HOW TO SPEND FALL BREAK

watch "400 blows"

make the following

penne with ricotta, swiss chard, peppers, mushrooms, mozzarella, pecorino romano, and of course, some cream....

french bread (if residing in ohio, don't get stuck on quality or authenticity)

wine!

on this, the first day of snowfall for the upcoming year, my mind draws in towards joyous thoughts, joyous scarves, fluffy hats (and my stunning ability to lose them), cross-country meets in middle school and the smell of winter air, leaf piles in unexpected places, the upcoming end of schoolwork and with it a temporary end to the critical evaluation and analysis of the things i do, the impending return of running tights, hot showers followed by cold air, and all such things...

ah, we have missed much in this week. since this is a food blog first and foremost, i will attempt to transcend with the ordinary! 2 momentous occasions of ordinariness this week...

1, the perfect junk food meal, crafted in honor of the eagles-cowboys game, because when you take a break from balance, its important to make it count. therefore, the following items were purchased: 1 code red mountain dew, 1 bag kc masterpiece bbq chips, 1 bag tortilla chips, pre-packaged guacamole, spicy cheese salsa, 1 breakfast burrito (sadly i could not bring myself to eat this, as the package said it has 93% of a person's daily cholesterol) even on this holy day i have some limits...tex celebrates in a moving display!2, the ideal simple lunch! i have lived a life full of fancy lunches (red peppers, fresh roast rump, feta cheese, goat cheese, rosemary bread, etc....) YET... i still have a love for those simple lunches that can be put together for about 2 dollars a pop. bologna sandwich w/ provolone on 12-grain bread, with a side of hard pretzels and a banana! is there any thing better???

petite de vie (crocker park)! the first restaurant review!

except i must announce. this is not a restaurant. no, not even a cafe. petite de vie is an outdoor market stand, which on the rainy day i chose to go, looked abandoned, lonely, and dark! but as i rounded the ski-resort-like shopping market's edge i smelled....yes, i smelled the smell of fried things! as i ordered my 3 beignets and cafe au lait it occured to me that the server had just about the best job in the world. sitting in a small enclosed box wafting in the smell of beignets, on a rainy day with about 4 people standing around, who look as though they are headed towards champps, not towards beignets. i was handed a nice-looking box of the beignets, topped with a beyond-healthy helping of powdered sugar! and a very solidly good cae au lait, not too sweet, rich, but a bit mild...


i bit into the beignet (a french style donut, crispy and buttery flaky soft on the inside).... it had a solid crunch, and the inside of the pastry melted in my mouth, wave after wave of buttery flavor leaving its mark. i have a feeling these were beignets over the top style! as in, heavy on the frying, heavy on the butter, heavy on the powdered sugar! yet, if there is one way to go wrong, its extra! the delicious seeped in, as i quickly devoured the next two, and my car had attained the luxurious long-staying aroma of beignet! success!!! i'll have to go back and sample the rest of the menu, to be continued...

This is where I run! What used to be a railroad line is now a glorious bike-path, leading through farms, foresty patches, shooting ranges, abandoned highways, and as Grandpa would say, "oh the foilage!" As it was a railroad line in its hey-day, the path is utterly flat and straight, and features two nicely-dug trenches on either side, which form little rivers when the weather so desires.




Willow Poem
"It is a willow when summer is over, a willow by the river from which no leaf has fallen nor bitten by the sun turned orange or crimson. The leaves cling and grow paler, swing and grow paler over the swirling waters of the river as if loth to let go, they are so cool, so drunk with the swirl of the wind and of the river -- oblivious to winter, the last to let go and fall into the water and on the ground." - William Carlos Williams