last night i made an iranian dinner for slow food at zibibbo. it was absolutely ridiculous. ridiculous. even though i haven't cooked in a restaurant in a loooong time and i was totally out of cooking shape (among other kinds of shape), and i have never made ANY of the dishes that were on the menu, it all turned out well. some things were better than others, and i had to fight for some aspects of the menu (i lost on most of them), but there were few complaints, which is a victory in itself in italy, land of picky/snobby/know-it-all eaters. i called my mom in a panic more than once. the first time my little brother (b, who, the last time i checked, was surviving on a strict diet of organic instant ramen) answered, and even he had some advice to me; he was highly amused by my desperate state of hysteria.