Alex hosted an amazing (and amazingly delicious) pizza night! Each guest brought a different topping, and Rebecca and Alex were churning out pies until 11. The best part? They even made a special gluten free dough for me! I’ve always been too intimidated to make my own GF pizza, but this was amazing. The dough (made with this blend) was chewy and fluffy, just as pizza should be. (It was much better than it looked… I accidentally rolled it into a calzone shape when I was setting it in the oven!)
We had some good meals at home, too. I made a version of these savory oats a few weeks ago, and tried them again this weekend with lemon zest, chia, dried cherries, pistachios, avocado + a poached egg. Sounds like a strange combination, but the different tastes and textures work so well together.
These creamy beans got Brien’s seal of approval… he even gave me permission to make a larger batch next time
Garlicky broccoli rabe with rosemary potatoes + scrambled eggs w/ leeks:
Carrot soup w/ za’atar, chickpea/carrot/beat sauté w/ za’atar, avocado-miso toast:
Kitchen sink salad with lemony kale, miso-baked tofu, steamed beets + carrots, olives + pomegranate:
Sesame-cooked eggs (one of my favorite quick meals), millet and sautéed broccoli rabe:
Sea scallops (from our local farmer’s market… they’re in season!), sautéed kale + carrots, sweet brown rice cooked with coconut milk and raisins.
I’m doing my best to keep our meals fresh and interesting, which has been difficult since we have an abundance of winter vegetables like beets, turnips, potatoes, and carrots. I’ve been making this for breakfast often, and I love this beet recipe, too… but if you have any other root vegetable recipes please share!
Do you have any out-of-the-box weekend activity ideas? What are you cooking up this week?
