🍴:

Mon – Sautéed Lamb with Mushrooms, mashed potatoes, garden salad. A new-to-us recipe with some stew meat that had been in the freezer for far too long. With definitely do again!

Tues – pork chops with sweet potato/goat cheese mash, garden salad

Wed – a grilled Smoke City Meats ribeye with glazed carrots and pan-roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. We planned to do all the veg on the grill, but it was running hot and the super thick steak cooked way faster than planned. It all worked out and was fantastic.

Thurs – black tiger shrimp, fries, and sautéed zucchini with a chimichurrish sauce Hampton dreamed up to finish up some sad mint. French bistro for the second time this week! (He intended a tapas vibe, but we did frozen frites instead of taking the time to do patatas bravas before rehearsal so here we are.)

Fri – chicken parm sammies with arugula salad and blistered tomatoes. We finally realized we had burger buns that needed to be used and Hampton wanted to play with the new Ombré tomatoes from TJ’s — despite the fact we both usually avoid the texture of tomatoes when not in Italy. Possibly my least stressful frying to date. It was all super fun and fancy for a quick pre-rehearsal meal.

Sat – duck breast with sweet potato gratin and green beans. The duck was spot on, the gratin… not so great. I’m 75% sure it was me not the recipe but also…. *no link*

Sun – crispy chicken thighs with lemony black beans and a basil sauce, arugula salad. Inspiration can come from many places. Like this pin. Which bears only the vaguely resemblance to what got on the Flat 493 plates. Super good, though!

🥃: Failed at drink pics this week but my new Cauldron Creations box arrived today complete with reeds for making a Brigid’s cross and a spell and tea for Imbolc, which is the day after the first weekend of The Seagull, and I can’t. wait.

🐶:

📚: A supposed character-driven haunted house story on NetGalley really rubbed me the wrong way because the unnecessary trauma inflicted upon an (assumed) autistic child.

Luckily, Sarah Pekkanen was there for me on Libby. Another traumatized child — who is probably also on the spectrum — but much less gratuitous. AND set in D.C., which always brings me nostalgic joy.

🎭: We continue to work on The Seagull. Hampton set an early off-book goal and dagnabit, if most of this amazing cast wasn’t 95% there.

Seriously, this cast is hard-working AND talented. It’s amazing where we are given how few rehearsals we’ve actually had and will only continue to grow. Our running joke is, “IT’S A COMEDY”, because Chekhov insisted despite *spoiler redacted*, and gotdang if we won’t convince the audience.

And because what fun is having only one show in production at the same time — Mystery Men Productions is back with Murder is Forever at a new-to-us venue next weekend. Our former Q Veecee works there and is playing host, so we’ve got someone else popping in and it’s sure to be another few rounds of killer hilarity. And I’m not just talking about Hampton’s wig.

We’ve also started booking Valentine’s shows. If you’ve got a space, we’ve got the murder, just contact Brandon for more info.