Whole30: Day 9

We're becoming real shut-ins during this. Don't get me wrong, we could use the downtime, but it's notable that the only real plans we have are birthday invitations that we don't feel we can reasonably skip. I had dinner with a friend last week, but that was scheduled four weeks in advance, and nothing else is on the horizon until June, aside from the aforementioned birthday events. Drinking is usually a big part of these, and is a reason to go out, particularly when it comes to more spontaneous outings, but since we can't right now, I don't want to make plans because it'll just be tempting fate. I really like beer and wine and getting a little tipsy and having a good conversation, and I'm not saying that can't happen without it, but it sure helps. And beer and wine are delicious (though not combined), and incredibly satisfying to drink, the way hot coffee is on a chilly morning. Sure, you could have hot cocoa instead, but is THAT what you really got up for? Won't that just make you want to go right back to bed?

I missed alcohol twice today. The first time was at a friend's birthday party this afternoon: everyone's sitting around playing What Do You Meme? (which is fantastic, by the way: highly recommend if you've played Cards Against Humanity one too many times) sipping on beverages of choice, and we had glasses of water. The hostess has many things on offer--beers in the cooler! red wine! Prosecco! iced tea! Barq's root beer!--and we can have none of it. Later, everyone moved outside because it stopped raining and the whole thing was supposed to be a barbecue anyway, and we also couldn't eat any of that (I guess a naked burger patty would've been fine, but come on), so we just stood there awkwardly, holding our glasses of water, while everyone else asked for cheese on their burger and for their hot dog buns to be grilled and rummaged through the cooler for another beer. It would've been 50% less awkward if we'd been able to decline food but sit there sipping a Coors Light: that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The second time was while watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Silicon Valley. Those shows just pair well with a beer, in my opinion. Austin makes fun of me because I won't eat the food in front of me at a restaurant if my drink is empty, and it's because I want the food and the beverage together: that's the whole point! The whole is more than the sum of its parts! I believe that Silicon Valley is better with a beer, and a beer is better with Silicon Valley. Frankly, it's fortunate that a lot of the foods I usually have with beer or wine just aren't allowed on Whole30: it makes it easier to do without, if you don't have a regular reminder in the form of one or the other.


How I felt: Good! Slept for 10 hours last night, though not all that well: I felt like I was swaddled because I had a dog sleeping on either side of me, holding the covers down. No headaches at all today, though, and good energy all day.

Brunch: It was beautiful; picture below. I was dying for Camarosa strawberries from Gloria's so I went to the farmers market first thing (that is, after I got up; I went at 11) and bought many dollars' worth of food as well as some flowers, some for us and some for the birthday girl (ranunculus and freesia are both in season and lovely). I went home and cut up a big bowl of strawberries, and Austin made us bacon, fried eggs, and leftover hash.

Dinner: Chicken chile verde: the recipe is a slightly modified version of this InstantPot recipe from Serious Eats. Modifications are: no poblano peppers (I don't like peppers much), so I upped the tomatillos to a full pound and only put in 2 1/3 lbs of chicken. I also threw in some chipotle powder and used some of the smoked sea salt and ancho chile sea salt I got at Whole Foods yesterday. It requires special equipment (an immersion blender is called for as well), but the outcome was delicious. Beforehand, we had some snacks because I, at least, wasn't going to make it to dinner without SOMEthing. Fortunately, we now have many snacks on hand: coconut chips from Trader Joe's (meh), roasted pumpkin seeds (my favorite), and apple chips (a wonder of food science), among others that I will not mention because I didn't have them.

It was all delicious, but those strawberries were the best by far.