• Brussels sprouts
• An heirloom tomato
• Cilantro (a nice bunch for $1.50, score!)
• A basil plant (I had bad luck with basil seeds this year, so I bit the bullet and bought a plant. Yeah, it’s a little late in the season, but I’ll get lots of use out of it!)
• Two heads of broccoli
• New potatoes
• Sansa apples
• White nectarines

When I got back home, Steven was baking scones! This is becoming a bit of a weekend tradition for him, and I’m not mad about it. This week, he made tomato-basil scones, which I enjoyed with a cup of coffee. I quit coffee a couple months ago after realizing I was getting caffeine withdrawal headaches when I didn’t drink it, so it’s a somewhat rare treat now. I enjoy the taste of coffee and I liked the morning ritual of drinking it, but I haaate the idea of having a caffeine addiction, so I quit cold turkey as soon as I realized what was going on. :( Now that I don’t drink it regularly, I’m extra sensitive to it — a glass of cold brew gets me wired! Anyway, this was just regular ol’ hot coffee with So Delicious caramel creamer. I usually drink hot coffee black, but I had some of this leftover from a family visit last month and didn’t want to waste it.

After the scones came out of the oven, a loaf of sourdough bread went in! I blogged about Mary Berry (my starter <3) last MoFo, and she’s still alive and kickin’. I don’t bake bread every week, but I’ve got some heirloom tomatoes that are just crying to be eaten atop fresh bread, so this loaf will serve us well.

Post-bread baking, we headed across the street to celebrate our friend Ron’s birthday! Sara had gotten a platter of vegan sandwiches from Firehouse Deli, a local deli that bizarrely offers a TON of vegan options, so I feasted on an Italian cold cut sandwich. She’d also picked up a really tasty sesame slaw, along with chips and dip — basically, the perfect summer party plate. Firehouse also makes vegan cupcakes; I chose lemon while Steven had birthday cake (!). I really appreciate that we can support a small local business when we need vegan catering rather than a massive company like Whole Foods. Firehouse is a funny little place located right along a busy main road, but you can spot it by the electronic marquee that flashes the word “VEGAN” along with “GYRO” and “REUBEN.” Ha.

Sara and Ron have a pack of four small and wonderful puppers, including their newest addition: Scooter! Look at this little doofus.

Now I’m off to do a bit of cleaning — we’ve got friends coming over tonight. Happy Saturday, all.