Two Very Different Meals

Today, we had two events to attend. At lunch we had a potluck for our CSA farm. We've been to a few of these in the past. Some years, they are packed. Some times, there are only a handful of people. Today, there were about 15 people.

It was nice and fun to meet fellow CSA members and just chat. There were some interesting folks. I would say there was one snotty woman who dumped the salad with chicken back onto the serving plate. I guess she's a vegetarian. Personally, I would have said "oops, this has meat", and not "oh, there's chicken in there...can't have that 'kids, you can't eat that okay? None of that!" And she made a comment about eggs later. Really, it was rude, and truthfully, that was the only item that had meat on it.

We took the potato salad. There was a cabbage slaw (with chicken), a couple of pasta salads, brownies, fresh strawberries, cucumber and tomato salad, and a fruit tart. Nice and tasty and all very fresh.

Then tonight we had our anniversary dinner. Now, I love eating out. I used to do it quite a bit. But then I spent several years (5?) fat. Once I started losing the weight, eating out fell by the wayside. I also got into frugality, and started being shocked at how much money you can spend eating out. I started cooking, and then meals out were just...disappointing. My food is better. On one hand, when you eat out, you want to order something that you wouldn't make at home. On the other hand, I *like* salad.

So, to celebrate our upcoming 13th anniversary, I decided to pick a *nice* place. I figured if I was spending $35 on a sitter, I might as well enjoy the dinner. I narrowed down the options and selected a new-ish place known for it's local ingredients, with the added bonus that Anthony Bourdain recommended it - he was in town to do a show and ate there.

Oh. My. God. No, I didn't take pictures, but it was easily the best meal I've had in a decade. Worth every penny of the...well, let's just say it's almost the same amount as my July grocery budget.

Appetizer: grilled flatbread with hummus and olives (bread was awesome)
Starter: spouse: fois gras with fresh donut and apricots. Me: arugula salad. My salad was good but the fois gras was so incredibly buttery it was amazing.
Dinner: spouse: fried quail with roast potatoes, corn, and fresh sausage. Me: lamb carnitas with cannelini beans. Wow.
Dessert: spouse had mango sorbet. I had a couple of bites, very fresh and mango-y.

I have to say that I'm sure my belly is going to probably revolt tomorrow. That was more meat than I've eaten in the last two weeks. I could barely walk out of there. Of course, the heels were part of that. Man, I just can't wear them. I have a blister already. Bummer.

Anyway, it was a wonderful anniversary dinner. Nick had fun playing at his friend's house (who also babysat for us). And hopefully I don't feel the effects too much tomorrow.