Looking Forward

I'm exhausted. What possessed me to stay at school until 4 this afternoon I will never know, but I did. Then I even attempted to run errands, only to be too frustrated when I got to the plaza to even look for a parking space, nevermind go in. What recession?, I wondered. Sheesh. Anyway, I think I'm hungry, only I can't even think about what to make myself until I'm done with my cocktail and finish my post. There may be no dinner. Especially if I go for cocktail #2. It'll be lights out by 7. Of course I'll wake up starving....

I'm glad we agree that the Diary Police are dead. Brain drain. It's all good...

So if you insist, I'll tell you about my to-die-for, yet nothing-spectacular baked potatoes. More than anything, I guess I must have been in the mood for one, and once I made it, wondered why I don't have them more often. I made it restaurant style. I rubbed the skin with olive oil and sprinked it with kosher salt, then I let it bake for an hour and a half at 350. At about an hour, I turned it over and then with fifteen minutes left I upped the temp a little. The skin was crispy and delicious and the inside was beautiful: nice and moist and fluffy. Half I ate with butter, sour cream, and bacon bits; the other half I did with chili (homemade chili that I had in the freezer) and cheese and sour cream. I ate it all, skin and all. It was delicious. And honestly, what a fun and casual, and economical party that would be. Rather than have to make a whole vat of chili or another protein, you could do taters with various toppings. I saw Paula Deen do a beef stroganoff kind of thing as well as a crab stuffing for a family potato bar. You could do that, or chili, cheese, sour cream, chives, bacon, broccoli and cheese. You could do a fridge clean out for that matter--leftover steamed veggies with cheese sauce or whatever is around--and have fun with it. Or not. At least I know that I will never put a potato in aluminum foil again. My baked potato was better than shrimp fra diavolo could have been that night--especially since the Pats lost. I took comfort in a baked potato and left the shrimp in the freezer for another time.

Tomorrow night C and I are going out for another restaurant excursion, to a place I've never been but that is part of that restaurant group non-chain chain. They have a high end steakhouse, a couple of seafood restaurant, and this is one of their Italian themed restaurants. I haven't been to this particular one, and they are offering a 24.95 Prix Fixe menu this week (now there's a sign of recession). In the interest of our being aspiring food critics, and because she is not broke like me, she is being kind enough to let me run a tab until I catch up. What goes around comes around I guess.

Then next week I'm looking forward to a Boston getaway with C. Last year we played hooky and went up for an overnight in December, and this year we thought we would too--only we planned in advance for a good hotel rate and both put in for a personal day (our one and only) so we don't have to do the song and dance of pretending to be sick yada yada. We're having dinner and staying at the Sheraton in the Back Bay Thursday night, then Friday will shop and have lunch and head home. W will head home with us, so I'll have that to look forward to for the rest of the weekend. How exciting. I can't afford a minute of it, but it will be fun and delicious...and I feel money in my future!

Seriously. I keep putting energy out in the universe that my life is going to change soon. (As will the lives of dear friends!) One more school year, then I'll have a syndicated column and/or C and I will be writing food columns and dining free (business expenses) and then we'll do a cookbook, maybe around the time I get my first collection of essays published or you and I sign for a collection of letters, and then I sign to finish my novel while I get my consulting business or life coaching practice off the ground.

This being too tired to microwave myself dinner or leave the house after dark? Just temporary, my friend. Consider it energy conservation. ;-)

Love you,
Barb