I’m trying to recreate the last week (since I haven’t written since last Tuesday). On Monday, I think I had a pretty normal work day, except that I went to hear one of my colleagues give a talk at the library about a conference she’d been invited to speak at, and didn’t eat anything until almost noon. It was good to hear what she had to say, though. Oh yea, and it snowed on Monday.
Came home, and made a pasta, penne with mustard greens, half & half and sausage. Kind of like the traditional pasta, orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausages – Lombardino’s down the street puts cream in it, and I usually do, too. Had the last of the salad greens with roasted vegetables from the Valentine’s dinner, on the side.
On Tuesday, it started warming up – it was the first day to get above freezing since January 26. I think the high was almost 40°. I wimped out on yoga class, and we ate leftover crepes & rice for dinner, and then I wimped out on going to see a friend’s band, Onadare.
On Wednesday I had class, on the early side at 4:00, so I taught at work instead of at home like I usually do. I can’t remember what I made for dinner – did I make dinner? Maybe we had the crepes on Weds., and something else on Tuesday? I know there was one night when we finished the last of the valentines desserts – the too dry linzer tart, that had softened up by then & the biscuit tortoni. Did you know that if you do a Google search on biscuit tortoni, one of my pictures is in the Google info box? Try it, just for fun. The two desserts were really good together – almond-y and raspberry and creamy. And watched the Olympics. That could’ve been Tuesday. Or Monday. I know there was a night when I thawed out some Ovens of Brittany turkey almond soup that had been in freezer so long I was starting to worry if it was still good (it was) and we ate it with the leftover rolls from the valentine dinner. A light meal so we deserved dessert. Maybe that was Monday, pasta Tuesday, crepes Weds.
By Thursday morning, it was all slushy outside, and rain was predicted. In fact there was thunder hail. After work there was a WiLS reunion at a bar downtown. I met Mark there and we ate spicey tater tots and I had a couple of beers. The basement only leaked a little bit – but the fluffy cat found the rivulets and tracked muddy paws everywhere.
On Friday, Mark and Toni went to see Dropkick Murphy’s. They went out and had pizza for dinner, and I stayed home and ate crackers and cheese and olives, and started watching season 2 of House of Cards. I drove them to the show. Al was arriving on the bus from Chicago, and the timing was just about perfect – dropped Mark & Toni, then went and bought some ice cream, and drove around the block, and, as I was waiting at the traffic light on Frances Street to turn onto University Ave., the bus went by. Pulled in right behind it to collect Al, came home and continued my House of Cards binge – completed the first two episodes. It got cold and windy and everything froze back up. John seemed to have had about his best crit class of the semester – he said at least they learned how NOT to give an artist’s talk from Todd Hido, whose photos sell for big bucks. Spike Jonez says one of Hido’s pictures inspired the movie Her.
Saturday was Mom’s 89th birthday, and we went to a musical in Milwaukee, In the Heights. Before the musical, I got out for a walk, and then helped Al do his taxes, which was surprisingly fun, watching him yell at the computer when TaxAct asked him overly nosy questions. “Did you buy a home in 2013?” If not why not?” “Because I’m only 25 years old – can’t afford it – didn’t want to – none of your business.”
After the play we ate at Braise – met John & Megan there. We got a bunch of stuff to share – Assorted Charcuterie, Olive Oil Jam (olive oil whipped into honey), & Crostini, Roasted Squash Tart – that was kind of a deconstructed tart with crackers, the squash and creme fraiche, Steamed Pork Buns, Pork shoulder, that came breaded with hunks of roasted rutabaga on the side, and two orders of duck breast on more squash, this time pureed, smoothly. We were too full to even look at dessert.
Too full continued into Sunday. We decided to have brunch a little early – at 10:00, so Toni could be taken to the mall at 11:00, leaving a little time to shop before being collected to go ice skating by the AFS liaison. I made stuffed French toast and sausages. I walked after, and did pretty good at staying away from food – nibbled on a bit of the leftover French toast, had an English muffin with peanut butter – but we had store cookies and ice cream for the Downton Abbey finale, and I went to bed still feeling way too full.
When Monday rolled around again, I made cream of what’s in the vegetable drawer soup – carrots, fennel, cabbage, and broccoli stems (instead of the cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms the recipe calls for). We ate it with crackers and cheese, and after dinner, I drank tea, and stayed out of my fancy chocolate stash. Finished my book, and woke up Tuesday morning feeling hungry for the first time since Saturday.
