I tend to try new recipes when entertaining, which I did a fair amount of over the holidays. But since my normal cooking repertoire is pretty boring, that means I also tend to stock up on some ingredients that I only use once and end up tossing the remainder a few weeks later. What recipe uses a full quart of buttermilk? When do I foresee using semolina flour again? So if we liked something over the holidays, I’m making an effort to whip it up again with the extra ingredients for Trevor and I to enjoy. No need for fun snacks and sips to be limited to holidays or entertaining guests. Why not have something fun to look forward to after the kids are in bed? It’s a long and cold winter – perhaps “happy hour at home”  will become a regular “Leisure” post. For this pairing, Ceci with Garlic and Sage (a repeat from New Year’s Eve) and a Fresh Cranberry Cosmo (recipes are included at the end of this post).
The garbanzo bean recipe includes an overabundance of rice coating that you need to prepare (as you can see in the picture below), as well as the aforementioned excess of buttermilk, making it an easy recipe to duplicate.
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A few years ago I was paired with another female lawyer to give a presentation during an annual meeting of attorneys in our industry. It was the official beginning of the friendship between Country Mouse and City Mouse. She’s my friend from L.A. who I have referenced in a couple of other posts and, in many ways, we couldn’t lead more different lives. She takes her son to the beach in her free time and lunches with Reese Witherspoon (well, in the photo-bombing kind of way, but still); I live a city that warns about the length of time children can be outside without freezing an appendage and my star sightings are local news anchors. Yet we’re thick as thieves, and she recently made her first visit to Minnesota. It was snowing and frigid, and I was sad that I couldn’t share the beauty of the city’s lakes and landscape. So I turned the focus to food and drink, which I happen to think Minneapolis does spectacularly well. I’m a far cry from restaurant critic, I don’t write food copy particularly well, and this certainly is not intended to be a compilation of reviews or even recommendations. It’s just some musings about a few great days of food and drink in the city.

Bruch at Tilia.  A favorite spot of mine for lunch and dinner alike, but this was my first experience with brunch. It was delightful, which was not at all a surprise.

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2014 was a great year, and I’ll raise my glass in a happy toast to it tomorrow night. Today’s post gives you a glimpse at some of the moments from this year, many of which were included on our recent holiday card – but in this version you don’t have to squint to see the images.
These two kiddos spend a good chunk of their time together hugging.

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