i’ve been trying not to double up on posts. there’s probably something in my Virgo moon that likes clean separation on these kinds of things. but for tonight, that chick can go organize some other crap in some other corner (god knows there’s plenty of places for that in this house). meanwhile, i’m going to exercise my English major talent for making 2 things that have nothing to do with each other feel like they were born to be combined. Reese’s style, y’all. this could get long. i’ll pause while you refresh your cocktail . . .
single girl supper: spinach, feta burgers
i don’t usually cook much while Spy is away, but felt like i hadn’t done one of these posts in a long time. also, food is good. and, also, setting myself up to have some easy lunches and dinners while he is away is way healthier than diving into cheese and crackers for dinner every night for the next couple of weeks because i’m too exhausted for anything else. so, here we go! as usual, i was playing the game of what’s in the fridge and what can i do with it? main gotta-go ingredients here were the spinach and feta. i’ve never put veggies in a burger before, but it turned out great — a little extra green never hurt anyone!
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
mix it all up, make 6 patties and put ’em on the grill until they’re cooked to your liking.
trying to be good here and cut some carbs because it’s been a crazy couple weeks eating-wise, so i just did a really simple salad on the side. and of course some wine: Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin, which is one of my delicious house standards. so perfect and yummy — and now i have these babies for 5 more meals this week!
so, what makes me happy?
well all of the above. duh. and actually, so many other things. when i was thinking earlier today about what to write for this #Blogtober14 post, i kind of thought well, nobody has time to read all that. and then i felt super blessed that the list of things that make me happy right now is way longer than the list of things that make me unhappy. so, other than a sweet-ass plate of red meat and red wine to go along with it, all enjoyed in virtual silence because Miss Girl is completely crashed out, the thing that made me happiest today was what lead up to that moment (see what i’m doing here?).
we dropped off Spy at the airport (again) and headed to the Publix for a few supplies to get us through the week. upon arriving home, 2 of Miss Girl’s neighborhood friends were out and looking for something to do. instant party. it was a beautiful day for the girls to play in the park, which they did. for 4 full hours. in that time, we had bike races, monster chases, popsicles, cookies, multiple dogs and touch football games coming in and out . . . there eventually was a hot dog and mac ‘n’ cheese picnic, thanks to my awesome next door neighbors, and sincerely, a good time was had by all. in short, my neighborhood makes me happy.
last week, we celebrated our 5-year anniversary in our awesome Westside home. when we were living over in Old Fourth Ward in a 2 bedroom apartment, we honestly never dreamed this was the sort of thing that would make us happy. in fact, we both sort of did double takes at each other when we were looking (and liking), thinking really? this is like soooo suburban. and it is, but way within the city. that means we have a good degree of diversity in age, race and household make-up of our neighbors. we think that makes it at least a little more like the real world. and we also have scenarios like today. regularly, without some kind of festival or non-impromptu scenario. which makes us not like most other intown neighborhoods. it’s all about kids playing together, neighbors having a good time together and creating memories on a beautiful fall afternoon. and everyone looking after each other so, say, one random mom can go inside for 20 minutes and chef up some spinach, feta burgers for herself while the kids are picnicing.
we have a really good mix of friends here from parents like us, to young couples in their first home to single-and-looking-friends to married couples who thought they wanted to have kids before they saw all this mess. we have a few lasting friends who have moved away. and ultimately, we have a really fun little life here. it is clearly glorious and obviously, fucking exhausting. what makes you happy?
Peaches & Poppycock 