Friday Dinner, on the Fly

Friday night, even after a ‘short’ week, is always my night for relaxing. Though some weeks there are trips to Sonoma County straightaway on the commuter bus after work (blessedly quiet is the 72X), or visits to art galleries, or even guests visiting from across the country, when I’m in the city and it’s been a tiring five-day stretch, I am very happy to make dinner, and settle in at home.

It’s been grey here — again — for awhile. Today the sun peeked out a bit, but on the whole the fog has been socked in and down along the coast, and we’ve been living in a perpetual state of mist. I’m ready for summer. I’m ready for fruit and swims in the river and long, lazy afternoons stretched out in the backyard with a stack of magazines. But this is San Francisco, and I must be patient; there are months yet before the warm weather comes to stay.

So if it’s cold, I feel fully justified in turning on the oven and roasting something delicious — like, say, my beloved asparagus. One might find herself appeased a little by the thought of cupcakes to counter the chill, and if the oven is already on then it would be a travesty to not bake a batch. Well then. Thus, a recent Friday involved a bunch of asparagus roasted until their tips were perfectly crisp, a pile of fresh sourdough bread slices, an assortment of cheese (Havarti, brie), and a small salad of organic baby greens and grape tomatoes.

Heaven, really, and super easy to throw together. With a glass or two of red wine, the classical music station, and a nearly-due library book, Friday was all I could have ever dreamed it could be. The cupcake for dessert only signified a stellar weekend to come.

Weekend next I am taking the out-of-towners to Pt. Reyes for a long and lovely walk on Limantour Beach, a stroll through town, and then at long last I shall meet the sweet Lab puppy I have been hearing about for months. It should be a grand time.

[Boston Favorite cupcake, from The Fannie Farmer Cookboook, with chocolate buttercream]