I made it home today safe and sound. It is still a chilly 35 degrees here, but the sun is shining and the sky is perfectly blue, so no complaints! On my way home I picked up a loaf of Pecan Raisin Sourdough for my parents at the bakery: I love this bread. Over the summer, I was able to sample it a few times as the bakers perfected the recipe. Now that they have it down, it is a “weekend” bread that they make from scratch on Saturday. I got there around 8:30 am to pick out the perfect loaf and say goodbye to my coworkers before heading home. I’m only an hour and a half away, so the bread was extremely fresh and delectable when I got home. The crust still had the perfect crunch and the inside was soft and flavorful. HEAVENLY! My parents and I toasted up some slices, sipped on coffee (decaf..it’s still Lent, but I feel so great being caffeine free!) and caught up. After doing massive amounts of laundry and running errands with my dad, I snacked on a Banana Bread LaraBar.I love Larabars, but was not so impressed with this one. It has dates, banana and almonds, and I think it would have a much better taste if they used walnuts. I brought home some PB&J Larabars for my NYC car ride on Tuesday, so I was happy to try this one today.
I was so tired from the drive and have had very little sleep in the past few days so I decided to take a nap….well, in all honesty I fell asleep watching the Syracuse Basketball game on TV. I was so comfortable my eyes naturally shut! When I woke up, my brother came home and we went to church . It is always nice coming home and going to church, it reminds me of my childhood and humbles me, making me feel grateful for the life I have. After church we had our usual family birthday dinner. We started with warm bread with a dipping oil, a bottle of Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon and a Maytag Blue Cheese Salad with mixed greens, red grapes, walnuts and balsamic:
The bread was warm with a soft interior and crunchy exterior, just how I like it. This wine was especially good with the blue cheese. It was a very dry Cabernet, and you could detect oak, red currents and blackberries in its scent. After reading the bottle, I discovered that this wine is aged for 10 months in small oak barrels. The salad was not so great. I’ve been to this restaurant before and have had better. The greens were wilted and overdressed. It was overly concentrated with blue cheese and had only a few pieces of grapes and walnuts. Despite this disappointment all of my woes were carried away when my main course came out: Grilled Harpooned Swordfish with garlic mashed potatoes, ratatoullie and a port wine reduction.
The swordfish was so tender, and succulent. The hearty, yet light flavors of the garlic mashed potatoes and the delicate ratitoullie garnish worked wonders with the meaty fish. Surrounding the meal was a port reduction, which was the perfect “sweet” component for the savory dish. I finished every last bite, and could not have been more pleased with my order!
Earlier in the day we decided to get desserts from our local grocery store so we could enjoy dessert at home and open gifts. I decided to get a Mixed Berry Trifle and my brother Peanut Butter Cup Pie:
As good as the dessert menu at the restaurant sounded, I was happy to come home, put sweat pants on and relax a bit before dessert. My dessert had a layer of chocolate cake topped with chcoolate pudding, whipped cream and fresh berries. The cake part was not too heavy, and absorbed the chocolate pudding. I was happy that the main element of this dessert was cream because I am all “cake-ed” out from my birthday week. My brother isn’t really a dessert person (I know sad, but he didn’t inherit my sweet tooth or love of food.) so we decided on these desserts intead of a birthday cake. Plus, my entire extended family is coming over tomorrow for MORE celebrations and my mom ordered our usual cakes (mine: Strawberry Whipped Cream, Brothers: Chocolate Chocolate ButterCream), so this was a good way to mix up my nightly cake ritual.
I’m SO stuffed! Off to bed then yoga with my mom in the morning. I’ll be sure to post tomorrow, and won’t forget to add a picture of the strawberry whipped cream cake I have been taking about!!
Glad to be Back,
Nora
What is your favorite part about coming home?
What an awesome birthday extravaganza!!! I love birthday week! Looks like an amazing day with your family- and that pecan sourdough looks delicious!!
aww what an amazing night girl!! love it!! i LOVE just spending time with the ones i love 🙂
sourdough bread is my FAV! enjoy yoga!