December Outings

My holiday break is officially over and I am back at work. I really enjoyed (and really needed!) that week off. I returned to work much more refreshed than when I left. I definitely made the most of my time off by getting caught up with a ton of things/projects I had been putting off around the house, watching movies, knitting, and hanging out with friends and family.

One morning last week, Jerri and I got to share pastries and tea together at one of the many amazing places in her neighborhood: Patisserie 46. After looking over their offerings and tasting a few of them, I think their great reputation is well earned. I was delighted to have the time to catch up with Jerri and am looking forward to having another date with her there in the future. Next time I will make sure I try one of their stunning desserts.

Since my mom was out of the country during my birthday week, she took me out for a belated birthday dinner last week. It seems we are turning French Meadow Cafe into my annual birthday dinner spot. We had a delicious meal that started with the appetizer flight (below) and ended with a pear ginger crisp (above). The waiter got a big laugh out of us when he confessed that our dessert would be a bit delayed. He had tried to put the birthday candle in the warm crisp and melted the candle right into the dessert! He was very creative with his second attempt to make good on my mom's request for dessert and a birthday candle. He turned a little espresso cup into a candle holder.

French Meadow's food is great and fairly priced, but for me it is really the appetizer flight that makes me want to keep going back. For $8 you get a plate that usually includes 2 cheeses, a fancy honey, something pickled or olives, some sort of spread/pate and then a little something extra. The offerings change regularly but are always balanced by sticking to those categories. The plate arrives with an assortment of bread and crackers. It looks like such a small amount of food, but is actually quite filling and totally hits the spot for me every time.

Of course, I didn't get everything on my to-do list done during the week off, but I finally feel like I am not running like crazy to keep up. Hopefully I can sustain this for a while now that I am back at work again!