Friday night Rick and I hit up one of our favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot, to celebrate his 30th birthday, just the two of us. His birthday isn't until the 23rd, but we have a lot of things coming up, and don't have a free weekend night to spend together alone, until then. We had cheddar cheese fondue, followed by a main course of filet, shrimp, pasta, chicken, and teriyaki beef cooked bourgionne style, which is basically a fancy French way of saying "deep fried". It was delicious. We ended with milk chocolate fondue for dessert. I could not eat a single bite more. I was to the point of uncomfortable full, but it was worth it. Every bite was more delicious than the last. I gave Rick one of his birthday presents at dinner, a book of pretty photos I had done for him by an outstanding photographer in Tucson. I had a lot of fun doing them, and boy was he surprised! He looovveeed them! Thanks, Shay!
Saturday we slept in, cleaned the house, and got ready to head to our dear friend Jill's parent's house to celebrate the holiday, Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for those of Jewish faith. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Neither Rick or I are Jewish, but they always invite us to spend the holiday with them, and we always have a great time. Jill's parents are hilarious, so warm and welcoming, and awesome hosts. We always fill our bellys with delicious food, and spend the whole night laughing. Can't wait until next year!
On Sunday, we slept in again, had french toast for breakfast, and while Rick was engaged in a high stakes day of Fantasy Football, I made homemade pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies. I had never made cookies with pumpkin puree before, and they turned out soooo yummy! Rick said they "taste like Fall". Ultimate compliment in my book! It had the delicious taste of pumpkin spice, brown sugar, and chocolate chips. These will definitely be made again! And how dreamy is my Kitchen Aid mixer in its creamy buttercup color??
After a morning of baking, I headed out to Trader Joe's to stock up for the week. I had some leftover pumpkin puree from the cookies and wanted to make pumpkin soup. Trader Joe's had a lovely pumpkin patch set up, and it really put me in the mood to decorate the house more, and give more thought to what we are going to carve our pumpkins into. I love, love this time of year.
After I got home, I had a bowl of cheerios with almond milk (yum!) and set out on a run. I had procrastinated long enough, didn't wanna do it, still would rather do anything than run, but Rick talked me into it. I initially was just going to run to Julian's Wash and back (about 5 miles), but the weather was so lovely, and I had an 8:00 pace up until that point, so I ended up doing 8 miles. Rick was so cute, as I was running back, I saw his truck drive by. He was worried I had been hit by a car, or fell off the side of the freeway, or kidnapped, and was looking for me. He asked if I wanted a ride, I yelled "No thanks!", and off he went. He must really love me.
Once I got home, hot and sweaty, I remembered I was making pumpkin soup for dinner. Feeling about 100* inside my body, it wasn't the most appealing. But- Rick helped me chop and stir, and by the time the soup was ready, I had cooled down and was ready to gobble up some pumpkin soup. It was delicious! Creamy, hot and spicy, and full of flavor! Soooo perfect for a cool Autumn evening.
It was a wonderful weekend, and this week we have Fall Break on Thursday and Friday, so it will be an easy week- I hope to really get out and enjoy the weather! We are heading up to Phoenix this coming weekend to celebrate Rick's birthday with family and friends. Happy Fall!!
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