Saturday, February 16, 2013

My Valentine


I was surprised with a real-life candle-lit dinner this Valentine's. 


Nick guided me into the room while I covered my eyes. When I opened them, I found the table laden with candles, flowers, a homemade Valentine card and poem, and a picture frame holding a shot of the two of us. 


Nick made a yummy meat and cheese lasagna, coupled with a spicy Asian salad. 



So fun to be dating a romantic. 


**update: Those heart-shaped Valentine balloons are STILL floating a month and a half later. Proof it's true love. 





Monday, February 4, 2013

Five Guys



Nick introduced me to Five Guys. It was a giant, delicious burger.



And yummy i-can-tell-this-was-a-potato-just-a-short-time-ago french fries.  




Nothing like going for a burger run in the middle of the night!



Friday, February 1, 2013

Ladies' Pasta Night


My fabulously talented friend Zhara invited a few fun girls over to make ravioli, from scratch. The resulting meal was, as you can see, wonderful!


We all gathered at Zhara's; her knack for amazingness in the kitchen is well-known in these parts, so she often receives aprons as gifts--we each chose one to sport for the evening.


Zhara's home is cozy and classy. She had every burner working in her little kitchen when we arrived.




Zhara made the noodle dough ahead of time; then we ran it through the press over and over and over again.








Once the dough was thinny thin thin, we laid it out and dropped dollups of yummy fillings (again, made by Zhara earlier that afternoon).


We had four delicious fillings: spinach and cheese, mushroom, herbs and cheese, and butternut squash. 






 We had a pretty good system working for us: some girls rolling out pasta, some of us dolluping filling and cutting out the ravioli pieces, someone boiling the finished gems at the stove:

 







In the meantime, Zhara was whipping up homemade marinara sauce, as well as a browned butter sauce for the pasta:





She pulled a fresh loaf of focassia bread out of the oven and tossed up a simple salad. The table was laden--it was beautiful!









 The ladies:









 I love these classy girls. We had a great time cooking and chatting. I thought, "How lovely, to know such wonderful people and spend such a delightful evening in their company." Plus, the food was DELECTABLE. Happy, happy night indeed.