Believe it or not, this is the first full weekend we have all spent in Oklahoma together. Nobody got on an airplane to fly to Jacksonville or packed suitcases to make the 20-hour trek out west. In fact, we never even left the city limits, except to have Matt give us a tour of some mansions in Nichols Hills.
I had coffee Saturday morning with a high school friend from Maryland and loaded up on fresh flowers, fruits, and veggies at the OSU-OKC Farmers Market that afternoon, all while Matt and Elle were watching The Avengers on the big screen.
Later, I simmered bratwurst in a pot full of beer and onions and soaked fresh okra in olive oil while Matt and Elle stuffed hamburger patties with mounds of feta cheese. The key lime pie from the night before had hardly been touched so we invited some friends over for a cookout and to share in the feast. They brought with them their cute little 4-year old son and a bottle of Cupcake brand Moscato (that stuff tastes like Sprite and comes in a really pretty bottle). Elle finally managed, with much gore and blood, to yank out a troublesome baby tooth during a break from playing Flapjacks and Sasquatches. Then little Daniel got a nosebleed. Typical family fun.
On Sunday, we searched Best Buy for some techno-contraption (that’s not my department) and picked up a bag of potting soil and a daylily (totally my department) from Home Depot. Then Matt took Elle and me to brunch at La Baguette, a French bistro that could manage to up their prices and still be reasonable. Delicious! There was a lot of maple syrup and southern-style gravy, crepes and croques and coffee. The little market in the front of the restaurant is filled with European-style pastas and fizzy drinks and love truffles. Norman love truffles? Ha! I’m a love truffle.
I think it’s time to explore my barely-existent French heritage by eating ALL OF THESE.
We spent the rest of the afternoon potting new flowers and lavender plants, clearing the debris of a dead tree, enjoying the sounds of two girls – one of which being Elle – playing soccer in the front yard (the neighbor has kids!), and closing out the day by eating leftover brats and burgers and watching Bob’s Burgers, our new favorite thing on television:
Two Girls and a Road 
I put all kinds of stuff in my hamburgers — celery, onion, bread crumbs, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, shredded mozarella, seasonings — but it never occurred to me to include feta cheese. Does that make a mess of the frying pan? I buy the chunk of feta from Publix. Don’t like crumbles. They seem fake.
I’m not a fan of beef so I eat it sparingly. I have, however, really enjoyed the feta stuffed burgers. My husband has a patty presser that was designed for stuffing burgers – he then puts them straight on the grill. I’m not sure how it would cook on a frying pan, being stuffed and all, but is so good and worth a flip on the grill!
idyllic weekend, no doubt about it! hey, question: how hot is it there compared to Florida?
It’s hard to describe, but it is HOT. Last week we were in the triple digits but we’ve only been high 90s since last Friday. Starting tomorrow, I think OKC goes into triple digits again. The “dry” heat everyone talks about is quite unbearable when it’s 104 outside, but today was really lovely at a dry 97. I’ll take this over humidity ANYDAY.
So sorry to hear of the central and North Florida flooding and triple digit temps – that’s like getting kicked when you’re already down. Stay cool and be safe!