Twelve Years....

Since the day we walked down the aisle. On one hand, I can't believe how fast time has gone. On the other, it's hard to imagine how much we've had to endure in twelve short years. My husband has been my rock through it all and I'm so very lucky.

To celebrate, I surprised him with a night at the O'dysius in Lincoln City. It's a great hotel with wonderful views and it was nice to just get away. Instead of doing a big fancy dinner out, we had a nice lunch out and had a pizza delivered to our room and we watched some movies while listening to the pounding surf. So very relaxing and perfect for us.

Tonight, the day of our actual anniversary, we headed home and spent the afternoon running errands. We ended the day with the most amazing meal I have had in a long time, cooked by the two of us.

The Crispy Potato Roast was delicious and instead of thyme, I used rosemary. This went with the ciabatta bread I got from Costco that I baked topped with a rosemary and roasted garlic compound butter. I roasted two heads of garlic (tops cut off, drizzled with olive oil, wrapped in parchment paper) in the oven while cooking the potatoes, mixed it with finely chopped rosemary into room temperature butter.

But. The highlight of the meal was the culotte steaks Cesar grilled on the bbq to a perfect medium rare. Top this delicious cut of steak with perfectly sauteed criminis, portabello, shitake and oyster mushrooms with finely minced garlic in butter, olive oil and white wine and Oh. My. Word. Truly amazing.

This was better than any fancy restaurant could have been. A lovingly prepared meal with Cesar, enjoyed with a toast to twelve years.

Here's to the next twelve!