Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

My dear friend JNKL had a spare pass to the sneak preview of Julie & Julia tonight and lucky me got to go. Let me just say: IT WAS A GREAT FREAKING MOVIE! It will do for Paris and cooking what Field of Dreams did for corn fields and old timey baseball. Also I predict a that Mastering the Art of French Cooking will sell out in droves, followed by a tidal wave of boeuf bourguignon in kitchens across America. Meryl Streep did a magical turn as Julia Child and left me wanting more, more, ENCORE Julia! I couldn't wait for those scenes. As for the Julie part - it started off ok, but sort of faltered a little and at the end I was done with her but left wanting more of the Julia magic. And yes, right now, I want to make swiss meringue. True story.

This weekend I went on a mini-break with the ol' Evil Twin, because frankly if it wasn't for her friends I wouldn't have any at all. First stop: Martha's Vineyard. I love me some Martha's Vineyard. I am always equally glad to go there as I am to leave. And I always, ALWAYS, forget about the guys in pink pants. With the blazers and the parted hair and the cocktails at 5pm. Off the island, I forget that exists. But anyway we were there to visit with my sister's friend and her family - hereinafter known as "The Gazooki's". Age Gazooki met us at the ferry. ET and I had hit the road a little before 6am that morning and were sort of punchy for food, since all we'd had by that point was a string cheese each. Fortunately we were quickly whisked to the Art Cliff Diner , about a 7 second drive from the ferry in Vineyard Haven. Let me say three words about this place: Holy Crap Delicious. Funky interior and breakfast until 2pm I had the breakfast ( fri...

Tuesday night I went to Stix with Pam from Cave Cibum . She's awesome. I really can't say anything nice about Stix so I am not going to say anything at all. Except for that we went for the $1 raw bar special and it was underwhelming, as was the coconut "mojito", and the overall experience. Bleh, yeah, I probably won't go back. BUT the best part was at the end when Pam said "oh hey I have your Christmas present". Nice! Who the f*ck wouldn't want a present after a mediocre meal? Happily it was the last thing on my Christmas wish list: a jar of TOURSHI !!! (photo from Cave Cibum ) And you know what? Tourshi is frickin' delicious. Nice and briny and crisp. I was going to share it, but now I don't think I will. Sorry. Wellllllllll, not really. I was going to share some with the lovely June J. who keeps me in jam, and more recently, in bread and butter pickles. However I can't. I just can't. I think that I can probably talk June J. into mak...

You all probably know Tammy from Food on the Food , she's the funny one who writes a proper food blog with actual real recipes , pretty photos, and correct grammar. Yeah, that one. She is also a very good eater who knows all sorts of things like about farm shares and locavoring , and making things out of odd lots and figuring out sauerkraut , and that sort of thing. Anyway Tammy went on vacation and offered me the option to take her farm share for her. Which, having heard about the Farmer , I immediately said Yes, Please! To which she replied, yeah not THAT farmer. Bugger. Well, too late, I'd already said yes. And as it is my current job pays me very little so the prospect of free farm-fresh food was quite enticing. Even if I wasn't going to finally meet the Farmer. Did I mention that I'd been given two weeks worth? Yep. How nice is that? Pretty fricking nice. So last week me and my neighbor Even Steve went out to Waltham to pick up the harvest. Firstly let me say ri...

I have to be honest here, I did take a Claritin today. But only because I really think I am allergic to the office. Having said that, I am mostly all better, thanks! And to celebrate, I bought one of these: I am not positive why, but when I saw this at the store I could not resist. It's not bad table wine either. Personally I am not the biggest red wine fan. I like it well enough in France, but for some reason the wine over here gives me asthma and I know I am not the only one. But this stuff is pretty agreeable. It went well with bouchon and the tomato jam from June. Tomato jam, figs, bouchon, and the Famous Fromage knife from Tante Mona!

I am eating mushed cauliflower with olive oil and garlic because it doesn't hurt my throat. I also ate a hotdog. It's official, with test results and everything, I am sick. The ear infection is the part that is driving me batty. And I am cranky and tired and should be in Depends right now. See Shamrag for the sad details about THAT. And yes, I am fully aware that I bring this on myself by treating every symptom with either Claritin or aspercreme, and not going to the doctor in a timely manner... Anyway, I am sorry I am not my usual chipper self, but according to the packet of new antibiotics I got today I should be back to glitter and dazzle tomorrow. In the meantime, here is something happier than me right now:

I love that the last two days have been GORGEOUS. It is about time summer got underway if you ask me. I have Sly & the Family Stone on repeat. The only downside is that I have this summer cold that I don't know what to do with. It started two weeks ago with a wicked sore throat, then went dormant for a week and yesterday it reared it's nasty little head in a fierce way all over again. Can't swallow, painful hacking cough, pressure in the ears and sinus, everything buzzes and aches... you know the drill. It's really kicking me in the face right now. *insert frowning face here* But I am the Queen of Neversaydie, and also the Queen of Takeeveryonewithyouwhenyougo so I went forward with my 4th of July feast. The new (old) red table! Chips, salsa, and guacamole. No 4th Feast is complete without condiments and sides! Burgers & dawgs & Wonder bread rolls & buns. And corn on the cob. We made ice cream sundaes for dessert. This is how I would like to eat every s...

At the other end of this work week I went to Rocca with Pam from Cave Cibum. Starting off the week with Pam, food, and alcohol sets the bar-o-fun too high for me so after Rocca, the week went sliding downhill. Well, until last night anyway when I hooked up with Captain Morgan and his trusty sidekick Diet Coke... but that's another post. I happen to love the lounge of Rocca. It is very pretty to me with the tall windows that look out over old brick buildings, long gauzy curtains, and sky blue bar chairs. Our bartender was a very nice guy and I sort of vaguely think his name was Joey. But I might be wrong. Well anyway he was super nice and had an easy laugh. If you want to know which one he is, he is the guy from upstate New York. He recommended the Giardino Blu which is blueberry vodka mix with a blueberry-mint puree which I jumped at and Pam went with Sangria Bianco (holy crap I had to take a picture to remember that! ) . And OH YEAH Coldriver Blueberry Flavored Vodka might no...