I am raising for you a kind young man, without a mean bone in his body. He is handsome and funny and talented and smart. I'm sure that you will love him forever and be very happy, but I must apologize. I have failed you. I have tried to combat a habit that will bring you many hours of frustration, I'm sure, but he is just too strong and I now must finally admit defeat.

My only hope is that you are stronger-willed than I am and someday you will be able to successfully train YOUR children to turn their socks right-side-out before putting them in the dirty clothes hamper.

Love,
Your future mother-in-law

Article about organic produce from Cooking Light magazine.

The article didn't mention this, but I have an additional theory (not based on anything other than a hunch and a little common sense):

"Conventional" produce is sprayed with fungicides after harvesting, to keep it from rotting in the truck on its way to your supermarket. These chemicals keep it from displaying outward signs of spoilage for a longer period of time. Have you ever picked organic strawberries from a farm or farmers' market? Ya gotta eat those the same day you buy 'em, baby. They go bad FAST. But strawberries from a supermarket? They're sprayed with all sorts of chemicals to keep them from rotting. They can survive two or three days on the truck from Watsonville to you and then another two or three days in your fridge. They may LOOK okay on the outside, but it's only common sense to understand that they will have lost some of their nutrient value from oxidation (not to mention the problem of the added chemicals) after being away from the plant (and water and nutrients) for that long.

Another thing is that "conventional" produce is frequently picked when it is not yet ripe (with the idea being that it will finishing ripening during shipping). Of course, produce that is not allowed to finish ripening on the vine (or on the tree, or in the ground, or whatever) will not have the opportunity to develop the same levels of vitamins as organically grown produce, which is more frequently picked when it is completely ripe.

The downside, of course, is that organic produce DOES spoil more quickly. And it does cost more. It must be shipped immediately to the store and must be bought and consumed more quickly. This is why one frequent excuse for not buying organic is that "it doesn't look as good" as the conventional stuff. I agree, at least sometimes. One of my pet peeves is seeing all of the nasty, slimy looking organic produce at the store, when all of the conventional stuff is picture perfect. (There are going to be some signs of little "bug bites" occasionally on organic produce. I take this as a good sign. I don't want to eat something that would kill a bug, thank you.) Obviously, you should use your best judgment. No one is encouraging you to buy slimy lettuce or soggy apples, but, when you have the choice and the opportunity, I believe that it's best to try to buy organic. Of course, the more of us that buy the organic stuff, the faster it will turn over at the store and the fresher it will be...

NOTE: If you go to an organic farmstand or farmers' market, you'll have the best of ALL worlds:
The produce will be fresh, out of the ground; it is usually cheaper than organic produce at a supermarket and you usually get to talk to the growers. You can ask questions about how to prepare an unusual vegetable that you might not have ever never seen before, etc. You'll also get things that are local and in season, but that's a whole separate lecture.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I have close family connections with a local organic farm. I also will admit that I am far from perfect. I do succumb occasionally to the beautiful produce at Costco, but I do buy organically, locally and in season, as much as I conveniently can.)

Right about now, you're probably thinking "Can't I just wash the pesticides off after I buy the produce?!?"..."

No, you really can't, at least not usually. Pesticides are sprayed onto the whole plant (where they are absorbed into the plant and distributed throughout), but a lot of it also falls onto the soil. When it rains or the plants are irrigated, the pesticides are washed into the soil, where they can be absorbed into the plants' vascular system via the roots. Remember, in kindergarten, where you put a carnation flower or a stalk of celery into a glass of water with some food coloring in it? Remember how the dye distributed throughout the whole plant/flower so that the white carnation you started out with became a startling, but beautiful, blue? That is exactly what the pesticides do. They don't simply "wash off" when you rinse your produce, because they're not just on the outside of the food, but are imbedded inside.

There are some fruits and vegetables, however, that are more vulnerable or appealing to insects, so they are routinely sprayed with higher levels of pesticides to scare away the bugs, or there are some other plants that are naturally more bug-resistant, so they routinely don't need as much pesticide to prevent bug damage. Some plants, due to a higher water content, absorb more pesticides naturally. So, if all else fails and you just aren't sold on the idea of organic produce, or only want to spend the money on it at times when it REALLY counts, you should know which fruits and vegetables have the highest concentrations of pesticides and which have the lowest.

Here ya go:

Produce with the HIGHEST pesticide levels
(strongly recommended that you only buy these foods when organic choices are available):
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Imported Grapes
Pears

Produce with the LOWEST pesticide levels, even when NOT organically grown:
Onions
Avocado
Frozen Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Mango
Frozen Sweet Peas
Asparagus
Kiwi
Bananas
Cabbage

This data comes from the Environmental Working Group and the whole list (wondering where tomatoes fall? mushrooms? potatoes?) can be viewed here (scroll down a bit).

Thanks for listening (is anyone still reading?). I'm stepping down from the soapbox now.

I changed the recipe around a little bit:
I used boneless chuck short ribs (6 of them) and added more carrots to the sauce, but didn't add the baby carrots later. I added the juice from the tomatoes, rather than draining it, because I used chicken stock (instead of beef) and wanted to add a little extra flavor to compensate for that.

Boy kids enjoyed this and Girl even has some of the leftovers in her lunch today. I'm thinking that I may freeze some of the leftover meat and sauce to serve over pasta at a later date. Hubby and I will probably have some of the leftover meat (without sauce) in a grilled sandwich for lunch today.

browning the short ribs

simmering the short ribs

We had some of these (I made extras) for dessert:

A double batch of chocolate kiss cupcakes that I made for Girl's choir party today, packed with extra Hershey Kisses to stabilize them and keep them from shifting in the box

Volleyball snack for the team. Banana muffins, cheese and grapes. I love these little boxes (available at Michael's or any cake-decorating store) and they were a HUGE hit with the girls.

I made this using a pre-mixed spice rub from Williams Sonoma, but I can no longer find the blend in their stores or on their website, so I will have to get creative and come up with my own mix when I make this again. That shouldn't be too hard. Bobby Flay has a good-looking recipe here.

The directions were really easy; you just had to rub the meat (I used London Broil) with a little oil and then rub it with the spice mix and grill. It was really good. The coffee added rich flavor without being overwhelming. Will make this again.

I made the leftovers into a kid-friendly Shepherd's Pie.

Here's how:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop leftover beef into bite-sized pieces.

Grab some leftover mashed potatoes and mix them with a little milk and one egg yolk to reach a spreadable consistency.

Saute some finely chopped white onion in a tiny bit of oil until softened. Add some diced carrots and cook until they are softened but not mushy. Add some frozen green peas. Cook 2 - 3 more minutes until peas are thawed, but not cooked through.

Pour in some leftover gravy (I used leftover chicken gravy, because that's what I had on hand and was a little worried that it would be weird, but it worked just fine) and the beef cubes and stir gently to combine.

Pour the veggie-beef-gravy mixture into a shallow baking pan. Spread the mashed potato mixture over the top, to the edges of the pan.

Bake until the potatoes are slightly firmed and the gravy is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Stand back after you serve this. Your kids will be gobbling so quickly that you won't want to get in their way!

We went for Sunday brunch. The restaurant is very compact, with the tables very close together, but it manages to not feel crowded or cramped, even though, particularly at the banquettes, you are practically sharing a table with your next-door neighbors.

The fixtures and art in the room are very colorful and whimsical, with lots of bright reds. It is not a terribly formal restaurant, although the food is definitely upscale. The butter that comes out with the bread basket is sculpted into a piece of miniature modern art and sprinkled with pink Australian Murray River salt flakes.

The amuse bouche was probably the best that I've ever had in any restaurant, EVER. It was a concoction of foie gras, served in a miniature French canning jar and topped with a skewered, Cognac-soaked, deep fried grape. It was positively transcendent.

I started with the pretzel-crusted crabcake; Mom started with the salmon and tuna tartare. I forgot to take photos of either of these, but they were both delicious (we shared). Mom's fish was served on a huge, rough slab of Murray River salt about 12 inches by 8 inches and about 2 inches thick. They apparently clean the slabs off between uses with a boiling hot towel to minimize melt, but kill any germs. Each slab must be worth hundreds of dollars. The crabcake was very unusual, but wonderful. The inside was the purest, most luscious crab salad that you've ever had, surrounded by a layer of crisp pretzel sticks and sprinkled with tiny Chinese rice puffs. I found a photo that someone else has taken here.

For the next course, Mom had the lobster scramble (very rich and earthy) and I had the "Rueben" Benedict. It was like Eggs Benedict, only not. Instead of Canadian bacon, there was pastrami-cured salmon. Instead of cabbage kraut, there was zucchini kraut. Instead of Hollandaise, there was Russian dressing. It was all served with an overflowing heap of crisp, shoestring potatoes. Absolutely delicious. The salmon was very interesting, but wonderful.

For dessert, we just asked Sammy to surprise us, to bring us his favorite desserts. He chose wisely, with a warm apple tart for me and a coconut layer cake for Mom, plus an other-worldly,obscenely-sized cheesecake lollipop tree for us to share.

We were so full by the end of this meal that we were physically uncomfortable, but it was SO good. The lollipop tree was very fun, but so over-the-top and excessive that it was humorous. It was served with a separate dish of bubble gum-flavored whipped cream for dipping into. It towered over the table and created a HUGE spectacle when it was brought out to us, but it was very festive and I'm actually thinking of trying to re-create it for Thanksgiving. I found a display stand that might work here. I think that I'll just need to make a thick cheesecake (I'm planning pumpkin) and then use a melon baller or small scoop to make balls out of the (very cold) cheesecake and then roll them in melted chocolate (I'll probably make some with dark chocolate and some with white chocolate) and then decorate with sprinkles or chopped toasted nuts or maybe even crushed toasted pumpkin seeds. I'll post an update if I actually manage to pull that off!

The service is lovely and very attentive. Descriptions of the food are clear and helpful and the staff gently guided us to wines that matched our selections (I don't remember talking to a separate sommelier, which, now that I think of it, is actually a little surprising, but our waiter was very helpful).

We did have two slightly misbehaved tables near us: one with a whiny toddler and one with a woman that spent pretty much the entire evening on her cellphone. I must admit, though, that I wasn't too much bothered (they really weren't that loud, in the absolute) by them. They provided me just the excuse that I needed to not feel guilty about "disturbing the atmosphere" by taking photos. If they had not been there, I would NOT have taken photos. The dining room is small and quiet and tables are close together. The room is dark romantically lit, at least at dinnertime, so, normally, flashes going off would be very disruptive.

The food was elegantly executed and absolutely delicious. The desserts were maybe the "weakest linK" and weren't as strong as the actual meal, but it could just be that we were so full of lovely dinner, that we didn't have as much room for dessert and weren't hungry enough to properly enjoy it.

We started with the Glazed Multicolor Vegetable Composition, which was divine. The vegetables (from what we could identify: potatoes, leeks, turnips, parsnips, carrots, onions, and green beans) were fresh and tender and the glaze was savory, with just the right amount of salt.

I had the scallops and my mom had the duck (see the menu here for descriptions). They were both wonderful. So wonderful that I forgot to take a photo, but they were GREAT!.

For dessert, my mother had a pineapple parfait-type dessert (I don't remember the exact name of it and Adour doesn't have their dessert menu online) that was REALLY good, but HUGE. It had some mango and coconut elements in it, too.

My dessert was a chocolate composition that had a hard chocolate shell on top with some cold ice-creamy stuff underneath. You had to break through the chocolate to eat the dessert. It was topped with gold leaf and caramelized brioche croutons. It was quite yummy, but also very rich. I didn't come CLOSE to eating it all.

Overall, this was a lovely meal. I also had a lovely pre-prandial apple cocktail that had icewine in it. I don't remember the other ingredients or what it was called, but it was quite good.

This was SO yummy and very easy.

Asparagus Soup

Melt 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add some coarsely chopped, yellow onion (about 3/4 cup to 1 cup) and a pinch of salt (I LOOOOOOVE my little wooden salt bowl. I bought it in Costa Rica and that little spoon holds precisely 1/4 tsp.) and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, translucent and just starting to brown, lowering heat if necessary to avoid scorching.

Add 2 pounds coarsely chopped asparagus,with the woody ends removed and discarded. Continue cooking and stirring for about 5 more minutes. (To remove the ends, I bend each stalk until it snaps and breaks, at the natural junction where the woody part ends.)

Add chicken stock to cover (about 6 cups) and simmer, about 20 more minutes, or until asparagus is softened. Lower heat and/or add more chicken stock, if necessary, during cooking.

Remove soup from heat and stir in 1/4 cup half-and-half (or cream, if you're feeling naughty) and 1/4 cup sour cream and a tiny squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1 tsp.). Puree soup carefully, using a blender, preferably an immersion one. If you must use a countertop blender, do so very carefully as the liquid will be VERY hot and you will likely need to puree it in multiple batches.

Garnish with whatever strikes your fancy: chopped chives or parsley, a shaving of parmesan, croutons, some asparagus tops that have been steamed or sauteed separately or even, ummmm....bacon!

Having a cocktail with the "Shady Ladies", my buddies from Virginia, at a HUGE diner across the street from the Marriott Marquis in Times Square that I can't remember the name of. Drat.

It was a great, whirlwind trip. We covered a LOT of ground and ate some phenomenal food. I also made a quick visit to the 47th street diamond district (where the merchants are so desperate, due to the current economy, that they are practically GIVING jewelry away). I had my engagement diamond re-set into a more updated design (my old setting had broken and wasn't really reparable).

I agree with my friend, Trish, that it is VERY hard to take photos of rings.

We saw a great (if a little bit "dated") show called "Enter Laughing", with Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker (from L.A. Law) and were able to meet them afterwards. I have always been fans of their acting (Jill Eikenberry is also known for being in "Arthur", among other things and Michael Tucker was HILARIOUS as "Harry Rosenthal" on Tracey Ullman's show "Tracey Takes On".), but was impressed with their singing and dancing abilities, as well. Michael Tucker is quite a "foodie" and has written some great books, as well. I am reading his book "Living in a Foreign Language" right now. We saw another comedy show called "Celebrity Autobiography", where a rotating cast of actors, with various levels of celebrity themselves, read and act out scenes from real celebrity autobiographies. There was one scene that superimposed bits from the autobiographies of Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, which each of them taking turns speaking. Priceless. Sherri Shepherd (from The View) was Elizabeth Taylor and she was hilarious. I'm not a huge fan of The View, but she was purringly brilliant. We also saw "Irena's Vow", which was more moving than I could possibly do justice with words. I was quite literally sobbing as the final curtain came down, and I was not the only one.

We had wonderful meals at Adour, David Burke and Donatella, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market, Eleven Madison Park, Craft, Le Bernardin and Amarone. Some of the most inspired, refined, sumptuous and artful food that I've had in a VERY long time.

Below are some photos. I was able to snap a few at Eleven Madison Park and Adour, but the atmosphere at Le Bernardin and Craft was not conducive to doing so (although I was VERY tempted to break out the camera when I saw gorgeous Chef Eric Ripert, strolling through the dining room). Alas, we did NOT see hunky Chef Tom Colicchio at Craft. The food at Eleven Madison Park is very refined, but the atmosphere is not quite as formal (we saw folks there in jeans, although we were there for lunch, not dinner) and we were not near any other tables that might have been disturbed by my snapping. The atmosphere (and food) at Adour is VERY formal, but since there was already another table with a whiny 3 year old nearby and another table next to us with a woman chatting busily on her cellphone (and sadly ignoring both her daughter and husband AND the delicious food that was being presented to her), I figured that my sly photo-snapping might not be too obtrusive.

I have so much to say about all of the food, that I'll have to break it down into multiple posts. I'll start with one of my favorites, Eleven Madison Park:

We ordered the "Gourmand" tasting menu, with wine pairings. All of the wines were wonderful, but I can't remember the names of any of them. The service at this place was absolutely flawless.

Pear-Parsnip Amuse Bouche, brought to the table in a small, lidded dish. As the waiter set the plates down before us, he whisked away the lid, allowing the wonderful aromas to envelop us. This was very warm and creamy, with just a little bit of sweetness.

Variations on Garden Potatoes with Balik Salmon and Watercress
This was perfect. Just simple and elegant; the potatoes were cooked perfectly (fork-tender, without being mushy or mealy); the seasonings were absolutely in balance; the salmon was astoundingly fresh and the roe was briny and sweet.

Foie Gras Terrine with Golden Pineapple, Pickled Pearl Onions and Rum-Raisin Brioche
Absolutely wonderful. Delicate, sweet and rich, with flavors that were very unexpected, but complemented each other perfectly.

Maine Diver Scallops, Seared with Hawaiian Prawns, Cauliflower and Crustacean Jus
Very nice. The scallops were crustily seared and the cauliflower "pate" was delicious.

Vermont Suckling Pig Confit with Cipollini Onions, Plum Chutney and Five Spice Jus
This was SO savory and flavorful! The little "brick" of pulled pork was perfectly crisped on top (I'd LOVE to know how they did that!). The cipollini puree was onion, only distilled to its purest essence. My mouth is watering now, remembering it.

Milk Chocolate Palette with Bosc Pears and Chestnut Ice Cream
SO rich that I couldn't come close to finishing it, but wonderful anyway. The ripe pears were thinly sliced inside their chocolate shroud and resisted slightly as you cut into it.
The little chocolate shaving sticks were surprisingly crispy. The chocolate ganache was like velvet. The chestnut ice cream was sublime with a VERY strong and authentic chestnut flavor.

Assorted Mignardises: Raspberry Mini Macarons, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Rosettes, Lemon Cookies and Pistachios Pyramids

Although I did taste one or two of these and they were lovely, I brought the bulk of them home for the kids. Seeing the cuteness of these little mini post-dessert treats, however, has me lusting for some Flexipan molds so that I can replicate them at home to serve with coffee when we have folks over.