srsly

what a week. i found out at work that i will more than likely be transitioned to another project, for about a month, to help them catch up as they are seriously behind. presuming i can get the things done i need for my current project; we recently settled on the solution for a daunting requirement, and as a result, i have 3 additional documents to create. but i'm the man, so i think i can do it. ;)

so here's the run down:

last week friday, we had those kraut brats i mentioned. they were the good stuff. bryan cooked them on the cast iron griddle, grill side up, and tucked them into pretzel rolls with some dijon mustard. he also made wilted swiss chard, with bacon. holla! nice, easy, yummy menu for a friday night.

that saturday, bryan and i made biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. the sausage was from the outpost; hand made there with all natural, local pork. bryan seared that lovely and made a pan cream sauce. i made the biscuits. they were delicious and filling.

that afternoon, we headed to the outpost to get our grocery shopping done. lo and behold, they had porterhouse steaks on sale for $10.99/lb (all natural and organic). once we got home, we realized we hadn't defrosted anything for dinner, and we had these gorgeous steaks... so bryan grilled those in his signature style (simply salt, pepper, and a pat of butter once plated). we also had carrots (from our garden) and peas (frozen, because i'm no so crazy that i shell my own peas), as well as potatoes (from the outpost) which bryan let get crispy in the cast iron along with onions (from dad's garden), olive oil, salt, and pepper. seriously, this was a good meal. one of the top 3 steaks i have ever had. so incredibly tender, juicy, and flavorful. you forget what beef really tastes like until you have some that wasn't grown in a yard and fed god knows what kind of feed. so beefy. i'm not usually able to finish a steak in one sitting, but i think the only breaths i took were to say "mmmm." the vegetarians need to wake up.

that sunday, bryan spent the day downtown with his buddy dirk from madison, seeing the new exhibit at the art museum. oliver was seriously awesome all day, playing nicely, being sweet baby, and napping like an angel. i had the opportunity to get all my prep for dinner completed while he napped. then he and i ran a bunch of errands, hitting up a few sporting goods stores as well as babies r us. he enjoyed babies r us, and screaming responses to other babies who were crying/yelling.

that night, we finally got around to executing my indian fish fry idea. mom, dad, and shannon came over for it, and it was a smashing success. i roasted beets, both golden (from the outpost) and red (from our garden), just with olive oil, salt, and pepper. i made an indian potato salad with yukon gold potatoes, green onions, and a dressing of greek yogurt with cumin, coriander, and lime. next time, i think i'll add some chile pepper flakes to the mix. bryan wilted some beet greens. we had some lemon sole, which bryan had soaked in milk overnight, then dredged in flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs. this fried up perfectly. served with a curry mayo on the side. everyone was satisfied, except perhaps shannon, who isn't a fan of either fish or beets (crazy lady). mom brought brownies for dessert - with a layer on lemon curd in them. sometimes, i kind of feel sorry for people who don't get to eat dinner with us. it also makes me so happy to have our kitchen back. lovesit!

nothing overly exciting for dinner this past week. tuesday, though, bryan made the rest of the lemon sole. he put a sauce of his homemade tomatillo sauce with cream on top, and served that with saffron rice and an island salad of tomatoes (from our csa) and cucumbers (from our garden) along with dill (also from our garden) and vinegar. it was a delicious, refreshing meal. we also had steak fajitas, with peppers from our garden, an onion from dad's garden, and an heirloom black tomato from ours. bryan also made a panzanella with tomatoes and basil from our garden, which was so delicious i had another huge bowl of it for lunch the next day. i'm not a huge fan of tomatoes, but it's hard to argue with home grown tomatoes. i doubt i'll ever be able to eat one plan, but there is something about a sun kissed tomato that can really make a dish. seriously summer.


friday, i worked from home since day care had the day off. oliver was very well behaved, and had his first hair cut! the pieces over his ears had been getting kinda long, and it sort of looked like a mullet. his hair is still pretty fuzzy, so i'm not sure if it helped, but i felt better trying.

that night, we made our target run so we wouldn't have to worry about it yesterday, which was great. bryan made a quick dinner of fettuccine with a basil pesto cream sauce (basil from our garden) and chicken.

yesterday, we spent most of the day running errands. we hit up kohls for some picture frames (bryan got new jeans in the process), then headed to lexco tile & stone to return the sample tile we had gotten last weekend, and check out the other colors we could get it in (we decided it was too similar to the other colors we have in there). one of the designers suggested going darker rather than lighter, and we found a great matte dark chocolate glazed tile. so we're looking at getting that in a subway tile, along with a mosaic for behind the stove which would contain 2"x2" tiles: a blackish tile, the same dark brown as the other tiles, and copper tiles (as in actual metal). we're pretty excited and think it will look mega awesome. then we jetted up to lowes for something for bryan's new xbox project as well as baby proofing items, then over to artist and display to pick out a mat to frame the painting adrianne made for us. after ollie's afternoon nap, we hit up the outpost, then rushed home for a quick dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, and sauted zucchini. oliver got to try spaghetti, and while he seemed to enjoy the taste, he was not thrilled with the experience. too hard to negotiate. it was pretty amusing, though, watching him trying to get it off his hands and into his mouth and, upon failing, fling it around like a lasso. it made for happy doggies, at least.

today, we met up with mom, dad, and shannon for breakfast at ihop. bryan got to have ice cream on his pancake, so that was exciting for him. oliver enjoyed my pancakes. the waitress seemed to have a crush on shannon. we had a lot of fun and left a huge mess for the bus boy. it was oliver, though, seriously.

bryan and i are heading over to my aunt mo's house for my cousin delany's 13th birthday party. of course, since we had plans, oliver didn't want to nap. he played nicely in his crib for an hour, then started crying. exasperated, i asked bryan for help with a plan, since i hate making the decisions when he won't sleep (mostly because the answer is: let him cry). bryan suggested we change our plans; that we just get him up, go to the party, then come home and see if he would sleep. no sooner had i agreed than oliver was quiet. he did cry again for a second, literally less than a minute, and was asleep. seriously, baby? should have made than plan an hour earlier, apparently. so we're about to wake him up and zip over there.

tonight, mom and shannon (and possibly dad) are coming over for sunday dinner. i've been thinking a lot lately about poulet frites lately, as it's mentioned multiple times in the food book i'm currently reading. so, last night, i made a compound butter with white wine, thyme, the rind of 1 lemon, salt, pepper, and garlic, and stuffed that under the skin of the bird, and rubbed it down with more. that will roast with some chicken stock and wine in the same pan. we have some russets that we'll double fry for our frites, and i plan to make a garlic aioli to go along. we have some yellow wax beans (from the csa) we'll blanch, and some red leaf lettuce (from the csa), tomatoes, carrots, and cukes (all from our garden) that we'll make into a salad. for dessert, i made an apple and fennel pie. we had apple and fennel hand pies at dames d'escoffier event a few years back in atlanta; they were made by bacchanalia and served with cheddar ice cream. i've never been able to find a recipe for it, but it's been on my mind ever since, so i decided to wing it. we'll see how it turns out. it smells heavenly and looks gorgeous, so we may be ok. stay tuned for those pictures.

additional oliver news: he has started standing unassisted! not for very long periods of time, and he hasn't made the connection with walking quite yet, but it's definitely a new step. he is also mimicking sounds a lot more, saying "uh oh!" a lot. my baby is growing up!!