Long Weekends

Despite the aggravation of yesterday, I absolutely adore long weekends. For some reason the extra day just seems provide a relaxing tone for the weekend. Long runs don't seem to cut into valuable time, I can linger a bit longer under toasty blankets and more thoroughly enjoy conversations over a delicious meal.

Mike and I went on a lunch date early this afternoon to a neighborhood Thai restaurant: Land. Intrigued by the number of people in the building who order take-out, I looked up their menu earlier this week. I had never actually had Thai food, but the menu looked delicious. They also have a lunch special where you can order two courses for $8. Mike quickly agreed to go with me.

We slept-in late, so decided to head over for a not-so-traditional brunch around noon. The decor was lovely and the food was absolutely phenomenal. For the first course, I ordered the root vegetable spring rolls and Mike ordered the beef consomme; for the second, I ordered green curry with chicken and Mike ordered the drunken noodle with chicken. I had not planned on ordering dessert, but decided to try the blood orange sorbet. Excellent decision on my part. I look forward to trying many more dishes from here and hopefully taking visitors to share in the deliciousness.

Today is much warmer than the past week, but the sky is still a bleak gray. Every once and while, I relish days like this. The day just seems to say, "They only thing you need to do today is stay inside and relax." Mike and I came home after a quick stop at the grocery store. We picked-up some of our favorite beer and he is making his amazing chicken chili for dinner.

I put on a full pot of coffee, which each of us will sip throughout the afternoon. I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies to accompany the coffee. Although I kept the recipe the same, I changed how I formed the cookies. I asked Mike which style he liked better. He announced he would need to taste-test two cookies in order to make an educated choice. Two cookies later he decided he didn't care how they looked - just as long as they tasted the same.

I usually just scoop the dough onto the sheet, which yields cookies that are not perfectly formed. This time, I rolled the dough into about 1" balls, which baked into a more traditional looking, perfectly round cookie. I actually think I like the appearance better when they are not so perfect; the imperfectness looks a bit more homemade and earthy.

Since I have been planning on adding photography to the blog, I decided to take a photo so you could all join.