birthday dinner

Since my birthday falls on a holiday that causes restaurant prices to soar and crowds to fill every seat, we usually cook a nice dinner at home instead. This year was no different.

We bought a couple of New York steaks and some yukon gold potatoes. I found a delicious sounding olive topping for the steak and decided on mashed potatoes with gravy for a side dish. Dessert was harder to come by but since I was already on a roll with the comfort food idea, I went with a dolled up version of a childhood favorite: chocolate pudding. We found some chocolate mousse (from a box) and topped it off with whipped cream (beaten fresh by Rob).

I enjoyed every bite of this luscious meal!

(And yes, Rob really did have black tea with dinner, Russian Caravan, a favorite of his, while I had dark mead, something I don't need to have again anytime soon.)

what's cookin'?

Doesn't that look super delicious? Homemade chicken soup, yum yum yummy. Rob has been slaving away in the kitchen all day to make this happen. Ok, maybe not exactly "slaving" but puttering nonetheless. He has gotten quite good at this chicken soup recipe.

The brilliant green you see is a lovely kale that is far better than I ever imagined. Though we grew up eating a lot of vegetables at my house, greens never seemed to make it on the menu. I think we had cooked spinach once or twice (ew!) but other than that, I don't recall others. [Mom? Do you remember?] I was a little hesitant the first time Rob wanted to use them in a soup. Now I love 'em that way.

After we've enjoyed the soup this way for a night or two, including a lunch for me, we'll add coconut milk and curry paste from the asian food store for a twist (and to stretch it out to our greatest advantage). This pot of soup exemplifies what we've been doing all day. Putting things together for a good start to the week.

On the other hand, last night was a special treat. We got to see the New Shanghai Circus perform. Normally, we wouldn't be interested in anything calling themselves a circus due to the bad reputations they have for how they treat animals. This, however, was entirely different since it was all acrobatics performed by professional Chinese athletes. (Their muscles fairly bulged!)

The acts were all made up of the amazing things the human form can do. The poses they held were awe inspiring for their demonstration of pure strength and balance. They also had some drumming performances weaved in there. This was a surprise to us, it didn't seem to be listed on the program we were given. The drummers were all young women. I was impressed.

Overall, it was a nice way to spend the evening together. In two weeks, it will be the Ailley II dance troupe.

some dinner

This was a meal I prepared for myself recently: bison sirloin steak (thanks sweetie for letting me have the best cut!), mashed purple cauliflower and a little organic red wine. What you don't see is the luscious hunk of dark chocolate I had for dessert a bit later.

The other treat I indulged in that particular evening was a some reliable tv viewing. I popped in the dvd and watched a couple of episodes from the seventh season of West Wing. Since we don't get tv reception and even the radio is "in and out scratchy" at best, it seemed easiest to take in some election coverage where I knew how it would turn out. (On the night of the election I did keep an eye on the real deal via internet news stories, too.)

what's for dinner?

I just tasted tonight's dinner, Curried Bison Stew. Yum! It's basically left overs cleverly disguised in masman curry paste and coconut milk. There wasn't quite enough stew left for both of us to eat and I was bored with the flavor so this is a good way to extend it and spice it up. Oh my. This is going in the repertoire for future reference! (Sorry for the crappy picture. I was in a hurry since we were on a schedule to get out the door to go hear a climber talk about his experiences.)

Oh, and I'm also steaming some cauliflower to put in my stew. I know, many of you are going, "ew, cooked cauliflower!" I used to think so, too. Until I realized how good it is in curry dishes. Our favorite asian restaurant opened my eyes to this taste sensation. And then, in keeping with the low carb craze and trying to satisfy my mashed potato craving, I saw a recipe for mashed cauliflower, another dish I'm loving these days. You steam the cauliflower then mash it up with milk, butter, salt and pepper. So delicious (though honestly not really like mashed potatoes). Rob bought me some purple cauliflower the other day. I'll snap a picture of it when I mash it up.

six years ago

Aww, aren't they cute?? Six years ago on Saturday (9.15), Rob and I were married in a ceremony of our creation. A friend of mom's captured this image while we were sitting at the head table. It remains one of my favorites. It was a beautiful day (who knew after the less-than-pleasant rehearsal the day before?). We still have conversations that begin, "Remember at the wedding when..."

This is us in a self portrait taken on Monday night at our new favorite pizza joint in town, Biga Pizza. (We had the Sicilian with the salad special in case you're wondering...with beer we brought in since they don't currently have a liquor license.)

I think we had the camera with us on our "day about town" for our anniversary but never remembered to take a picture. This year's celebration was pretty low key. We mostly focused on having the day together, doing what we wanted in the moment. No splashy gifts (except one sweet token from Rob to me) just heartfelt letters and cards exchanged. Quite nice, actually.