The Beauty of Getting Older

...is that you appreciate things so much more.
Such as:

• my amazing husband (who else would have married me?)
• friends you have known for a long time
• friends with whom you have many things in common
• the laughter of Son (and his sense of humor in general)
• delicious drinks, like Jack Frost, The Metropolitan, and White Sangria
• the amazing shoulders of Dwight Howard, seriously, check this dude out
• friends who will take your crazy son for the night so you can, briefly, pretend to be an Adult
• being so much stronger this year than last
• being able to afford to go out for fancy drinks & a fancy dinner (at least a few times a year)
• wine
• mountains
• my very expensive Victoria's Secret bra (I saw a dude checking me out at the game last night. It's so the bra!)

Dinner

We went out with Sylvia & Don this weekend. We went to Em's, which we went to with them the year before last, and we loved it, but we haven't gone back. Why?
The food was excellent, as was the company and the wine.
But the mushroom soup was sublime. Sublime!! I must start making mushroom soup. It was a broth soup (made from mushrooms, onions, garlic, what else?) and then it had three kinds of mushrooms (baby portabellos, shitake, button?). In any case, I could have eaten three bowls. It also had a nice crostini floating in it.
We were too full for dessert. Pity.
Who's dinner was best? Unknown. The scallop appetizer we shared was also perfect.
Before dinner, Sylvia, Don and I went for a cocktail at the Metropolitan. I had a delicious martini with the ice floating on the top (key!). And it was at least twice as good as the martini I had in New York and it cost less than half as much. Is that crazy? It's crazy!
I must now stop blogging and emailing in an effort to put off working on the DFL. I'm going to lock myself in the library for at least four hours today.
Then I'll top it off with basketball. I want Davidson to win, but I fear their winning streak may be coming to a close. I had them losing in the first round anyway.

Dinner

I made the Pumpkin Risotto (Scorpion's Tail's recipe) and some salmon (that Middlebrow overcooked, not my fault!).
But the highlight, the new addition was the Raw Tuscan Kale Salad with Pecorino.
I found the recipe at the New York Times. The woman who wrote it said she always orders interesting combinations on menus because she assumes that if the chef put it on the menu it must be amazing, and this recipe was.
I agree with her description of the dressing as Caesar-y (lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper, garlic) but the tender kale (not like the tough regular stuff) is also a revelation. It's like a healthy Caesar salad. Eat more! It's full of iron!! Pile on the cheese!! Yum yum!!
Of course, it helps that the pecorino is delicious and the homemade bread crumbs and the lemon etc etc.
It was delicious. And the risotto was as well. Pumpkin, roasted in the oven, and the finishing touch of vermouth.
Another nice dinner.
I hope to see you all at the Book Festival. Maybe at my panel? I'm subbing for a friend, so I'm not in the official schedule. But if you want to attend, email me and I'll let you know which one it is.
It's "Speaking the Unspeakable."
Sounds like me, right?