We dined out in Nashville at The Wild Cow, a vegetarian restaurant that came well recommended. Crazy name aside, this restaurant has a pretty good menu and a decent steady flow of patrons. We had quite a hard time choosing items from the two page menu. There's also a great kid's menu that I kind of wanted to order off of myself.

We didn't get around to making oatmeal this weekend. We didn't get around to stocking the freezer with PB&Js, either. But it's on the list for next week. What I did get done was a batch of sweet potato chocolate chip muffins, four of which went to friends down the street who greet us when we walk and four of which went to new neighbors with a new baby. I love sharing the happiness and goodness of life! Another batch is on the books for this week followed by a batch of banana bread.

Last week we had fabulous potato quinoa pancakes from Coming Home to Cook; so I figured a sweet potato gratin from Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook would go over well, too. Well, it didn't.

Believe it or not, this recipe is the result of a slight misunderstanding between my mother and I. We both like roasted sweet potatoes. She heard on a cooking show one day that if you brush them slightly with olive oil and cook them at 500' for 20 minutes, they get really crispy. I agreed to give it a shot. However, I didn't realize that she had put the potatoes in the middle of the oven with it set on "Bake". I put mine on the top rack set on "Broil" and turned them at 10 minutes when they started to brown too much.

This post's guest photographer is Garrett Nudd, an excellent and talented photographer, but an even better friend.

I came across some mini-kabob sticks while in Sarasota for our anniversary. Ever since, I was very excited to make some and did a good bit of research before I finally put the meal together. I served the kabob with steamed brown rice and the Pad Thai sauce from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home."

This meal was much easier than I expected, and except for the delay of threading the sticks with my designer-husband, a fast creation as well. I did find a note somewhere in my research to soak the sticks in water before use to prevent splitting. This was my first step of the meal.

This was such a fun creation, with no basis of thought. I was just trying to use leftovers. I absolutely love the olive bread from our local Maitland Farmer's Market, but it is rather expensive at over $6 a loaf. I only get it on special occasions. The zucchini also came from an outdoor stall.