Networking and Burgers

We kicked off our weekend with an informal networking event in Dallas held by the Texas Young Professionals LinkedIn group.  When we lived in New York, we were in school and always having networking or social events, and we wanted to make sure that we continued to meet new people when we moved to Fort Worth.  On Friday, we drove to Top Golf in Dallas, which is such a cool idea.  It is basically a driving range with a bar, but the driving range has targets that turn it into a game where you can get points and keep score.  We didn't take any of the golf part serious, but it was still lots of fun.  We were able to meet interesting people and check out someplace new.

Those holes in the ground were the targets we aimed for at Top Golf.

Saturday, I had a wonderful friend come over to hang out and catch up.  It was so great getting to her.  This was also a test for our new puppy, Maui, who passed with flying colors.  She cuddled up by the couch as my friend and I caught up and gave us very little hassle.  Maui is such an angel.  After chatting for most of the afternoon, we realized it was dinner time and decided to get burgers at Jake's.  Hubby, my friend, and I were starving, which made the burgers taste that much better.  We had a sampling of their fries (sweet potato with cinnamon sugar, cheddar fries with toppings, and Jake's battered fries), which delighted our taste buds with greasy goodness.  It was just what we needed.

Sunday was a lazy day.  We made a yummy breakfast at home (eggs over easy with potatoes and ham) and went to Central Market for their Hatch chile festival, which is hubby's second favorite time of the year (after football season or maybe Christmas).   We spent the afternoon lounging with Maui before making burgers and salad for dinner.  We had tried a salad at Central Market and fell in love, and, of course, I got the recipe.  It's called "Arugula Salad with Fresh Figs", although we didn't actually use arugula.  The salad is simple but flavorful, and although it sounds a bit fancy, I'm sure substitutes can be made to simplify things further.

Arugula Salad with Fresh Figs (from Central Market)

5 oz. arugula

8 fresh figs, quartered

1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup roasted, salted pistachios

1/4 cup fig chili vinegar

1/4 cup Bear's Garlic Oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk vinegar and oil in a small bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  In a large serving bowl, combine arugula, figs, blue cheese, and pistachios.  Add dressing and toss to combine.

 See, it's so simple!  I think that the figs and blue cheese really make the salad.  The other ingredients can be easily substituted for your preferences and availability of items (not sure how popular fig chili vinegar is). 

I completely forgot to take a picture until the very end... it was just that good!

 Maui napping on our lazy Sunday... she is such a a good puppy!