eG Foodblog: Marlena - Life is Delicious Wherever I am

[Darcie B]

at home we ate macaroni and cottage cheese which we called lochkshen and cheese, lochkshen being yiddish for noodle. its still my favourite dish in the world.

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Marlena (and CaliPoutine and Danielle and Pam) -

I grew up in North Dakota and am of German descent, but we enjoyed a dish similar to what you describe, only we basically make ravioli and put a cottage cheese/onion mixture into it. It's boiled and then fried in butter with breadcrumbs. It's called kase knephla (don't know about the spelling, but that's the way my grandmother wrote it). One of my favorite comfort foods too.

Edited January 5, 2006 by Darcie B (log)

[daniellewiley]

also i wondered: do you folks know that i wrote a book on grilled cheese sandwiches?????

This happens to me all the time. I work in the food business with my parents - and my mother often questions what I'm doing. I may have even shouted across the kitchen "I've had a cookbook published! Let me cook!" It's a mother-daughter thing.

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Heck, my mom still asks me if I need to pee before we leave the house. And I've had that mastered for YEARS on my own.

[mochihead]

oh oh mochihead: newsflash about sheep: it seems as if there is a problem in the moors of north yorkshire and the sheep numbers are dwindling.

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No, Marlena, not the sheep! Everyone should have all of their own sheep and goats, otherwise where would we get all the yummy cheeses from?! I hope they're not experiencing some kind of disease or pollution problem.

Or maybe they're not watering the sheep enough like the do here, so that they grow up nice and green?

I served it with: handfuls of cilantro, a handful of lettucey salad mix, and a few gluggs of chipotle salsa, buffalo brand from a bottle.

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Oh, Marlena, you had me in love until the fresh handfuls of cilantro... DEATH HERB! It's the one food that I can't stand eating, but I will cook sparingly with it if the dish needs it.

I shall go daydream more about your grilled cheese sandwiches now.

[Swisskaese]

I grew up with this kugel and it is to die for!!!

I make it once a year for Shavuot.

I just got back from the market and I am going to make my lemon-rosemary-garlic chicken tomorrow for Shabbat dinner. I will take some photos for you Marlena.

Edited January 5, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

Banoffee Pie! Now you have to post a recipe for that--you're torturing us! I can't believe you haven't had a light steamed pudding--oh God they're good.

I made the "pasties" with cooked ingredients, and added some curry powder and dipped them in tamarind chutney-so they were more like samosas, only the wrong shape. This made me realize I should have made a jerk sauce and turned them into Jamaican patties! Choices, choices!

I have been to Ludlow and I love that place-it has kept some of the vestiges on the English Market Town vs. the large supermarket and mall-ification of many towns and villages there.

Swisskaese's recipe sounds great-I would put the potatoes in with the chicken though. I've had lemon potatoes in Greece that melt in your mouth.

I like mac and cheese with pine nuts on top. Now I'm really hungry.

Baby lambs, oh how they make me laugh--much nicer than mouldy old sheep! Thanks for your description of the neighborhood-sometimes that's more evocative than photos!

Zuke

[Swisskaese]

The biggest problem I have with making mac and cheese is that we have horrible cheddar here. If the imported cheddar from England is mild cheddar and some crappy brand that no one from England has every heard of.

I will just have to wait until I can bring some back from England.

[marlena spieler]

Well, all this talk of macaroni and cheese, cheese and bread, and i went into a dairy overdrive: that is, i had so much i had to make something different!

i've been hunched over my computer all evening, and feeling actually very down trying to make sense of this manuscript i'm pulling together, anyhow, also--on the other side of the world i happened to drop in on helenjp, and knew instantly: I needed something Asian!

So I steaped/poached some chicken--i actually had a poussin, or very small chicken not quite a cornish game hen--with star anise and ginger and dried shiitake mushrooms. So here it is, 10.30 at night, and i've just eaten a sort of comforting bowl of chicken, mushrooms, rice noodles, broth, lime juice, cilantro and hot pepper sauce. i wanted to use sracha, but didn't have any. i used tabasco instead, a fantastic all purpose hot sauce which i can really taste the barrel aging in. i visited avery island last year as a guest of paul mcellhaney, watched the harvesting of chillies, etc, and the whole aging thing. until i smelled the barrels i couldn't taste the smoky quality in the tabasco sauce. a sort of toasty oak barrel thing you get in chardonnay and other white barrel aged wines. anyhow i digress: tabasco is good.

my bowl of limey-tabasco-cilantro noodles was very comforting. tomorrow i might do something with it and baby bok choy which i have two lovely specimens of. meanwhile........

dessert: i have a big beautiful pineapple. do i want to cut it open, or simply peel an orange. its late--i'll peel the orange now, and wait until the morning for the pineapple. i do love my tropical fruit.

good night, my friends, good night.

tomorrow i check on the progress of my sauerkraut and olives. more tomorrow.

x marlena

[marlena spieler]

okay, here is my treacle sponge pudding

it serves 4, or 2, or 1, if you know what i mean......

its a little overindulgent; the recipe only called for half the amount of syrup originally, placed in the bottom of the bowl. while that was good, i discovered that double the amount of syrup was even better, especially sort of doused on after the baking.

4 ounces/125g softened butter, plus extra for buttering the pudding bowl

4 ounces/125g sugar

2 eggs

4 ounces/125 g self raising flour

pinch of salt

1-2 tablespoons milk

8 tablespoons golden syrup

2 tablespoons water

butter a 1 pint pudding basin and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until they are soft and fluffy. Add one egg, whip it into the mix, then add the other egg together with a tablespoon of the flour and whip them together. Gently mix in the flour, salt, and milk. It should make a thick batter.

Spoon half the syrup into the bottom of the pudding bowl and spoon the batter onto the top. Cover with a piece of buttered parchment paper and secure it tightly with string. Set into a large pot of boiling water about half way up the sides of the bowl.

Steam for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from heat, and remove pudding bowl from steaming pot.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan warm through the remaining syrup with the water and bring to the boil.

Remove the paper topping from the pudding and discard. Pour the hot syrup over the top of the pudding, loosening the sides so that the syrup trickles down the sides of the pudding and reaches the bottom of the bowl. Dig in with a spoon and serve some of the pudding, some of the hot syrup with each portion.

[PamelaF]

My book is  From Pantry to Table, Addison Wesley publishers. i'd like to say that the book was a james beard nominee. i wish i didn't have to say that it sold about ten copies.

Must have been more than 10 copies, because I know I personally bought three.

I still have my own well-thumbed copy and have given a couple as gifts.

I love that book, because it is not so much about recipes, as it is about how to use ingredients. For each formal recipe, the book offers many ideas for variations, so you can adapt it based on your taste and what ingredients you might have on hand.

The book really helped me to learn to cook creatively (not just by following a recipe) and put together dishes from what's on hand.

BTW, for those who may not read the California forum, you can find the San Francisco Chronicle food section digest there with links to Marlena's columns.

I really enjoyed this week's column, instead of the usual "it's January, we have to give up everything" type of articles, Marlena writes about focusing on the positive and adding good foods to your diet. Great recipes too!

Pam

[IrishCream]

I've made some sort of cross between a torta and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.

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Your description of this sandwich gives me fond memories of traveling in Mexico. I always ordered this sandwich, sans the sausage, for breakfast. It's called Molletes and is baked on a Bolillo roll. It is a lifesaver for me since I don't like eggs and most Mexican breakfasts are egg heavy.

[bloviatrix]

My book is  From Pantry to Table, Addison Wesley publishers. i'd like to say that the book was a james beard nominee. i wish i didn't have to say that it sold about ten copies.

Must have been more than 10 copies, because I know I personally bought three.

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I also have a copy. I remember being so excited when I brought it home because it had a recipe that called for flageolets and I had a bunch that I had no idea how to use

My guess it that by the time this blog finishes more than 10 owners will come out of the woodwork.

[marlena spieler]

Pamela F and Biovatrix: you guys were the ones the book was so totally written for: all about getting to know the ingredients and using them creatively, about getting away from the slavery of recipes (though that is very hard when you are writing recipes!). I really do believe that its all about feeling good about the ingredients and enjoying putting them together, and of course, loving the whole thing: the people you feed even if its no one other than yourself, loving the eating, loving the whole progression of the thing!

and biovatrix, those flageolets: i remember thinking: no one writes about flageolets, i wouldn't know what to do with them if i wasn't living in europe! i just know that someone is going to be happy to get a recipe using flageolets!

makes me happy that you guys 1. bought the book,and 2. have happy memories and good food from using it.

and irish cream: molletes! they really are delish aren't they! did you ever read the christmas roll in Like Water for Chocolate? they have a recipe for molletes there, too. i think it includes pickled jalapenos. i too like the fact that these are basically hot refried bean sandwiches!

The whole Superfood article came about because I wanted to do a piece that was positive, and encouraged people to eat good foods--such as the superfoods that are so full of good things, but i think there are a lot of other superfoods out there too. i just hate to see people frightened of their food, and i wanted to encourage adding good things to the diet rather than subtracting bad things. after all, if you have enough good things there is no room for bad things, no? and now that dark chocolate is a good thing, well, say no more!

the great thing is that the superfoods article came up number one as the most emailed piece in the chronicle/sfgate on wednesday. bigger than the coal miners......and the other amazing thing is that the ny times told me that mac and cheese was the number one emailed piece in their paper on wednesday too. i didn't ask any details, was just happy to be a part of it.

So, on to breakfast:

i'm drinking a mug of Malagasy at my computer, black. As much as I love that Greek coffee, i do like it with a little hit of sugar, and it was getting out of hand. i've just eaten two oranges, small little things but with a beautiful flavour; and after days of breakfasting on Tassia's Greek island wholegrain bread, so healthful and nourishing and high-fibre, i have changed gears and pulled a big ol' Ess a Bagel from my freezer. an Everything Bagel,. my fave. I buy a dozen from whichever bagel place i'm closest to whenever i leave new york (either ess a bagel, or h and h, though if anyone has any other suggestions, i always want to know a good bagel place), then pop them in the freezer when i get home to britain. i still have quite a nice stash.

So I toasted half, spread it with butter (mmmmm, butter, i'm waiting to hear this one is a superfood!). And am now thinking: do i want the other half? the other half is haunting me, make no mistake. and its calling my name so sweetly.

and i'm telling you, that after several months of not eating bagels what with my travelling and i'm very picky about my bagels, this bagel is the most delicious of bagel-dom. well, the most delicious you'll find in Hampshire that is!

x Marlena the muncher (yes, beautiful bagel-half, i'm on my way!!!)

[marlena spieler]

I almost forgot to mention!

Egullet is thanked in my new Macaroni and Cheese book! Egullet: for always being there, any time of the day or night. thank you, all.

[artisan02]

My book is  From Pantry to Table, Addison Wesley publishers. i'd like to say that the book was a james beard nominee. i wish i didn't have to say that it sold about ten copies.

Must have been more than 10 copies, because I know I personally bought three.

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I also have a copy. I remember being so excited when I brought it home because it had a recipe that called for flageolets and I had a bunch that I had no idea how to use

My guess it that by the time this blog finishes more than 10 owners will come out of the woodwork.

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And I also have a copy.

[mochihead]

What kind of bakeries and markets are great where you live? Are there any specialties to the area? I'm guessing not bagels, since you feed your need with ones from New York.

Mmmm, bagels. Now I need to make smoked salmon again. Or gravlax.

[marlena spieler]

What kind of bakeries and markets are great where you live?  Are there any specialties to the area?  I'm guessing not bagels, since you feed your need with ones from New York.

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Artisan02: thank you, thank you. i hope you enjoyed it! it was sad having such small sales at the time, cause i thought: no one is loving this book! now i get to meet those who bought it--i think you all are on egullet-- and are happy to tell me about it! wonderful!

Mochihead: you're right, no good bagels made locally. I don't know ANY good bread locally. Sometimes when i'm in London i buy my favourite bread, Poilane. I helped the late great Lionel Poilane set up his bakery in London (his Paris bakery was legendary at the time). I love the sourdough and rustic simplicity, the wheaty flavour and whiff of rye, of Poilanes bread which i can buy at the bakery or at selfridges or the canary wharf waitrose. poilane bread is wonderful, and its also wonderful because when i taste his bread i think about him. its a good feeling though sad that he's not with us any longer.

but i know there are other bakeries in london, just none whose breads i love. oh, once i had some dynamite fig and anise bread at mr. christians deli. but some of the famous breads, like sally clarke's, continue to dissappoint me. oh, st johns serves really good bread, and also egulleteer dan leperd is a wonderful bread baker. but still, unless he's willing to come live with us and do our bread baking, we're sorely left without. i gotta travel for my bread! once i was really fond of cranks sunflower seed bread, but even that has gotten very commercial lately, and sold in its plastic wrapper it just ain't the same. though i still love to pick off the sunflower seeds from the outside of the loaf and nibble them up before i eat the bread.

london's baker and spice makes terrific sweet things, and i think i ate an oniony baguette-ish bread not long ago that was teee-rifffick!

i'm sure that one of the British members of egullet will chime in with this or that traditional bread, and perhaps they once did really exist, or perhaps they exist elsewhere in the country and i don't know about it, but there is no wonderful bread around. not near me, and seldom when i travel through britain which i've been doing for the 18 years i've lived here.

unlike germany where i was blown away to discover the wealth of breads: the wholesome, sour, grainy, breads. i brought back a couple of loaves and froze them, of course. like i have my stash of tassia's bread and my ess a bagels; i even have a stash of ordinary baguettes that I brought back from Paris. i also keep some dark rye from germany, little square slabs of dark rye and not much else except for the occasional other grain or sunflower seed, etc.

I don't like the baguettes here except for one exception: the ones made of french flour sold in waitrose. the others are gummy inside, and just never taste right, make me feel bloated afterwards. Lionel used to say that a good bread was one that got better as the days went on: a bread that you could toast and really appreciate the flavour and texture, or cut up and ladle soup over and the bread wouldn't turn to mush. in fact, he wrote a wonderful little books called Tartines, composed of things to be layered on top of a slice of bread. He gave me a copy, in French, but it might have been translated into english. i'm not sure.

No, Mochihead, sometimes I just travel for the bread! (i'll travel for tortillas too, and bagels, and flatbread from the mediterranean; they are all in my freezer). i have a friend who lives in the Spanish countryside and doesn't like the local bread either. He says his favourite time of the week is Sunday morning; they get up early and drive over to Portugal where he really loves the bread, then they have a coffee, pack up their shopping and head home with their bread and other goodies.

as for markets? we have a farmers market once a month. i don't know what the good people of hampshire eat the rest of the time. (i guess its from the supermarket like we are forced to do). oh, i exaggerate a bit, there is a weekly market but nothing special, nothing wonderful. The one time we had a French marketplace in our local village/town, was when we went to Greece! how irritated was I about that!

The french markets are really nice; vendors come across from northern france and set up their markets: fromage, foie gras, and saucisson for all!

speaking of shopping, my husband just left for up the hill where the waitrose is. i wonder what he'll come back with. its always a surprise. but i know, after we have been having this egullet discussion about puddings, i just know he has pudding on his mind. i heard him muttering something about treacle......

x marlena

Edited January 6, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[mochihead]

Oh, my! Traveling to other countries for breads! Living on an island in the middle of the Pacific, it's such a foreign concept to me. We have enough trouble just traveling between islands and other states here.

With all the breads and bagels that you bring back from your traveling, do you have a big walk in freezer for all of your acquisitions? I have yet to find really great breads here in Hilo - same as the cheeses. Ugh. Maybe I'll just have to make a trip abroad and go on a bread and cheese spree.

Shall I make a stop and bring you anything from Hawai'i? Macadamias from the backyard?

I'm having trouble finding golden syrup and treacle here for the puddings. I have a feeling I'm going to have to order them online. I wonder if I can add find and add it to my Amazon order that I just placed for your Grilled Cheese, Mac & Cheese, and Jewish Traditions pre-order!

[marlena spieler]

My Bagel Breakfast

My bagel this morning was soooooo good, the first bagel after a long bagel-less couple of months, how good was it? it was so good that when i was biting into it i was thinking: I wish I had TWO MOUTHS! so could eat it in both at the same time!

Crisp edges, tons of seeds and onion and garlic, just enough butter that i put on only to sort of warm it not to melt, and since the butter was sweet (unsalted) i sprinkled the tiniest amount of salt flakes here and there.

Lip-smacking sounds ensure just thinking about it.

[marlena spieler]

I'm having trouble finding golden syrup and treacle here for the puddings. I have a feeling I'm going to have to order them online.  I wonder if I can add find and add it to my Amazon order that I just placed for your Grilled Cheese, Mac & Cheese, and Jewish Traditions pre-order!

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Oh you are wonderful! all three books, wish i could give you a discount, but the evil old publishers are the ones doing the buying and selling, and the evil old booksellers too. i hope you enjoy the books, and use them in good health!

i knw there is a mail order source for golden syrup. if you like, i can bring some to california and mail it to you from there, in another month or so. on the other hand, it might be quicker to go to amazon.

Definately recommend bringing good food back from wherever you can find it! bread and cheese are one of my favourite reasons for living in europe. i love the fact that at most italian airports you can get big delicious hunks of parmesan, of prosciutto or other cured meats, the sorts of things that no one should leave italy without! once i brought home a whole leg of jamon from spain--a really nice man helped me with my suitcase on the walk back from the tube from the airport (when i lived in london) and when he asked what was so heavy in it, i showed him the jamon. he expressed interest, and before you know it, right there on the east end street, we were slicing up lovely pieces of rosy serrano ham. we had a little street snack then i packed some up for him, and he helped me shlep that thing the rest of the way.

Last trip to Italy was to umbria and i came back with a chunk of prosciutto called a pocket prosciutto--a small prosciutto for travel i guess. it was tasty alright; every time my husband opened the fridge door he took a bite, i mean he didn't cut it, he just dug his teeth into that prosciutto. a bit uncouth, but he loved that prosciutto so!

my freezer isn't small, but its not a walk in. we are only two people, though with lots of eating guests; my freezer is half my refrigerator, the bottom half. right now its pretty much all bread and tortillas. my husband wishes it had ice cream in it.

when i was recently in san francisco, a restaurant (part of a chain) opened serving Hawaiian plate-lunch. a hawaiian neighbour said it was pretty authentic and i do mean to try it one of these days. i can get excited about the salty-sweet teriyaki thing. and the macaroni-potato-salad-rice thing is kinda interesting. she also brought me a spam sushi which she made specially and i didn't have the heart to tell her i just couldn't stand it. something about the spam and the nori, together in one dish. the sushi rice was okay.

what is your life like in hawaii? have you blogged or do you have a personal history up in the egullet innards? did you now that bette midler was from hawaii? my father was also based there during the war, on the same army baseball team as Joe Dimaggio! and i've heard that the pineapples there are divine--worth a trip? shall i outfit my suitcase to accommodate a surfeit of pineapples when i come?

Edited January 6, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[jackal10]

Despite my Jewish heritage, I think bagels are grossly overrated. Tough, dense crumb and frankly boring. Give me a decent baguette instead any time.

And hold the cream cheese, just put in more Lox!

[marlena spieler]

Despite my Jewish heritage, I think bagels are grossly overrated. Tough, dense crumb and frankly boring. Give me a decent baguette instead any time.

And hold the cream cheese, just put in more Lox!

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I truly think that is because you haven't had a good one (I think the beigle bake in bricklane to be the most over-rated bagels anywhere, ditto ridley road, and other british bagels, even san francisco bagels, though if you get house or bagels or marin bagels and they are fresh, they are good) You need a good bagel tutorial, like a tutored wine-tasting, cause i think it is worth the pleasure when you finally get the good one.

Trouble is there are too many bad bagels on this planet (most are pretty bad). And also, you have to eat them in the right state: anything over a few hours old must be toasted! and you have to eat them with the right stuff: its a texture thing. Since bagels are so dense, you can't treat them like other breads. they are simply too heavy to be eaten with other sandwich fillings, and they overpower them as well. Bagels are a force unto themselves!

My husband isn't crazy about bagels either. He's British, but not Jewish. on the other hand he always hated rye bread until our recent trip to Germany. And now he's got a bit of a passion for the stuff. Still despite repeated trips to New York, he would never willingly eat a bagel. Whereas I, who was raised with one arm in a pickle barrel and the other reaching for a bagel, well........ I get an inner hum when i get a good bagel.

Edited January 6, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[mochihead]

If you ever come to Hawai'i, be sure to come visit the Big Island! I'll make sure that you have a wonderful supply of fresh sugar loaf white pineapples, macadamias, lychee and rambutan. My sister-in-law's family has a farm and more produce than they know what to do with. And the most lovely but ugly local Ka'u Gold oranges. Oh, and fresh fish caught by my brother, of course.

I never really enjoyed spam, although it was always around while growing up. I have the same issues with macaroni salad. But only in Hawai'i can you find the plate lunch with the triple starch overload next to your teriyaki beef, kalbi and brown gravy over everything!

Life here is pretty laidback. I miss living in California (while in college) and the chance to visit so many different restaurants and ethnic markets. I love traveling when I have the time and now have this great urge to visit Europe because of your blog!

Aside from ice cream and puddings, does your husband have any particular tastes or idiosyncracies regarding food?

[marlena spieler]

If you ever come to Hawai'i, be sure to come visit the Big Island!  I'll make sure that you have a wonderful supply of fresh sugar loaf white pineapples, macadamias, lychee and rambutan.  My sister-in-law's family has a farm and more produce than they know what to do with. And the most lovely but ugly local Ka'u Gold oranges.   Oh, and fresh fish caught by my brother, of course.

............ I miss living in California (while in college) and the chance to visit so many different restaurants and ethnic markets.  I love traveling when I have the time and now have this great urge to visit Europe because of your blog!

Aside from ice cream and puddings, does your husband have any particular tastes or idiosyncracies regarding food?

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Sugar loaf white pineapples, macadamias, lychee, rambutan, my favourite fruits! is there passion fruit in hawaii? i love passion fruit so much, that recently in california i bought one for a friend--a little pathetic looking one, they didn't have any that looked better--and i paid 5 dollars for it! i wasn't going to see the friend for about a week and i couldn't wait any longer. I ended up eating it myself!

As for my husbands food idiosyncracies, oh where or where do I begin? he loves apples and beetroot. he could eat apples and beetroot for every meal and then go into a different phase. he's a little compulsive. my only complaint is that he isn't as exotically minded as i'd like him to be. he always ends up reverting to a kind of euro-table. though he is very good about eating strange things that i might be put off of, such as Greek stuffed spleen. and bulgarian tripe soup--he couldn't get enough!

I think i'll have a little confab with him, remind him of the happiness of his strange little foodies habits which he will probably get all excited to relive, and then i'll get back to you with the details.......once i came home after a trip abroad and every cupboard was filled with a different sort of Victorian sponge cake; another time there was beetroot everywhere, even in the cats dish. The kitty also had a treat once when husband was on his cilantro phase: he thought: hey, if i love cilantro (fresh coriander) than the kitty will love it too! (it was his first cat). meanwhile, he has talked me into making a treacle sponge!

Edited January 6, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[mochihead]

Oh, d'oh. I always forget about passion fruit because they grow all over the place here. My neighbor has a HUGE vine that he just pruned back. It fruits like crazy. There's also mangosteen and dragonfruit, although both are not really my favorites. And guavas. Lots and lots of guavas! Oh, yes. The same neighbor with the passion fruit growing everywhere also has the most wonderful jaboticaba tree. It's such a funny tree to see fruiting - the fruits grow directly off the branches & trunk, so it looks like it has warts!

I will have to live vicarously through your treacle sponge until I can find some treacle. Darn.

Apples and beetroot? At least he stays healthy! Much healthier than, say, a fish & chips phase. Greek stuffed spleen? Bulgarian tripe soup? Do tell! The Chinese side of my heritage is intrigued by offal and innards and guts.

Your cat eats beetroot? My cat loves corn, broccoli & bell peppers, but I've never heard of a cat eating beetroot. Maybe the cilantro is like catnip? Stinky! hee hee

ps - please let me know if I'm being too annoying with all of my questions. I'm just so fascinated by all this.

Edited January 6, 2006 by mochihead (log)

[marlena spieler]

Mochihead: you're not annoying at all--you're wonderful! your questions are great, and i love answering them. Half the fun of this is tapping out answers, the stuff that is exotic to you is everyday hum drum to me, and vice versa, i mean: passionfruit all over the place, and GUAVAS! maybe i'm the one who should buy that airplane ticket asap!

will answer more of your questions a little later, i'm actually checking the recipe i put up on the blog yesterday: yes, the recipe for treacle pudding. husband is standing right over me with a very expectant, very "soon i'll be happy" look on his face.

x m