First Weekend in April

What a great weekend! It really started on Thursday, because we bought tickets a little bit last minute to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra playing at Hill in A2. It was a great show and the conductor, David Robertson, connected well with the audience and was highly energized. I had never heard anything by the composer John Adams performed live before and the orchestra executed it tremendously.

http://www.ums.org/S_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=499

But the best part about seeing a show in Ann Arbor might be eating out before hand. At least in part to simplify parking, we visited Ashley's on campus for the first time. A plus, Bell's Two Hearted Ale on tap! My perennial dining companion had a sampler (of which I really liked the Old Speckled Hen). I ordered the Thai Chicken Quesadilla (yum, peanut sauce) which was really good and and my PDC had an excellent burger and we split some Stilton-enhanced fries. Wow. Way too much food but it was all so good! Next time we just split the fries. Ironically, we were some of the oldest folks in the establishment, but the tunes were all our high school years - Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis and the News, etc. We will be back:

http://www.ashleys.com/index.html

Friday night was my 41st birthday and we celebrated by playing racquetball at Lifetime and then grilling out bleu cheese burgers at home (topped with sauted onions and mushrooms). Good stuff! Who says you can't grill out in Michigan in early April!

Saturday we were back in Ann Arbor twice. First, to visit the Farmer's Market (greens, radishes, eggs, Empire Apples and some beets). Then, later, back to Hill Auditorium to listen to the amazing Chick Corea and John McLaughlin and crew (the awesome in their own right Christian McBride on bass, Brian Blades on drums, and Kenny Garret on saxophone) rocked the house. We didn't eat out though. I made chickpea cauliflower curry over jasmine rice (the recipe suggested basmati but I like jasmine better for something like this)....

http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/fasteasyfresh/2009/05/curried_cauliflower_and_chickpea_stew