there's an old-fashioned countrified theme running through this weekend

This weekend was such a jam-packed weekend that I had to spend Monday recuperating! Actually, I wish that were true, because I really could've used yesterday to recuperate, but instead, had a massive, time-crunchy project that needed to be done and in fact necessitated working from home to finish it. So yay! working from home but boo! working, period.

And although I could've used the evening to rest -- and it was a fine, fine evening for sitting out on the back patio -- I was all responsible and shit and folded the approximately seventy gajillion baskets of laundry that somehow multiplied like rabbits when I wasn't looking. Well, that and Sally is laundry ninja and stays on top of the washing/drying, so one has to be totally kung-fu to keep up with him.

Which meant another lunch packed at late o'clock last night, lots of terrific produce to pick from but no proteins and/or starches/carbs. Well, none that would magically cook themselves, anyway. I resorted to my freezer stash of mini organic sausages -- like li'l smokies, except you know, not evil and full of poisons -- and called it a wash on the starch-y/carb-y goodness.

lunch, black strawberry:

• mini-sausages, broccolini (from our garden!), and cherry tomatoes on a bed of butter leaf lettuce and romaine, with a bit of dressing to make a wee salad
• grapes and strawberries with blueberries as gap fillers, and the last little pieces of chocolate cookie from breakfast

Also, not pictured, sadly, my breakfast. It was tasty and looked so nice (using the Paris slimline), but I ended up eating it in my morning meeting and forgot to bring my phone with me to snap a pic. But it was yummy:

• nectarine-cherry galette that Sally made for dinner Saturday night, bits of chocolate cookie leftover from the batch he made for my company picnic on Friday -- SHUT UP THAT IS TOTALLY A HEALTHY BREAKFAST IT HAS FRUIT OKAY
• cherries, grapes, and strawberries with blueberries as gap fillers

click to see the full galleryIt's been a busy, busy few days. Friday was my company's picnic, held at Oaks Amusement Park. It's this wonderful old-fashioned (and historic) amusement park right on the Willamette with picnic areas all around and the original dance pavilion at its center. We had just gorgeous weather and I took a short stroll to snap some pics from the riverbank and through the park.

Later that evening, I had a dinner invitation with the lovely and erudite DarkEm, who kept dinner simple but elegant and was ever so willing to squee with me over my new phone (DROID X BABY WOOT WOOT). Conversation stretched into the late evening hours, as they are wont to do in her company, and it was an altogether pleasant evening that I didn't want to end.

Saturday, we had a friend coming over for dinner, which meant whipping our poor neglected house into shape and then concocting some wondrous meal to ooh and ahh over. Well, Sal concocted, I did the grunt work of staying on top of dishes. It was a warmish afternoon, but at least that made it perfect for sitting out on the patio for dinner.

The menu Sal came up with was a green salad with a homemade vinaigrette, then a main course of slow-grilled lemon-garlic chicken, parmesan polenta, and cherry tomatoes, and a yummy galette, which of course makes an appearance in today's bento. You can see pictures in his Homemade Masterpieces gallery (though sadly, minus the galette, which we forgot to take a picture of. But it was delicious!)

Late Sunday afternoon was reserved for a wedding of one of Sal's students. He seems to make a real impact on a lot of his students so we often get invites for special events, which we try to attend when we can because it's such a special honor. This was the first wedding invite he's gotten, though, so it was even more important that we go.

The wedding was down in the Canby/Hubbard area, about an hour's drive from the house, at an old homestead smack in the middle of hops fields. They couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather -- clear blue sky, warm (okay, hot, but not unbearably so), and no wind (not that we get a lot of that anyway).

The wedding theme itself was really sweet, an old-timey country fair sort of idea, and they had some really neat ideas like a candy buffet for guests with lots of old fashioned candies in big glass jars, canned preserves for wedding favors, a cotton candy machine, and lemonade served in mason jars. Dinner was ribs and grilled chicken and all the usual things you'd find at an outdoor country affair, and there was even cotton candy later. Simple and summery and very clever.

The bride was Sal's student and she made the wedding cake herself, so of course there was the requisite discussion with her before the cake was served to discuss technique and whatnot. It looked beautiful and tasted great, so she must've done something right. And of course her chef instructor was pretty proud. :)

We got home and collapsed, but it was a good weekend, full of fun. Between all the time spent eating outside, enjoying the company of friends and reminders of bygone days, we had good reminders to be mindful of these days, to take a moment and enjoy it as it's happening and not let it all pass by in a blur. This is summer, this right here, and we got a full-on dose of it this weekend to remind us.

Comments

[Anne Hawley]

It's the little bits of chocolate cookie that make that bento so perfect! Small is Beautiful, Waste Not Want Not, etc. Very nice.

The wedding pictures are lovely and isn't that "throw some advice" idea clever? What fun.

[Jeena]

That sounds like such a lovely weekend--and I love the pictures!

[Bitty]

Anne: I loved the "throw the advice" idea so of course had to take a pic of it for future reference. Not that I'm likely to be solicited for wedding ideas anytime soon, but it was too clever not to be documented.

And I would submit that little bits of chocolate cookie make everything perfect. :) I think what I love best about bento is that it truly does take those ideas you mention -- Small is Beautiful, Waste Not Want Not -- and put them into practice in a very real way. Thus, little slivers of cookie become a feature, not a bug.

[Bitty]

Jeena: Thanks! It was actually very nice. It felt a little jam-packed, but only because we're such slugs. ;) And in actuality, for all the activity there was lots of leisurely sitting-around-and-taking-it-all-in time. That's all I really ask of my weekends, honestly.