this IS how i relax

We have been looking forward to Lamar for several weeks now. Those days of falling asleep on syllabi by night and filling out Scantrons with my tightly clenched appropriately #2 pencil by day are now over (praise God) and we are able to relax…whatever that means to each of us. I like to cook. Others like to eat. A weekend in Lamar with some of my oldest friends facilitated this harmony quite easily. The menu consisted of recipes I have been compiling over the past few weeks on study breaks, hoping to test out on some kind taste buds (family and friends offer the best of these mouths, so forgiving but more honest with you than most). We arrived at our bay house on Friday night so I quickly whipped up some steak and asparagus rigatoni with chimichurri sauce and some grilled baguette (which Spencer pointed out was burned- toasted, I corrected him, toasted). As somewhat of a novice at this blogging thing, I forgot to take a picture until there were only about 5 noodles left (which makes for a less aesthetically pleasing photograph than I had previously hoped). Saturday brought more mouths to feed (my favorite form of relaxing!). I prepared some Sangria (recipe refined over a study abroad summer in Spain during Baylor years) and some light lunch (based on my favorite flavor combination of feta, spinach, green onions, garlic and pine nuts). While my friends noshed, I put dinner in the oven since it had to cook for 6 hours. Pulled pork in Dr. Pepper and Adobo chilis with a cilantro jalapeno pesto on whole-wheat buns (dreamt up in my mind to be sliders but the Victoria HEB offered no such option). I imagined cheesy rosemary potatoes and some roasted lemony broccoli (with more feta and pinenuts!) would pair beautifully. Cupcakes seem to be the fru-fru dessert of the year, so to follow the fad I played with the old time classic s’more combo of graham, chocolate, and mallow. Turned out to be quite the success, allowing us each to collapse in post-meal comas- girls lounged on couches chatting in one room and boys in the TV room supporting the Mavs.

Disclaimer before my document attempted at food-blogging: all photos are taken with my digital underwater camera that we received as a wedding gift. Yep, UNDERWATER camera. How often do we dine underwater? Not enough, apparently.