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Yep. Then you'll get to curse those people who still have an entire 22 points per day. Hmmm...If memory serves, you'll only be 2 lbs away from your initial goal when you cross from the land of plenty (22 points per day) to the land of near starvation (no, no, I'm just kidding---it's more like the land of eating carefully). And I'm pretty sure we're the same height, by the way. For those of you not familiar with WW and "goal" weights, when you first sign up, whether you're doing it on-line like me or going to meetings like Jensen, you pick a goal weight for yourself. If you're attending meetings (for which you have to pay) it's to your advantage to pick a relatively high goal weight, because once you meet your goal (and I think perhaps maintain it for some period of time) you attain "lifetime" status and no longer have to pay to attend meetings. This is not an option for on-line users, as there's no weigh for WW to see how much you really weigh, so I set a much lower goal weight for myself as an incentive. More dinner ideas, please.

I think the sorrel with ricotta would make a great filling for ravioli. And the Moroccan Braised Beef sounds great. I may have to cut back on the spice level for my kids based on your family's experience, though.

A option for Japanese is "sister" to a restaurant on our side of town called Sushi Yoko that we like. The restaurant that's closer to you is called Umezono, and it's next door to a Japanese grocery called Tomato. I've not been, so can't vouch, but were I in the neighborhood I'd definitely check it out. Sushi should be decent, and the "appetizers" are about a bajillion different sorts of small dishes that should be very good.

Woodfire Grill's great---sort of California in execution, but lots of locally sourced stuff. Neighborhood commercial, a bit marginal due to the concentration of lingerie shops that feature, um, models, but the inside's very cosy due to the open wood-fired oven. There's a communal table in the front (smoke-free) bar that might come in handy dining single. Floataway's also great. A bit difficult to find, as it's in the back of a warehouse area just north of the Emory/CDC corridor. Groovy interior, excellent food by the same couple that owns Bacchanalia (consistently one one the top five restaurants in Atlanta). Generally simple execution using locally sourced ingredients. Some other intown favorites are Pura Vida (I ate there last night, in fact), a tapas restaurant in Poncey-Highland with a nice vibe, excellent food, and great mojitos. Solo eating at the bar fun. I recently tried another tapas place in Little Five Points called Miro's Garden that holds promise. Iris is in East Atlanta (which is a neighborhood in Atlanta, not to the east by any means) and offers surprisingly sophisticated food in a boho neighborhood. Again, bar pleasant for solo dining. Rathbun's is relatively new, located in an old factory/warehouse space in Inman Park. Food great, but crowds and service get a bit dicey late on weekends---go early to avoid the hell and enjoy the food. Ricesticks is an upmarket Vietnamese place just outside the perimeter (aka I-285) that's got some very nice dishes. Not right where you are, but not all the way in town. But do note that "top end perimeter" (the part of I-285 between the 10 o' clock and 2 o' clock positions) is truly hellish during rush hour. Joel is stylish upmarket trendo, located just off of I-75 inside the perimeter (in a swank office park/condo development), so convenient for you. Groovy bar, and three course prix fixe Monday through Friday (yes, including Friday) If you want to come into town for sushi, you'll want to try Taka and Soto and possibly MF Sushi. Traffic headed in to Atlanta in the evenings can be bad on Friday and Saturday, otherwise not too bad. There's been some construction on I-75 in the lst couple of months---I don't know if it's ongoing.

Okay, well now that we've established the fact that you are staying pretty much in the back of beyond I'm going to have to hope that somebody else here has more concrete suggestions to make. The only place I can suggest is located in Marietta, a small town that's been swallowed by Atlanta. It's back down I-75 a little bit, and there's a town square there that includes several restaurants. The only one I've been to is called Slovakia Restaurant. Family-run (recent immigrants), old school food and service, so not so much innovative as comfort food. But at least not a chain. There's also a Turkish place on the square called Efes that I've not been to. There are others here that are much more familiar with that part of town. If you want some in-town recommendations I can provided those.

Will reportedly be working on a project with the One Midtown Kitchen and and TWO Urban Licks guy (or guys---seems like it's Bob Amick, but I don't recall). Might be already working behind the scenes in one or both of these establishments. You could try PM'ing him here on eGullet---he does have an account here, though I don't know how often he checks it.

Do you mean Chastain?

I've got a Bunnykins porringer from the same era (son now 14. also a grandma purchase)---I'm going to go home and check to see what the picture is. Bunnies watching TV? Seems like I'd have remembered that, but then again I was pretty sleep-deprived. Congrats on 27 lbs. This is the first time I've ever actually seen a WW journal. A bit of a mystery until now.

I cook them routinely, and neither I nor any of my family members has a problem with them. I steam them until fork tender (not very long, actually) and then either puree them or slice them and toss with some sort of dairy before running them under the broiler to make a gratin. It would be interesting to see whether there's a difference in gut commensal bacterial among those who do and those who don't have a problem with inulin. Sugar alcohols like maltitol (artificial sweeteners) are similarly problematic, and I am subject to their noxious effects.

I've always loved hot cereals. I ate them growing up (one of the first things I learned to make was lumpless Cream of Wheat---my mom didn't have the patience to make it lump-free). Cream of Wheat, Farina, Cream of Rice, Malt-o-Meal, Coco Wheats (weirdly not all that chocolate-y, but it felt like I was getting away with something), oat meal. I find the quick cook options to be substandard in all instances. I now have steel cut oats most mornings. Kashi Breakfast Pilaf is also great, but I cook it ahead of time.

You can also think of this concept from the opposite direction: Lent (and similarly timed fasts) generally coincides with a "lean" time of the year in terms of quantity and variety of available foods. Treating it as a period of "purification" rather than privation makes sense. The holiday period coincides with the end of harvest and butchering, and there's magical thinking involved with overeating at that time (to not overeat would "jinx" the next year) as well as during the winter solstice period.

A summary of our dining experiences in Park City, with some very specific recommendations. I couldn't get anybody to agree to planning ahead, of course. First night we had burgers at a place at Park City Resort, the Corner something or other---no planning ahead, of course, and restaurants mobbed, so this was our only option. Very bedraggled surroundings, friendly and laid-back staff (you order at the counter and they bring it to you), burgers surprisingly good. Okay if that's what you're looking for. Next night was the only one I managed to actually plan, and even that was only done that morning. We went to Taste of Saigon, a nominally Vietnamese restaurant that's been dumbed down significantly, but still reasonably tasty, healthy, and inexpensive (by ski resort standards) food. Next night husband and I went out alone to a really excellent place, Renee's. Not right on Main Street, and not particularly meat-centered, so not particularly busy. Cool space, with large central round bar (full liquor license), live music (but no smoking, so pretty much perfect). Service friendly and competent, food excellent (insalata caprese, risotto with sausage and grilled vegetables, and grilled banana for me), and price points very low: nothing over $15, most of the menu under $11. Decent wine selection. Some others went to Wasatch Brew Pub and waited a while for reportedly okay food. Later in the week they ordered in Chinese from some place called Wabo (I think). Worst Chinese food I've ever eaten---bland, greasy, crappy ingredients. We made fajitas for the group one evening. Very good if I do say so myself (I'm the primary cook sort of person), though the people doing the shopping either didn't understand the sort of meat that fajitas require, or the meat department at Albertson's was really bad. I'm guessing the former. Last night we returned to Renee's (having invited another couple, who then decided that they needed to bring their daughter along---if I'd wanted to dine with teenagers I'd have invited my own along) for another outstanding meal.

"Checkless" coat check and valet provided at Woodfire Grill in Atlanta. As you're finishing up at the table the valet's asked to bring your car around and have it waiting for you in front of the restaurant. It doesn't necessarily happen if you're leaving at a busy time of the evening, as there's not a large drive in front of the restaurant, but it's great when it does.

We ate at Au Pied de Cochon soon after it opened a couple of months ago. Food uneven, service truly dreadful (server very nice but entirely untrained), management pleasant, dining room pretty. We'll go back as soon as we hear that things are improving. We haven't yet, so any more recent reports welcome.

We've presently got three sorts of salt in circulation at our house: fleur de sel (from the Camargue, harvested in Aigues-Mortes) in its original groovy tub, fine sea salt (Bevia, Spanish, in its nondescript shaker), and Morton's in a salt shaker (because my husband objects to the coarseness of the sea salt, even though it's officially "fine"). I mostly use the fleur de sel on top of salads.

Everything. Mussels, foie gras, marrow, capers, salmon roe with raw quail egg (sushi), asparagus, artichokes, smoked and/or pickled fish, weird cheese... On the other hand, one of my kids had a strong aversion to mashed potatoes until a couple of years ago. Go figure.

If you didn't know if Menard was there the night you dined at The Dining Room then I'm guessing that he wasn't. Because he makes a point of visiting tables, often more than once if you're there for a long dinner.

The crowd was also very different on the one Friday that I've eatem there. I usually go during the week, for work, and the crowd's what you'd expect: well-heeled, quiet, lots of expense account dining. The Friday we were there (wedding anniversary) found us dining with, well, some very interesting sorts. And not just one sort of interesting, lots of different sorts of interesting. Anyway, Menard was there, and the staff was gracious, and the food was fantastic. Edit to add that it's not particularly difficult to get reservations at The Dining Room---a week in advance should be plenty.

Several times. Food generally good, but very different style than Menard's at The Dining Room, so apples and oranges insofar as comparison goes---when Antunes was at The Dining Room himself his food was less "bistro", more froufrou. Service on the "eh" side: on one occasion main course served while I was in the WC, some other glitches that didn't ruin my evenings but also didn't make me feel all warm and cozy about the experience either.

Lomo saltado, a Peruvian dish. My favorite version here in Atlanta has the fries added at the very end. Really great.

The Dining Room would also be my first choice for a big anniversary. The room, despite it's feeling a bit dated, was actually re-done within the last couple of years. But in the Atlanta market the old school approach to a dining room is actually refreshing, as most restaurants have adopted a certain frenetic, one-size-fits-all trendo look (and vibe) that's fine, but a bit tiresome after a while. Rathbun's, for instance, has nice food, but feels positively chaotic, the result of restaurant's accepting reservations for only a small number of tables, with a consequent crush of the hopeful standing around and staring longingly at those of us who either booked or arrived early. Service similarly chaotic when the pressure builds. Lots of other very modern-looking places to choose from Robyn, so let us know next time you come to town. Another option for an anniversary dinner would be Restaurant Eugene. Food great, ambience a bit hushed, decor elegant modern.

Do they actually use the apostrophes to make the already plural words plural?

It drives me wild, yes. But I try to cut people slack for most instances, particularly things like biscotti (I just order more than one, so everybody's happy). And I'm very happy when I find that a restaurant's made absolutely no errors (and yes, I do look) in either English or another language. It's the mixing of languages (combined with spelling and grammar errors) that really bothers me. One place in the Napa Valley (I'll think of the name in a minute) was so bad about this that I had difficulty figuring out what was actually being offered. Yes, it was fusion sort of food, but the menu read as nonsense.

Just checked the pantry, and we've presently got 10 different kinds of cereal in rotation. None of them sweeter than Kashi Go Lean, and most fairly heavy on the bran. There are four of us in the household, including kids age 11 and 14.

Not all of them. Really, some of my best friends live in...well, one of them does, anyway. One of the best things about Atlanta, and what's attracted people here in droves, is the diverse and healthy economy. But one of the worst things about Atlanta, the thing that's driven sprawl and hellish traffic, is the diverse and healthy economy. I read some time ago that Atlantans spend more per capita on dining out than anywhere else in the U.S. I don't know if this is still true, but I wouldn't be surprised. And though I do dine out frequently, I don't think it's enough to skew the data for the entire metro area.