Kind of a fresh start, I guess you'd say.

It's been a long time since I've been single and I have to tell you... I kind of love it. I haven't been single in ages and days; I guess it would be accurate to say that the past 5 or 6 years of my life I've spent in some relationship or another, which I now feel is SO much of my formative years. It's all had its ups and downs, to be sure, and I wouldn't change the things that have transpired, but I can definitely say that with everything that I've been through, I can really appreciate the freedom I have and the choices that are available to me.

This Friday, I finally took me on a date. That is to say: I made me dinner, fed me chocolate cake for dessert and whisked me off to bed after sniffling away to a lovely, romantic movie. And it was fantastic. In fact, my life lately, though busy, has been, on average, pretty damned good. There have been little hiccups along the way, but I think I'm getting better at appreciating things for what they're worth and taking lessons from those experiences. Three cheers to that!!

So Friday, I made Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, added chopped artichoke hearts, spinach and sundried tomatoes and seared a balsamic-marinated steak. Unfortunately, in my tipsy state, I decided not to take photos... Thus there are no pictures of this feast. I also desserted on a chocolate ganache cake and red wine. I do know how to treat myself well. :D My license for treating myself so kindly was due to the fact that I had entire house to myself and a little dog as a companion.

He nibbled at rawhide while I nibbled on dinner.


Saturday was a little crazy! I cleaned up the house, baked at mine, then went to the Greek festival. My reason for baking was because my Mexican mama was leaving for Guadalajara. I wanted to give her some treats to take along with her when she was on the journey down. <3

First up, lemon poppy seed bread, in muffin form (for packability and ease of consumption on the road):

Oops... the last of the batter. :D I also made chocolate zucchini bread, also in muffin form:

Can you believe that batter? Does that even look remotely good?  (I thought it looked weird.) Well let me tell you... They were GOOD. Recipes for both kinds are courtesy of Joy of Baking.com. And... I added a ton of chocolate chips. As Tim said, they were "where it's at". :) Here's what it looks like just before baking:

And I haven't had time to take a picture of the finished product yet... I've been too busy eating the fruits of my labor!

Then off to the Greek festival for beer! Just kidding! Max and I got gyros:

This is mine... Missing a little cuz I was starving and it was delicious! A gyro is lamb and beef pressed together, slow roaster (I think) in a giant rotating thing of meat, sliced off, then served with red onion, tzatziki sauce and tomato. I ran into Gordon there (yayyyy), had beers then Max and I went off for some loukomoulades:

These are basically little doughnuts but so much fluffier and lighter. They are cooked in an enormous vat of oil that looks like this:

Please excuse the photo, I was a little tipsy at the time.

Today, Sunday, was about REST and relaxation. I went for a gorgeous drive out to Livermore, admiring how beautiful the cloudy sky was, picked up some pizza and beer and went to Tim's to watch the Sharks... Lose. :( Next time, boys!

Then off to Lauren's for some girl time and wine! Good stories were had and I think we shared some valuable lessons with each other. I felt like I was a sage old woman dispatching advice: "Life is short, take the time to enjoy being happy." :)

It was a lovely weekend all in all. Very busy, but so nice! Hope yours was too!

Bisoux et a bientot. <3
jo