Before I go much further, I want to thank all of you wonderful, beautiful, loverly people who have reached out to me in the past couple of weeks with words of encouragement and solace. If you had told me when I started Gastronomie that it would lead to such amazing things, I probably (no, definitely) wouldn't have believed you. So thank you for that.
All that said, I'm doing REALLY great. I've settled into my new place, and am furnishing it carefully, lovingly, and at my own pace with stuff that only I have to like. Bo seems smitten with -- of all things -- carpeting; he hurtles down the long hallway as we head out for our daily walks.
In honor of feeling great, I thought I'd make a list of the delicious things that have passed my lips these past few weeks.
- A luscious bottle of Amarone, a splurge, all tobacco-ey and brooding, like a port before dessert.
- The essence of 20 pounds of the almost-last of the season's Early Girls. Cooked for hours and hours, strained, food-milled, and frozen for use in the winter, when tomato season is a distant memory (or a long-awaited event).
- Heavily buttered movie theatre popcorn, eaten two kernels at a time with a single Raisinette while watching Casino Royale (Daniel Craig is perhaps the best 007 since Mr. Connery).
- A hamburger and shoestring potatoes at Zuni, after my beloved's show. Alas, no pot de creme.
- A hamburger and frites at Luka's, with a friend who recently grew mutton chops!
- The best (seriously) sour cherry preserves in the world, delivered by an angel from London, stirred into a bit of lebneh for breakfast.
- One of the best appetizers in this city, namely the Ham & Cheese Terrine at Piperade. And I hardly shared. Hell yea!
- And finally, Trader Joe's new Pretzel Thins -- awesome, flat pretzel "crackers". All the best parts, none of that annoying middle. Now, why didn't anyone think of this before?!?
Tags: Food, Food & Drink, Bond, 007, Casino Royale, Trader Joe's, Amarone, San Francisco, Oakland
