What a week. Both Bob and I had a rough week and we are very glad it is over. My week was so long I actually did not cook a single meal last week. Not one. Three back to school nights equal three twelve hour days and the two days where I did make it home “on time” just did not have me in the mood to cook.

And when things get yucky and you just aren’t feeling it, cats are wonderful. (I realized that, despite the name of this blog, I did not have a pets category. That has now been rectified.) I sat down the other evening, totally and completely drained and Tigger came to keep me company.

Another night where I just felt out of it, Gracie came for lap time.

They really do seem to know when you just need … something. Even when you aren’t sure what that is, they do.

But today I returned to cooking. My veggie basket had some interesting stuff in it this week

Collard greens, apples, lemons, ginger root ( it is huge!), acorn squash and rutabaga. I have no idea what to do with half of it, but I am sure I will figure something out. For today, I made pork tacos with a homemade salsa verde sauce. I had never worked with tomatillos before, so this was an experiment. It came out really well – Bob liked the brightness of the sauce and I liked the flavor it added to the dish. I also made a Greek chicken salad – so I can actually eat lunch for a change- and prepped the acorn squash and peppers (made the filling and stuffed them some just have to pop them in the oven one night). I may not have cooked last week, but I made up for it today.

But the best thing I made was the mango mousse. We had this at the Epcot Food and Wine festival a few years ago and it was by far the most memorable dish there. I always have such high hopes from that, but my expectations are rarely met. This one, however …. I still have dreams about it. So I tried a recipe I found and made my own.

It was close – very close – to what we had at Epcot, but not the same. It came out a little sweeter, and not as mangoy (yes, I just made up the word, don’t care it was that kind of week). Good. But I have a plan for the next time Val has access to loads of mango.