Good Week, Great Day

Toast & Coffee, originally uploaded by apkoski.

I'm writing with happy news about my research today: 3 subjects down, 22 to go! Really, it's going better than that (with fingers crossed). A suggestion from a guinea pig-guinea pig (my first subject) to post an ad in the FREE section of Craigslist has skyrocketed my interest e-mails.
Check it. We love a deal!

Paul and I decided to enjoy the temptations of spring today by getting out to the outdoor hot spots before it gets nice. First we slipped and slid up and down the Leif Erickson for my first 60 minute plus run of the year (yo, my legs are like Jello). On this not-quite-perfect weather day, the trail isn't too too crowded, but at the St. Honore Boulangerie, business is apparently (OK, obviously) not affected by threatening clouds and cool air. After we found parking, we got in line, which was just beginning to creep out the door We actually found a table - hallelujah! Paul and I declared while waiting in line, eating our brunch, and driving home, that any item on the menu would receive the same review: freaking amazing. He had a chicken salad and sliced hardboiled egg sandwich on baguette bread, and I had the Normandy Apple toast (which is bread pudding in disguise - jackpot!). The baguette reminded us of po-boy bread at Pirate's Cove, so crispy on the outside and soft and spongy on the inside. The apple bread pudding was moist yet firm, so I could eat it with my hands. Their drip coffee is yummy too. We SO earned that brunch!

Now it's the afternoon of Cinco De Mayo, so we're planning a little BBQ for just us two: "Mexican" BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top, and brownies topped with strawberries and whipped topping for dessert.
I'm trying a brownie recipe from the complimentary Cook's Illustrated magazine we received in the mail yesterday. We're both smitten with it, as it goes into great detail about making the 'perfect' pork entree, potato salad, lasagne or brownies. Each recipe is made in test kitchen style, with multiple batch trials, adding more of this and less of that, or a different type of something else, until they come up with the ultimate recipe. So tonight we test the basic brownie recipe! Rose's brownies, "Ahora verás huarache, ya apareció tu correa."

-A