Lime Peanut Sauce

I am shattered this week. I wonder if I need a vacation from my last vacation. Lest hope not. In lieu of waking up with Matthew the past three mornings, I have lazily lay in bed fiddling around with my phone. I remain still until I hear the front door click. This is Matthew locking me in. Prior to his departure, I shout goodbye, field any questions from the peanut gallery and if I am lucky, receive a kiss before departure. Not yesterday though. I think Matthew knew to let sleeping dogs lie. He usually leaves anywhere from 6.35 to 6.45 am and yesterday it was closer to 6.30. While unemployed, I like to maintain some modicum of a schedule but not yesterday. I stared at the clock in disbelief and begrudgingly pulled myself out of bed. I think I woke up on the wrong side of it. I did not intend to, it simply happened. A conversation I had on Monday and again on Tuesday continues to play through my mind. It's message keeps me awake at night and has sent things askew. Quite simply, I am at a crossroads.

Around 7 am, someone in my neighborhood began turning trees into sawdust. You can only imagine the racket this made. Geepers cats. When I lived in Germany, there were fixed rules for being considerate of one's neighbors. They are still in place and a good idea. Learn them or else. You don't run the dishwasher or vacuum during certain hours. Keep the music and TV at reasonable levels. You sure as hell don't commence deforestation before 9.00 am. With this, I savored a cup of coffee with the last Keurig in the pack and stared at my Spider Mums. They appear to be doing well but who knows. I read on the Internet this morning that flower stems should always be cut at an angle and water must be changed daily. Bacteria you see. It seems that the penny trick is total bullshit. Happy to finally learn said pearls of wisdom. Perhaps my next bunch of tulips will stand a better chance than in times past. Who knows. 

I didn't make it to yoga yesterday. I simply couldn't do it. Very unlike me because I love my practice at Charlotte Yoga. I was dressed and ready and didn't go. It is a small miracle that I made it outside for a three mile jog. It was so bloody hot out upon returning home I just sat on our front porch, sweat invitingly running down my back and stared. I decided upon scrambled eggs for breakfast. I bought some gorgeous ones at the local farmers market along with goat's milk feta and heirloom tomatoes. We had leftover basil from the garden that I cut the night before so I threw that in too. I ate standing in the kitchen staring at our hummingbird feeder willing them to come. No dice. Around 11.00, my second mother in command texted asking if I wanted to meet her for lunch at my favorite, Luna's Living Kitchen. This spot is my jam. The best organic, locally sourced and inspiring vegan food one could ask for. And so I hopped in the shower, took my time with my hair, put on some makeup, threw on a dress and was out the door. It is amazing how time with wonderful friends can turn the beat around. We had a long and lazy lunch catching up on this and that. As a parting gift, my ever thoughtful friend gifted me two porcelain birds. She is an orchid guru and was at Campbells Greenhouse poking around. Matthew loves birds and always points out the different ones to me. Cardinals, finches, blue birds, you name it. These two have found a new home in ours.

Woeful whinging aside, I was up at sparrow's fart this morning. In fact, I was puttering around the kitchen long before Matthew was. I ran the dishwasher, stripped the bed, tidied the house. I wrote a thank you card and have my ironing out. I am batting a thousand as my mother would say. I am going for a long walk shortly and then getting my hair colored. One of the downsides of being a chestnut brunette, when you hit a certain number your hair turns silver. I am beyond excited for the weekend. According to my Charlotte news authorities, Charlotte Agenda and CharlotteFive, there is a boatload going on this week. Ridiculous heat aside, gallivant we shall. I envision a weekend of breweries, live music, mixology, new scenes and outstanding food. Stay tuned for sure. I also plan to test my hand at a pair of recipes prepared by my friend Dean Sheremet during his recent appearance on The Talk. He gives an expert tutorial on sriracha honey glazed wings and raddichio with a balsamic glaze and toasted hazelnuts (both on the grill). He also steals a smooch from Sharon Osbourne. Check it out for sure. I also plan to binge on my new favorite TV program, An Idiot Abroad. Oh my stars, Karl Pilkington is my hero. The show was filmed eons ago and we came across it on the Discovery Channel only to learn that it is also available on Netflix. The show is clever and hilarious. My South African cousin Graeme uses near identical lexicon to Karl so I am having fun translating for Matthew. In three days, we have tackled nearly six and a half hours of Karl gallivanting the globe. I am not usually a couch potato but I do make exceptions. He is brilliant. During last night's episode he had a makeover from a ladyboy in Bangkok, participated in a blind kick boxing fight (training left him with carpet burns on his knees) and he got into a rickety cage to shark dive off the coast of Australia. Even though some of the exercises are cringeworthy to view, Karl is such a trooper. 

While taking a quick break from the world tour, we prepared the below for dinner last night. It was scrumptious. The lime peanut sauce is to die for. I literally found myself licking it off of the counters. It was on the counters in the first place because I was not careful about removing the lid from my Cuisinart. Given my new obsession with the vegetable spiralizer, which I seriously hope I do not max out on in the next pair of weeks, we put a new vegetable to the test. As we are zucchini pros, it was time to try my hand at broccoli noodles. Thanks to a tutorial from Inspiralized, while at the King's Drive Farmers Market, I looked for the heads with the longest stalks. I used three stalks to command a sizable portion for two. I picked up a pound of beef sirloin tips and decided upon our variation of Beef and Broccoli. It was quite simple really. Steam your broccoli and set aside. In a large pan, heat 1 TBS sesame oil, throw 2 chopped garlic cloves and once golden, your meat. Once it's done, transfer to a plate or bowl, add 1 TBS of oil back to the pan and sautee your noodles. After five minutes or so, throw everything in the pot along with half the sauce. Big stir, lid on for five minutes and you're in business. Serve with toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions and another dollop of this gorgeous sauce. Happy Friday and in the words of my dear sister Michelle around this time of the week, Everybody's Working for the Weekend.

Lime Peanut Sauce
Adapated from The First Mess

Goodies

3 inch fresh ginger - peeled 
2 cloves of garlic - peeled 
2 tsp sriracha 
2 TBSP peanut butter 
1 lime - peeled and throw the meat in
1 tbsp rice vinegar 
3 tsp honey
1.5 tbsp tamari 
1 TBS coconut oil
1 TBS chili oil
1/2 cup grapeseed oil

Prepare

1. Throw all ingredients into a blender or Cuisinart and blitz until you have a creamy sauce. Serve on top of meats, vegetables or salads. Idyllic for dipping too. #bonjour

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