Ah, the post-Valentine's Day aura still surrounds me, and in it, I bask. Nice Friday, NICE! Dinner at Lurcat last night was as romantic as we could have hoped for - sparkly-dim chandeliers, tables scattered with rose petals, raspberries afloat in festive flutes of champagne, ridiculously young couples sprinkled prettily hither and thither, live jazz, and a cozy window seat for Johnny and moi, private and snug. Rather ridic in its perfection, in fact, but we ate it all up - the dreamy setting and especially the hot, crispy pommes frites dipped in creamy Bearnaise (oh dear me, we way overate them and somewhat ruined our appetites...John stressed on it, I rejoiced; therein lies the difference between us, ha). But also silky mushroom soup alongside itty bitty crispy grilled cheese sandwiches. And then slices of rich, tender pot roast in a deep ruby wine sauce, with a side of roasted cauliflower to make us feel as if we'd eaten "a vegetable." And to finish, a dessert we couldn't even eat (shame!), profiteroles filled with cherry ice cream and doused in warm chocolate sauce. The only thing that really traveled well home was the pot roast...

...which made a small portion of The Kill Hash for my lunch today, dang it was good.

Dinner tonight, nothing but warm, salty tortilla chips, guacamole, and cold beer when I met Baseball Mom Beth (she of yesterday's lucky listen to Chef Philip on Cities 97) for a Happy Hour brewskie at McCoy's. It was packed - St. Louis Park is hoppin', who knew? Thank goodness Beer Is Food and guacamole is loaded with monounsaturated fats! (Those chips? Call 'em whole grain and forget about 'em! Hey, moderation is in the eye of the beholder, didn't you realize?)

Have a great weekend!