October 8th

Today is my husband's and my wedding anniversary.

Just as we have spent so much of our lives together, we don't have grand plans.

It will be a quiet night in the comfort of our home.

I will cook something simple, but (hopefully) delicious.

After a long day of working, he will probably fall asleep in his chair.

There is a Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting baked with the last monster zucchini from this year's garden.

And tomorrow, we will start building another year of our lives together. 

Seared Scallops with Bacon and Sauteed Spinach

(adapted from Cooking Light)

5 slices bacon

1 1/2 pounds jumbo sea scallops

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

12 ounces fresh baby spinach

Cook bacon in a large cast-iron skillet until crisp.
Remove from pan, chop, and set aside.
Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan, and increase heat to high. (The pan needs to be screaming hot to properly sear the scallops.)
Pat scallops dry with paper towels (wet scallops don't sear), and season with salt and pepper.
Add scallops to the hot pan and cook 2 1/2 minutes per side, until done.
Transfer to plate and keep warm.
Reduce heat in pan and add onion and garlic.
Saute until onion is tender, but be careful not to burn the garlic (burnt garlic is bitter).
Add the spinach in batches, stirring and cooking until wilted.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Divided spinach equally between 4 plates, top with bacon, and serve with scallops. (Serves 4...but, truthfully, only 2 of us ate it all with a crusty baguette and a nice bottle of wine.)