A post in which it is a quite full day*

I was up early.  Too early.  I went to see Jeff for a bit, and when I got home was sleepy again, thank goodness.  I got back in bed and ended up sleeping until almost 10am.  I sent Rhonda a text to see if she wanted to go out to breakfast, and she said she would, but she also wanted to run a few errands. That was fine with me. 

I picked her up and we headed first to Swamp Rabbit.  I'd never heard of it, but Rhonda had found it online in her continuing quest for local/sustainable/non-GMO food sources.  It's a little place tucked away on the wrong side of town, and you would never find it if you weren't just looking for it.  It's a small place.  There is a bakery/cafe area where they offer scones and the like, there is small grocery area, and there is a cold room with produce.  It had a pretty yuppified air to it.  There were a lot of highly-strung looking white women in there shopping, many of whom seemed to be pregnant or with small children.  So good for them

for looking after their kids' health.  I just don't want to be around them, generally.  Some of the produce was very nice, and some of it not so nice, but it was all pretty expensive.  Rhonda wanted some strawberries, but the large containers didn't look very good.  She got a quart.  I bought some pears (at $3/lb, not too high for organic, but pretty high - they were really pretty though), some mushrooms, and some ramps.  Now I have heard of ramps, but have never eaten or cooked any.  They were gorgeous, but they were also $15/lb.  Wow.  So I decided to get a few to play iwth, but I didn't buy a pound.  On the way out, I picked up some Happy Cow cottage cheese (@ $6/lb, but I know it's BGH free), but I refused to pay $10/lb for feta cheese.  That's just crazy.

We left and dropped by my place.  I put my stuff away, and gave her a bottle of sesame oil she wants for a recipe.  We went by Stax Omega for breakfast, and I had one of their fantabulous omelets.  I have no idea what they do to them to make them so delicious, but I was craving one this morning.

After breakfast it was on to Whole Foods.  Rhonda wanted some steel-cut oats, but had balked at paying $7/lb for them at Swamp Rabbit - in a bag they had been in for who knows how long.  I didn't blame her in the least.  At Whole Foods they were $1.49/lb in bulk.  So she got some, and I picked up some organic feta for $4.99/lb on sale. 

After that, I had to run Rhonda home.  I got in about 2pm, and started getting the place in order for Gary to come.  I also had cooking to do.  I had been trying to decide what to make for lunches this week.  I also had three bell peppers left from my bunny basket, and then Larney gave me two more from hers this week.  I had intended to chop and freeze them, but then I thought, why not just use them instead?  I haven't made bulgarian pepper and cheese delight in a long time.  It's an old Moosewood recipe for using up bell pepper when it's in season.  I decided to make that today.  I put that together while the sweet potaotes I had from Larney baked.  When I got them out, I slid the casserole in and prepped the last two Granny Smith apples I had to be baked.  I let all that cool while I cleaned up the kitchen and got ready. 

Gary worked today and didn't leave until 6pm.  That was good because it gave me some time to relax a bit and sit down after all I had done today, but it was bad because by the time he got there we were both starving.  We wanted sushi (which we were supposed to go for last Friday), but I decided to take him to Sushi Masa rather than Irashiai tonight.  Sushi Masa is smaller and more intimate.  They also have a signature Pelham Roll (maki) that I really enjoy and haven't had in a while.  I ordered the appetizers and we decided what rolls we wanted.  The food was good, but not as good as I remembered.  He was very impressed with the dynamite yaki they do (another Masa exclusive), and it was quite good; but the mussels yaki weren't quite up to par, and the California Sundae roll (which they invented and introduced to Greenville) wasn't as good as the one at Irashiai.  So while it was quite good, and Gary was very pleased with the things he tried that he hadn't eaten before, I was a bit let down with the food.

After dinner, it was back to my place for canoodling.  It had been a good, full day, and we were very glad to see each other, but I was wiped, and he had worked all day.  We didn't stay up too terribly late.