Weekend Things

I got some questions for ya.

When did Lafayette get so hip?

Why didn’t anyone tell me how incredible Manchester by the Sea was?

How do you cheer up a broken-hearted Cowboys fan?

Why didn’t I sign up for that dang Women’s March?

Why does the weekend always end too soon?

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After exchanging Christmas gifts and watching that very informative video — child Josh had the moves! — the four of us set out for dinner at Community in Lafayette and oh my gosh, it was so good.  From the decor, to the service, to the food, it was all a knockout.  It reminded us all of Work & Class, what with all those small share plates of meat and sides that were so hard to choose from.

Remember when Brussels sprouts were just that gross mini-cabbage your mom always made on Thanksgiving and now they are the It Girl at every restaurant?  And remember when Lafayette was just a little town where your best friend lived and now it’s got trendy restaurant and packed breweries?  After dinner, we hit up Odd13 and though my Cultural Chameleon — a South African-hopped IPA — was interesting, I’m still all about that Codename: Superfan.

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On the Saturday side of things, PEPPERMINT MOCHAS & PANCAKES!  But actually it was peppermint mochas in thee cutest mugs from Hannah and Josh and Greek yogurt pancakes with thee fluffiest results from this recipe.  I was pretty delighted by all of it.  And by having the entire morning to lounge and watch The Kitchen on Food Network until 11:30 when I headed out for yoga at an urban winery?!

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Okay, so Jenn, Samantha and I — plus a million other people — went to a yoga class at Infinite Monkey Theorem and it was so fun (but also cold!) and afterwards we hit the wine bar then walked ourselves over to the Denver Central Market for lunch.  And this is the part where I tell you I spent four hours with the girls and took ONE PICTURE… OF MY LUNCH SALAD.  What is even wrong with me?  Fail.  But from a non-photography standpoint, the day was a huge success.  Ain’t nothing like yoga, wine and high school reunion talk with your girlfriends.

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Later that night, Joey and I made pizza then took ourselves to see a movie.  The theater we went to has complimentary popcorn and soft drinks and when I told Joey that, his eyes almost bulged out of his head.  He was just a tad excited.  All popcorn excitement aside, what I really want to tell you is GO SEE MANCHESTER BY THE SEA!  We thought it was incredible.  I heard it was “good, but really depressing” when actually, it was “depressing, but really good.”  I really liked La La Land but you know what?  I liked Manchester by the Sea even more.  Don’t hate me!  Go see it, then report back 🙂

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We started Sunday with breakfast at Jelly.  Specifically, we started with a small order of donuts and then I realized I am powerless to chilaquiles and will order it anytime it’s on a menu.  Mostly, I think this place is overrated, but we had to try it out one more time before we made that call.  The service exceeded the food, but I guess that’s not a bad complaint to have.

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After breakfast, we went home and Joey worked on his current house project — fixing all the cracks in our house, which mostly involves a lot of drywall dust EVERYWHERE — while I tackled salads for lunch this week, roasting red peppers for dinner and making dessert.  Then we headed to Joey’s dad’s to watch the Cowboys game, which did not go as planned.  1) Because they lost 😦 and 2) Because I thought if there was another Cowboys fan in the house, Joey would leave me alone when they scored… wrong.

So what I thought was going to be celebratory soup and dessert ended up being consolatory soup and dessert, but I still thought both were fantastic.  We hadn’t made that Chicken Sausage, Roasted Pepper and Whole Wheat Orzo Soup in far too long and though it was my first time making those Salted Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies, I think they’re a keeper!  I tried to convince Joey to give up football by telling him I’d NEVER felt sad on a Sunday because of a sports team but he didn’t listen and went to bed at 8:30 instead.

Just realized it was a real good eating weekend — can’t be mad about that!

Best Tastes of 2016: From Our Kitchen

Nothing like writing all these year-end recaps, then cramming them all in during the last few days of December, right?  2016 was the year of pancakes, LOTS of summer grilling, salads-in-a-jar and adventurous meat cooking, but there was also a lot of amazing stuff in between.  Here’s the best of the best!

Best Family Recipe:

Red Beans & Rice from my uncle’s recipe (February 9)

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Best Pizza:

Cast-Iron Pan Pizza from Bon Appétit (March 2)

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Best Baked Recipe:

Mini Vegan “Brioche” Buns from Take a Megabite (March 29)

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Best Side Dish:

Creamy Chive Potatoes from Bon Appétit (April 4)

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Best Burger:

Spinach Goat Cheese Burger from Eat, Live, Run (June 9)

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Best Grill Meal:

Grilled Lamb from Cooking Light (July 4)

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Best Summer Pasta Dish:

Spaghetti with Tomato and Walnut Pesto from Bon Appétit (August 9) — made 110% better by the fact that Joey made it for me ♥

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Best Pancake:

The Easiest (Vegan) Pancakes from Oh, Ladycakes (October 15, but also many times after that)

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Best Salad:

Fall Squash & Fig Salad with Maple Mustard Balsamic Dressing from Yummy Beet // thanks to our salad-in-a-jar habit, we ate a lot of salads this year, but this one was my favorite.

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Best Winter Pasta Dish:

Garlic and White Wine Pasta with Brussels Sprouts from Minimalist Baker (December 15)

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 Best Cookie:

Two-way tie between:

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Displaced Housewife (October 13)

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And The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies from Pinch of Yum (February 25)

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Best Granola:

Pumpkin Maple Pecan Granola from Edible Perspective // If you had asked me my favorite granola prior to this fall I would have told you nothing could come between me and the Lightened Up Summer Granola from Oh She Glows but then I decided to give this one a try and it instantly became my new favorite.  I think it’s those dates.

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Best Cooking Success of the Entire Year: Christmas + Our First Turkey!

Don’t get me wrong, I was blown away by the lamb we grilled ourselves for the 4th of July, but that was so low pressure compared to cooking a 20-pound turkey for 15 people on Christmas.  The days leading up to it, I kept wondering if this meal would end up on this list or on the other list.  Thankfully, it’s here.  The turkey was juicy perfection, the rolls were puffy mini cloud status, the rice/sweet potatoes/mashed potatoes/gravy/cranberry sauce all went off without a hitch and people went mad for the raw Brussels sprout salad (?!).

In other words, this meal was the crowning glory of my culinary life thus far.

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Food forecast for 2017?  Hopefully more pizza!  In all seriousness, culinary growth (even if it’s just in my own kitchen) is one of the biggest, most fun and most unexpected joys of my life.  Here’s to its continuance in the new year!