alkonin

The asian pears are truly things of beauty. can't wait till tomorrow for the 2nd & south market. the pears were here for one week a couple of weeks ago, then gone. so glad to hear they're back.

pancakes or waffles store-bought rotisserie chicken and salad pasta with olive oil, garlic, hot pepper, bit of tomato paste, parsley, & lemon scrambled cheese eggs and toast

pims. i think they're made by lu, if not, they're in the same section. it's a spongey cake-like cookie with jam on top an then coated with chocolate. and these danish honey sammich cookie things. have no idea what they're called, but they're kinda big and round, with really thin, buttery, crisp cookies (think brussels but more pliable), with this unbelievable honey-creme filling.

I would try places like tj max or marshalls for flatware--we were really lucky there (paid about 20 dollars for service for 8).

faves: alice waters mario julia ming tsai least faves: emeril the america's test kitchen guy that horrible paula deen person on food network

i can't handle anything with goat's milk in it. i have to make my husband taste all the cheeses on a cheese platter to make sure none of them are 'goaty'. i don't know what it is, but the taste og goat's milk is really awful to me, and it stays in my mouth for hours. the last time i accidentally ingested a goat product was in a dessert crepe. when i got home, i had to gargle with pickle juice to get the taste out of my throat. beets, on the other hand, i adore.

always plastic, as it's much easier to smoosh things around to fit in the basket of my scooter that way. the best-quality plastic bags i've found here in philadelphia come from esposito's and essene. both are big, heavy-duty bags that are saved until we have a proper use for them.

giant goldfish. they're like regular golfish. only GIANT.

about thrice a year, nothing will cut the mustard but a mcdonald's breakfast. hash brown, bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit, and an orange hi-c. these meals generally occur when travelling to nj early in the am to visit parents.

my husband and i pack salads for lunch every day. our current favorites include greens with boiled potato, string beans, and a hard boiled egg, or greens with grapes, walnuts, and blue cheese. we also enjoy cold brown rice thrown in to your average salad for a bit of toothiness and deliciousness.

we didn't get to taste anything either! after choosing the menu ever so carefully, i think i had a bite of caesar salad and half a glass of champagne. we had someone wrap up a whole lot of wedding cake for us and we ate that when we got to the hotel, accompanied by a bottle of champagne. monday's our first anniversary, and i'm going to make the meal we missed--chicken stuffed with spinach & fontina in mushroom sauce, roasted potatoes, and string beans. no big deal, but yummy. we have the top tier of our cake for dessert. can't wait for that cake!

2 - 8 oz. wagyu sirloins, to be delivered just in time for our first anniversary! only cost me 8.93. i feel naughty!

"she was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman that i ever seen..."

sadly, pineapple makes my lips itch.

yesterday at my favorite asian produce store, i bought a pint of strawberries, a head of nice romaine, 3 cucumbers, a big bag of those really crisp bean sprouts, a stalk of celery, a bunch of carrots (the nice kind with their greens still attached), and a big bunch of those small, adorable bananas. the whole thing was just under 6 bucks.

and has anyone seen the bovinity divinity?

rack of spam. take 2 cans of spam and butt them together in a baking dish. make partial slices and insert chunks of velveeta in between. bake until things get gooey. from the white trash cookbook, i forget which volume. i swear i never tried it! it has stuck with me since i first saw it while browsing through a bookshop in new hope, pa.

it's rediculous to think that one person's reasons for going to culinary school are any more valid than another person's. if you want to learn, whatever your motives are, then you belong there.

the women in my husband's family are extremely picky diners. when ordering pasta, they feel it necessary to demand it be cooked "al dente!", several times before the waiter leaves with everyone's orders. they are also very indecisive, they make everyone else order ahead of them, and change their order at least once after our tables' orders have been put in. we were out with his parents once, and we changed tables three times before we found one that the mom was pleased with. on one of our first dates, we ate at a deli where i ordered "a grilled swiss with tomato on a sesame bagel." then i specified that i would like the tomato underneath the cheese. he said something like "oh, god, you order like my mom and my grandmother." i thought it was cute until i saw them in action.

the white turnips are completely delicious! can't wait till saturday...REALLY can't wait till the asian pears are out. there's a meat lady at 2nd & south...great chicken, okay ground beef. also there's a bread guy from delaware at 5th & south on tuesdays 1-7 with this whole wheat sourdough baguette that is so good, but always gone by the time i get there after work. thank god for farmer's markets!