It also means that I have been trying to be good and cook dinner during the week.
Here it what I made so far:
Monday - Shrimp with Orzo Salad (Barefoot Contessa) and roasted asparagus.
This shrimp salad is one of our absolute favorite dinners. It is pretty easy, can be made in advance, and is excellent for leftovers (we ate it again Tuesday night).
Wednesday - Chicken with Lemon and Herbs (Ted Allen cookbook), homemade tabbouleh salad (Barefoot Contessa), and roasted asparagus.
This chicken is very very easy (basically marinate for 1-4 hours, sear the chicken in a pan, and then stick it in the oven). It was the first time that I had made the tabbouleh salad and it came out okay - I had used pearled barley instead of whatever the reciped had recommended and I probably didn't adjust the instructions for cooking the grain exactly right - so I thought it was a little gummy. But the flavor was very nice and I will certainly try it again another time.
Thursday and Friday - So as (what was supposed to be) a surprise to celebrate Craig's first week of work, I decided to make a coconut cake. We had seen this specific cake on Food Network (Throwdown with Bobby Flay) and, instead of ordering it from South Carolina, I wanted to try to make it myself. This is notable for a number of reasons: 1) I had never made a layer cake before and this one had 12 layers; 2) I don't really bake - I am a much better cook than baker; and 3) I don't like coconut. In any case, I embarked on this adventure on Thursday afternoon when I made the cakes and coconut filling. The filling had to set overnight, so I resumed early Friday morning when I cut the cakes, finished the filling, made the icing and simple syrup, and assembled the cake. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself! However, I had to wait for Craig's assessment as he was the one actually tasting it. I believe it was a success!
Here are some pictures (Craig took a very large piece as you can see):
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