Tag: al fresco

Weekend Things

Lauren8 Comments

SPRING. SPRING. SPRING.

Okay, so I know it’s not technically spring until the 20th, and I know we Coloradoans are taking a huge step backwards in terms of weather this week (dropping temps, lots of wind, maybe snow!), but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Spring is coming!

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In other news, last week was a little rocky.  Joey was scheduled to have Lasik surgery on Friday but after his pre-op check up on Wednesday, his surgeon didn’t feel comfortable proceeding.  Disappointment does not even begin to describe how we both felt.  In the end, a more experienced surgeon (at the same office) okayed the procedure and we’re good to go THIS Friday.  Which means Joey has to wear his super out-of-date glasses for another week and though he’s none too happy about that, it’s going to be so worth it come Friday.

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So instead of 20/20 vision, we kicked the weekend off with a gorgeous stroll around Cheesman Park.  The pavilion was looking stunning, as usual (and I will say “remember how we got married here?!” every time I see it), and the weather was all too perfect.  I’m going to do my best to remember this sunny spring moment of happiness later this week when I’m cooped up in my office, hiding from the wind.  Also, this was my attempt at soaking up lots of outdoor time since I’ve been bad at that for the past two weekends.

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Afterwards, we went home, made shrimp tacos and started RE-watching Game of Thrones.  We’ve been pretty much saying we should do that since we finished watching it the first time around but now that HBO is pushing that 50 episodes in 50 days (just in time for the new season) thing, I was really feeling motivated to pull the trigger.  And can I just say… it is so much easier to watch the second time around!!!  I actually know who’s who and can follow the plot.  It’s a whole different viewing experience.  Also, I’m trying to figure out exactly what IS in focus in that picture…

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Saturday with zero plans.  Yes please!  We ate pancakes, hit the grocery store, I went on a run/walk and painted my nails outside while Joey worked on his little garden building project.  I’m all in on the actual planting part but the digging of dirt and stacking of bricks — not so much.  Afterwards, we cleaned ourselves up and went to dinner at The Melting Pot.  Not my first choice for Denver Restaurant Week but their deal is pretty good and we had a couple of gift cards, so we figured why not.  I spent 30 minutes curling my hair, only to have it ruined when the steam from the fondue pot blew my direction all night.  All in the name of cheese and chocolate though, right?

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Sunday started with a sunny walk to the coffee shop, followed by breakfast at my parents’.  They had my niece over for a sleepover, so when I got there we colored and then she made us some hats.  Oh and I think my favorite part was when she one by one led us to sit on the floor in the hallway and repeated a story about my nephew falling off his scooter.  Kids brains are so interesting to me 🙂  We finished Sunday with work week prep (Joey made our salads this week and I’m insanely excited about them!) and a family birthday celebration at Joey’s dad’s house.  We ate dinner on his back patio and I could totally get used to dining al fresco again.

What did you do this weekend?

That Time I Cooked Dinner on the Grill

Lauren1 Comment

For the most part, life without air conditioning isn’t so bad.  (Though you wouldn’t know it based on the reaction people have when you tell them your house is stuck at a permanent 85° in the summertime.)  Still, when you could probably advertise your house as a bikram yoga studio, doing things like brewing beer ON THE STOVE for three hours or TURNING THE OVEN ON to bake cornbread feel absolutely insane.  And sometimes you will go out of your way just to avoid creating any extra heat in the house.  Like grilling your entire dinner!

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We had twice baked potatoes and green beans on the menu and the thought of roasting those potatoes in a 400° oven for 45 minutes sounded HORRIBLE so I said “why not” and just tossed them on the grill.  Yeah the skins got burnt as hell a little crispy, but otherwise this was so dang easy.  Just poke with a fork, toss on the grill over medium heat, flip every 15-ish minutes for an hour and bam, fully cooked sweet potatoes!

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For the green beans, I decided to go the cast-iron skillet route.  Mostly because we don’t own a grill basket, but partly because I felt all “home, home on the range” sautéing in a skillet over a flame.  Do you think cowboys in the Wild West chopped up fresh tarragon to add to their butter-roasted green beans??  Alls I did was melt some butter and sauté the beans, then I added about 1/2 cup of vegetable broth, salt and pepper, closed the lid and let that liquid cook out before turning off the heat and tossing in a couple tablespoons of tarragon.  Seriously, once you add tarragon, you’ll never go back.

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I ended up splitting the potatoes open and mashing butter, Greek yogurt, cinnamon, maple syrup and a generous pinch of salt together right inside the skins, then served it up al fresco.  Because it’s summer and that means it’s time to eat all meals outdoors.  I’m not going to lie, I was pretty impressed with myself.  Especially because there was a point when I saw those charred potato skins and thought we were going to end up ordering pizza for dinner.

And the best part was that I didn’t make the house hot!  Or, at least any hotter than it already was…