put the lime in the coconut.

so this weekend didn’t turn out quite the way i’d planned (no patterned key rack – yet – and the apartment is still not totally clean), but it was great. and that’s all that matters, right?

friday night, after going to a work event for one of the monthly departments that i write, i met up with my good friend k. at a fun bar downtown and then headed home for a night of rest and relaxation. i slept late on saturday, made some headway on cleaning my apartment and then, when plans for the evening fell through, made myself some more of my favorite creamy artichoke soup, complete with a cup of green tea with honey and a chunk of warm, crusty french bread from whole foods. (i’m looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today.) then, sunday, i had lunch at yummy a downtown italian restaurant, café epicure, with another friend, then met up with k. again and went shopping, kayaking on the bay (!! my arms are so sore, but it was so awesome) and beach-walking. the day ended with a south african-inspired dinner at k.’s family’s house on the siesta key bayfront that included lots of wine, great conversation and yummy fruits and vegetables. it was literally a perfect day – i can’t imagine doing anything more fun. and needless to say, i slept incredibly well last night.

last night’s dinner also made me decide, once and for all, to make this week a food-themed week for the blog, so we’ll have more than one recipe, a “stuff i love today” kitchenware post and even a food-related style file. i know i said i’d post a recipe from the silver palate cookbook that my mom recently gifted me, but let’s save that for wednesday and start today off on a sweet note, with the peninsula grill’s famous 12-pound coconut cake.

before i post the link to the recipe, let me just say that serving this cake will make you the most popular person at whatever event you happen to be attending. it’s two days’ worth of sticky, coconutty, fun work, but the results are well worth it. i baked it for my office’s holiday lunch and people were genuinely upset when i took the last small piece out of the kitchen before the end of the work day. and in case you’re wondering, it really does weigh 12 pounds. this cake is a beast. here’s a picture (please excuse the fact that it’s saran-wrapped; i baked it the night before the holiday lunch and wrapped it in an attempt to keep it from being infused with other flavors from my fridge).

[not quite as pretty as the one on the peninsula grill web site, but just as tasty.]

anyway, without further ado, click here for the recipe – you’ll be taken to epicurious.com. and if you don’t want to make the cake yourself, the peninsula grill will ship it to you – click here for information (yes, the cake’s so popular it even has its own page on the restaurant web site).

one more thing: i’m going to try and make a trip to overholt’s produce stand this week, and i’m really excited. for those of you who don’t know, overholt’s is located in a section of sarasota that’s known for its mennonite population and a couple of really delicious amish restaurants (a coworker and i recently had lunch at yoder’s, and the cream pies are to die for). the strawberries k.’s family served at last night’s dinner were from overholt’s, and they were plump, sweet and juicy. i’ve heard great things about it, and it shuts down for the summer in about a month, so i need to haul my cookies over there and pick up some fruit. yum. will report back.