where

where i've been:

sausalito. casey-sitting and eating tacos. also, working and burning and cutting the heck out of my hands. it's really getting bad. today, a wild blob of errant polenta landed right between the index and middle finger of my right hand, and a huge blister commenced growing. every time i looked over, the blister seemed to get bigger. people at work and on the street stared at it. some of the freaks i work with even tried to pop it when i was looking the other way.

i popped it when i got home. but it's just filling up with liquid again.

i also saw the most excellent garden state. but we all knew that that would be good, so i won't say much more about that.

a while ago, i got to go see jack johnson, g-love and this dude at the greek theatre. it was the first concert i've been to in a loooong time--also one of the best.

where i am:

at home. filling my ipod up with exciting music of all kinds.

where i'm going:

thai temple tomorrow.

then to this concert with la sassy, which my most excellent boss gave me some tickets to (someone gave them to him and he can't go).

next saturday, i'll be in the parking lot of kermit lynch making tuna confit sandwiches (with a delicious tomato salad on the side). come see me! these things are always so much fun. plus, there won't be a stove or oven for me to burn myself on.

my dear friend DC is coming to the states, for the new yorker festival and an appearance on this little show, and i am thinking of going out there to see him, and JMTH in new haven. i also might like to work for a day here and one day here, learning about gelato. plus, i want to check out graduate programs here and here (for that rainy day when i might win the lottery, or, i don't know, get paid for the book).

now, i'm just going to bed.

potato chippin'

other than the large gash i have in my right palm, things seem to be just swell.

i cut myself badly on the japanese mandoline i was using to make potato chips. i knew it was sharp, being just a few days old, but i was silly, and got distracted by how behind i was, and looked up and thought about all of the things i needed to get done in the next 35 minutes (peel and chop garlic, finish the potato chips, skin and portion swordfish, find some greens to cook, slice and oil bread for bruschetta, peel and grate horseradish, pick and chop parsley, make a beurre rose', warm up my bollito. all of this because i spent an hour dicing shallots for the rose' butter.), and how i'd never be able to do them all, and next thing i knew, a piece of my hand was missing. thanks to some pronto soccorso attention from a coworker, though, i was taped, gloved, and back at work in under 5 minutes. and somehow, i finished everything.

i wish i could be as good about updating as some of my friends are, but i've just been working so much lately, and so tired when i get back. plus, it's not like i can do it at work, and usually (sadly) the only thing i have to write about is work.

i was hoping to go to the alameda flea market this sunday, but now, it looks like i might not make it. oh well, there's always october.

my most excellent ipod has arrived and is in use. many, many thanks to buddy for the incredible gift.

i hung out with my dear, dear friend MS this evening, and no one knows the biopsy results yet, but it was oh-so-relieving to see that she's still the same person, and in seemingly good health and spirits. she also has the funniest stories IN THE UNIVERSE. i nearly broke my ankle on the dishwasher when i was shaking with laughter at her unbelievable news of one of our friends.

i've been seeing a lot of peeps from the old restaurant lately. thanks to everyone who's stopped by to say hi--you guys rule, and you totally make our day! no thanks to the dixieland band across the street who can only play 4 tunes.

my love for billy collins is stronger than ever before. i heard a rerun of some show on npr last week, where he read one of my favorite poems: "The Country."

the bomboloni i've been making at work have been a raging hit. some of my other sweet creations haven't been so well-received. i'm going to stick with my successes for now.



tumors

i am surrounded by cancer. in my family, in my friends' families, in my blog-friends' families, and now in one of my own friends (hers could be cancer. no one is sure yet.) i don't know what to do. what to say. what to think.

after all of that, it seems silly to write about what sweets i made yesterday, or the baskets i bought today. nothing else seems to matter.

then i wonder, is it better just to live, to live, to celebrate life? what about my friend who is 7 months pregnant? what about the (howeever little) progress we make each day at work, or the inching forward of my book, or my friends who are opening their own places later this year, or my dear friend who just got married? what about the good stuff? is that not supposed to matter anymore?

it's all a blur.

csa

after a few agonizing weeks of deliberations, i am happy to announce that i have decided to go with riverdog farm in yolo county for my weekly vegetable box.

my finalists were:

full belly farm in the capay valley

riverdog farm in yolo county

and terra firma farm in yolo county

all three are great farms, and they have practically the same stuff. it wasn't at all a question of quality that made me go with riverdog. i think that terra firma has a pretty huge selection, and they have different sizes of boxes to choose from, which is kinda nice. but right now, i have a pretty close relationship with the farmers at riverdog, and they'll deliver to my work for me, which is really convenient. it's not exactly a binding contract, so if i'm not happy, i can always change. but i am going to love never having to buy crappy produce from andronico's for a premium price. i can't wait!

parmigiana di melanzane

i made the best eggplant parmesan that i, or anyone who tasted it today, have/has ever had.

and i'm not exaggerating.

here's what i did, if you want to make it at home:

dice some red onions and saute them in extra virgin olive oil. get the onions soft, but avoid browning them.

slice a clove or two of garlic and add it in.

add some chopped up canned san marzano tomatoes, and some fresh tomatoes, too. season with salt.

add a TON of basil.

simmer for 30-45 minutes until the sauce is sweet.

(i milled the sauce, but if i were making this at home, i wouldn't bother.)

slice eggplant (i used some great italian globe eggplant from full belly farm in the capay valley) into 1/2 inch thick slices (lengthwise), and fry it in an inch of extra virgin olive oil until it is cooked all the way through. let the excess oil drain from the eggplant by placing it on a plate line with paper towels. season the eggplant with salt as soon as it comes out of the oil.

line a casserole dish with the eggplant slices. then layer with 1 1/2 inch hunks of fresh mozzarella, torn basil, plenty of grated parmesan cheese, and your tomato sauce. sprinkle with another pinch of salt for luck (i always do).

repeat.

finish with a final layer of eggplant and sauce.

bake at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes. let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving with plenty more grated parmesan.

oh dear, it was so delicious. i sold out!

happy box

i found this little tin i used to keep on my nightstand, with the word "happy" written on the top. i'd write thoughts or things or ideas or whatever that made me happy on little scraps of paper and then keep them in there and look at them whenever i got sad. it was kinda great, and now that i found it, i'm going to start keeping it near me again.

all of the things in there were silly, and sweet. things like, "the essay about bill evans in 1963 in reading jazz," or "i got offered a job in the kitchen at chez panisse," or "i got chosen to read with bob hass at lunch poems," or "a day in the city with tj." things that were all such a long time ago, so far away, yet still make me smile.