Forty-Fourth Fun

This morning when we rolled out of bed Hubby Tony and I had been married for one additional year. Forty-four years ago we said I Do and started our life together.

We had a great time celebrating the day. The first official activity was to head to the the Fox Theater box office. I think we're some of the few people who haven't seen the musical Hamilton live, but now we have tickets for it in early September.

On the way down to the Fox we stopped in the Central West End. I always enjoy walking around the historic neighborhood and looking at the mansions. It was starting to heat up, but we chose the streets with most shade and it wasn't too bad.

After getting the tickets we came home to recharge, then headed out for errands and lunch. Earlier in the week a new restaurant opened a couple of miles from our house. Porano is a fast-casual place operated by Gerard Craft, a local chef who has won multiple awards, including the James Beard Foundation Best Chef-Midwest in 2015. We have been to several of Craft's other restaurants and all have been outstanding.

After looking at the menu online, I knew I knew my meal would include farro (which hardly ever shows up at restaurants). My 'build your own' bowl contained a layer of the grain and topped with pulled pork, red sauce, sweet peppers, and Parmesan cheese. Tony chose a Mediterranean pasta with roasted red pepper sauce, tofu, green olives, and slivered almonds. We added a salad to share.

While we were ordering I casually mentioned to the cashier we were celebrating our anniversary. The manager was standing there, and near the end of our meal he came over to the table and asked if we would like a cookie or gelato pop on him. We both chose gelato.  It was a lovely end to the meal.

After the morning full excitement we headed home. The baseball Cardinals were in Chicago and had a day game against the Cubs. Tony turned on the TV and we settled in. However, offensively it was all Cubs and I quickly lost interest.

I wasn't planning on cooking dinner on this special day. Fortunately, the American Greetings website informed me that the modern gift for a 44th anniversary is groceries, which I interpreted to mean that a frozen pizza worked. Tony put the meal together.