I heart weekends.

Really, who doesn't? I've had a good one so far -- plenty of time to catch up on errands and work around the apartment, hang out with Dan, and best of all, blog!

I was a busy girl again yesterday -- I went to the Farmer's Market, Asian grocery store, and co-op, washed and prepped two huge bunches of lettuce and FOUR huge bunches of kale, baked a couple of sweet potatoes, roasted a couple heads of garlic, baked up a batch of granola, cut a ton of corn off the cob and froze it for later enjoyment, baked a chocolate-zucchini cake (more on that later when we cut into it and I can get a decent photo,) went for a bike ride with Dan, did two huge loads of laundry, and enjoyed a long and leisurely dinner with Dan and his family -- belated birthday celebration for my sweetie. Whew! No wonder I was so tired last night!

Best of all, I was so busy last week, I have a huge blogging backlog. Let's get started!

Here's Dan's birthday dinner, way back from last Monday night:

When I asked Dan what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "pasta and salad." I harassed him for something a LITTLE more exciting than that, and he came up with, "rigatoni with pesto." Okay! Nobody carries whole-wheat rigatoni, so we had to settle for white pasta (GASP! YUM!) with some sliced zucchini thrown in the pasta water for the last two minutes, all tossed with homemade pesto. (My pesto recipe is pretty basic, but I use almonds instead of pine nuts, since I always have almonds on hand, and pine nuts are ass expensive.) Tasty delicious! Truthfully, my favorite part of the meal might have been the little, local sungold tomatoes in the salad. Sungolds and "Kellog's Breakfast" tomatoes are a tie in my book for the best tomatoes ever. Mmmmmmmmm!

Tacos, how I love thee:

Whole-wheat tortillas from the Farmer's Market, topped with home-cooked black beans (with garlic, onion, and lime juice,) stir-fried peppers and onions, queso fresco, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cabbage. Now I'm craving tacos again!

Anybody found anyone who doesn't like tacos yet?

"Bulgur, Arugula, and Cannellini Salad," from VCON:

We needed a dinner that would be ready immediately upon arriving home on Thursday night, and this fit the bill. Healthy, chilly, and delicious for a hot and busy weeknight. I might even try this with chickpeas next time! (I'm starting to realize that I really don't like white beans, except pureed into homemade hummus. Is that weird?)

Tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad:

Local heirlooms, local hand-rolled fresh mozzarella, local basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Mmmmmmmmmm! I bought a small loaf of rye bread at the Farmer's Market to accompany this salad, and it was VERY tasty. The bread came from the nice man who I discovered is also making soft pretzels every week . . . heaven! I can't resist the artisan soft pretzel! I must buy one every week. :)

Gorgeous, local, fresh berries:

This is why I spend so much money at the Farmer's Market -- I can't help but buy local berries when they are in season! They are so expensive, but SO worth it! This dessert prompted me to say yesterday, "I LOVE summer! Wait, no I don't -- I hate the weather, but I LOVE the food!" Dan just laughed at me. :)

What do you love about summer?

I have another busy day ahead of me today -- more errands, more cooking, and more laundry. PLUS, Christine and I are making the trek down to IKEA tonight! Yay IKEA! Later!