Happy Weekend
Special edition Saturday post!
My mom is in town this weekend, so our plans include pumpkin bread-making (since she’s the pro), lots of shopping and more shopping. Even though I’m broke as a joke, I still do like go window shopping. And it’s also a good way to get decorating, fashion and wedding ideas.
Also, USF plays UCONN today, so there’s some college football in order.
My pick for today’s Favorite Song Friday/Saturday is…
TV On The Radio’s “Will Do”
The song is so cool, and I feel it’s a good ‘Welcome to Fall’ song. Last night got down to 65 degrees (which is pretty cold for us Floridians), so we had all the windows open in the house. Hello, low electric bill! ;)
Have a fantastic weekend.
Easy Banana Bread
Over-ripe bananas, a craving for sweets, and time to spare inspired me to take this on. I’m usually looking for a recipe that’s easy and delicious (as seen here and here), and fortunately, I actually had the ingredients (which is rare).
Banana Bread – something I have never made before.
During this time of year, my mom usually makes homemade Pumpkin Bread. She actually spends the time to grind real pumpkins (crazy, I know). Of course, her bread is always the best (and incredibly moist), so I figured it would be stupid of me to even attempt to compete with her.
So I settled on Banana Bread.
I searched for the kind of the recipe that used all the ingredients I already had, because nothing’s worse than starting to bake only to realize you’re out of a key ingredient. (It always turns out that the thing you’re missing is something you really need).
Luckily, I found this recipe (here).
Especially for baking, I always read the recipe all the way through several times before starting. This helps me decide how to prep – what should I measure out first, what ingredients should go in each bowl, etc. I have found that by reading the recipe all the way through first, rather than as I go, makes it less stressful and the process more efficient. And it’s less likely that I’ll screw it up.
The batter was relatively easy to make. I used an electric hand-mixer, since I wanted the chunks of the bananas to stay in-tact (it’s a nice little surprise). Prepping, mixing and pouring took me about 15 minutes.
After 60 long minutes, it was finally done baking. (time goes by extra slow when something that smells this good is filling up your house)
I let it cool while eating dinner, and it was perfectly ready afterwards. I recently bought some fresh Apple Butter from a local farmer’s market, so we slathered it on.
DEEEElish! I’m willing to bet it’ll be equally good (if not better), with regular butter as well. There’s just something about sweet and salty that gets me every time…
P.S. Make sure the bananas are EXTRA ripe (meaning: almost black). Although the bread came out delicious, I feel it would’ve been even more moist had the bananas been super mushy.
Something Happy Happened, Part III
{Continued from Part I and Part II…}
I’m pretty sure you can tell by the name of my blog that I love dessert.
Like, would-rather-not-have-anything-else-but-dessert kind of love. I always have room for dessert; I don’t care how full I am. Ironically, the night we were at the Girl & the Goat, I didn’t want dessert… for the first time… in MY LIFE.
We originally decided on 9 plates, but sadly, when it was time for the 9th plate (pig face with a fried egg), we were so stuffed that we cancelled the order (we were sad). I was ready for bed, but ManFriend took me by surprise by saying he wanted dessert. This… never happens. Was this the same ManFriend I’ve known all these years – the guy who never wants dessert? Or was I not myself that night – the girl who ALWAYS wants dessert? For a split second, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. After going back and forth for a few minutes (he coerced me by saying, we have to try something while we were there), I ‘gave in’ and ordered the caramel bread cake with berries.
After a few minutes, the dessert arrived on a solid oak wooden platter, and the server set it directly in front of me. I looked down at the platter and remarked, “Oh look, they wrote something on it!”
It took me a about a split second to realize what they had written…
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
Stunned, I looked up to see ManFriend at my side, on one knee, with a little black box in his hand. The restaurant suddenly got quiet – the music was down and the people weren’t talking. I burst out in tears – I couldn’t stop.
6 years of love came through my eyes. ManFriend started to laugh.
He said, “Moose (my nickname), you know I’m not very good at this. Will you be my wife?”
I continued to cry harder. I couldn’t see anything as he handed me the unopened black box. (can you tell we’re rookies?) I opened the box to see my ring. After a minute, he said, “Well does that mean yes?” I hadn’t answered him yet! I said “Yes, of course!” And jumped up to hug him – still crying – to the sound of loud cheers. I turned around to see the entire restaurant giving us a standing ovation – the bartender we talked to when we first got there (he knew), the hostess who sat us (she knew), our server (she knew), the chefs, servers and runners (they knew) and everyone dining that night (they figured it out). I couldn’t contain myself – this spectacular dinner was just topped by a even more spectacular dessert (which we didn’t touch, by the way).
Out came the champagne and cell phones – ManFriend called his mom (who was in on it the whole time) and I called my mom and dad. It was approximately 12:30 a.m (which was 1:30 a.m. where our parents live), and they all woke up to hear the news. They were all elated, as were we.
After I stopped shaking and crying, I asked ManFriend for the details.
He bought the ring 2 months ago (after we had gone ring shopping several times over the years, we found this ring and he could tell that was the one), told all of our friends, asked both my parents for permission (I’m extremely close to them), and hid the ring in the guest room inside a ski boot. He had called the restaurant several times to talk to the hostess and the pastry chef to confirm everything was planned. He also tried to get Stephanie Izard to bring the platter out as a bigger surprise, but she was opening a new restaurant that week and wasn’t there. His plan was executed perfectly – exactly the way he envisioned.
Even now, I can’t believe I didn’t know he was going to do it that night. I will admit, I did think he might propose to me in Chicago, just not that night for some reason. I was completely caught off-guard, because not once did he seem nervous or different. Either he’s a great actor, or he was really ready. And so was I.
The End.
“…and they lived happily every after…”
Something Happy Happened, Part II
{Continued from Part I…}
Once we arrived at the Girl & the Goat, the extremely nice hostess asked us to wait at the bar until our table was ready. I’m down with that. We ordered local beer (I can’t remember the name) and chatted up the bartender. The restaurant was completely different from what I thought it would be. For some reason, I assumed it would be formal and quiet, but instead it was dark, trendy, loud, bustling, awesome. I felt like we were about to embark on a world-class culinary journey. And oh, did we…
Shortly after we finished our beer, the hostess came by to let us know our table was ready. Her exact words, “I’ve got a great table for you 2 by the window.” I thought to myself, ‘wow, people here in Chicago are so nice.’ Ha! Little did I know she knew something I didn’t…
As I lifted myself off the bar stool, I put my hand on ManFriend’s leg for some leverage. He quickly swatted my hand away and gave me a “look.” I think I said something like, “Oh yeah, don’t want to ruin your game,” or something like that. Didn’t think any more of it as we walked to our table.
Our small table was a perfect fit for 2 and situated in front of a large wall of windows. Although the restaurant was loud and busy, it felt very intimate. The people at the table next to us offered their advice on what dishes we should try, and ManFriend and I kept commenting on how nice everyone was. Several times I mentioned to him that this would be a great place to live, and his response: “I don’t know if I can live in a city without trees.” Funnily enough, the street the restaurant is on is filled with trees, so I told him to turn around to take a look. He looked back at me with a “Wow, I’m an idiot” expression. This became a running joke for the rest of the weekend because, in fact, Chicago has tons of trees and beautiful flowers ALL OVER the city.
Good times.
Our server greeted us and gave us the rundown of the different options (everything on the menu is served via small plates). A lot of the menu items are inspired by the Goat – and goat cheese happens to be our favorite – so our choices were somewhat easy to make.
We ordered about 8 or 9 different small plates, including but not limited to…
Fresh Baked Sourdough Bread with Goat Cheese Spread & Corn Salsa
Spicy Chicken, Chorizo, Shredded Goat Cheese and Apple Flatbread
Steamed Oyster with Goat Cheese & Bacon
… and a few others. (I can’t remember them all and as the meal progressed, less pictures were taken…)
The dishes were beautifully plated, the server explained each dish in detail as she presented it to us, and of course, it was all exceptionally DELICIOUS. Easily the best food I have ever eaten in my life.
Not only was the dinner amazing, but the company was even better. The great thing about ManFriend and I is that there is never a dull moment. He is truly my BEST friend, and it’s easy to talk to him about anything. Not once did I suspect anything unusual, until it was time to order dessert…
{This is Part II of our engagement story – now it’s getting good, eh? Look out for Part III tomorrow!}
salted chocolate | life with a dash of flavor 