So, last night... I phoned it in.

No excuse other than, I worked late and Wendy's was on my way home:)

Happy Friday!

The first Wicked Wednesday

Having made chili last night for tonight's dinner, I realized while I was sitting in an all-day meeting that I needed a "mustard recipe". So, I decided to have hash instead of just chili. I microwaved a few small white potatoes for about 5 minutes, tossed them in a bag with dijon MUSTARD and some chili pepper, salt, and pepper...cut them into small 1 inch pieces and then fried them in olive oil for about 4 minutes. Then tossed in the chili, whipped up a little guacamole and served the chili hash with cheddar, guacamole and fresh cilantro. Very yummy on a very cold winter's day!

My essentials...

The zyliss cheese grater...only intended for hard cheeses, but there is no easier way to grate a luscious tangy pile of parmesan cheese. I bought mine over 1o years ago and it's still going strong.

Sweet Basil! This book was good!

Every once in a while, I will come across a book that really changes my perspective on life, relationships, raising kids, work etc. Last winter, I read The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and I have been talking about it ever since. (Thank you, Auntie Kathy) It is technically a "business" book, but really it's about everything we consume and that the world is becoming a "long tail". Think about a graph with a really long tail across the X axis. The best example in the book is iTunes -- before internet music sales, stores sold the most popular songs based on shelf space. Today, shelf space is non-existent and you can buy virtually any music you desire regardless of demand. The book gets into lots of other areas, e.g, education. It's a quick read and I highly recommend it!

Okay, girlfriends... I have a question

Over the weekend, I was talking about my new favorite tv show, Mad Men and how the world has changed for women since the 1960s. It's been a dramatic transformation; however, the way I see it at times is... We may have it all -- career, family, and education, but we also have to do it all -- cook, clean, laundry, extra kid stuff.

So, my question is... Is it fair? Will it ever change? How can we better manage all of our responsibilities? If you have it all figured out, or even part of it... let me know.

Senator's Caesar Salad

SIL is related to a state senator in New York and SIL has been mastering the art of the caesar based on his recipe. It went well with our pasta dish on a cold winter's night!

1 large head romaine lettuce

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large cloves garlic

anchovy paste to taste (1 tsp.)

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh is best)

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coarse ground salt

2 egg yolks for large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

croutons
Trim the romaine lettuce of bruised or browned leaves, then cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Wash and drain the lettuce, pat it dry and refrigerate for 30 minutes to crisp the leaves.
Peel the garlic cloves then put in a large wooden salad bowl.(I did not have a wooden bowl, but the glass was okay...would have been just a tad better in a wooden bowl.)

Mash the cloves against the sides of the bowl with the back of a wooden spoon.

Rub the pieces against the bowl until they begin to disintegrate.

Remove most of the mashed garlic from the bowl and discard (oil from the garlic will remain in the bowl and flavor the salad).
Now add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and egg yolks and blend well. Slowly drizzle in the oil mixing with a wire whisk until a creamy mayonnaise type dressing forms.
Add the lettuce, croutons, cheese and salt. Toss everything together and serve directly from the salad bowl!

A fun night with my fantastic SIL

I am lucky to have a fantastic SIL (sister in law) and she came for a visit without BIL -- had to work:(. So with a babysitter on the schedule, we hit a few places in and around Columbus on Saturday night. We started out at Z Cucina and then moved onto Spagio Cellars and then had one last drink and a little dessert at my favorite, Alanas.

At Z Cucina, I definitely recommend the lemon drop martini, the beef carpaccio and the shrimp and gnocchi. (I went off the small plates menu.) Spagio Cellars is fun because you can select any bottle of wine from their great selection and for a small corking fee sit in the cafe and enjoy your bottle. Alana's as always was great and my favorite of the night. The flourless chocolate tort was very yummy.