Ah, Sweet Weekend!

So when Friday evening comes around, I usually get a little giddy with excitement.  This should not come as a surprise if you are, you know, human.  Sometimes my excitement has to do with all the unadulterated weekend time I'm going to spend with my DVR (Bravo, FTW!), a DVD I've rented from Netflix (this weekend I'm watching this) or the book I'm reading (which is definitely going to get some attention tomorrow afternoon.)  But 9 times out of 10 it involves excitement over something I'm going to cook.  The weekend is when I make all my time consuming recipes, stockpile things to serve as leftovers for the week ahead, or generally experiment in the kitchen -- and this weekend is no different. 

It's been a busy week though (in a good way -- socializing, working out, meetings, etc) and I have hardly had a minute to think about my cooking adventures for the weekend; however, last night I busted out one of my most used cookbooks to see if there was any inspiration inside, and I was seriously struck over the head with about 25 recipes I wanted to make right this second. 

Do you own this:

I really can't adequately express my love for this book enough.  It is full of (wouldn't you know) great food!  That's fast!  And there are beautiful, glossy photos to accompany each recipe, and I think the bulk of them are pretty foolproof.  It's the kind of food that takes very little effort, but makes you feel all fancy!  I love that.  So this weekend, since I want to cook but I am definitely running on a bit of an empty tank, I think I am going to take a cue from this book and do some delicious, quick cooking. 

I know this Asparagus Gruyere Tart is definitely in my future...and seriously, how easy is that!  Fancy, Easy, yet Incredibly Delicious.  I'm  kind of hoping that's how my weekend turns out as well!

What are you up to, friends?