I got a huge amount done this weekend, at least cooking-wise.

A new batch of granola was awaiting us this morning for breakfast. This one was pretty simple: dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, just a smidge of cinnamon, sliced almonds, all added to the basic oats/wheat germ brew. I upped the quantity of maple syrup just a tad. It’s delicious.

Having been thwarted by the Cupcake Truck on Friday (they ran out of frosting — frosting, people, the cupcake’s raison d’etre), I vowed to make cupcakes myself this weekend. And so I did. Using a couple of recipes from Cook’s Illustrated, I made a dozen Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and topped them off with Easy Chocolate Buttercream. I hadn’t made buttercream in years — since way before I got my stand mixer — and I will now never buy frosting in a can again. Ever.

Jim made some iced chai tea yesterday and I made up a batch of simple syrup, so last night’s beverage treat was an iced chai — very nice to do at home.

Last but not least, pictured here you can see the nice chicken salad we’re having for lunch this week. I poached 2 lbs of boneless chicken breast in a bit of chicken stock and water, accompanied by a couple of bay leaves. Once cooled and diced, I added three stalks of sliced celery and a bit of mayo and some pesto I had leftover from last week’s pasta pesto salad. The chicken is served on a bed of arugula and accompanied by those lovely, not-from-my-garden-yet tomatoes. It’s quite tasty, if I do say so myself, and there’s a bag of fresh (and on sale!) cherries for dessert.