Ate out last night with a dear friend I hadn’t seen in person in almost 3 years. The catch-up took priority over the food, but the food was pretty delicious too — we both ordered the same dish (I wanted steak, but the sides for the fish sounded so much better 
), branzino with maitake mushrooms, leeks, and potato ragout.
Ate out again tonight — takeout at a friend’s who is in the second half of his series of brain procedures. We ordered from a favorite Sichuan place and the meal hit the spot — dry pepper wings, dry pot chicken, mixed pepper fish, and snow pea leaves for the vegetable component.
But this afternoon I did make a big chocolate cake for the guys (my friend having the surgery and his friends and relatives who have flown in for caregiving) but “big” from my perspective wasn’t so much from theirs They started with the cake as appetizer while we waited for dinner to be delivered, then had some more for dessert after, and have told me there probably won’t be any left by the end of the night 
