Just Lauren

What a wonderful weekend I had.

Saturday I met my friend, Meseret, at Thai Pot Cafe, a delicious Thai restaurant you would miss if you didn’t know it was there. Thankfully, somehow she found it for us because, while they don’t offer yellow curry (my go to), they had a fantastic cashew stir fry that sated my hunger. It was so good that I actually ate almost the entire dish and had no leftovers. They also have a great lunch deal where you get a small appetizer too and they had lots of vegan options. But really, the company was the best part. I always enjoy catching up with Meseret and hearing about her life in higher education. I know a professor!

I did some grocery shopping after we parted ways and then picked up Shari so we could go to the Botanic Gardens together. I wanted Shari to experience the Botanic Gardens in the full of spring so we got there in the late afternoon and meandered our way around the grounds. There were lots and lots of irises with lots and lots of hilarious and enjoyable cultivar names. Of course, I can’t remember any of them now so you’ll just have to go to the gardens and see for yourself. (A quick google search reveals names such as ‘Bumblebee Deelight’ and ‘Raspberry Blush’, ‘Baboon Bottom’ and ‘Star in the Night’, to give you an idea.) We also came across a lilac path that I had never been on before (see, this is what I tell you, I’m always discovering something new at these gardens) and happily some of the bushes still had blooms that smelled lovely.

I ended my Saturday by watching the movie, Stardust, with Shari, since we had recently finished reading the book together.

Sunday started off with a tasty breakfast at SoRADish with Elisabeth, Shari, AND Brittany. And guess what? We even ate inside! This is a big deal because Elisabeth hadn’t eaten inside a restaurant yet (in fact, she had only eaten at two restaurants the entirety of covid, both outside). But because it was rainy and cold, she gave eating inside a go and it went well. The food wasn’t as good as I remembered but I still enjoyed it well enough and will chalk it up to a different chef and/or the moisture in the air making it harder to cook.

After breakfast we came back home and completed a puzzle because it was just pouring outside and what else is there to do on a rainy day? We then watched the movie, Tenet, and later that evening worked on some new Lego creations. I got so into it that I even made my own little stop motion “movie” of Captain America picking up trash.

Monday was a whirlwind day of baking scones for breakfast and then making tofu “egg” salad and brownies for the Memorial day bbq at my friend, Mel’s. I attempted making this brownie recipe that my mom and I had failed out a few weeks prior. This time I did a bit more research into aquafaba and learned that I should have whipped that liquid significantly longer than the recipe told me to. So with that one change and with me not having to deal with kids while I baked, I successfully made a batch of brownies! If I make this recipe again, I would whip the aquafaba even longer (probably 15 minutes versus the 8 that I did this time) and see how that goes, because the brownies deflated a bit (but not NEARLY as much as they did that first time). These brownies are incredibly rich but very moist and soft with that crackling on the top that we all want. Overall I think it’s a good recipe and the best brownie recipe I’ve found.

Before jet setting off to our friend, Mel’s place, Shari surprised me with my very own personalized Lego mini fig! I haven’t taken a picture of it yet so I’ll have to post it in a different blog but it was such a great surprise and a perfect gift for me! I now have my own mini me!

We spent four hours at Mel’s eating lots of great food and visiting with all of our friends. I played the bean bag game, cornhole, and mostly because of my teammate, Mabel, won the game! I held a baby for a while and made new friends with a couple that sadly is moving out of state next week. I had such a blast that I didn’t take one picture. I was just filling myself up with both food and love and laughter.

Needless to say I was tired by Monday evening but I was also happy. What a wonderful weekend I had.