Because 2 days is never enough.

I became another year older earlier this month. Karl asked me where I wanted to go for dinner and I realized that our urban lifestyle includes meals out so frequently that it doesn’t feel that special. But what sounded really special was for Karl to cook me dinner.

He’s a good cook (secret ingredient = butter), but his specialty is breakfast. He’s not use to preparing a full meal, but he threw himself into the challenge in earnest. He shopped, prepped and cooked the whole thing on his own. I had the sense he was staving off a stress meltdown, mostly because of timing and the crunch of getting things all out together. But, it came out great and was a lovely birthday treat.

The menu:

Fresh foccacia (from the farmer’s market)

Fennel, beet and orange salad with olives

Winter vegetable soup

Sautéed spinach and mushrooms

Dessert: My favorite yogurt

Well done Karl.