Begrudgingly, and Bright Spots
Back to a real life, albeit begrudgingly. This morning I said to Ernie, "You have no idea how much I do not want to go back to work" and he said, "I think I do, because you have no idea how much I don't want you to." I must say, that helped. I love that man.
Our break was quiet but I gave up feeling like I should be busy and relaxed and went with it. Ernie and I binge-watched old Top Chef's, read, and did crossword puzzles (reading for me, crossword puzzles for him). New Year's Eve we had dinner at Timpone's with our friends Boo, Doug, Val and Bob. It was lovely, although I fear I may have brought the average age there down a bit. Good God but everybody was old! When I seem like the young one, you gotta worry! The food was fine but the company was better. It was so nice to see Val and Bob as now that they are in Michigan it is few and far between.
Two bright spots:
I made a really great shrimp dinner. We'd planned something else last night but Owen had a friend over and requested that they have pizza. I was going to say no, but the two of them haven't hung out in awhile so I weakened. That meant Ernie and I could make whatever we wanted however, so we pulled out some shrimp we'd just thrown in the freezer. I tossed the shrimp with tarragon, orange zest, garlic and salt and pepper and sauteed them until they were just done. I put them over a parsnip-potato puree (which was delicious...I may have finally convinced Ernie that he likes parsnips), had wilted spinach and some browned carrots (they were supposed to be crispy carrot chips but I got impatient) and some tiny bits of crispy ham on top. Oh, and a bit of orange juice. Damn good. I must say I think it was better than the Chilean Sea Bass I had at Timpone's, and a lot cheaper. I love it when it comes together....
Much more important than a good evening of cooking, our beloved Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, and Thomm Jutz will be here on Friday, March 3, 2017. Mark your calendars folks!
If you have not seem them before you should really try to make this. One of the most entertaining shows as well as the great music. And everybody likes them so we usually have a good potluck!
Onward....