Saturday (his: Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes, Garlic, Capers and Olives

Another humble attempt at making a home-cooked meal for one. I biked to the grocery store to buy the tuna, tomatoes, capers, olives and anchovies and I followed this recipe. Penne pasta noodles probably would have been better than these spiral wheat noodles, but it still turned out okay. Not as great as the one I had during the summer! I wonder why? 

Friday (his): Sad pasta and gazpacho

From my summer subletter I inherited two big 2 lb bottles of Prego spaghetti sauce and a few bags of spiral pasta noodles. So I decided to make this sad pasta. At least the gazpacho was good. The last time I made it here I think I forgot the lemon zest. It's a start.

Thursday (his): Burger night at the Top

I know, I know. It's been four consecutive nights of eating out since getting back. I promise this will change. It's just that dinner is the best time to meet people and catch-up. Tonight it was the Top Burger with sweet potato fries. Not bad for a fancy burger, but I think I still might prefer the burgers at Buddha Belly and Mack's drive through. Friday night I'm eating in!

Monday through Saturday (Hers 8/22-8/27): Chicken, spaghetti, fruit, rice, salad, cupcakes, beef, potatoes, rice

Now that I'm back in a long distance relationship, my life is slowly going back to what it was like in May, April, March, February, January...etc. It is sad cooking for one again, but as a really strange creature of habit, there is something comforting about getting back in the kitchen and cooking my little meals. Strangely, I seemed to have cooked less this summer than I did during the regular year because I actually had someone to go out and eat with. When it's just me, I take a lot of pleasure and comfort in preparing my meals and putting half my food away for the next day's lunch. I'm back to eating chicken after a long hiatus. I blame the amount chicken I ate in college to by inability to enjoy it for the last 7-8 years. I also made spaghetti with meat sauce because my little sister was coming and I have no idea what to feed her except that. I'm going to let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Wednesday (his): Kung Pao Chicken at Hot Wok

Had dinner at Hot Wok with some friends. Needless to say, this Kung Pao chicken paled compared to Famous Joe's version. Eating here made me miss Prosperity Dumpling, too. Still, Hot Wok is the only decent Chinese take-out/dine-in place in Gainesville. The workers are younger and have a punkish vibe to them. The front person is a young woman and the kitchen guys all sport longish hair (I'd say mullets but I'm not quite sure what style it is) and wear jeans and cut-off t-shirts. I like to think they're in a band. Wok N Roll!

Tuesday (his): Pre-Workshop Dinner, or, A Return to Long Distance Dining

The three month hiatus on this blog meant that us long distance diners were no longer eating long distance, but eating together! It was great! It was lovely! It was as it should be. If only we had made a shadow blog for all the great things we ate and time we had.

However, as the picture above and this post attests to, we're back to eating long distance. Tonight was pre-workshop dinner at Leonardo's, a popular joint close to campus. I actually had the Veggie Pizza. (My cell phone won't send a pic to my e-mail, apparently) I suppose it was the appropriate dinner to return to, though I hope to not be eating so much pizza. (Last night I bought veggies for gazpacho on a late night grocery store run)

Sunday (hers): Homemade hummus

You may or may not be aware that I am really into garbanzo beans and have 8 cans sitting in my pantry. There would be more if I could carry the cans home from the market! I decided to make some hummus (tahini free) since I had the beans and the pita bread. It is so easy to make and so tasty. All you need is one can of garbanzo beans, juice of a lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, 1 garlic clove, parsley, and some paprika to top it off.

Saturday (hers): Leftovers

Ok, I am totally aware that this picture is unappetizing and disgusting looking, but it's the truth. I ate some pita bread and my leftover steak for dinner. It tasted better than it looks....trust me...

Friday (hers): Retreat!

Went on a retreat for my work on Friday and stayed overnight at this bizarre conference center/country club near White Plains. I totally loved the location because it was different and I got my own room and did I mention there was a pool and an open bar and free food all the time, including gummy bears and individually wrapped jelly bellys? Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of our dinner, but here is the room where some of the meals were held. The dinner was in a private dining room, which I cannot find a picture of. I had seared tuna and soba noodles, mashed potatoes (2 servings), and hard boiled eggs.

Thursday (hers): Fancy Steak

I decided to broil up my last Trader Joe's ribeye (sob) on Thursday. It was so delicious and fatty. I also broiled some brussel sprouts (not a good idea--got too crispy) and microwaved a couple of potatoes. Mmmmmmm. Wish I could eat like this everyday, but I would be broke and huge.

Wednesday (hers): Rooftop Celebration

My workplace had their end of the year party on Wednesday. The party took place on a rooftop. The sun was drenching us and the food and wine kept flowing! This photo is not representative of what I ate that evening at all.
What I ate:
Sushi
satay
olives (green and kalamata and grossly covered with orange rind?)
Slider
prosciutto (lots)
cheese (not sure what kind)
dried cranberries
mini ham and cheese sandwich
More I can't even remember now

I love free food!!!

Tuesday (hers): Kind of disgusting

Turkey dog (see background), last of Steve's Key Lime Pie, and a spring salad with balsamic and olive oil.

Monday (hers): Serendipity Celebration

This was definitely one of the most stressful dining experiences I have had in awhile. My little sister just finished her first year of college, so we wanted to celebrate by having dinner at Serendipity. Since she was only going to be in NY for one night, we had to go to the restaurant directly from the train station. Since she was going home for the summer, she had her 57lb rolling suitcase as well as a giant duffel bag in tow. Needless to say, dragging that suitcase uptown, up the subway stairs, down the Serendipity stairs, then up them again, and so on....was not pleasant. Anyways, I got the Bleu Burger, which is basically a burger that has some blue cheese melted on top. It cost 14.00 for this pretty mediocre. I can't complain about the price too much because we were obviously eating at a tourist trap and we were obviously tourists with our giant luggage.

Sunday (hers): HOT DAWG

Since I didn't have access to running water, I decided to eat microwaved turkey hot dogs on a paper plate. I am sooo good at improvising!

Sunday (his): Mini Brat Fest!

 My sister making the ramen cole slaw

 Cooking the brats

Ready to eat! Today was the second consecutive day of mid-50s weather in Madison. Heat wave! We celebrated by having a mini brat fest this evening. As you can imagine, it was delicious.

One dinner last week (his): Ian's Pizza!

Was working on campus into the early evening one day last week and decided I needed to have Ian's pizza. Those are two slices of their Salad Pizza. Pretty good, though I still think I prefer Papa Murphy's version.

First week lunches (his): Enhanced Ramen

This is what lunch looked like a few times my first week back. Top Ramen with slices of that left over pork roast. Very good! It was either this or sandwiches.

First day into town -- Thursday, March 28 (His): Fries at Graze

First day back on campus, I met up with our friends Leah and Mary at the new bar Graze. I had these fries in your honor. They were pretty darn good. That's a hot toddy because my throat was really sore.

First night in Madison (his): cuban style pork roast

On my first night in Madison, K & B made cuban style pork roast and we made tacos. It was very yummy and fresh tasting and there was plenty of good pork left over for lunch for the rest of the week....

Last night in Gville (his): fish tacos, chips n salsa, jack and ginger

That was Wednesday, April 26th! A longish, but enjoyable night of eating the above and later, hanging out with friends. The fish tacos were unusually tasty and well presented. Usually, there's something lacking and they come (if I'm at the bar next door) wrapped in to-go tin foil. But that night they did it right. G'bye G'ville. Hello, Madison!