Jake

Daniel, it all looks wonderful!!! It's making me very, very hungry right about now! Great looking bread, too. Do you bake a lot of bread?

Dinner tonight was Mayhaw Man's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo -- with okra! It was fantastic. First time I've ever made gumbo and was everything I and my SO hoped for - what a great recipe. Thanks, Brooks.

They do this just to make 'foodies' cringe. ← You guys are all kidding, right? I mean latex gloves in the kitchen? I'm sure other chefs could weigh in here about the likelyhood of wearing gloves in the kitchen in real life, let alone a tv show....

Good morning, Andrea! I am tired already after reading the hour you awoke! I look forward to your blog, I have never been to New Mexico and can't wait to hear al about your area.

I am envious of those of you with preview copies!! One wonders how a restaurant could be reviewed before opening. Perhaps at a soft opening, or a special accomodation?

Saltines with butter Yorkshire puddings with butter Popovers with butter

Homemade meatballs. Yummy

Beef tenderloin with a cremini/shallot/demi reduction, roasted asparagus with thyme and lemon, glazed baby turnips. Accompanied by a Sangiovese...didn't look at the bottle before it was decanted!

So glad you're blogging, Diana, but I'm extremely jealous of the weather. Please update us on any new and wonderful places in St. Pete/Tampa -- the SO and I will be down visiting family next month. What was the name of the Cuban place you were going to go to yesterday? And where? The Saturday market looks exactly as it did when we were down last year. My family often goes downtown for the first Monday (I think??) of the month celebrations....sorry it had slipped my mind.

Made the Roasted Beet and Mache salad for a dinner party a couple weeks ago. Highly reccomend it, and I don't like beets. The Walnut Vinaigrette was excellent.

Guacamole with homemade tortilla chips.

Live and learn indeed! May I suggest mixing the lemon juice with olive oil/avocado oil/veg. oil before marinating next time and perhaps add some oregano. This will cut the strong lemon flavour. Glad to hear you're enjoying your experiments!

Enchiladas and tostadas. I confess, not homemade but take away from a tiny little hole in the wall Mexican place as I am NOT up to cooking tonight. The wine at dinner last night turned in to multiple bottles........ ....can't even FIND the kitchen today.

Jin, please reconsider. Those of us who read and/or post to this thread often really enjoy and value your posts. (Yeah, I'm fairly confident I can speak for the majority here) It would be a real loss if you do stop posting here. Your posts always get me thinking, usually drooling and are often an inspiration for ideas of my own. Please don't let a careless comment stop you from continuing to post here.

OMG that looks fabulous, fifi! I want shrimp. NOW.

This can't possibly be a coincidence. I was just cleaning out the freezer and found a nice sized package of smoked pork butt chunks residing forlornly in the corner. There is an attractive jar of black beans decorating the bar. Now, I wonder if I have any corn. (That is a new one on me but it sure sounds good.) Well, I have to go to the store for coffee anyway. Please elaborate on the sweet potato gratin. ← The pork/black bean/corn soup was an invention a couple years ago to use up some leftover pork and gilled corn. I also add onion, jalapeno, a can of tomatos and a TON of cilantro, both in the soup and for garnish because I love cilantro. The sweet potato thing was going to be a variation of something else I do, but I can't decide on a cheese that would compliment so I've gone back to to the old standby. (Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome) Sliced sweet potato, heavy cream blended with chipotle in adobo to taste. Arange layers of potato in a buttered dish, pour cream mixture over, bake until done. Now, normally we only get yams up here, but I picked up some actual sweet potatos at the market yesterday and plan to use those. What are the differences between yams and sweet potatos? Perhaps I should do some research.....

Definitely a day for cooking today. Bones and veg have been roasted and veal stock has been simmering on the stove for a few hours now. Chocolate macademia nut cookies are cooling on a rack. Baked beans are in the oven to go with ribs tonight. Next up is a sweet potato/chipotle gratin, some cornbread to go with the ribs and beans and a pot of black bean/pork/corn soup to use up some leftover pork and have lunches for the week. That should do it for today!

Ore, Looking forward to this as well. Of course just thinking about salumi has now made me very hungry! How was Israel? Any meals of note you'd like to share with us?

Sorry to hear about the stove, Luckylies, but congrats on your victory! Sounds exactly like how I would handle the problem had it cropped up today. So far dinner tonight has been a martini -- we'll see what the next course is.

Congratulations, Katie! All the best in your new endeavour.

One other question, Jen. Would it be correct to assume that the WW program includes excercise, esp. cardio a certain number of hours per week, or is the weight loss and points system strictly based on caloric intake? Also, does the point system differ for so-called "good" fats and pure junk?

The soup looks wonderful, Jen! I can understand why it hasn't been too hard to stick to your program with food like that. Really enjoying the blog, thanks again.

Very similar to one of mine except I add bacon and green onions to the warm mixture, use some dijon in the dressing add some baby spinach to the arugula!

Sounds delicious, hathor. I think I should've had Sunday dinner at your house. Crispy zucchini strips?? Fried til crisp? Butter? Herbs? Sounds intriguing.

Glad you enjoyed the food, sorry to hear about the ham. It has been available at the market for a few months now. We buy it often. I'm somewhat amazed at the wait time at this time of year, but I guess that says good things about the place. Please do report back re the food/wine as well as your interests. Are you in the business?