Bravo

There are good weekends and there are great weekends. There are acquaintances and there are friends. I am wrapping up a great weekend with friends. 

I headed to Birmingham on Friday and spent the evening at Teri's house. This little number was

covering my pillow and I knew things were off to a good start. 

Teri has a four year-old son named Jack. He ate the pink Hershey kiss and here is how it went down.

J: I want to eat this Hershey kiss.

A: It's okay with me, but you better ask your mom for permission.

J: Nah, I'll just hide in here and eat it. 

A: Okay.

After a delightful time of hamburgers on the grill in the evening washed down by orange rolls in the morning, I headed out to see Melissa. My friends are masters of ambiance and thoughtfulness as evidenced by the lovely azalea flowers scattered around Melissa's house. I've never ever thought of cutting azalea blossoms although I've lamented that the flowers arrive with a flourish only to disappear so quickly. Now, I can enjoy them in and out of the house.

Melissa and I had 26 hours together and we put the time to good use. We made Ratatouille subs from Smitten Kitchen's cookbook. Melissa has great kitchen gadgets and our vegetables were sliced 1/16 inch thick as they came hot off the mandolin. With full tummies, we wandered off to her dad's fish farm (Acres of land! 20 ponds! So cool and so much work!) only to return to the kitchen later to continue in greatness.

Melissa made the best biscuits I've ever eaten in my life. I'm usually not one for making major modifications in recipes as I either cook from the recipe or I go at something with improvised gusto. The only revision I made to the recipe was to add honey to the butter that we slathered over the entire pan. I'd go with that every time. 

Our encore, if you will, was homemade strawberry cookie dough ice cream from Joy the Baker's cookbook. It was delightful with the abundance of goodies swimming in the melty cream.

Bravo for good friendships. Bravo for good food and the ability to enjoy it. Bravo for a safe return to Jared and Scout. Bravo.