Read 'Til You Drop

Yesterday, Mark and I went to a Smithsonian presentation - Marisa Tomei, Mario Batali, and Lidia Bastianich, all talking about the importance of food and family in Italian life (including film.)  It was a fun afternoon - there were some great one-liners (mostly delivered by Mario), and the questions from the audience didn't suck (which they usually do.)  There weren't necessarily great insights into the human condition, but there were lots of confirmations of things that I believe (e.g., families should eat together to share their lives on a regular basis, fresh food grown near the home requires precious little in the way of preparation...)

All in all, a fun afternoon.

After which, of course, we needed to get Italian food.  Not the gourmet, ornate preparations of veal type of Italian food, but the giant bowl of pasta, served family style type of Italian food.  We ended up going to Il Radicchio (which used to be a small local chain run by one of the areas premier chefs, Roberto Donna, but only one outpost survives, and I don't know if Donna is still associated with it.)  It matched our desires exactly - we had all-you-can-eat spaghetti, with little gravy boats of bolognese sauce and pesto.  It was wonderful - and neither of us overdid the "all you can eat" part.  Yea!

Home then, and packing then, and getting life organized then for another 9 days of travel...

Mindy, about to head out for her annual physical

So, I'm in New York on business, meeting the librarians at my new-and-improved merged-law-firm employer.  So far, everything has gone very well.  I've learned a lot about how they do things, and I've explained a lot about how we do things.  When there've been differences, we've listened to each other, and we're threading our way through to finding "Best Practices" (although none of us are business school wonks, so we don't call it that.)

But most of what I've done in New York is eat.

When I arrived at the office, the head librarian took me to a deli just around the corner, for lunch.  Now, we don't have a decent deli in DC - not those places where you walk in, and the air smells like dill pickles, and waitresses serve up sandwiches that are so high, you *have* to split them into two open-face sandwiches.  While I'm not a fan of more exotic deli fare (tongue, for example), I love a good corned beef sandwich.  And I wasn't disappointed with this one.  Or with the French fries that my colleague suggested that I order.  Or with the cheesecake for dessert.  (Note that each of these servings was enough to satisfy several small families...)

And then, last night, I met up with a former housemate.  At an Italian restaurant, Becco.  The Caesar salad was exactly the type that I love - lemony and parmesan-y, without a creamy dressing.  And the veal chop was superb.  And the mashed potatoes were brimming with flavor.  And the asparagus snapped when I cut it.

When the waitress brought dessert menus, my friend looked at them and then looked at me.  "You know," she said.  "I don't think that I'd enjoy any of these $7 desserts seven times as much as I'd enjoy a sundae at McDonalds."  And so we walked back to my hotel, finding a convenient Mac and Don's three uptown blocks away and concluded the day's feasting with caramel sundaes (with the slightly scary packets of "granulated peanuts" sprinkled on top.)

This morning, I've had a cup of black tea.  No cream.  No sugar.  And I don't know that I'm going to eat a bite all day.  (Yeah, yeah, I say that now...)

Mindy, off to the New York office!

I don't mean to connote that I've been working to hard, or anything. Or that I'm distracted. Or that I'd rather be home, instead of at the day-job, packing up my office for the third time in as many months (ah, the joys of renovation...)

But this morning, I was browsing on the Washington Post home page, and I saw that their online food columnist was going to be conducting a chat on "gingerbread pudding."

Mmmmm, I said. I love gingerbread. I love pudding. This should be an *amazing* recipe.

Imagine my disappointment, when I clicked on the link and saw that the chat was on gingerbread BUILDING. You know. Making houses. With icing. And gumdrops. And candy canes.

That's fun and all, but hardly what I was expecting.

Mindy, contemplating how to create her own gingerbread pudding...

For several years, I worked with a local writers group, which gained the name the Writers Group From Hell. (By the time that I joined the group, it was no longer hellish, but it apparently had been in the past.) I no longer attend the group's monthly meetings, but I do socialize with them, particularly when it comes to the annual holiday party and white elephant gift exchange.

This year's party was particularly enjoyable - I got a chance to catch up with several friends I hadn't seen in far too long. I also got to bake a carrot cake that perfumed the entire house for the morning and my car for the ride to the party. The cake was simple, good, and lowfat (not what you expect in a carrot cake!) Here's the recipe:

1 box spice cake mix
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional - gives the cake more kick)
1 tsp. ginger (optional - gives the cake more kick)
1 can crushed pineapple (the small can, about the size of a can of tuna)
1 can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, the small can, about the size of a can of Campbell's soup)
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups grated carrot

Mix all ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 325 for one hour. After cooled, sift one Tablespoon powdered sugar over cake.

Moist, yummy, and four points for one twelfth of the cake (if you're counting Weight Watchers points)

(And well received by the writers group!)