Weekend Update

What a jam packed weekend it was! Thursday and Friday were all about the catering--getting stuff ready for the giant wedding we had on Saturday. Every moment that I wasn't preparing stuff for the restaurant, I was shopping or cooking for the catering. Sort of exhausting, but good. Except--oh!--on Thursday I made a roast in my clay roaster! I was in the kitchen most of the day doing catering stuff, so I thought I might as well hook up the roast I had got at the farmer's market on Monday.
I soaked the clay pot, and tossed in some cut up taters and carrots and onions, and some sage and parsley and garlic. Then the roast on top, with some olive oil and maybe a splash of soy and balsamic vinegar. I forget. Anyway, I just put the lid on and stuck it in the oven at about 300 degrees and forgot about it while I did other stuff. It turned out so delish! We had a friend over for dinner and beers so I threw together a little tomato salad and cooked some corn we got from the CSA on Wednesday.
Lovely, and so much leftovers! woohoo.
So yeah, Friday was cook cook cook, and then my friend Meeo arrived from New York to stay the night. I had not seen her in at least 7 years! That was a treat. We chatted a little bit and then she had to go socializing, and I had to go to sleep.
Saturday was the wedding, and it was enormous and a LOT of work. I mean, a LOT. Things were not perfect, but the bride and groom and their friends had such a good time and that is all that really matters. Seeing the bride in her beautiful 20's style dress flat on her back in the garage/dance floor during "Rock Lobster" was just the best thing ever.
We drove back into town and stopped at Kelly's for a nightcap where--Surprise!--we got excellent service! I feel like I shouldn't divulge this, but the secret seems to be sitting on the back patio. Don't tell everybody, please. I had a couple of big hops and fell drunkenly to sleep.
Sunday we slept in BIG TIME. Rebby got up and made breakfast in bed for me. While we were laying around, Meeo called to ask us to meet her and the Jens and lilD for ice cream at Klavons at 2pm. Perfect! So we continued to laze around a while, then got washed and dressed and packed up our IKEA gift card, and Lowe's discount coupon, and headed out the door.
We were the first to arrive at the ice cream rendez-vous, so we sat in the plastic chairs outside and soaked up some sun. WD and her mom arrived next and went in to look around. We started to worry about getting our ice cream in before we had to get out of town to avoid the game traffic, so we went ahead and ordered. Tin Ceiling Sundae for me, as always, and a Turtle Sundae for rebby. We were just tucking in when meeo and jen and lilD arrived. We had a great chatty ice cream time, and then I snapped some pictures and we took off for the south hills.
Rebby is SO not a fan of IKEA, but she was very game. I grabbed a big yellow bag and we set out for the marketplace, where I proceeded to burn up $100 pretty dang fast! I got a magnet strip for my knives, and a couple of new knives, and a couple new wood cutting boards. I got a beautiful teak salad bowl, an organizer insert for the kitchen tool drawer, a rubber ice cube tray where the cubes are shaped like little bottles, and a pepper mill. A toilet paper stand, a new bath mat, a new fitted sheet, a wine glass rack, a lamp shade. AND a bunch of stuff we need at the restaurant! I think I did good. I also invested in a giant blue IKEA bag instead of plastic, which we are going to make a point of keeping in the truck for emergencies (like forgetting bags when we pick up the CSA, which has happened for the past three weeks)
meeo called while we were in IKEA...she was in IKEA too! So we met up in the marketplace and wandered together for a while. We sat and chatted for a bit in the As-is room (I was on such a comfy leather sofa it was really hard to get back up!) and then we parted ways again. Rebby and I headed up to the Masquerade store, where I kicked up a fuss about the lack of Barbossa costumes. Everyone doesn't have to be Jack Sparrow, for flips sake. We got a fancy cutlass for the pirate bathroom wall, and then rebby got a black pleather cap and mirrored "hottie police" shades. So dang cute! Costume shops are fun, at least until you get to the kid section and then they get a little creepy. Do you really want your 8 year old daughter to dress as a gothic cheerleader? Ew.
After running amok in the costume shop, we crossed over to the other side and visited Lowe's. Lowe's is so much more fun for me than Home Depot. They have more furniture-y stuff and decoratives than the HD. We got the required utilitarian shelving for my office and rebby's room, and we picked up a task light for the new kitchen work area. Oh snap! I forgot to mention that we went and got a stainless steel prep table for the kitchen on Friday! I am in heaven.
Anyhoo, Lowe's was fun, and then we were hungry enough to contemplate dinner. I remembered that Bahama Breeze was over there, so we crossed back over in search of it. It only took us a little while and one wrong turn.
So, let me just say a few words about chain restaurants. I know, as a FOODIE, I should be wary or downright dismissive of them. But every once in a while you come across one that does things right, and there is no denying it. Damon's used to be like that for me...at least until all the Damon's started closing down left and right. Bahama Breeze is certainly the jewel in the crown of the Darden Group. Red Lobster---almost nothing but bad experiences. Olive Garden---eh. Smoky Bones I've yet to visit, though there is one conveniently located across the parking lot from Bahama Breeze. Anyway, this place just rocks so hard! The decor is great, and next time we go if it is not winter we'll sit on the patio with the huge fire pit. Their mojitos, despite the fact that they use Bacardi Silver, are PERFECT. With even a little stick of sugar cane to suck on. The portions are not too big and certainly not too small, and everything is VERY well seasoned. Take a look at my flickr pics for more info. The picture above is an overview of our meal---havana style salmon with roasted plantains and mashed cinnamon sweet potatoes, crab legs st thomas, and jerk shrimp. And a really, really, really good salad. I think I've said before that the side salad can make or break my opinion of a place, and they certainly do it right. Just the slightest hint of dressing, nice crisp lettuces, and shaved cukes rather than big chunky pieces. I LOVE this place. I was in a food coma before you could say boo. Swooning. We got a banana bread sundae to go, and they packaged all the pieces separately so we could assemble it at home. Genius.
So we sped home to unload the truck in time for the Simpsons. We caught most of it, but were happily in bed with our sundae and dessert coffees by the time King of the Hill came on.
A decadent end to a decadent day. Woo!