I can do it. It’s 8:30 and I’m not really that sleepy yet. The nap worked! This gives me hope for months to come with more early mornings in my future 
Had a bit of insatiable hunger this afternoon. Possibly related to:
- Exhaustion
- Thirst
- Boredom
- Actual hunger
- All of the above
Since I’d napped and drank a lot of water, I attributed it to all of the above 
Still, I’m a bit fried today.
Had a handful of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, plus a peach and a spoonful of TJ’s Sunflower Butter. HEAVENLY!
And then Matt and I went to town on these fresh-from-the-ground blackberries Karen brought home from the farmer’s market
Gnomph gnomph gnomph
This afternoon things kind of feel apart with the bakery lease. We thought for a while that we might have lost it all!! But then things came back together. HUMUNGOUS sigh of relief.
In the meantime, we canceled our Restaurant Week reservations because we were on conference calls and emails through dinner hour. Finally we got some good news.
Karen and I made stiff mocktails:
- Diet tonic
- Lime
- Bitters ( <– the orange color)
- Giggles
But then Matt decided later on he had to have the real deal.
I think this was a gift from my dad?! It was GREAT!!
When you don’t have a garden…
Cheers!!
Ew. Stay outside.
Dinner tonight was fabulous.
We made polenta in the crockpot with a fancy kind Karen brought back from South Carolina (just mixed it with the package directions of water and put on high, then low for 3-4 hours.
Topped with Carolina shrimp sautéed in Garlic Gold, lemon juice, salt and pepper along with yellow bell pepper and tomato
And OKRA FRIES!!! Finally!!
Fried.
Carolina okra from the market. Tossed in Garlic Gold, salt and pepper, and baked for 20 minutes at 400* until tender and no longer fibrous. They are slimy inside and I love it!!
Dessert was chocolate. Seeds of Change. Love that stuff!
It’s been a long day. Literally!! I’m off to go read my newest book: Sarah’s Key. Fried.
Nite!
{ 93 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on staying awake! You’re amazing!
That is an adorable photo of Matt!
Ahhhhhhhh I’m in TJ’s Sunflower Seed Buttah REHAB!!! I finished a jar in 7 days after spooning it day and night. That spoonful with the Oatmeal Squares is giving me goosebumps
and I thought I was the only one who loves how okra gets slime-y inside =)
Ahhhh! Love the faux garden!!
I haven’t had okra in yeeeears! It reminds me of childhood though bc my dad grew it in our garden…so I ate A LOT of it!!:0)
I am so happy things are coming together for the bakery. Wow, so much uncertainty – I could never handle it!
I bought okra in “honor” of you and will try it this week. Likely how you had it today.
I love shrimpies too. But I have a friend who refuses to eat them, saying they are “bottom feeders” and therefore should not be eaten.
Thoughts?
Um, bottom feeders or not, they taste delicious!!
Glad to hear everything came together with the lease!
Have a great night
What gorgeous dinner! Glad you made it through your super long day. I’m still thinking about the bread from your earlier post.
A glass of wine after a long day is so relaxing. Glad you got everything sorted out with the bakery- I’m so excited for this new adventure you’re starting!
All I will say about Sarah’s Key is: tissues…lots and lots of tissues.
I love the slime factor in okra too. My husband refuses to eat it. He says it looks like something from a horror movie. Oh well, more for me!
I’m honestly amazed you made it so long awake. I go 16 hours and want to pass out!
OMG that dinner looks delicious and so southern!
I still haven’t tried okra but do contemplate it every week at the farmer’s market. Guess it needs to happen soon or not at all!
I had chocolate today too, too much of it, lol.
I absolutely adored Sarah’s Key!
Ooooh boy that dinner looks delicious, especially the okra fries! Can’t thank you enough for bringing those into my life!!
If I were up as early as you I would be having lots and lots of naps! lol I have to try those okra fries one day. They look good and I think I would like the sliminess
I’m reading the same book!
Yumm I love okra!!
Mmm that polenta looks fabulous and I’m glad things seemed to work out with the lease~
I’m loving the okra. i’m so doing that tomorrow! also, sarah’s key is an amazing story and i read it in 2 days. hopefully you will love it.
Oh, golly. I got okra today and the farmer’s market and you better believe I am going to be channeling my inner Kath to make some fries. I cannot wait.
My husband would kill for that R2D2 cookie jar in the last pic.
I noticed that too! I didn’t realize it was a cookie jar though – fantastic.
Kath mentioned before that it’s a actually a lamp–really cute!
I have never cooked okra before, but I think I will have to after seeing your dinner. It looks delightful!
Glad to hear things with the lease turned out ok!!
And what a tasty tasty dinner!!!
Okra terrifies me and intrigues me at the same time. I want to try it but I’m afraid! haha. I love polenta.
I LOVED Sarah’s Key! Enjoy it.
Glad things turned around, I’m sure it’s a lot of stress. Dinner looks amazing.
I love Cono Sur’s Pinot Noir…it’s my go-to wine and where I buy it here in Canada it’s quite cheap and has a fun picture of a cyclist on the bottle
Goes well by itself or with dinner-cheers!
Me too – I’ve tasted 2 different Cono Sur wines (Chardonnay & Cab Sauv) – they were both lovely!
Thank god the LCBO stocks them.
Just what I was going to say! The bicycle makes me so happy.
I have a bottle of Cono Sur rose in my kitchen waiting to be tried.
three things:
1) I hope things continue to work out with the bakery!!
2) Cono Sur = awesome wine. I found some at whole foods a few months ago and am in LOVE.
3) Sarah’s Key is a great book. SO SAD though. Make sure you have tissues!
Sounds like you had quite the day. Glad everything worked out for the best!
Hope you are sound asleep by now!
Glad everything worked out! That wine is well deserved.
I am fried right now too, which is why I don’t know why I am still up reading your blog!!! It’s just THAT good!
I saw this HOMEMADE BISCOFF recipe and thought of youand how you would love it
: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2010/07/biscoff-cookies-from-scratch-recipe.html
ooooooooooooooooooo
The food looks great!!!!!
Be prepared for “Sarah’s Key”. It’s a fabulous book but read with a box of tissues!!!
‘giggles’ made me giggle!
And then the ‘roach.
Ooh! I’ve read that book, it’s really good. I hope you like it!
Can’t wait to hear about the day when everything is finalized! I enjoyed seeing the day at the bakery and hearing what your plans are. I didn’t realize Karen was moving too and that you were going to be full time w/the bakery. Very cool!! Couldn’t be happier for you guys. Your dinner looks outstanding…1 thing I never tried while in the South was okra!! I was always scared but our taste buds are pretty similar so I would probably like it
LOVED “Sarah’s Key” when i read it!
How funny, when I went to bed last night I decided I had to have polenta today, and after waking up (Australia = time difference) I’ve found several google reader updates about bloggers making polenta! The must be something in the waters…
Shrimp looks good haven’t had that in a long while.
I’ve gotta try okra again! I haven’t really had it since my mom used to deep fry it when I was little and the couple of pieces they always sneak into gumbo.
Is that the Seeds of Change Flax Dark!? YUM!
wow your dinner looks AMAZING!
Glad everything worked out ok!
Your dinner looks fabulous (as always), but I don’t know about those okra fries, I can’t get past the sliminess!
I love the R2D2 in the background of the last photo – so cool!
I actually haven’t had okra since college – three years ago! I need to find some and give it a try – I loved it in the vegan gumbo at school
Fingers crossed that the lease is worked out.
Your day sounds absolutely exhausting. Lovely dinner as a reward, though. The photos of the wine in the planter are really beautiful!
I’m a lone dissenter on “Sarah’s Key.” I didn’t like it, but I’m often on the “opposing” side of book debates.
Lovely dinner. I feel like I have never seen okra look that appealing. All I can think about is how my grandma used to cut it up, bread it with cornmeal, and fry it in crisco. Perhaps i will try your approach!
The slimy-ness of okra is the thing I can’t take! Ick….
Sarah’s Key is SO good, I just finished it in like 2 days while I was on vacation. I hope you enjoy it, but like everyone else has mentioned, I agree – tissues!
Long day, indeed! I cannot stand okra, but I wish I liked it! I’d feel much more “at home” in the south if I did
They sure look great though 
As does the wine!
I must have a screw loose in my sense of humor, but that cockroach (fine… that “palmetto bug”) picture made me absolutely bust out laughing. It doesn’t even matter that you were discussing food both directly before and after it. Flawless caption. Great comedic timing. I’m going to scroll back up and skim through the whole post again just to re-experience the hilarity.
I laughed too
i’m glad everything is going to be okay – whew!
i adore okra, but i don’t know if i could do the slimy middle if they’re supposed to be fries! such a gorgeous meal
Silly question – do you eat the little stem on Okra? I never have but I’m not really sure why.
I eat the nubb, not the stem if it’s long. So if it points out, it’s usually pretty fibrous, but I do eat the nubbs on the end.
Lol at that pic of your hubs and the wine! He is looking sly! You better watch out for trouble
I’m glad to hear you have some good news! Sarah’s Key is on my reading list for the summer. I hope it’s good
So glad to hear that everything went okay with the lease! I’ve never had polenta. But it looks super good!
Wow. I can imagine how scary and stressful those phone conversations were. Glad things got smoothed out.
Can you please school me on the joys of okra? It’s a vegetable I’ve always wanted to try, but this Northern girl hasn’t had the occasion/guts to try it! How do you make your okra fries?
I told you how in the post
Oh my gosh! Your version of shrimp and grits look GREAT! Now I’m craving that…….
Yum Shrimp AND Okra!!
I’m amazed you haven’t crashed yet, impressive!! (Wel, you probably have now..but you know). That polenta looks loveeely! I want to try cooking some again now
Oh gosh, I’m glad everything worked out with the bakery!
I love that “giggles” are an ingredient in your mocktail. Those are always the best…
I want Okra! Had it when I lived in the US, but here in Germany you won’t find the tiniest piece of it… Oh well, enjoy!
So impressed you managed to make it through the day after getting up so early! That dinner looks awesome.
I hope you enjoy Sarah’s Key as much as I did!! It’s so good you might not want to go to sleep!
Wow! Good luck with the bakery, wished we lived down there so we could have some of your delicious products…..I use to have a deli, and yes, standing up all day was physically grueling! But then, you’re much younger than I was when I did that, I wish you the best of luck!!
Glad you were able to function with the baker’s hours! I used to work at starbucks and getting up at the crack of dawn to open pretty much shot my whole day. That whole dinner sounds amazing, I never thought of making Polenta in the crock pot. I read Sarah’s Key recently and it’s fantastic! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I love that you posted a roach picture and then a beautiful dinner picture. That was gross and funny! As for the hunger, when I am over tired, I use food for fuel. I can never get enough to eat when I am that tired. I hope today is a great one for you!
whenever my schedule changes I notice my appetite does as well!
All this talk of okra fries makes me want to try them! As I am a born and bred Northerner I have never had okra before. Perhaps I will give it a try some time soon!
oh sarah’s key! such a good book. but oh so sad. enjoy it!
LOVED Sarah’s Key. Good luck falling asleep….that’s one book I wanted to read from front to back immediately.
Cono sur has a good sauvignon blanc as well – worth a try, if you like crisp whites!
Shrimp and grits! Yesssssss
Sarah’s Key is in my ‘to read’ pile, which is towering! I keep putting it off since I know its sad.
I just got Sarah’s Key. Is it good? I have several other books on my nightstand that will be due soon so I’m deciding which to read.
I LOVED Sarah’s Key when I read it last year. Around the same time I also read The Boy in Striped Pajamas, which is in the same time period. I would definitely recommend both!
Another one that I read that was excellent as well was The Book Thief – still in that time period.
Hahaha I was looking for something actually fried in this post! Not possible in the KERFland
Wei-Wei
I’m reading “Sarah’s Key” now as well…I was sucked in from the first page!
That’s a relief about your lease! I’m glad everything came back together for you!
I don’t know what’s up with R2D2 in the kitchen… but… AWESOME!
Hey Kath! I understand the feeling of having uncontrolable hunger after being up for work at two! I used to run the produce department and help out in a bakery for a large naturalfoods store, and as soon as noon hit i was outta there and napping at home. I don’t know if my body burned more calories, but I ate like two grown men, yet never put weight on, I actually lost weight. It’s weird how are bodies work, what I can say is, it was awesome to be going home when most people are just going in.