CSA Things: Purple Veggies

I almost just wrote “Big ups to my mom for picking up our CSA veggies last week,” then I remembered no one says “big ups” anymore (and never should have!).  But seriously, so thankful my mom could grab our produce for us while I was hanging out with Bruno Mars at Red Rocks.  Just one of the many reasons I don’t know what I’d do without her.

CSA Pick-Up #6 Included:

  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Garlic
  • Cucumber
  • Zucchini
  • Eggplant
  • Bell Peppers

What We Cooked:

I’ll try to be brief — even I’m semi-bored listening to myself go on and on about farm fresh vegetables — but the gist of this week was purple veggies and meals that were almost too pretty to eat (or so I thought at least), and tasted even better.

Heirloom Tomato and Beet Salad

photo 1

Although the beets were great (and so colorful!), this salad was just okay and I won’t be making it again.  But those tenderloin filets!

Curried Veggies with Roasted Eggplant & Chickpeas

photo 4

photo 5

photo 3

photo 2

Does anyone know what kind of eggplants those are?  And does anyone know how someone could not like eggplant?  Cough, Joey.  I could’ve eaten this roasted eggplant by itself but I’m glad I didn’t because this curry dish was really tasty.   Also, cutest teensy purple bell pepper and eggplant rounds ever.  I may have squealed when I first saw them.  Mini eggplant parm, anyone?

Kale, Mushroom and Sundried Tomato Lasagna Rolls

photo

I’m so over kale.  Actually, I’m just over washing it and tearing the leaves off the stems.  Annnnd, I’m now realizing how lazy that makes me sound.  Anyways, after slaving away at that kale for a whole 5 minutes, and assembling these lasagna rolls, we had such a good dinner.  Sautéed up that CSA zucchini in some olive oil for a side dish.  Simple but I LOVE it.  I would certainly make this whole meal again.

Garlic, Carrots, Cucs

photo 1

photo 2

While I think the difference between farm fresh and store-bought garlic is kind of subtle, I could tell which was better.  Guess which!  The taste, smell and color is just enhanced.  We used it in all of the above.  What if someone didn’t like garlic?!  In other news, CSA carrots have become the bane of my existence because I can’t for the life of me get to them before they get kind of…flimsy.  I used those flimsy carrots and the cucs in a soba noodle salad with an almond buttery dressing (yum!) and the rest of the cucs were eaten alongside some roasted red pepper sabra, aka the best hummus in all the land.  Did I really just say “cucs” that many times?

**********************

What’s your favorite purple food?  Please don’t say it’s that purple ketchup they used to make.  Remember that?!

Do you like eggplant?

What old sayings do you wish we still used? I wish I could still tell people not to “have a cow.”  What does that even mean?

Exciting Weekend Things

As you may have guessed, something exciting happened this weekend.

WE ARE OFFICIALLY UNDER CONTRACT ON A HOUSE IN DENVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caps lock and every.single.one of those exclamation points was totally necessary.

On Friday morning, we saw a house that we loved and immediately put an offer (and a good one at that!) in on it.  At the end of the day we got word that the seller had decided to wait until Monday to give us an answer.  We were bummed, but at least it wasn’t a no.  Saturday morning, our realtor called saying he had a house we needed to look at ASAP.  We thought we loved the other house, but this second one was perfect.  We loved it even more.  Within two hours of being on the market, we had put in an offer and 5 hours later — our deadline time ON THE DOT — the seller accepted!

Now that we found “the one,” it feels so worth it to have passed up on all the other houses we looked at, including the one we thought we loved on Friday.  This one just feels so right and we could not be more excited.  As soon as we found out, I gave Joey such an excited hug that my sunglasses flew off my head and both lenses fell out (oops!).  But you know, I didn’t even care.  We celebrated with drinks and dinner on the Linger rooftop, which is all of 5 minutes from our new place (!!!!!!).

IMG_4496

Gah, that place is just so cool.

In other non house-related weekend news, we took my dad to Steuben’s for dinner on Friday night.  My mom and sister were in New Orleans until Saturday evening, so we didn’t want him to be lonely on a weekend night.  I ordered a Moscow Mule and fell in love.  My dad ordered the trout amandine minus the almonds because he once ordered the dish and almost chocked on those almonds.  Apparently he was traumatized by the experience.  He went back (with my mom and sister) the next night so I’d say our restaurant pick was a success.

IMG_4484

IMG_4500

Before we dashed off to look at our house on Saturday morning, we met my dad at the Louisville Farmers’ Market — he does massage there once a month — to help him set up.  It was HOT but otherwise, a beautiful day at the market.  Plus it was nice to get a good dose of quality time with my dad, who was smart enough to have the floral tent next to us make up a beautiful “Welcome Home” bouquet for my mom.  How thoughtful, right?

IMG_4491

Today has been spent tying up some loose ends — our leasing office allowed us to extend our lease another month while we wait for our closing date, phew! — and spending time with the bride.  We went to a bridal show in Denver and had no idea what to expect, but there were lots of vendors, cupcakes and giveaways.  It was hosted by the Curtis Hotel, which is super eccentric.  We may or may not have ridden the elevator to 10 different floors because each had a different theme and a funny recording that announces which floor you’re arriving at.  I think I liked the 7th Floor, with a “Lots of Laughs” theme, the best.  Oh and I bought this candle at the mall while getting my sunglasses fixed…too soon?

IMG_4504

I think I’ll just end by apologizing for being annoyingly happy and excited for a while.  Hazard of being a first time home owner 😛