I don’t know about you all, but these past few days have more or less been an extension of the Christmas holiday for Michael and I – we’ve eaten so well, relaxed quite a bit, and most importantly, we’ve had the chance to catch up with dear friends. We shared a dim sum feast with one of our favorite families at Empire yesterday and today we met two more sweet friends for brunch at Hot Suppa.

As is often the case with us in the winter, we spent a good bit of time experimenting in the kitchen this weekend. First up – our clementine infused gin, which we’ll be sharing more about in a special cocktail post tomorrow. It was so easy and the finished product is so delicious, that we’re kind of hooked. We’re already brainstorming our next concoction! Our weekend dinners were just as tasty – risotto with lemon & mushroom and salade lyonnaise from this book. We capped off a rather indulgent weekend by putting our bourbon soaked cherries to good use atop homemade buttermilk ice cream with chocolate covered pretzels for dessert last night. Just as good as it sounds – trust me. After typing all of this out, I’m thinking we’ll be seeing lots of green juices and quinoa salads in our future for 2014. Or at least for the first week anyway…