Hi everyone
I’m counting down the days to seeing my family for winter break!
Too many dinners out as I squeeze in time with friends before leaving.
Actuals for last week and a few ideas for the last few meals in my kitchen for the year:
Sun - Out with friend and his family for modern Indian at a place I had not tried. Food was average to good, but very under-spiced. But the Kashmiri morels were fabulous.
Mon - Out for another friend’s birthday. Russian restaurant, very fun atmosphere even on a Monday, and great food, especially dessert, which I’m not usually big on.
Tues - Out with not one but two friends, separately. Happy hour with one, spent mostly discussing our respective parents’ health, family stuff, and how there are so few people with whom one can actually share the intimate things that weigh on us. Then dinner with the “traumatized by my trauma” friend from last week, who didn’t that want that to be our last interaction of the year 
Wed - Leftover spinach pasta from the new SK book, but with many adjustments. Much better as leftovers after the flavors melded.
Thurs - Thought I had enough leftovers for an Indian meal if I added a piece of salmon, but turned out all I had was Dal. Sautéed the rest of the bag of (pasta) spinach with garlic and onion, pan-fried a piece of salmon crusted with spice paste and semolina (for a nice crisp coating), and made “brown” rice with caramelized onions and cumin. Tasty, and now there are some real leftovers 
Fri - Out with a friend for sushi, which I’ve been craving despite the weather.
Sat (tonight) - Was going to make beef stew or beef bourgignon, but the friends I was supposed to go out with on Sunday invited me over tonight instead. I’ll probably make an orange olive oil cake to take for dessert unless I have a better idea.
Sun - Steak, trumpet mushrooms, leftover sautéed spinach, some kind of potato (I’ve been wanting scalloped for a while)
Mon - TBD. Maybe noodles with the rest of the garlic butter from thecSK spinach pasta recipe and leftover trumpet mushrooms, Or Vietnamese umami noodles (Andrea Nguyen).
Tues - Leftovers or Chinese takeout.
Wish you all a wonderful weekend, and a good week ahead!
