Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

"I support the Food Revolution. America's kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive."

If you agree, go sign the petition Jamie is going to take to the White House: http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

Still not convinced why this is important? Here's Jamie Oliver's own words: "I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It's time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!" (Link)

I agree with him. Fresh food is something everyone deserves to have. Healthy and nutritious food is something everyone deserves to have. Enough food is something everyone deserves to have. The children of today are the first generation for centuries that will likely have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. And it's largely related to food, to what they eat. We need to change that.

So please sign the petition. Help make a positive change in the lives of America's children.

Is this balance?

So the weekend started with my massive disappointment in which I did not get NIN tickets despite being "in line waiting" before they even went on sale. Reportedly all the NYC shows sold out in 10 minutes.

The weekend then moved into the "are you f*cking kidding me" phase. We had a massive thunderstorm. Truly massive. The drains outside couldn't handle it. I even went out in the rain and removed debris from the drain to help and there still was a good 1 inch of water. The drain just couldn't keep up with the deluge. It rained like that for a good hour before it finally let up. When I went downstairs to go to bed (given my bedroom being in the finished basement), I thought the carpet felt a little squishy. So I leaned down to see what was up with my hand.

It was wet. WET CARPET IN MY BEDROOM. Clearly the deluge had overloaded the drains and the water table and the runoff had ended up in my bedroom, soaking part of my carpet. It had come in at one place along the wall, and then pooled under my bed. So I gathered up all the rag towels I had and started spreading them everywhere, lifting up the corner of the bed to put it under the bedposts. I also had to move my mattress to lift up the center support beam and put a towel under that leg given that was where the most of the water was. Much cursing was involved, and I think I bruised my knee banging it against the edge of the bed. Given that it was now midnight, there wasn't much more I could do so I collapsed into bed.

Then came the balance part of my weekend. My landlord was planning on coming by on Saturday to finish some repairs. Granted, several of these were repairs that should have been done 6 months ago (the end of the bedroom leak saga), but the timing ended up actually being a good thing. I was able to call her before she was on her way and let her know about the deluge induced bedroom flood, giving her time to find a wet-vac.

Saturday I had plans to meet up with my friend EM and hit the farmers' market in Clark Park and get breakfast tacos and Stumptown iced coffee from Honest Tom's taco truck. She arrived the same time as my landlord with the handyman (a different one this time...seemed to know more what he was doing, which made me very happy). I walked my landlord and the handyman through the apartment, reviewing everything that needed to be done to make sure we were all on the same page. Then EM and I headed out for breakfast and the farmers' market.

We returned a couple of hours later, bellies full of yummy breakfast tacos and bags of fresh farmers' market goods in hand, to find they were finishing up. They had to run out for a quick part to fix the toilet downstairs (the handle was being held to the plunger with a safety pin! which I discovered when it rusted through the other day), but otherwise they were done. Wow. The drywall mudding was done on the ceiling patches. He fixed the vent on my dryer that the gas company f-ed up recently. They had wet-vac-ed the bedroom, even putting the wet towels in the dryer. They moved my dehumidifier and my box fan in there to finish the drying process. Part of the carpet was still damp, where the most water had pooled, but certainly no longer soaked. They were really and truly done, the repairs completed in ONE visit as planned. This is new. I like it.

So EM and I headed back out to walk her bike down to the local shop (Firehouse Bicycles) to get a flat tire fixed. While we were sipping some nice iced coffees (from Satellite Cafe) and sitting in the park on the grass waiting for the flat repair to be finished, my landlord called to tell me they had finished replacing the flushing valve and handle and were now completely done. Miracles never cease.

EM and I had a lovely day. One random activity just kind of flowed into the other, no schedule, no plan, culminating in a gathering at Miss Plum's place for some grilling. The weather was gorgeous. The day overall was quite relaxing.

I'm guessing the lovely day was the balance for the hellish evening the day before. Went from high stress/frustration/anger to calm and relaxed. I'm not sure I like this flip-flopping stuff.

So, Universe, can we not do this one extreme to the other and instead just have some even-keel for awhile? I'd really appreciate it.

Ruined by good food

I've been eating primarily local organic food from the farmers' market lately. I'm lucky that I live walking distance from a year round farmers' market. I also signed up for a winter CSA (community supported agriculture) with Keystone Farm, so I get a box of food every week (with pick up at the market on Saturdays). In my 1/2 regular share, I get meat, cheese, 1/2 dozen eggs, granola, and a bunch of seasonal fruits and veggies. In winter that means primarily apples, potatoes, carrots, onions, and greenhouse grown lettuces. Because of this I've been doing a lot of cooking. A LOT. It's a challenge to find a way to use everything in my box each week. And I do love a challenge.

When I pick up my box each week, I also pick up a few other staples: milk (whole raw and organic from happy grass fed cows), yogurt, bread, and anything else to supplement what's in my box. There's even a stand that sells dried herbs and dried beans. I've only been to the grocery store a few times in the past months, to buy things like olive oil that aren't available at the farmers' market.

But all this good local organic food has a consequence, which I discovered last night.

One of the things I usually have a few of lying around are frozen lasagnas. From a certain company (think red box). Growing up my mom would even buy the family size when she didn't have time to make lasagna from scratch. It's the next best thing to homemade, and I always thought it was quite tasty. I also usually had a few of the blue boxes of mac 'n' cheese as well. They're comfort foods. For those nights when I don't have the energy or focus to cook. Meaning I could do myself serious harm if I tried to use fire to make dinner because I'm so tired I'm likely to burn myself by grabbing a hot pan without an oven mitt. Last night was one of those nights.

So I pulled out a frozen single serve lasagna and heated it up. And this is where it gets depressing.

It didn't taste good.

Really. I didn't enjoy eating it. I ate it because I was hungry, but I was honestly tempted to throw it out (read: give it to my dog, the walking garbage disposal...who needs a compost bin when you have a dog?) and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead but my bread was frozen. I was telling my best friend S about it and she said it's like when she tried to eat her favorite boxed mac 'n' cheese (a popular organic brand) from her childhood and all she could taste was salt and chemicals. And that's exactly what it was that I tasted. Salt and chemicals. It even left an unpleasant lingering aftertaste on my tongue. I ended up drinking a glass of that whole raw organic milk to cleanse my palate and wash away the chemical and salt coating on my tongue.

I've been ruined by good food. Damn.

Post-Thanksgiving meal review

Well, the Detroit Lions lost horribly in their game against the Tennessee Titans. A disaster of a game. Worst loss on Thanksgiving day ever for the Lions.

Fortunately, my dinner was NOT a disaster. It was DELICIOUS. I declare this year's Thanksgiving feast a complete success! You can see before and after pictures of the Thanksgiving meal on my Flickr page.

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast (recipe from Ina Garten)
This recipe was so easy. I bought a nice 7 pound turkey breast, bone in, and spread this delicious mix of herbs and garlic all over it and under the skin. I put it in a roasting pan, and I poured a cup of a nice pinot grigio into the bottom. Into the oven it went, and a little less than 2 hours later, it was done. It turned out juicy, was completely cooked (no undercooked poultry here!), and has an amazing flavor. I can't wait to make turkey sandwiches out of the leftovers!

As for the gravy, I used the defatted pan drippings, which had some of the delicious herbs in it, and combined them in a pan with some butter and flour. It thickened up nicely this year. I'm getting better at gravy (it takes practice just like my mom said).

Note: I don't own a roasting pan. Nor do I own a roasting rack. So I bought a small aluminum roasting pan at the grocery store, and made a snake out of some aluminum foil to create a makeshift rack on the bottom. It worked well.

Caramelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing (recipe from Tyler Florence)
Since I was only making a turkey breast and didn't have anything to stuff, I used the option of cooking it in a baking dish instead, essentially turning stuffing into dressing. I took a hand from the store and used pre-made cornmeal muffins. The flavor of the sage was nice without being overpowering. Unfortunately, however, it turned out a bit dry. It may have baked for too long, or maybe the dish was too big so it was spread too thin. I'm not sure. With some gravy poured over it to make it moist, it tasted wonderful, so I think I'll try it again, but I'll play around with the size of the baking dish. And when I reheat it I think I'll add a touch of chicken stock.

Smashed Sweet Potatoes (recipe also from Ina Garten)
I was looking for something different this year to do with my sweet potatoes. Yes, there's something to be said for the candied ones with pecans and marshmallows. But I know I'll get those at Christmas, so I wanted something else for Thanksgiving. So I tried these.

They turned out a bit loose rather than the expected thick like mashed potatoes, but they are wonderfully spicy and not overly sweet. The orange juice in them adds some necessary acid to keep them from being sugary. Overall, I'll make these again, but next time I'll try adding an extra potato or two to give it a better consistency. These are definitely being added to my recipe file for future use.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Garlic
I made these last year. They are SO GOOD. And easy. I cooked them up while the turkey rested and just wow. Nice thick cut bacon, a couple of cloves of minced garlic and lots of fresh brussels sprouts all caramelized in the pan. Just perfect. I don't think I could improve on this one if I tried my hardest, but why would I want to?

Cranberry & Wine Sauce
I got this recipe from my friends AH and DS. Yes, we have our family tradition of orange-ginger-cranberry relish, but like the sweet potatoes, I'm making that for Christmas. I actually made this the night before, to give it time to chill and gel. Take two bags of fresh cranberries, 2 cups of port wine, 2 cups of sugar, and a bunch of spices and throw it all in a pot and boil until the cranberries pop. That's it. So easy. And it turned out fantastic. I'm looking forward to putting a spoonful over my oatmeal in the morning or warming a bit and pouring it over ice cream.

As for dessert, right now I'm too full. And tomorrow is my annual Pumpkin Roll baking extravaganza. But for tonight I'm going to do the dishes and collapse on the couch for awhile.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You can read all about my favorite holiday in last year's post. I have the same plan again this year, to stay home and make myself a feast and be grateful for a day to myself with my four legged fuzzy children. Oh, and there will be football, in keeping with the family tradition of watching the Lions as most of my family originates in Michigan. Again I'm trying a few new recipes, trying to expand my holiday dishes repertoire. And since it's just me, if they turn out terrible no one has to suffer. I'm definitely making enough to have leftovers. I'm all about the open faced turkey sandwiches.

My menu this year:

• Herb-roasted turkey breast (recipe from Ina Garten)
• Gravy (with giblets and a hard boiled egg...it's a Southern thing)
  
• Cornbread and caramelized onion dressing (recipe from Tyler Florence)
• Smashed sweet potatoes (recipe again from Ina Garten)
• Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onion (did this last year - loved it!)
• Cranberry sauce (from my friends AH and DS - all spicy sweet)

I've got all the basics there, but with a few twists. Look for a review tomorrow (with pictures). In addition to cooking and relaxing today, I'll be talking to my friends and family scattered all over the planet to remind them how glad I am they are in my life and giving thanks for their unending support during this rather rough year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kitchen appliance love

Anyone that has read a few posts on this blog knows that I'm a food geek. I LOVE to try new recipes and experiment in the kitchen. I'm not afraid of trying new foods. I like to play around and tweak recipes. I'm also not afraid to share recipes (just ask!). And I'm certainly not afraid to admit when something turned out not so good and should never ever be made again. I have my mother to thank for my food geekiness. She was always trying new foods, new recipes, and she asked for honest reviews of them. We had our family favorites, but more often than not we tried something new on a regular basis. I have an addiction now to trying new recipes, and my cookbook collection must be very very carefully monitored. It would take me a lifetime to try all the recipes I've clipped or emailed myself or saved over the years.

With this love of food and recipes comes a love of kitchen tools. I do subscribe to the Alton Brown school of thought that everything in your kitchen should be able to do more than one task (multitaskers) and the only unitasker in the kitchen is the fire extinguisher. So I'm pretty judicious when I choose my appliances. All the appliances I do have I actually use regularly and generally am quite fond of (some more than others). I currently own the following:

• Electric kettle
  
• Microwave (still learning to use this...I did go more than 5 years without one)
  
• Toaster (wide slot)
  
• Hand mixer
  
• Kitchenaid stand mixer (artesian) with several attachments

My most recent acquisition is a stick (or immersion) blender. I had a regular blender for years, but it never could quite do all the things I wanted it to. Trying to blend/puree hot things was tedious as you could only do small batches and it involved moving hot liquids from one container to another and back again. So mostly I used it to make hummus. I did finally cave and bought myself a stick blender. I am now in love with it. Seriously. It blends soups, sauces, smoothies, spreads, and anything else I can stick in a pot or a glass.

I used it tonight to blend up some apple-onion-acorn squash-curry soup. It's amazing how smooth and quick and easy it was to use. And the blade portion disconnects for easy washing. I'm now combing through my recipe stash to see what other recipes I have that require blending so I can play with my new kitchen toy.

Good friends and good food

CH and I had lunch at S'MAC on Saturday. All they do is mac and cheese. And OMG. A cast iron pan of creamy goodness. Fantastic.

I ordered the "major munch" size of the Parisienne. Brie, roasted figs, mushrooms and rosemary. Topped with breadcrumbs and baked until the top got all crusty and brown and the inside bubbled. Very much a "grown up" mac 'n' cheese. Incredibly good. And incredibly rich. I couldn't finish it. I think even if I had gotten the smaller "nosh" size I wouldn't have been able to finish it. It was that rich and creamy. The mushrooms and rosemary were delicious with the brie. And the roasted figs added this amazing sweet surprise. I wondered how the sweet figs would pair with the cheese, but they cut through the creaminess of the brie very nicely.

CH chose the Cheeseburger. Definitely a throwback to childhood comfort food with a nice crunchy top crust. Very tasty, and not quite as rich. I think it was the brie that made the Parisienne so intense.

After stuffing our stomachs, we either needed a nap or a walk. We opted for the walk. As we wandered around, we happened upon a street fair on 2nd Ave. in the East Village. A good 6 or so blocks were filled with people and random tents of food (no thanks...still full) and various crafts, jewelery, music, clothing and pretty much anything else you can think of. I think my favorite tent was the one called "Interesting Things" and had everything from tape measures to tweezers! Definitely and interesting mix of things.

Later that afternoon my friend EH and his fiancee were having a gathering on a bar up in the Murray Hill area. Over dinner last night, CH's friend had mentioned a fabulous international market in the same area. So we hopped on the subway and headed up to Midtown. We found our way to Kalustyan's and wow! The place was packed to the gills with bins, endless varieties of curries, spices, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I had been looking for a spice blend called Ras el Hanout for a Moroccan chicken recipe and had been unable to find it. Kalustyan's had it. In four sizes and two brands. Amazing. It was a bit overwhelming actually, and I was glad I had something specific to find. I think I could have wandered aimlessly for hours otherwise. I did see as I was leaving that they had chocolate covered ginger in a bin...yum. Next time.

We left Kalustyan's and headed for the Rare View bar on the roof of the Shelburne Hotel to meet up with my friend EH and meet his fiancee. I was so fantastic to see EH, as it had been way way too many years. He and K are getting married in October here in the U.S., but since they both work in another country, this was the only opportunity to meet K before the wedding. I'm so glad I did. K is great. And it's wonderful to see my friend EH so happy. He and K are awesome people and they seem to be good for and to each other and balance each other quite well. So congratulations to them and I'm so excited and happy for them!

After all that walking, CH and I opted for some hang out time with the dog (Aussie as always followed CH around endlessly, it's so cute!). Some good Indian naninis and hockey playoffs (go Detroit Red Wings!!) rounded out the day perfectly. It was a much needed weekend full of time with good friends and some really good food and general downtime away from work. I'm ready to face the next week now.

Re-learning a lesson

So I'm up in NYC for the weekend with my dog staying with my friend CH. He's gracious enough to let me crash on his futon. Actually, I think it's all about my dog, and he just puts up with me to see her. Figures. The purpose of this trip is to see my friend EH and meet his fiancee. It's also nice to spend some time and hang out with CH as we're both so busy that it doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, last night we met up with a couple of his friends for dinner at Great Jones Cafe. They have excellent cajun style food like gumbo and jambalaya. Their pulled pork sandwich was fantastic. So were the crayfish we split as an appetizer.

We also had margaritas. Good margaritas. Tequila and I don't generally get long, to the point that I had a no tequila rule for 2007 (the result of a night involving too many tequila shots). But, since they're known for their margaritas, I figured I'd give it a try and just not go overboard. No shots. Just a couple of nice margaritas (stopping at two).

Mistake. Big big mistake.

I have now re-learned my lesson. NO TEQUILA. Ever. It's not about how much tequila I drink. It doesn't matter, it's going to make me sick/nauseous.

I'm not going to forget again. This is not a lesson I particularly want to keep re-learning.

Mmmm...pancakes!

My friends JM and TP came to Philly with their daughter E for brunch this morning. JM and I share a birthday (but different years) and we've always gone out for lunch or something to celebrate. Well, now that we live in different states, that wasn't an option, so it got postponed until brunch today. Happy belated birthday to us!

Brunch is one of my favorite meals. I love breakfast. We used to have breakfast for dinner sometimes growing up. But when I first wake up in the morning, I don't want a big meal quite yet. So brunch ends up being a perfect time in the day for me to really enjoy the breakfast food. Not to mention I love pancakes and despite all my dad's instruction, I just can't seem to make them successfully. So the only time I get to eat them is when I go out for brunch.

My friend KS told me about this place here in Philly that is known for it's brunch: Honey's Sit 'n Eat. It describes itself as Jewish soul food. I'm not sure what Jewish soul food is, but the food at Honey's is AMAZING. Absolutely delicious. I can't wait to go back and try other things on the menu.

Today I had the whole wheat pancakes stuffed with granola, bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. And a side of bacon (just because bacon is good). The pancakes were huge. Two pancakes in the order, and they are practically the size of dinner plates! And thick with all the stuffing. They came with syrup only, and that's really all they needed. They were so light and fluffy, and soaked up all the delicious syrup. And filling. I actually shared them with JS and TP because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to finish them! The fruit wasn't all mushy (mushy fruit is not good eats), but it was definitely warm and cooked through while still retaining the texture of the original fruit. And the granola added a nice nutty flavor to the pancake batter. Especially with the sesame seeds and sunflowers in it. I could go on and on about those pancakes. Instead, I offer up this picture of the yumminess (which doesn't do it justice...trust me...DELICIOUS!):

Whole wheat pancakes stuffed with granola and fruit. YUM!

Oh. The bacon was good too. Perfect combination of crispy and chewy. JM went for the French toast, made with challah bread. She said it was light and fluffy and very tasty. It smelled delicious. TP had an omelette with a latke on the side. And not just any omelette, but one with bacon, bacon, and yet more bacon. Yes, a triple bacon omelette. And he said it was quite tasty. E had her own pancake and ate most of it, which as anyone that has a toddler knows, is not typical for mealtime. It's high praise that she ate so much of it! TP and JM had some of the fresh squeezed orange juice (there's an old fashioned juicer behind the bar so you know it's really fresh) and said it was fantastic. We also had coffee, which was quite good.

I so have to go back to Honey's sooner rather than later. The only downside is that there is definitely a long wait for brunch on the weekends, so either eat a light breakfast or bring a small snack for while you wait. Oh, and they're cash only, so make sure you bring at least $15 for brunch plus coffee and a tip. The wait staff is friendly and attentive. We didn't lack for coffee refills and they were very patient about having to pick up the forks E dropped on the floor and more than willing to bring us extra cutlery and extra napkins. I definitely recommend this place. Honey's definitely met my expectations for a delicious brunch.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Please Touch Museum so E could run off some energy. They had story time and jugglers today, both of which just entranced her. She even participated in story time, making animal sounds along with the reader quite happily. The jugglers were great, using the audience at random moments to help during their act. Overall, a great Sunday with friends.

Busy busy weekend

Last Saturday morning was the Philly Cleanup (a city wide spring cleaning neighborhood by neighborhood sponsored by Mayor Nutter). So I spent a good hour with my neighbors sweeping up the trash and bagging it for pick up. The city provided brooms, gloves, and bags to block coordinators, and had arranged for pick up of full bags later that afternoon from participating blocks neighborhoods all over the city. It was good to be out with my neighbors and helping out. I think that was the first time some of them had seen me without the dog attached to me!

Saturday afternoon I was invited to attend a Talk Cinema showing with DS (his boss subscribes and gave DS his tickets for this week's show since he couldn't attend). What happens is the audience (subscribers) get to watch an advance screening of a film, usually one that had been screened at a film festival, and is probably up for wider release soon. After the movie, a critic leads a discussion and Q & A session. They also have comment cards for you to rate the film and leave comments. The thing about this series is that you have no idea what you're walking into, no idea what film you're about to see. Basically it's an adventure at the movies!

The Talk Cinema movie on Saturday afternoon was The Life Before Her Eyes. One word describes this movie perfectly: INTENSE. But good. It's one of those movies that you really have to think about (and think during) yet it provokes an emotional response at the same time. And you don't really understand what the movie is truly about until the very end. And once you get to the end, you have mentally revisit the entire movie before it all makes sense. Kind of like in the Sixth Sense how you didn't know he was dead until the end and that drastically changed the movie as a whole. And to add a layer of complication the entire movie is made up of anachronistic moments (future past future past). A warning, without giving anything away, the film centers around a school shooting, so if you can't deal with those types of images (potential triggers) you'll want to avoid the movie.

DS and I had the same reaction of needing a minute afterwards to think it through before we could decide if we even liked it or not. And the discussion with the critic afterwards was interesting. The audience had the opportunity to ask questions, and it did help fill in some of the blanks. She had talked with the director and had some interesting insights/answers about the film. But definitely one of those movies that you can continue to talk about for awhile after it's over. On some level, you need to talk about it to fully process and make sense of it.

After the movie, DS and I took a very long walk, discussing/processing the movie pretty much the entire way. The weather was gorgeous, and the walk from 2nd Street all the way to around 34th Street didn't feel all that long. It was wonderful to be out in the sunshine and fresh spring air and clear our heads. We met AH (who had to work that afternoon which is why I got to go to the Talk Cinema film) and then the three of us walked back down to around 18th Street. We decided to go for delicious beers and dinner at Monk's Cafe. Definitely one of my favorite Philly food spots. We split a couple of pots of mussels, and decided to be adventurous and try one of the varieties with cheese and apples and balanced it with a more traditional Flemish pot. We were all a bit disappointed that the cheese and apples didn't really flavor the mussels themselves, but they made a delicious broth to soak up with our bread! Finally, we topped the day off with gelato at Capogiro. So creamy and delicious. The flavors of their gelato are so clean and taste so true. It's a good thing their shops aren't just around the corner...

On Sunday I went to the Philadelphia Zoo with JM and her daughter E. It was damp and chilly, and raining a bit when we got there, so we spent as much time inside as many of the houses as possible. At the first house they had a face painting station. E was remarkably patient for a 3 year old and sat so still so she could have a pink pig painted on her face (it's all about the pink!). She spent the rest of the day being very very careful to not wipe off any of her pink face. Even during lunch she was careful and got worried when we we had to clean the ketchup off her chin. Lucky for us, the majority of the pink stayed on, despite the apple she ate and the ketchup.

E's reaction to the reptile and amphibian house was priceless! We walked in, she ran ahead, rounded a corner, and when she saw the snake (a big green python I believe) she turned around and ran back for the door shaking her head and chanting "no no no no no!" That was the end of the reptile and amphibian house for the day. Lucky for us, she got over it her fears quickly as there was much more to see at the zoo.

We spent the majority of our time in the primate house. E loved watching the monkeys. Probably because they were so active and gave her lots to watch. And the Squirrel monkeys barely stopped moving long enough for me to get a picture. E spent a good 5 minutes having a staring contest with a Golden lion tamarin. The zoo also had a baby sifaka! It was so cute! Mom and dad were up in the branches with baby, and every now and then you'd see this tiny little black hand grab white fur and this little face would appear under the arm of a parent. While I was watching, the baby decided to sit on dad's head for a bit. Just adorable. We were lucky and the rain did let up so we were able to see the big cats before we left. All the cats were spending their afternoon napping. Lazy lazy Sunday. Well, except the jaguar, who was pacing (I think it was almost lunch time as he was pacing in front of the door leading inside to his food!). The trip to the zoo was a nice break for my brain (and a much needed one!) after the intensity of the movie the day before. And I added a bunch of photos to my Philadelphia Zoo set on Flickr.

That's several weekends in a row with lots of activities and lots of walking. I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekends and get some chores done!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Sunday

Part 3: Sunday

After our late night, KM and I slept in a bit. PM, on the other hand, was responsible and got up to do some of his work. Color me impressed. Once KM and I got up and got moving, we decided to head out for brunch. KM and PM had been looking for a good brunch spot, and I think they've now found it.

MoKaBe's does a great Sunday buffet brunch. I had been several times, but it had been many years, and I hadn't been since their renovation/expansion. With the added space, they have expanded the buffet to add more delicious goodies. KM and PM are vegans, and MoKaBe's menu and brunch buffet includes multiple vegan options, including vegan French toast on request! They both gave the French toast enthusiastic thumbs up. I had the stuffed French toast, filled with cream cheese and candied walnuts and topped with real maple syrup. After stuffing ourselves on juice, coffee (me), tofu scrambles, eggs (me), potatoes, fruit, biscuits and the aforementioned French toast, we headed home.

PM needed to do work, so getting out of the house so he could focus was necessary. KM and I took a long walk. After all that food in our yummy brunch, the long walk was just what we needed. KM and I walked to the Central West End for coffee and lots of talking and catching up. Again, this was the whole point of the weekend for me, to spend quality time with friends I don't get to see nearly often enough. KM and I usually see each other at library conferences, but we're both very busy so we don't have time for anything beyond a quick dinner or to hug each other in passing between meetings. Ultimately we talked until we were hoarse!

When we got back, CC and JH stopped by to share their wedding plans (wedding in September) and catch up on all the happenings in their lives and mine.

The plan for dinner on Sunday was Schlafly Bottleworks. My only request for the weekend was a meal there. Such good food, and they have this dessert called Sticky Toffee Pudding that is just to die for. Bottleworks makes a point to use as many local products as possible, and with a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options like vegetarian meatballs for their pasta and pizzas (wood fired and oh so tasty!). They also have things like yummy Bison burgers (yes, I've had them) and pulled pork sandwiches that are huge and delicious. I've never been disappointed by anything I've eaten there, which is quite the achievement for any restaurant. Schlafly actually has two restaurants, the original Tap Room which has lots of pub-style food, and Bottleworks which is more of a family style atmosphere and a completely different menu. But they serve the Sticky Toffee Pudding at both locations because they're known for it and it's that good. So to honor my request, a bunch of friends gathered at Bottleworks for food and dessert.

I started with a field greens salad (to balance the dessert, otherwise known as the "food negation theory" courtesy of the Amateur Gourmet). The house salad at Bottleworks has this fantastic vanilla vinaigrette and is topped with goat cheese, toasted almonds, and garlic croutons. I asked for a half salad, which is still HUGE, so LC and I split it (see? we share!). The vanilla vinaigrette is just fantastic...I must figure out how to make my own. I followed the delicious salad with the Bottleworks mac and cheese. This is not mac and cheese from a box, this is the real deal. Creamy and cheesy with Monterey Jack, Mozzarella and Provolone cheeses. I paired my delicious dinner with one of their beers, the Winter Extra Special Bitter. I have a weakness for ESBs and bitter beers in general, and Schlafly makes great beer. I'm never disappointed by their brews. I just wish they shipped beyond Missouri and Southern Illinois (they limit to something like a 6 hour radius by truck!).

I saved plenty of room for the dessert, the entire purpose of the trip to Bottleworks, the Sticky Toffee Pudding. This is a British style pudding, a dense cake that is very moist. And rich. I've never been able to eat a serving of it all on my own, it has to be shared. And I don't usually say that with dessert. I'll share just about any meal, but I tend to be protective of my desserts. The pudding is topped with a warm caramel sauce, and served with fresh whipped cream on the side. Whipped cream so well made and creamy that it has been mistaken for a scoop of ice cream. This dessert is a weakness of mine. Just thinking about it makes me drool. It is so tasty. A friend, J, had never had it before. We forced him to try a bite and he was briefly speechless before remarking it "almost" reminded him what sex was like (I almost peed my pants laughing at that one!). But the Sticky Toffee Pudding is THAT good. I promise.

Sticky Toffee Pudding deliciousness
Look at that pool of caramel and mound of whipped cream goodness...

After some tearful goodbyes, we left Bottleworks. My flight left at 7:20 on Monday morning, meaning I had to be up at the horrific hour of 4:30am. So KM and I didn't stay up too late chatting in the interest of getting some sleep. It was a fantastic visit. Everything I wanted it to be and more. I ate lots of really delicious food, and spent the entire time being with friends that I love dearly.

To all my friends in St. Louis: lots of love and hugs and I miss you all!

Slow Saturday

Part 2: Saturday

LC and I decided to take it easy on Saturday. We slept in (again). We had a leisurely morning. There were a couple of things "scheduled" later in the day, but nothing pressing. So we had a late breakfast (LC enjoyed her Shangri-La Diner leftovers!). We bummed around the house for a bit, hanging out and talking and giving the cats some love. Eventually we got ourselves moving. After a snack on Jilly's Bee Sting cupcake to fortify ourselves (yummy!), we ventured into the world.

LC needed to stop by and feed her mom's cats, and we decided to go wander around the mall near there. Now, this is not a typical activity for either one of us. I, however, was on the lookout for a new scarf. I have one, but it's a thick knit and just not useful for anything other than really cold days. So we had a plan: wander and look for a scarf, which LC wanted to get me for my birthday (we're all about the practical gifts). Lo and behold we were successful! I am now the proud owner of a beautiful scarf woven from fibers made from bamboo. And it's a gorgeous burgundy color. So thank you LC for my beautiful and soft scarf birthday gift!

My visit happened to correspond with the St. Louis LGBTQ Film Festival. Saturday afternoon was a panel on marginalized groups in LGBT films, specifically bisexuals, people of color, and trans people. There are lots of gay and lesbian films out there, but much less representation for the marginalized and smaller groups within the LGBTQ community. LC and I knew several of the panelists, as well as the awesome woman organizing it, so we decided to go and support them. It was a wonderful discussion, and the only thing that cut it short was the imposed time limit.

After the panel, we met up with a group of people at MoKaBe's Coffeehouse for the monthly BASL social. MoKaBe's is this great place with excellent coffee, desserts and a wide selection of very tasty food. It has about equal options for both vegetarian/vegans and omnivores alike. KM met up with us there, having just gotten back into town that afternoon. I had a delicious Greek salad (after all the cupcakes I felt the need for greens), and sneaked a few of LC's fries from her plate. LC and I have an "open plate" policy when we go out, unless it's dessert, sampling from each other's plate is more than welcome. It works well for us.

After a few hours of good conversation with friends old and new over coffee and tasty food, LC and I headed back to her place to pick up my stuff so I could "move" to KM's for the rest of the weekend. Lucky for me, I had two friends more than willing to have me impose myself on them for a few nights, so I split it up to share the wealth.

KM arranged to have several friends (and former colleagues) over for some snacks and beer to hang out and visit for the rest of the evening. PM (KM's partner) procrastinated on his work and decided to join us (how could he resist snacks and beer and good company?). It was so nice to just sit and chat with everyone. I hadn't seen MK, CP or SP since Oct. 2007! Needless to say, we stayed up way too late catching up on all the news and gossip and the chaos happening at my former place of work. They recently underwent some major organizational and leadership changes, and the transition has not exactly been smooth. [I made the right decision to leave when I did!] Eventually KM just couldn't sit upright any longer and stretched out on the floor, and we all decided that maybe sleep would be a good plan.

Friday full of cupcakes

My mini-vacation was all about two things this past weekend: friends and food. We didn't really "do" anything besides spend lots of time together and eat lots of good food. Which is exactly what I needed and wanted the weekend to be. It was so nice to see people and just visit with no pressure, no schedule, no plan. Anyway, onto the food reports!

Part 1: Friday

So I arrived in St. Louis, MO on Thursday night, after a long day of travel. LC met me at the airport, and we picked up food on the way back to her place. Needless to say, my friend LC and I didn't do much besides stay up way way too late talking!

Friday was all about the cupcakes. Seriously. We slept in a bit to make up for the late night before heading out to meet up with MM for a yummy Indian lunch buffet at House of India. I've been to their buffet before, and it's awesome. LC is a vegetarian, so we always go places that have lots of options for vegetarians and omnivores alike. House of India never disappoints. The food is consistently good, and they keep the buffet well stocked. I love buffets like this because you get to sample a little bit of everything. Usually I end up stuffing myself silly. But I resisted this time, because I knew what was coming for dessert: cupcakes.

Literally within the same little strip on Delmar is Jilly's Cupcake Bar. It's still fairly new, opening sometime in the last year and a half. So after lunch, we walked about 20 feet for dessert.

OMG. Cupcake heaven. Y'all know my love of cupcakes. I've blogged about how they are individual little packages of delicious perfection. Cupcakes are serious business. Serious. Business. I've sampled cupcakes from all over the place. Jilly's definitely makes the top three. No question.

You could smell the sweetness of baked goods wafting through the door before you even opened it. Inside, we were greeted to a case containing a plethora of delicious options, each one beautifully decorated and distinctive. No cookie-cutter cupcakes here. And in the center was a GIANT cupcake. The display alone was intense. The hard part came when we had to choose. MM, LC and I each decided to select a different flavor, and then share. This sharing thing is not easy when it comes to desserts (thanks, Mom), but in the interest of sampling as many of the delicious options as possible in the limited amount of time I had, I agreed to share. We selected two of their seasonal cupcakes and one of their regular flavors. MM chose the Irish Hopper made with chocolate cake filled with Andes' mint cream, LC chose the Bailey's made with chocolate cake and filled with a Bailey's dosed pastry cream, and I opted for the Chocolate Thunder, a veritable chocoholics wet dream with devil's food cake topped with chocolate butter cream and filled with chocolate ganache. Yes, all three were chocolate, but seriously, is chocolate ever a bad thing? All three were moist and rich and yummy. The Chocolate Thunder was almost too much it was so dense with rich chocolate flavor.

Cupcakes!

The verdict? I highly recommended Jilly's!

Once we had demolished the three chocolate cupcakes (OK, we did take about 1/4 of each one home), LC and I decided we needed to take a few more with us for later. We decided to branch out and get four, two chocolate and two vanilla. We enjoyed the Irish Hopper and the Bailey's so much, we decided we needed to get those again. In addition we decided to try the Bee Sting (vanilla cake filled with lemon and honey curd and a lemon cream cheese icing) and the Missy-licious (vanilla cake filled with vanilla cream and buttercream icing). The Missy-licious was tasty, but definitely all vanilla.

And holy moley. The Bee Sting was fantastic. LC and I split that one for a snack on Saturday. The combination of the lemon with the honey and vanilla made it super moist and the lemon kept it from being overly sweet. I could have eaten more than one of those. It was refreshing and the flavors blended beautifully. Mmm.

After the buffet lunch and all that sugar, we made a quick stop by LC's partner's embroidery/silk-screen shop. MT proudly showed off the new place, and drooled over the two cupcakes we brought him. By that point, LC and I decided we needed a nap. So we headed back to the house for some snuggle time with the cats.

After a nice rest, we woke up hungry. Next up: dinner at Shangri-La Diner, an all vegetarian/vegan diner. LC and MT go there frequently, so the owner Patrice knows them by name. She's a talker, and is as eccentric and fun as her place. I had been warned to save room for dessert as Patrice makes this amazing cupcake (the theme of the day!).

I opted for the Decadent Grilled Cheese. Six kinds of cheese all baked up and melty on whole wheat bread, served with a small bowl of freshly made homemade tomato soup. The soup tasted of tomatoes and had lots of garlic. And the cheese...mmm...melty and yummy. LC went for one of the breakfast options, the St. Louis Slinger: eggs and potatoes and cheese and vegan chili. Usually MT eats the other half, but this time LC was able to take it home and eat the leftovers. The leftovers verdict? Just as delicious the second time!

Then dessert: the Hostess with the Mostess cupcake. It's a homemade version of a Hostess chocolate cupcake only twice as big! Moist chocolate, yummy buttercream filling, and a delicious chocolate ganache icing. We ate a good chunk of it, but decided to be nice and take a good chunk of it home to MT.

A Hostess cupcake on steroids! Look at the sheen on that ganache.

After dinner we headed out to one of my favorite St. Louis bars: Absolutli Goosed. It's a martini bar with a 15 page menu that changes regularly! It was really an opportunity for LC and I to talk and catch up on all the stuff going on in our lives. And vent about how boys are dumb and some like to live with their heads up their butts. You know, "girl talk"! Over good martinis. In an awesome friendly environment. I love the variety of olives they have, my favorite being the chipotle stuffed ones. They add a nice after bite to the martini.

The day was filled with all good stuff: good food, good dessert, good drinks and lots of good talk with amazing friends. And awesome day. And I still had two more days of mini-vacation left!

Time off

I'm taking a mini-vacation this coming weekend (complete with days off work!) and heading to my previous-city-of-residence to visit friends and relax.

True to form, only the truly important stuff is planned: where I'm staying, and the food. We know where we're eating for which meal on which day. It's all mapped out. We have our priorities, you know. On the menu is an Indian lunch buffet, cupcakes, good martinis, sticky toffee pudding, coffee, a vegetarian/vegan diner, and possibly Mexican food. I'm going to gain 10 pounds by the end of the weekend, I swear.

I'll be splitting my time and staying with two awesome women. Part of the weekend I'll be at my friend LC's place (she visited Philly about this time last year), and then I'll be at my friend KM's (and her partner PM's) place. LC and I have our birthdays to celebrate together again (hence the cupcakes), and my visit falls conveniently between her birthday in Feb. and mine next week. We might have to make this seeing each other in March an annual tradition...maybe next year we'll meet somewhere fun and terrorize a new city. And there are tons of people to catch up with that I haven't seen since I moved out to Philly a little over year and a half ago (has it been that long? OMG it has!). I can't wait to see everyone!

Currently I'm frantically trying to clear as much as possible off my desk, make sure my intern has plenty to keep her busy, and prepare for travel (laundry, what's the latest restrictions for my carry on, etc.). And counting down the hours until I leave...which is now at just about 48 hours...

A little beer, and a LOT of rain

We had another happy hour for work last night. Despite the horrible rainy weather, we had a decent turn out. And we tried a new bar and pub: Slainte (pronounced Slawn-cha). The name means "cheers" in Gaelic. It's a new bar in West Philly, owned by the same people as the New Deck Tavern. It's a modern yet classic bar, lots of rich dark hardwood, and very comfortable barstools (I tested them thoroughly). They have a great selection of European beers on tap, including Guiness and my favorite Smithwicks, and a few American beers like Sam Adams as well. The even have hard cider on tap and decent happy hour specials. We sampled the cheddar and beer dip (similar to a Welsh rarebit), which came with toasts and veggies for dipping. The toasts were delicious, and dusted with black pepper. And surprisingly, the vegetables worked well with the cheddar beer dip, even the cucumber! We also sampled the chicken and cheese quesadillas, which were very tasty. I do believe we'll be having another happy hour there sometime next month. And I'm interested in going back and trying the rest of their menu for lunch or dinner.

Today the sky really opened up and we've been under a flood warning here in Philly. It poured, and I do mean poured, rain all day. We even had some thunder and lightening. It would have been great, except for one small detail: I had to go out in it. I needed dog food. Needed as in Aussie wouldn't get dinner if I didn't go to the pet store. So off I went. I was a bit crazy and took the dog with me, and by the time we went for our morning walk, and went in and out of the store, Aussie looked like she had enjoyed several baths and I felt a bit like a drowned rat. Five hours later my coat is still drying out and my shoes will probably be damp for a few days. I am very glad that I learned to drive in the rain of Portland, OR. The other crazies on the road, however, could use a few lessons on driving in heavy rain with water on the roadway.

Weekend activities

This weekend was full of food and a play. Not a bad weekend. Unfortunately, now it's Sunday, aka "chore day."

Friday night I met a friend down in the Rittenhouse Square area for some food and beers. We started at Bard's Irish Bar for dinner. Good solid Irish food. And they have Guiness on tap (naturally), but they also have Smithwick's, which is one of my favorites. We eventually migrated down to Barristers Bar and Grille to catch the end of the Detroit Red Wings game (they lost...GROWL). Not a bad selection of beers on tap. They purchased the NHL Center Ice package, so now I know where to go to watch the hockey playoffs!

Saturday night I went to dinner and a play. A coworker was the assistant stage manager and ran the sound cues for a university production of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening (not the musical version currently on Broadway). I met AH and her husband DS for dinner at White Dog Cafe for dinner before the show. The White Dog is rapidly becoming one of my favorite restaurants. All their food is made with local, sustainably grown products, and is delicious. Since they focus on local products and produce, their menu does change slightly from season to season. I love the chicken sandwiches. Their burgers are incredible. Of course they always have at least one vegetarian, and usually a vegan option as well. I have yet to eat anything there that wasn't yummy and satisfying. Lately they've had this delicious lemon vinaigrette for salads that's fresh and tart and even has chunks of lemon peel in it! Drool...

Anyway, after a delicious dinner, we headed over to campus for the play. Spring Awakening is not exactly an uplifting play. It's quite intense. This production was done in a black box setting, so everyone was close to the actors and the scene. It made it hard to distance yourself, and I found myself sucked in to the intensity. The play is about young adults, adolescents, experiencing a coming of age and sexual awakening in Imperial Germany. The overall play is tragic, with one character committing suicide and another dying, and yet another consumed by self-hatred. Like I said, it's quite intense. But it was very well done. The students did an outstanding job playing their characters. The set and lighting was minimal but worked well with the intense emotions played out by the actors. For all the intensity, the production itself was well done and enjoyable. And of course my coworker did a fabulous job with the sound cues!

Original choral music, followed by pizza and beer

Friday night I went to a choral concert. My friends AH and her husband DS sing in a local choral group, the Choral Arts Society. I had yet to make one of their concerts, so I was determined to make it to this one.

This particular concert showcased the works of local composers by partnering with the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composers Forum. They performed the works of 6 artists, the first five of which were shorter. The pieces ran the gamut from poetry and prayers arranged with original music to new arrangements of existing works and hymns.

One of my favorites was the arrangement of a Jewish prayer for a funeral, the Kaddish, by David Ludwig. It was beautifully done, so serene yet full of emotion. The Mourners' Kaddish itself, while spoken during funerals and during the period of mourning, does not actually mention death at all, but rather focuses on life and spirit and exalting God. I think David Ludwig did an amazing job of presenting this so it came through clearly in the music.

I particularly liked the fact that all the composers were there. They each spoke briefly before their piece was performed, giving us a little bit of information about what inspired them and what they aimed to create. It's not something you normally get to hear, and it adds so much more to the performances to hear a bit of the background behind the pieces. The performance was also recorded, so the composers would have a copy of their work being performed for promotion and personal record.

The last piece was one that had been commissioned by the Choral Arts Society artistic director, Matthew Glandorf. He asked Anthony Mosakowski to do a rendition of the Passion according to St. John. Fortunately, this was not the 2 hour version of the Passion. The four soloists were incredible. And Anthony added to the usual limited role of the larger chorus. Typically their role consists of playing the part of the crowd or the people. But in the scripture itself, it references other scriptures and prophesies. So Anthony had the chorus singing and chanting those referenced parts in the background while the soloists sang the St. John scripture. It was interesting to hear the Passion with another layer added to it.

Overall, it was a beautiful concert. As someone that's not normally a big choral music fan, I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed myself. The chorus is awesome, and I'm actually looking forward to future performances and hearing more choral music.

Afterwards, we went to grab a bite to eat and a drink at Dock Street Brewing Co. Their specialties? Beer (duh!) and pizza. Really really good pizza and small locally brewed batches for their draft beers. They have this great information board that lists all the available beers and a brief description of each one, which simplifies the selection process. I had their Baltic Porter, a porter brewed with maple syrup, which was very nice, dark, smooth, and had just a hint of sweetness. It complemented the pizza beautifully.

There were 7 of us, so we decided to split 2 large pizzas, which allowed for 2 slices each plus an extra for whomever was really hungry. These are not small slices, so two was plenty for me. We chose one with meat and one vegetarian pizza, which was not easy as there are many tasty options. We all agreed that there hard part of the decision was not agreeing on the choices, but having to limit ourselves to only two! The meat pizza we chose was the Flammenkuche and the vegetarian was the A La Greek. The Greek was pretty standard (tomatoes, feta, etc.) but topped with a mixed-greens salad, which was a nice addition. The Flammenkuche had bacon, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and rosemary. OMG that was yummy. The crust on both was perfect, thin while still soft and just a bit chewy.

The only negative about Dock Street? It's very noisy. The building is an old firehouse, so there's not much to it. High ceilings, lack of "soft" material, so everything echoes. Plus they have music playing. Not a place for intimate conversation. But I'll certainly be back to try other beers and work my way through their incredible pizza menu.

Joy of the slow cooker

One of my favorite bloggers, Crazy Aunt Purl, recently rediscovered her crock pot. She wrote an entire post all about it. She experimented with a recipe, and it turned out so well, she asked people to contribute (easy!) recipes in the comments so she could try those too. That post and all the good ideas from the comments prompted me to dust off the slow cooker (I don't have the name brand crock pot) I inherited from my mom when she moved to Australia. [I got most of her appliances because the power in Australia would have fried them. Basically I lucked out, although my sister got the KitchenAid stand mixer. But I got my own for my birthday a few years ago so I'm not coveting hers anymore.]

OMG dusting that thing off was the best thing ever. Most of my winter lunches, in addition to my piece of fruit and container of yogurt, consist of soups because I want something warm. Usually canned because I frequently don't have the time to stand over the stove on the weekends and make it from scratch. Cooking on the stove requires attention. Slow cookers don't. I can throw everything in there, and then walk away and take care of other things and not worry about running back to the kitchen every 10 minutes to stir. I can even run brief errands if needed.

So I've been experimenting. Last week for lunch I had a boneless turkey breast that I had stewed all day on low in green salsa with some extra onions. It was spicy, juicy, and tender all at once. I made a cabbage and carrot slaw with a sugar, jalpeno, cilantro, and vinegar dressing as a side, paired it with some corn tortillas, and had YUMMY lunches all week. And to make it even better, it was really healthy.

This week? BBQ pork chops with onions. Put pork chops, onions and a bunch of BBQ sauce (whatever variety, homemade or bottled) into the slow cooker and stew it on low for about 8 to 10 hours. The pork chops literally fall apart and you have a big pile of BBQ pork to have with bread. I can't wait for lunch!

Misidentification

I bring my lunch to work pretty much every day. And once a week I take stock of what's in my fridge to make sure I have sufficient yogurt, fruit, and other goodies for the upcoming week.

This past Monday was a holiday. And it was bitterly cold. So I did an assessment of my fridge to see if I needed to actually venture outside to go grocery shopping or if I could stay snuggled up with hot mugs of tea all day. I counted my yogurts, the yummy pears in my crisper drawer, and made sure I had enough other ingredients to make 4 days worth of lunches, including confirming I had canned soup as a backup option. No problem. Lunch for the week: check! No need to brave the cold (other than to walk the dog).

So imagine my surprise when I went to get my last piece of fruit out of my drawer for lunch on Friday and discovered that it wasn't a pear, but an avocado. An avocado, people. Yes, still technically a fruit, but not what I expected or planned on. Or what I thought was there based on my fridge assessment on Monday.

OK, granted, they are about the same size and shape. And the pears I had were green, and this particular avocado was more green than not. But still...

How the hell did I mistake an avocado for a pear?!?

New Year's Day dinner reinvented

This year I decided to try new recipes for my New Year's Day dinner. Risky, I know, given how important following the food rules are. But that doesn't mean I can't branch out within the rules. Every year, for my entire life (and I'm not exaggerating), my New Year's Day dinner has consisted of ham, black-eyed peas from a can, green beans, and some potato dish (mashed, scalloped, gratin, etc.). Every year.

I want this year, 2008, to be different than the past few years have been. Really. The past three or so have been a bit rough in a variety of ways, and I want some things to change. So I decided to start with my New Year's Day meal. I know it sounds strange, but you have to start somewhere. I guess I'm hoping that if I change the meal on the first day so it's different than the past years, the year will be different as well.

So I varied my meal as much as the rules allowed. I still had black-eyed peas for change, but instead of canned I purchased fresh in the produce section. They do taste a bit different, and are less mushy, but still delightful with ketchup (it's an acquired taste) and the leftovers I've discovered are quite good on salads.

For my meat, remember, the rules state nothing that scratches backwards, so no chicken or turkey. That left beef, lamb, or some pork product. So I went with a marinated pork loin instead of ham. I'm not very good at cooking beef unless it's ground (always ends up overdone...I need more practice), so I eliminated that. I wanted to get some lamb, but the cuts available just didn't look very good. So I went with pork loin. I decided on one infused with apple-bourbon flavor. It was delicious. And just as tasty the next day.

Where I really went in a different direction was with the greens for money. It's always been green beans, but actually any greens will do. It's just important to eat a big pile of greens so you get your green. So I decided to try a new recipe. Bacon and brown sugar braised collard greens. My mouth watered when I read the recipe title (it's watering again now). I carefully inspected the recipe to make sure it violated no rule. Looked good, no violations (it uses water instead of chicken broth). So I purchased a big bag of prewashed and torn collard greens and two thick-cut slices of bacon. Brown the bacon, add and saute some onion and garlic, then add in water, pepper, brown sugar, and a bit of vinegar, and finally add the greens and cook for about an hour. OMG they are so yummy. Sweet and spicy and savory all at once. I'm still enjoying the leftovers.

I really hope how successful the 2008 New Year's Day meal was is telling of how this year is going to be different.