Inspiration Strikes

It could be that I was inspired by the beautiful, spring-like weather. It could be that I was inspired by my good-hair-day. (Which was made possible by the new L'Oreal EverPure Moisture Conditioner) Or most likely I was inspired by Molly Wizenberg's book, "A Homemade Life" (go buy it - now) which waxes poetic about cooking in Paris, cooking in Seattle and making salads and homemade dressing. But I had inspiration to build a salad for dinner. One with lots of veggies and homemade dressing. One with poached chicken. I thought a lot about this salad. So much so, that I told Tommy I had to make it for dinner and I'd make him anything he wanted. (He's not really a salad type of guy.) He said, "I could go for a salad with chicken." "Huh? You want a salad? Okay." So he took Lucas home from our outing so I could hit the supermarket and buy what I needed. I felt so European and Parisian shopping for that evening's dinner right then and there. I purveyed the produce section. This is what my amazing, delicious salad contained:

• Arugula from Trader Joe's that I've also been layering on sandwiches
• Radishes that were still on their greens
• Endive
• Goat cheese - I forgot just how much I love goat cheese
• Toasted pine nuts that I happened to have in the pantry
• Poached chicken breast
• Avocado
• Homemade salad dressing which was so simple - dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt and olive oil (courtesy of Molly's book)

It was delicious. It was filling. It even made the non-veggie Tommy exclaim "This is delicious!" It even looked a smidge like this:

Ahhhhh....spring time. I can't wait to hit the roadside stands and try more veggie salads.

In Like A Lion

March is one of those odd months. Not quite winter, not quite spring. Everyone's going nuts over St. Patrick's Day (which I just don't get). But it brings with it Easter Candy (yes, I had to capitalize both words). Mmmm...chocolate marshmallow. Mini Eggs. Peanut Butter Eggs. It's the worst time for me willpower-wise. I stash them in my desk and break them out when it's about 2:45 and I'm trying to proofread or reconcile or typeset. But I digress..... I gave up buying unnecessary beauty products for Lent. I'm not Catholic, but I always feel like if I do without something, it's a teeny step towards trying to be a better person. (I also don't eat meat on Fridays - or sweets.) I'm also trying hard not to purchase anything that's unnecessary, be it sweets or something indulgent. So I can just lust over this: It's this nifty, Jetsons-like device that carbonates your water. Could I be more of a foodie geek? I could make delicious lemon-lime 7-Up without having to wait for it to go on sale. I could just make seltzer for using in egg creams. I want one. And it's on sale. I guess I'm hoping that my dear sweetie will see this sad plea since he's now on facebook and my blog rolls right over there and take pity on me. Or reward me. Either one works for me.

But there are other cool things about March. I'm doing "Children of Eden" with a local high school. Never played it before, but the MD is one of my favorites and I don't foresee playing "Wicked" any time soon, so CoE is just about the same anyway. (Seriously. I was gufawing at the blatant theivery going on from himself.) And.......my favorite columnist from Bon Appetit is launching her first book. I don't purchase many books, mostly because if I can grab the new Stephen King (although I will purchase his short stories since their re-readability is pretty good) from the library and save $$$ I do that. But books about food??? I've read Ruth Reichel's "Garlic and Sapphires" a million times. And I love love love Molly Wizenberg's writing. She inspired me to make homemade mayonnaise. And....she's doing a book signing in NYC on March 18. So I'm excited to go pick up her book and praise her with love.

Easy Like Saturday Morning

I'm cozy. I've got a warm laptop on my, well, lap. I've got two monkeys snuggled up to me. I've got a spinach and artichoke souffle from Panera Bread await me to devour it. And I've got the movie, "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" awaiting me to restart it. I've got a matinee in about 6 hours or so, but it seems so far away that I feel like I have a whole day to go before it comes.

I finished "Service Included" about a waiter's 2 years spent working at the famed Per Se restaurant in the Time Warner Building in Manhattan. I've been devouring food writing lately. (Yes, pun intended) It's comforting, it gives me ideas. I like reading about restaurants I will with almost certainty never step foot in or experience for myself. It gives me a little glimpse into a world that I can experience on a lesser level. A $25 three-course prix fixe dinner at Gabrielle's in Rockville Centre, NY may not be equivalent to the $250 nine-course tasting menu offered by Thomas Keller at Per Se, but for me, it's good enough.

So after finishing a book about truffles, caviar and extravagant menus, I felt it necessary to treat us to a nice breakfast. Panera may not be quail eggs in an omlete, but it's a nice way to celebrate a Saturday morning. Besides, how can you go wrong with a croissant reshaped into a bowl for eggs, spinach and artichokes?