Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Dining in Sleepytown

I took half an Ambien for insurance at bedtime last night and I slept 8 straight hours. EIGHT MORE AMAZING HOURS! That's 20 hours in the last two nights and more than I slept all of last week. It's more than I have slept in most work weeks of the last 8 or 9 years!

I keep thinking about a nap as I type. I surely must be terminally ill or the end of the world is near. Something drastic must be afoot. How come all the sudden, I can sleep like a rock!? I cannot even think of anything to bitch about or worry about or rant about. What is happening to me? Why am I smiling at the thought of sleep, wanting to yawn, thinking of my cozy bed, when I should be worrying that we haven't yet started our taxes or that they will soon be able to give the University of Florida and Gainesville Police departments raises due to the number of tickets the Kidlet and W4D have been cited with recently? I should be miffed and grumpy that W4D was in Daytona Beach earlier this week eyeballin' the bikini babes and that he gets a nice 3 day stay on the water in Jax next week while I have to stay home and take care of our elderly doggie dude that requires constant attention and is too old and too beloved to go to a kennel.

But, nothing matters today for I am rested. Life is good.

Anniversary Week Fare:
I was searching through old blog posts and found this one from this same week last year. As threatened yesterday, I will be recycling some vintage posts this week. What struck me is that we ate the same exact thing last night as shown below except the mushrooms yesterday were portabellas and the salad had feta and blueberries instead of strawberries. I am such a creature of habit.

(April 5, 2005)
This time of year when asparagus is plentiful and inexpensive, we eat it three or four times a week. Asparagus means spring! So do strawberries. We start getting the first Florida strawberries in early February and by April, they are downright cheap so we eat them every day. Fresh mushrooms are nice this time of year, too.

With an abundance of produce, how could I forget to pick up tomatoes? This is what I do when I forget tomatoes and have a fridge full of fresh strawberries. Top some red leaf lettuce with some big, sliced, fresh berries. Make a little raspberry vinaigrette with some raspberry balsamic vinegar and some good olive oil. Drizzle with your dressing and don't forget to lightly salt and crack some fresh peppercorns when serving. Looks good, tastes like spring.

Strawberry salad of 2005.

But, last night's salad was better!

Blackberry Salad
Feta cheese, huge blackberries and mixed baby greens

(back to last year)
Snap off the tough ends of asparagus. You'll know where to the tough part starts since that is where the stalk will easily snap. Rinse well and trim the snapped end if you like the stalks really neat. Use a 12 inch skillet and boil an inch of two of water, just enough to cover the asparagus. After the water reaches a gentle boil, add some salt, drop in the asparagus, put a lid on the skillet and gently boil about 5 or 6 minutes. The stalks should be crisply al dente, not cooked to mush. You can fork them to tell how done the stalks are and remember that they will continue to cook for about 30 seconds after you drain them so don't over cook. Drain and then return to the still warm pan, dot with some sweet cream butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. No heat needed, just cover and they should stay nicely warm for long enough to set up your plates. Serve with a nice little filet mignon hot off the grill and since life is short, go for the baked potato, too.

Good grief. I even used the same placements.
I have no excuse for being such an unimaginative cook.

Maybe I am dreaming...

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