White Christmas

Ok, so I have no excuses. The only reason I haven't posted is pure laziness. That, and kind of a lack of creative energy. I've been tired. It's been tough to catch up from the last batch of sleep deprivation, and my innate desire to hibernate hasn't been helping things. But, like a floundering government with an multi-billion-dollar industry bailout plan, I've been putting what energy I do have into eating and riding in hopes of seeing a return to my normal level of production.

Much time has been spent in the garage on the trainer as of late. It's hard to get in an hour that way, but it's great to get in 30 minutes on a cold, wet, dark morning when the alternative is no exercise at all. Yesterday was my first ride on the road on my Look in what seemed like ages, and it was much needed after the previous eating...

Who says we don't have white Christmases in LA!

After a short day at work on Wednesday (just 9-5, kind of like a half day), BoW and I started cleaning the house for company, then went out for a nice but homey dinner at Fioretto. It was good to see a couple of large tables, families who had decided, just like us, to make it part of their holiday celebration.

Hearty white bean and cabbage soup instantly warmed me from the cold and rain, and the rustic beet salad that has been on the menu this season seemed appropriately colored for the holiday.

Chef's Lasagne alla Bolognese is a regular winter offering which takes advantage of both his rich and succulent meat sauce as well as his creamy bechamel. This is not typical American Lasagna. It has much more in common with it's Euro relatives like Lazanki and Pastitsio.

For lunch the other day, I had a meatball sub from Jones. It uses three of the best things from their skillet-served Spaghetti and Meatballs (the meatballs, sauce, and cheese) while leaving the weak link (the pasta) behind. Suffice to say that if chef left his homemade pappardelle behind, the polpette would weep like Pagliaccio for Nedda. My own weeping was more for joy.

Even splurging on the Chianti, this meal was stupidly reasonable. I would definitely have paid more.

Thursday's big dinner featured a family tradition: roast beast. We had a big group, so I went all out (wanting to have leftovers, of course) and roasted a 12 lb. standing rib roast. It's a simple thyme rub, and I make a Madeira and mushroom au jus just like Mom. My only disappointment was timing. I started the roast too early and didn't take into consideration that my friends who were never very timely to begin with are even less punctual now that they have infant children. Thankfully, there was cheese and this awesome slate cheese tray that my mother sent me.

The chaos of the preceding week led to a near disaster on the vegetable end, but a well-stocked fridge allowed for a bailout, including a very small, plated salad of mostly cucumber and carrot, dressed in my mother's standard vinaigrette, which I actually let pickle slightly to soften the tough veggies. It was a hit. Who knew? Just like Radhika's dish got better with duck thighs when her breasts went bad in the open cooler overnight, serving that salad really brightened the meal in a way that my original steamed green and wax beans would not have.

By the end of service I was really tired, and without the help of Susan and the Smurf, I would have never gotten the place cleaned up. Needless to say, I slept very soundly that night.

Upcoming: local sushi love and Frisco.