When work takes over, have a picnic

We didn't get anywhere near our plans of going to the arboretum yesterday. I was stuck on the computer much of the day proofing PDFs of the latest issue of Urban Times. But by the end of the day, I was needing to get out. Must. get. out.

It was too late to go to the movies, unless we wanted to go to the really late one, where teeny boppers rule the roost and annoy the heck out of you. It was also too late to go to the bookstore and browse if we wanted to go grocery shopping as well. So after I put together our menu for the week, looking over cookbooks and checking out the Chicken Chicken Mole and Mexican Red Rice (we watched Simply Delicioso's Ingrid Hoffman earlier that day) for our Memorial Day feast, we headed to Super Target to get our weekly shopping done and grant me a little get-out-of-the-house sanity and give my eyes a rest.

We also decided that this weekend should be really fun when I wasn't working. And one of the things we wanted to do was a wine, fancy cheese, strawberries, grapes, bread, pound cake, and melted chocolate for dipping smorgasbord. After returning from our shopping trip, I laid out a blanket on our living room floor and we had an indoor picnic. It was so fun! We talked about work (bleh, I know!) and what kind parents we would be. It was great just to have that time with the TV off, the computer powered down, and just enjoy each other's company—and yum yum food.

Here's what made up our indoor picnic:

Havarti cheese (This is a wonderful soft cheese to eat with fruit. It's really rich, so I recommend a lighter fare cheese to go with it.)

Gouda cheese (This one paired nicely with the Havarti, but I'm sure there's a better match out there.)

A French baguette (Crusty bread cut into .5in-thick slices—perfect size for the cheese slices.)

Hershey's Bliss chocolate pieces melted fondue-style. I normally use Dove chocolates, but they're hard to find when it's not a holiday. These were just the same. Good find. (We didn't break out the big fondue pot just for a few pieces of chocolate, instead we used our little Fondue au chocolat pot that heats with a tea light. Thanks Sis for getting that for us. You're right, it's very useful.)

Strawberries and green grapes

Blackberry Mead from the Pirtle Winery in Weston, Mo.

One blanket

Candles (make it romantic!)