Did you guys watch the Bachelorette finale Mon night? Don't worry, I haven't seen it yet. I usually watch it on Tues, so I can stream from Amazon, but last night I had the last of my hideous birthing classes, where they tell you how hard labour will be and try to give you coping techniques, and I'm like - are we allowed to drink whiskey during delivery? cause that's how I cope.
I think the only way to successfully avoid finding out Caitlyn picked on the finale until I watch it next week, I am going to have to hibernate inside and avoid all social media and grocery store checkouts until next week, but who are we kidding, I can barely get off of the couch anyways.
note: I just googled Caitlyn to make sure that I was spelling her name right, and as I hit enter I knew that I was making a huge mistake. Damn you internet.
Things have been really quiet around here these past few days. Brent was away on a bachelor party/kayaking trip in the middle of the ocean with no way to reach him, so it was just me, Ody, my giant baby, and a ridiculous amount of tv watching. And let me remind you, a ridiculous amount of tv watching with no snacks. I was tempted to make popcorn a few times, but there are stairs, and the kitchen is at the top of the stairs, and why don't dogs have opposable thumbs? because that would make my life so much easier.
I did make one discovery this weekend on my quest to live a low sugar life for the sake of the baby, and that is that dark chocolate is low in sugar, which I knew but forgot. So now I portion myself a square of chocolate after dinner, and I'd like to tell you that it's doing the trick, but what I really want is a hot fudge sundae, or a salted caramel cupcake, or an ice cream cookie sandwich. Real talk, once this baby arrives, my first meal will be a bottle of champagne, a veggie burger from Red Mill, and a slice of chocolate cake. Maybe I'll make one beforehand so that we can eat chocolate cake every day for a week. Can newborns eat cake?
I now feel myself going into full nesting mode, or maybe it's just the fact that our house is really messy, but the feelings are real. In actual fact though, all I seem to be doing is sitting around on the couch because my hips feel like they are in a constant state of widening and this baby is just going to fall out any day now. Seriously, can that happen? Also, who wants to come over and help me put together this nursery because my motivation is just not there.
Last Friday night, on one of the rare occasions that I actually left the house, I went out for dinner to my new favorite restaurant on Capitol Hill - Omega Ouzeri. The food is Greek with a Pacific Northwest flair. I absolutely love everything on the menu, and after this baby is born, I am going to go there during the day and order a mid-afternoon cocktail, and it will be glorious because my baby won't cry or fuss and he will be quiet and do everything that I say, and it will be sunny, and all things will be good. If this is not the case, can someone please come over to my house after this baby is born and force me to wash my hair and go out in public?
When I go to the Omega I always order the grilled halloumi, because it is mind-blowing incredible. In the past, I had never been a real fan of halloumi. I thought it tasted too chewy and goaty - if that's a thing. But now that I've experienced what pan seared halloumi can really be, it's in my rotation of things that I make regularly. It pairs so well with arugula, cherries, and peaches, and when cooked right (and with a good quality product) it can taste rich and buttery, salty, chewy (in a good way), with a melt in your mouth quality that is so important in any cheese. The halloumi at the Omega tastes as though it's been fried in browned butter, and I'm not quite sure what's going on, so next time I'm there I need to do some investigation because I still feel like I can bring my halloumi game up a notch. They serve their halloumi with a fruit compote. The first time I had cherry, the second time, peach. They were both so good, I thought I would combine them and create a salad with arugula, and olive oil, and lemon juice, because doesn't that just sound so incredible. This salad is so easy to pull together. I've been eating it all week. And trust me, these days my meals need to be really easy to make.
SEARED HALLOUMI, CARAMELIZED PEACH, AND CHERRY SALAD
serves 2
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
4 cups arugula
drizzle of olive oil
splash lemon juice
pepper to taste
2 tsp butter
1 cup cherries, halved and pits removed
2 small peaches, cut into wedges
5 oz halloumi, sliced 1/4" thick
In a bowl, toss the arugula with olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper.
In a small frying pan, heat the butter on medium-high heat. Once the butter starts to sizzle, add the cherries and peaches. Saute until soft.
While the fruit is cooking, heat a large frying pan on med. Once hot, add the halloumi slices. Cook on each side until a nice golden brown, 2 - 3 minutes per side.
On a serving plate, layer the arugula, the fruit, and the halloumi. Serve warm.
