Weekend Things

If I told you the best parts of the weekend were making friends with a group of regulars at The Med just so we could snag their table after they left, eating a slice of cherry upside down cake while watching The Little Mermaid and laying in a bunch of sample beds until it stopped feeling weird and started being a little too fun, would you need more explanation?

IMG_5833IMG_5799

On Friday, the snow clouds rolled into Boulder the same time we did, but we had plans to celebrate my sister getting a new job with happy hour at The Med and snow wasn’t going to stop us.  We also neglected to make a reservation for our party of six and were quoted 1 1/2-2 hours for a table.

There was ONE big table in the bar so Joey, Wayne, my sister and I were hovering and ready to pounce, when we overheard someone at the table explaining “when we start getting our checks and you can see people closing in, pretending to look off in the distance but they’re really waiting for us to leave” and Joey turned around and said “you pegged us!”  And next thing we knew, they had invited us to sit down with them while they finished their drinks.  They’ve been having drinks at The Med every Friday for 20 years!

So with our prize table in hand, we proceeded to eat, drink and be merry.  Such a fun and perfect night with my family ♥   Also, Joey and I went home and watched A Goofy Movie afterwards, so doesn’t get much better than that.  I maybe fell asleep but woke up in time to sing along with “I2I.”

IMG_5803IMG_5836IMG_5837IMG_5834

On Saturday, I woke up to Joey saying “those meteorologists weren’t kidding with the snow!”  It was coming DOWN.  So we did what you do on snowy Saturday mornings: make oatmeal and drink too much coffee on the couch in your pajamas.  Truth: I felt SO OUT OF IT all morning and couldn’t figure out why or how to make it stop.  Eventually decided to take a trip to the gym, ran on the treadmill and felt 100% better afterwards.  I like to call that feeling a “brain cloud” a la Joe Versus the Volcano and if you get that reference, let’s be friends forever.

Treated ourselves to lunch at il Porcellino afterwards and we’ve officially added a new weekend sandwich shop to our arsenal because that lunch was goooood.  Then a quick trip to the grocery for snow day necessities.  The world’s biggest sweet potato, a can of refried beans and three (unpictured) chapsticks is all you need in desperate times, okay?

IMG_5816IMG_5818IMG_5814IMG_5819

Should probably tell you how we sat on the couch and read for an hour and how it felt really good and perfect, but let’s just get to the crowing jewel of my life of the night: EASY ONE-BOWL UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE!  I’ve had the recipe pinned for a month and am trying to be better about baking stuff and enjoying it instead of playing that mind game where I convince myself I don’t “need” to be eating dessert for no reason.  Life’s too short, ya know?  And this cake’s too good!  The recipe mostly makes it sound like “anyone can make this!” but I’m still going to feel crazy impressed with myself for how perfectly it came out.  Also, sweetened whipped sour cream on cake??  So good, who knew!

We watched Harold and Maude during dinner because I’d never seen it and I have a feeling that movie would not fly (especially as a comedy) in this day and age — we’re all a little more easily offended, aren’t we? — but I kinda liked it and the soundtrack is real good.  Followed that macabre vibe up with something a little lighter, aka The Little Mermaid.  Joey fell asleep and I had to try really hard not to sing “Poor Unfortunate Souls” loudly into his ear.

IMG_5824IMG_5840IMG_5835IMG_5842

Sunday was a magical day that felt like it had a million hours in it, so we could fit in breakfast at Devil’s Food (first time and we already have plans to go back next weekend!), grocery, laundry, food prep, buying a new mattress, watching the Rockies game, cleaning the entire kitchen/bathroom, making dinner and still getting in bed early enough to read.  Can all Sundays feel that long, please?

Mattress shopping is the weirdest experience!  You go to a big store and just pretend to sleep in a bunch of different beds with strangers who are also doing the same thing.  We maybe also had too much fun and were just about to ask if they had any glasses of wine so we could test out that jumping on the bed thing but decided to hold back.  I thought buying a house together or getting married would be the “real adult couple” experience, but nope, it came when we bought a new mattress together!  😛

In other news, this post is way too long and I’m way too happy that it’s May!  Wishing you a Happy Monday!

Make This Now: Creamy Things are the Best Things

Before we begin, I need to tell you some important things.

  1. My energy level is VERY low today.  I know it’s Friday and I should have weekend energy but I’m just TIRED.
  2. Joey surprised me with coffee from Little Owl this morning and I love that man so much.
  3. I saw baby radish sprouts in our garden this morning and I should have just skipped my workout because those teensy green leaves got me more amped than any running endorphins did.
  4. It’s my little sister’s birthday today!  Though I refuse to believe EITHER of us are over 24 🙂

Okay, back to the subject at hand.

I was making quick mental note of which recipes I wanted to share next in this “Make This Now” series and they all happened to have the word “creamy” in the title.  Is that a coincidence or do my tastebuds just gravitate towards that word and I’ve never noticed until now?  I’ll ponder that on my own later, but you should make and eat these creamy things (maybe even this weekend!) and be the happiest version of yourself.

IMG_5537

Dijon-Herb Crusted Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce + Warm Buttered Radish and Edamame Salad

Spring is all about fresh herbs, spicy radishes and bright flavors so this meal IS spring.  If you’ve never sautéed radishes before, they get almost potato-like in flavor and texture and you’ll probably want to drizzle that dill sauce over everything from now on.  So good!

img_5231

Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry

Joey and I have three well-loved curry recipes in our arsenal but if this was a Goldilocks story, Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry is “just right!”  More of a challenge than our 5-Ingredient Coconut Curry but easier than our Ginger Cashew Chicken Curry and most importantly, it’s crazy flavorful.  I keep a jar of this homemade Easy Thai Yellow Curry Paste in the freezer just for this meal.  It’s very worth making!

img_5050

Creamy Carrot and Herb Linguine

I thought I’d sworn against zoodles for life but then I saw this recipe which was only PART-zoodle and still had actual pasta and now that I’ve tasted zoodles, I’ll admit they’re good.  Still not going to forego pasta entirely for spiralized vegetables, but recipes like this seem like a good compromise.  And the sauce on this one is drinkably good.  Shoutout to my fellow tarragon lovers who will love that licorice-y garnish on top.

P.S. Yes, I know the recipe calls for carrot noodles (carroodles? coodles?) but I can’t ever find those, so zoodles it is!

IMG_5733

Cashew Ice Cream

I kind of want to try every recipe in this post Cassie wrote about cashew cream, but I started with the cashew ice cream recipe and was majorly impressed.  I don’t have an actual reason to not just eat real deal ice cream (THANK GOD!), but I volunteered to bring Easter dessert for my half-GF/DF family because I like a challenge?  Have a thing for vegan recipes?  Just want everyone to be able to eat/enjoy dessert together, even if it means the gluten/dairy lovers have to conform?  Who knows!  I just know this ice cream was just slightly icy but otherwise SO CREAMY, SO RICH AND SO DELICIOUS.  I’d totally make it again!

P.S. Totally wanted to tell you to make these Creamy Mushroom and Kale Quesadillas, but I apparently already told you that.