As far back as I can remember, I've visited the same dentist to have my teeth looked at and cleaned. Even when my parents moved away from my birth town, I continued seeing him for my dental work. This tradition continues to this day, even though I'm even further away than when I was in Champaign. Thankfully, a visit to the dentist's office offers a perfect opportunity to spend the weekend in C-U.
This weekend I got to catch up with Oy, The General, Kurto and Jen. I finally got to try out dessert of the same name @ The Apple Dumpling. Other events included the customary round of mini-golf inside Lincoln Square Mall, questing for a benign smelling deodorant, waking up crazy early for breakfast as well as attempting to wrap presents in the back of a car (not recommended for our home audiences or those that faint at the sight of wrinkled wrapping paper). We also watched some movies: Drive Me Crazy - a late 90's teen movie starring Clarissa - and the Kurto fast-forwarded version of that epitome of high film making Showgirls. Most importantly, Oy's trio of feline allergens didn't seem to have much of an effect on me. W00t.
There was also a bit of culinary madness over the past few days. Friday night, I started the brining process for a 6.6lb chicken as well as making my usual dessert: golden creme apple tart. The whole exercise ended about 3 in the morning and had definite shades of one of my earlier late night cooking adventures in Seattle. Saturday, however, was the main event: I started off with throwing the chicken, rinsed and now marinaded with a hand-chopped attempt at an olivada, on a bed of roasting vegetables in the oven. While that was going on, I made my first batch of mulled wine with spices acquired at Artmart - a very cool food/toys/decoration store also residing in Lincoln Square mall. When the chicken was almost done, I made the sides: cous-cous and a simple balsamic vinegar based salad dressing for baby greens. Overall, people seemed to enjoy the food prepared....which is always a relief even if one is making things that have been done before. Finally, I gave Roy instruction on how to make the golden cream apple tart. Those of you in C-U can now bug him for your sweet fix. Muahahaha.
To finish things off, I had my dentist's appointment today. Thankfully, I got a relatively clean bill of health minus a few areas. Plus my hygienist got a kick out of the ultra-sonic cleaning debate.
To sum things up, I had an excellent weekend. I got to see people I hadn't seen in a very long time, and it made me keenly aware how much I missed them, even though I talk to some of them on a regular basis. I guess I'll just have make an effort to visit more often and conning them into visiting me.
