Big girl food

It wasn’t by my choice, but I spent the whole of Labor Day weekend alone at home. I have taken a job at a local coffee shop, which is awesome…I make a regular paycheck, cash tips, work with great people, get 50% off my coffee bean purchases AND I have learned how to roast coffee! It’s really fun. Except for that weekend. But I am OK with it. I put my Big Girl pants on and I managed to enjoy the empty house. Sort of.

I worked only one weekend in August, and since the shop has only been open for 6 weeks, it was inevitable that I would put in my time again, and apparently this was the weekend. For what it is worth, my boss did apologize for leaning on me so much. I suppose it wouldn’t have been so bad if the weather hadn’t turned gorgeous and warm just in time for the holiday weekend, and if our cabin wasn’t loaded to the gills with most of my favorite people (including Mike and Griffin, whom I encouraged to go….why stay home?? I worked ALL weekend!) and if I wasn’t really needing a nice, relaxing time on the lake, and on the boat and with my cool nieces and nephews.

ANYWAY…..

In these situations, home alone and in some ways needing something to comfort me, I will come up with a great meal to make and enjoy with some wine, chick flicks and time with the cats (who, incidentally, were MOPING; especially Bustopher, because his best bud, Mike, was GONE!). I had a nice bottle of pinot grigio, courtesy of my brother, and needed something nice, light and quick to go with it. I decided to get some fresh shrimp and have that. What ended up on my plate, and for a nice appetizer, took the edge off the sense of emptiness that seemed to be hovering around this weekend.

Although I was fine with working, my heart wasn’t in it, and I really, really wanted to be anywhere but home alone. I wanted to be with my family.

An after-work trip to the grocer yielded some nice olive tapenade, delicious shrimp, bacon and tomato for BLT’s, some beautiful heirloom tomatoes for my favorite grilled bread and a host of other goodies. If I am going to be stuck at home, I want it to be memorable!

The bread, my appetizer, was grilled to bronzed perfection, topped with fresh mozz which was then melted oooey-gooey, and topped with the lovely heirlooms.

Note the streeeetchy mozzarella between the bread!?! That didn’t last long! A nice drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of smoked sea salt added perfection, with a snap, to the end result.

The pesto on my pasta is from my garden; the last of the 2006 pesto that I stubbornly hold onto. I have basil this year that will be made into 2007 pesto, but nowhere near as much as last years bumper crop. It worked so well with the succulency of the shrimp that was bathed in lime juice and olive oil, then seared to a golden brown, and complimented the pinot grigio very well. The shrimp nearly burst in my mouth they were so fresh and the pesto was still redolent of the heady scent of warm summer garden, even after all this time in the freezer. A tiny dollop of the olive tapenade made for a nice, tangy additional taste.

The evening weather was just gorgeous, with a gentle breeze and a clear starry sky. I sat for a long time on my front steps, enjoying the wine and being mesmerized by the sound of my neighbors sprinkler….tik tik tik tik tik tik fwrrrrrrrrt..tik tik tik tik tik tik fwrrrrrrrrt and watching Bustopher race around the yard chasing ghost mice or something crazy like that. He certainly had happy feet. Then I watched Russell Crowe in ‘A Beautiful Mind’, gave myself a pedicure as I enjoyed another glass of wine, and of course after all that, I slept like a rock. But the best part of the weekend is that my sweet husband came home early, WITHOUT our child, and surprised me at work with a big hug and lots of kisses. It was a perfect way to end the weekend!